WORKING ON SHOWS FOR THIS FALL

After a busy summer, I have been painting and preparing for a number of shows this fall and winter.  Our trip to New England has inspired me to paint some fresh new watercolors and bigger paintings.

I had the opportunity to paint out doors - Plein Air - at Winterthur.  This location is at the East Barns and was a misty day to begin with.  Jim Evans, a friend and I walked around until the weather turned better and we sat overlooking this pond with the home and barn in the back ground.  It was an enjoyable experience as it warmed up.

My first show will be in Ocean City....the big Fall Clock Party that runs from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm and will be in the block of the Tabernacle.  We look forward to seeing you and showing you my new originals in addition to many framed prints of different sizes and prices.

I have been also painting outdoors and will be in the BRANDYWINE PLEIN AIR  in Chester County in late October. Profits will benefit the Children's Museum.
          The mission of CBH is to help children with special needs to reach their highest potential as functioning members of their families and communities.  CBH focuses upon the strengths of the 7- to 18-year-old youth with special needs and their families.

 If the weather is good it will be an interesting opportunity to capture the area around the Brandywine River.  I am not sure of the exact sites to be painted but feel it will include some mansions, historic sites and museums.  Then there will be a Gala art exhibition and sale on October 25th, opening at 6:30 p.m. at The Visitor’s Center of Winterthur Museum, Gardens and Library for artists, patrons, and guests.  It will last all weekend

As I get more details I will let you know so you can come out and observe where we are painting.

Summer Activity

This has been a busy summer with traveling to find new places to paint, spending time with my family, taking time to paint outdoors by myself and with our daughter Dawn and visiting several watercolor shows and locations.  We took a vacation with our youngest daughter and spent time in New England and managed to take 800 photos between both of us as we saw lighthouses, the Olson House that Andrew Wyeth painted "Cristina's World" and took a tour of their home, saw a show of Winslow Homer's work and took two whale watch cruises but alas...no whales.  Then Dawn came with me painting out doors - Dawn sketched and I painted among the chickens and roosters crowing.

                                                Motif # 1 in Rockport, MA

Olson House in Cushing , ME

Pemaquid Piont Lighthouse, ME

I am excited with my out door painting called Plein Air as I have learned to paint quicker and still retain the focal point of the painting.  Contrasting two of my plein air paintings will give you an idea.  My first two plein air paintings took time to complete  a study and then a final painting taking all day from 9:00 to 3:00.  This summer I took less time to sketch and finished a watercolor both in about 3 hours.  So painting quicker means less detail but by placing more detail in the focus area and using brighter colors, the paintings still are vibrant and exciting.

Since then I have been painting and getting ready for my out door shows and for a number of jury shows I will try to get in this fall.  By the way you can follow me on Facebook for more up to date information  

West Chester Paint The Town

Several weeks ago , I participated in the West Chester Paint the Town although I did not get as many paintings as last year when I completed 7.  This year due to some other conflicts and the weather, I only completed two.  One small 8 x 10 of a home with a fountain and then my larger painting of three historic homes across form Marshall Park.

Historic Homes of West Chester

Home on Church Street

These three homes all appealed to my desire to paint historic homes.  It is hard to paint different bricks on three different homes.  I also painted these homes in an afternoon as these were part of the plein air contest.  It was great sitting under the trees in the park painting while birds sang overhead and people with their dogs walked by.  Hope you enjoy this painting.

This summer, we will be off to New England to find some new exciting places, buildings and scenes to paint.  

New watercolors painted of St David's Episcopal Church Radnor, PA

I was accepted into a Juried Art Show at St. David's Art Festival that will be

Presented by Delaware Valley Art League

Opening Reception April 26th 6-9:00 p.m.

Show April 26-May 5

Exhibit Times:

Sats - 10am-4pm
| Suns - 12pm-4pm | Mon-Fri 10am-4pm

I went to the church's historic chapel and collected photos to use to paint some original watercolors for this show and finished three.  This church has a special place in my heart as two of my grandparents are buried here and my Aunt Miriam and Uncle Marshall Monsell worshiped here and are also buried here.  I have been to this chapel for a few memorial services.  So when I was accepted into the show, I wanted to do a few special watercolors.  

Here is one of the two gates you can use to enter the Historic Chapel area of St David's.  There are two others you will find at the show..............I will be at the Opening on Friday evening so stop by and greet me and Sunday Afternoon from noon to 2:30 pm

Winterthur Plein Air

On April 17th, a friend of mine Jim Evans and I went to Winterthur to sketch and paint plein air, which means being out side "in the air"-- painting in front of your subject.  Winterthur is the estate of Henry DuPont that is now a museum with 175 rooms and each one has furniture and everything you could imagine.  Well, instead of painting inside, we rode the tram throughout the grounds to select a place to paint.  We visited the dairy barns, the beef barns, the magnolia and flower gardens.   We selected the barn area.  Back in the 1800's, when they bought 15 farms in this area to form this property, they kept the houses and barns preserving the feel for the farm country.  

So in spite of the cloudy cool weather,  we spent the morning riding the tram to the barn area and sketched a barn property and took numerous photos to paint future paintings.  Then we went back in to warm up with hot coffee and tea , took a tour of some of the rooms in the house, ate lunch and then hopped on the tram to do more painting and sketching.  I finished a watercolor and Jim worked on a colored pencil study.   The sun finally broke through and it warmed up so we ended the day on a high note.  For more information on Winterthur go here--http://www.winterthur.org/