painting

I had a busy weekend, but managed to squeeze out a digital painting based on a photo I took in the Shenandoah Valley. One awesome thing about the digital painting is that you can focus and learn a lot of lessons valuable in any medium. Naturally, many of these come to mind after you finish the painting.

Right now I'm in the Big Easy and I spent the last day of 2008 painting at the Barataria Preserve. The preserve is part of the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park, just south of New Orleans. I started the day with a serene and peaceful hike through the swamp and finished it with this painting of a very interesting old tree on a mound called a midden. If you have been reading my posts for a while, you will sometimes read about the challenges of plein air painting. Unlike the studio, painting outdoors often makes demands of the artist beyond just the painting itself.

When I first visited Boston for work, some of the Bostonians would sarcastically remark that people from New Hampshire were bumpkins and mock their slogan "Live Free or Die". When I heard this, I immediately felt a warm connection with the Granite State since I'm from the country and have a strong independent streak. This was connection was validated during two wonderful visits to Manchester this this year. NH is a beautiful place and has a tremendous amount of pride in its role in the American Revolution.

Last Sunday wrapped up the TFAS 2008 (www.thetelephonefactoryartshow.com). Many thanks to Judge, Grant and Michelle for their hard work making it happen. Also thanks to the Fireball Collective (www.fireballcollective.com) for participating in the show with us. Also thanks to Kate for the wonderful food and to all my friends that stopped in to support the show. We had a blast and I sold several pieces.

Well, it has been quite a gap since my last post. I'm not happy about that, but the good news is that it is because I've been so darn busy. As mentioned in the last post, I'll be in the 13th Annual Telephone Factory Lofts Art Show and Sale!

We had a great session today. Aralyn is in a twisting, reclining pose that she'll resume next week from 9-2. John, Marc and I were the only ones in attendance, probably due to Mother's Day. It felt great to be back in the studio, where I don't have to worry about rattlesnakes. Below are the results of today, mine being a work in progress. I was really focused on composition today and working with a different type of approach. Toward the end I started to figure it out. We'll see what happens next week.