Hillside in Red and Blue

Here I tried a red/blue harmony in a modified cruciform composition.  Red melts into orange and blue melts into violet.  The magnificent watercolorist Ratindra Das composes very exciting paintings using one rule : No parallel lines!  It’s hard to do.  But it makes for a dynamic surface.  If you then add some parallel lines, it’s a discord.  Interesting.

Hillside in Red and Blue is 6×6″ Acrylic media and collage on panel.

Love the Coastal Fog

Love the Coastal Fog - January 28, 2011 

Quoth the Sage : “At the end of this Challenge, if you have a stack of paintings that look like your pre-Challenge paintings, you have failed.  If, instead, at the end of this Challenge you have a stack of exciting new stuff – along with a stack of lousy paintings, too — you WIN!!  Living in your comfort zone isn’t what this is about.”

The gauntlet is cast.  So…my challenge is threefold.

1) Try a new medium.  All these years I’ve painted in oil.  Now I will try acrylic and mixed media.  2) Work on Design.  Instead of painting stuff, design an interesting use of space.  3) Create mysterious texture.  Use layering, scraping, collage; whatever it takes to make expressive texture.

That clicking sound…is my knees knocking!

So off I go, groping in the murk.  I will suspend for now the usual judgment calls on my paintings, and see what emerges.  Let the fun begin! 

Love the Coastal Fog 8″x8″ acrylic media and collage

Valentine to Winter

Valentine to Winter   I took some lovely walks after the December snowstorm in the East.  I’ve painted the gorgeous bare trees, snow and barns before – in oil.  And bigger.  In honor of the challenge, though, this is done with acrylic, collage, ink and charcoal.  I sure love the texture you can get from layering all these media.  And it’s just a little nugget of winter. 

Valentine to Winter is 6×6″ acrylic media, collage and charcoal on panel.

Love Reading Dogs

Love Reading Dogs 



Cross Training Many wonderful artists cross-train.  That is, they switch between oil and watermedia, for example.  John Singer Sargent painted in oil and watercolor.  So does the wonderful Ken Howard.  The magnificent Frank Webb paints primarily in watercolor, but has also painted in oil.  And the ever-curious Robert Burridge uses any water media or support that intrigues him.  Maybe cross-training helps us move to another level by preventing comfort from setting in.

Love Reading Dogs is 8x8" acrylic media and collage on panel.

Polpero Harbor

Polpero Harbor is 11x14" Acrylic media and collage on paper.

Path to the Sun

Path to the Sun is 12x16" acrylic media and collage on panel.

Ode to Istanbul

Ode to Istanbul is 12x16" Acrylic media and collage on canvas.

Moon Over Sorrento

I've experimented with a number of paint applications here.  As a wonderful artist once said: Layer, layer, layer!  If it's not fascinating yet, try something else on top.  It goes pretty slowly.  But so far I can't find a better way to end up with intriguing texture.

Moonrise Over Sorrento is 11x15" acrylic media and collage on illustration board.

Beach Day

Thanksgiving at the beach is a tradition with us. The sun casts long shadows at this time of year and gives an early sunset!  Everyone watches for the green flash.

Exuberance 1

Thanksgiving Day at the beach is a tradition.  This time I got  the girls to don white dresses and dance along the line of day. 

Exuberance 1 is 10x10" Oil on canvas.

Exuberance 2

Exuberance 2 is 10x 10" oil on canvas.

Meet at the Prado

Meet at the Prado is 8x8" oil on canvas.

Sundrenched Alleyway

Sundrenched Alleyway is 11x14" oil on canvas.

Rome in Heels

Rome in Heels is 9x12" oil on canvas.

Inlet, sunset

We painted in Inlet in late August, when the sun sets so late.  It was balmy and we painted until we couldn't see the canvas anymore.  And you should have seen the moon!

Inlet, sunset is 12x16" oil on canvas.

Street Buzz

Street Buzz is 12x12" Oil on Canvas.