Welcome! This online journal will share my news of new paintings and upcoming exhibits, tips and notes with friends, collectors and other artists. Please visit often and enjoy!

Copyright notice: Photos and artwork images herein are property of the artist; no reproductions allowed without written consent.

Coming soon to this page:

- Latest sketches

Monday, June 14, 2010

Rocky Mountain National Watermedia!

I have just received the great news that my painting Parallel Lives is among 80 pieces selected by juror Judy Morris for this year's edition of the prestigious Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibit. This is a high quality show and attracts some of the best names in the field--in previous years I have spent hours in the exhibit admiring the work of John Salminen, Sandra O’Connor, Ratindra Das, Thomas J. Owen, Mel Stabin, among others. I really look forward to the show, from September 11 to October 31, at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado.

Here's another look at a detail of Parallel Lives, watercolor on Yupo, 26x20 inches.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

...But if you try sometimes...


This is a quick sketch I made of a road-side coastal view on the Ring of Kerry, in Ireland. I had intended for it to be a soft, atmospheric transparent watercolor sketch, like the one from my last post, but it got away from me. I almost tossed it in the waste basket, but then decided to bring out the old permanent calligraphy pen--which is almost dry by now--punctuate the composition with a few darks and turn this into a pen and wash exercise. I think the rescue worked; much more interesting this way...

I like vignette sketches, they always look so fresh and immediate to me as a viewer, as if you were watching them take shape before your eyes. So I guess the lesson is when things don't go your way, maybe it's time to let them take you their own way... Experiment. Dare. Be open to possibility. Work in abandon. You can't always get what you want, Mick would say, but sometimes you might get what you need, if you try...

Van Gogh watercolors on Arches cold press paper, 6 x10 inches.