Sebbie's playing with boats

I found some beautiful, handmade, wooden toy boats at a small toy store on Nantucket this summer. They are perfectly Sebbie-sized, so you can guess where this is headed: the latest Sebbie paintings. Courting Adventure (top) and Sebbie and the Toy Boat.

The piece currently on the easel involves a biplane (bit of a transportation theme?), if the days were a bit longer it would have been done by now, but I suppose winter teaches us patience. 

American Art Collector

There's a lovely write up about my work (and Sebbie) in American Art Collector this month.  Here's a virtual copy (in case you haven't picked up the magazine yet) courtesy of American Art Collector magazine:
(Click on the image to enlarge)

Open Studios Thanks

Thanks to all the kind souls who braved the awful weather last weekend to attend Waltham Mills Artists Association's annual Open Studios. It's always a pleasure. For those who couldn't make it (thinking of you, mum) here are a few pictures of the walls resting in the quiet between crowds of visitors: 

Upcoming show!

I'm part of a group show at room 83 spring in Watertown, Massachusetts. It includes the artists John Christian Anderson, Polly Becker, Rachel Folsom, Peter Madden, Tom Ulrich, and myself, of course.

My mushroom paintings will be there, will you?

Open Studios in the works!

So, this is happening; you should come. Here's the link to the official website. Sebbie's got a cameo in the changing banner pictures there, see if you can find him.

Another batch on its way

Here's another batch of Sebbie paintings all dressed up and ready to head to Lotton Gallery in Chicago this time. I'll miss this crew, they were so much fun to create.

I made it out this weekend for some plein air painting with some local painters. It was the first time in, oh, several years I actually made it outside to paint (and last time was quick sketches in Italy), so there was quite the re-learning curve. I always seem to go out when it's windy, so despite my best laid plans, I ended up painting in the sun (the wind took my shade umbrella as an invitation to toss my easel into some rocks) which makes things harder. Below is a (rather glare-filled) picture of the study I did of Gloucester Harbor. I'll have to try again soon. 

Empty nester

I've been framing and shipping off a lot of paintings lately, or so it seems (there are empty corners in my studio again, I hardly know what to make of them). I snapped a few pictures as I went today (look at the kiddos all dressed up in their new clothes!), so I'm sharing. Here are three Sebbies all dressed up and ready to head over to Marine Arts Gallery in Salem, MA: (clockwise, that is, "Duckling Courting", "Sebbie and the Sky Pirate", and "Sebbie and his Fly-Away Imagination"--there are better close-ups on my website, fyi)

And here is one of my favorites (I almost couldn't part with him), all dressed up to the nines and headed to Eisele Gallery of Fine Art in Cincinnati for the Oil Painters of America's Eastern Regional Exhibition: ("Treasure")

Gee, now I'm all teary-eyed; it's rough being a mom.

Art about town

This last weekend saw me visiting my work around town. On Saturday was the opening for the Guild of Boston Artists' Regional Exhibition (the show has been extended until the 28th of August, if you haven't made it yet--it's quite a diverse sample of regional realism). On Sunday, I made it up to Salem with a friend to see the Turner exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum. Right next door to the museum was Sebbie hanging out in the window of the Marine Arts Gallery, so we had our picture taken together. Then we went to the beach to watch the sun set into an example of Turner's beautiful colors. Here is the photographic evidence: me looking all fancy, and me looking quite ready for the beach.

A reception and a painting

I spent a lovely afternoon at the opening reception for the Guild of Boston Artists' Annual Regional Exhibition (pictures to follow). So there was no painting this afternoon, but I finished up the latest Sebbie the other day, so here he is, it's a favorite:

Sebbie's nuts

Latest Sebbie. Self explanatory, really.

Guild of Boston Artists

I'm happy to announce that my painting, June Bug Portrait, has been juried into this year's Regional Painting Competition of the Guild of Boston Artists.  

Studies

I've been working on a lot of things lately. In addition to the usual Sebbie and other still lives, I've been trying to get back into portraiture. I started that attempt with a full length seated figure, which may have been me diving into the deep end without first confirming if I still knew how to swim. I'm getting there, but that painting's been an uphill battle. I decided to start where I should have started, with a simple portrait study, after the fact, and so below you find such a study. It's not wonderful, but it's a start, and it's great to be painting people again, and now I realize how much I need to tweak the lighting in my studio to make it portrait-ready.

After a long day of setting up a new Sebbie and trying to repaint the hands on the above mentioned full length portrait with little success, I decided to take a break and do a portrait of my new studio pet, Lancelot. He's a blue frog, in case that wasn't obvious, he makes me smile and doesn't require feeding or shed on my paintings, so he's perfect. 

Oil Painters of America, Eastern Regional 2014

I'm also delighted to announce that my painting, "Treasure", will be included in this year's Oil Painters of America's Eastern Regional exhibition, hosted by Eisele Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio this September. 

Studio workings

Here are a few in-progess shots of things kicking about the studio.  That is all.

So on and so forth

A few new things to report. Sebbie's kite flying adventure painting is finished and all snazzy in its new frame. I particularly like this one as it explores the line between reality and imagination.

 I've also been working away on a commission of a floral still life. I always love painting flowers, and this piece has given me a chance to really develop a floral painting. I'll post a picture of the finished work once it is, in fact, finished.

I seem to get asked a lot what exactly it entails, being an artist. "What does a day in your life look like?" people ask. I never really know how to answer, because, I suppose, everyone's life seems rather ordinary to the person living it. (I try not to throw my alarm across the room when it goes off in the morning. I eat toast with peanut butter for breakfast. I put my socks on before my shoes. I drink lots of tea, and when that fails, coffee. See? Very ordinary.) But some days are particularly exciting, like the day I set up a new still life. I'm starting a new Sebbie painting "Sebbie and the Sky Pirate"--I'm very excited. So my day consisted of rigging a toy boat to hang at just the right hight and just the right angle; making a rope ladder out of twine and headless match sticks; de-heading match sticks; performing surgery on my pirate to remove him from his wooden base which was too big to fit on the deck of the boat; playing with a marionette (Sebbie, of course) to get him to look in the right direction and have the right posture (clothes pins and pony clips required); and so on and so forth. Set up days are usually good days. And I'm super excited about this painting--it's started but not yet share-worthy, but it will be soon. Meanwhile, here's the set up:

Sebbie on a box

The latest Sebbie is almost done.  Here's a (possibly slightly blurry) picture of both canvases sitting on a box:

Also in the news, Incognito and Night Flight have made it safely to Marine Arts Gallery in Salem, MA, after bravely facing some car trouble adventures with me. If you're in the area, it's a lovely gallery to visit.

               Incognito

               Night Flight

               

       

New Sebbie on the way

I've started a new Sebbie piece, and it's a twofer (which, incidentally, is actually a word now--ah, the evolution of language). For me, the edge of the painting is an important element of the composition--I always fit the canvas to the composition, never the other way around, and I've always been drawn to pieces comprised of more than one panel--diptychs, triptychs, etc. Why did the artist cut through the image where she did? What does it do for the hierarchy of importance within the composition? How does it engage the viewer differently? What would be lost if the multiple panels had been one? I don't often work that way, because it isn't something that usually works for my compositions, but for this piece, I felt two canvases was the perfect number.

"These Are a Few of My Favorite Things"

Excited to announce that Sebbie will be participating in "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things"at Principle Gallery in Charleston! I have a feeling it's going to be a fabulous show, you should go, it starts May 2nd.

New Sebbie

Things have been busy in the studio. I'm working on a commission of a large floral still life, starting a full length portrait I've wanted to do for ages, working a lots of little floral studies because it's that time of year and I love them, trying to keep up on the Sebbie demand without losing the joy of painting them, and I'm plotting to get back into etching because I loved it so much. So far all parts are going well--it's an exciting time. Below is an image of the latest Sebbie, I haven't decided on a title just yet, but I was thinking about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry while I was working on it (the baobab tree started it, but something about the rest of the piece kept him and The Little Prince in mind,) so I'm thinking of calling it "Night Flight" as a rather roundabout tribute. 

Salon International 2014

The 2014 Salon International hosted by Greenhouse Fine Art opens this weekend in San Antonio, Texas. It looks like a great show, hope you stop by if you're in the area! Sebbie will be there, if you can spot him, wish him luck!

Incognito

New Gallery

I'm delighted to announce that I now have the privilege of being represented by Marine Arts Gallery in Salem, Massachusetts. It is extra exciting to be adding a gallery close to home as I'll able to attend the special events and openings I usually miss out on at the galleries further afield. Sebbie and Friends at the Shadow Play is the first piece to take up residence in the gallery, more will follow soon!

It looks alright if you squint

I spent a bit of this afternoon doing quick studies of roses on panel. It was a lovely reminder of why I don't usually work alla prima, but also a great exercise in preparation for the larger composition floral still life I'm about to start in earnest. I'm mostly disappointed with this study, but it does look about right if you squint at it--which is how I'm always telling my students their paintings should be after their first day, so I thought I'd share it anyway. Bigger and better things to come soon!

Drawing...

I'm teaching a drawing workshop the next two Saturdays. It's been a long time since I've taught any drawing other than academic figure drawing, and even that was awhile ago. I thought I should get back into the drawing mindset by doing some drawing myself in the studio--I usually just skip right to the painting part. Thus the little drawing below came into existence. I liked it a lot more before I started adding white chalk--I kind of made a mess of it--but I didn't take a picture at that stage, so I'm sharing this version. I know I don't spend enough time drawing, so it was wonderful to spend some time focused on it just for the exercise of it without worrying too much about the finished piece, as I do so often in painting.

Sebbie's hanging out in Charleston

Wild! Life! opens tonight at Principle Gallery in Charleston. Sebbie will be there hanging out with some awesome paintings, I wish I could join him! The show's open through March, stop by if you're in the area.

Salon International 2014

I'm happy to announce that this will be my fifth year showing at Greenhouse Gallery's Salon International, as this little painting made it through the jury: 

Also, here's a day two progress picture of my lemon tree portrait:

Portrait of my lemon tree--block-in

I wanted to work on human portraits, but I don't really have any spare money for models at the moment, so I decided to do a portrait of my lemon tree. I mean, I'm a little crazy about my house plants anyway (they're my babies... erm, plants), so a portrait of this particular kiddo is right up my alley. I'm very excited. Here's the block-in:

Commission studies

I'm working on a commission. No, more correctly, I'm working on planning a commission. It's to be a fairly large still life with a landscape style orientation and big heavy flowers, but not too many of them. So I've been playing with colors and placement of the flowers and trying to come up with a unifying compositional element that I don't hate. I'm holding off buying the flowers until I have a compositional idea to sink my teeth into, as it were, so I've been working with dried flowers and balls of tissue paper, which is kind of fun because that means I get to mostly make up the flowers. I'm sharing three of the most promising studies--they're small little sketches on panel, not at all refined, just ideas in paint. I wanted to have something to share from the last several weeks to prove I'm still painting (in case you doubted me). They're in order from my least favorite to the one I find most promising:

LA Art Show 2014

Lotton Gallery will be at booth 224 at this year's LA Art Show, January 15th through 19th at the LA Convention Center.  Sadly, I won't be able to make it, but Sebbie will!  Stop by and see him if you're in the area.

On the easel

(I heard a rumor that mustaches were back in style, and seeing as I can't grow one of my own...)