James Coe Plein Air Workshop

Last week I booked a spot in James Coe's September 11-14 workshop. If you're not familiar with Jim's work... you should be! Please check out this link http://jamescoe.com/ He will be awarded the Master Artist medal at the Woodson Art Museum this year during the Birds In Art opening weekend. Not only is Jim an outstanding painter (one of my absolute favorites!!!), but he's also a great person... one of the true "good guys" of the art world.

If you're an artist looking for a way to take your painting skill to the next level, I highly recommend participating in this workshop. The instruction will be based on "plein air" painting... a skill Jim is quite well known for... and will give participants a chance to experience some of central Wisconsin's outdoor charm. There will be time at the end of the workshop to browse the prestigious Birds In Art exhibit, as well. If you don't come away from this experience brimming with inspiration, well... there may be no hope for you!

For more information, download the workshop brochure here.

Susan Lyon Radio Interview

I listened to this radio interview with artist Susan Lyon yesterday morning and found it quite useful. I've been following Susan's work for a couple of years and it was good to hear some of her insight. She and her husband, Scott Burdick are two of my favorite painters. Here's the link: A Conversation with Susan Lyon
It's worth a listen.

Bluejay Study 5x7 acrylic

This is today's work. I'm happy :) I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. It's time to get out the grille!

We're Back!!!

It's been a while since my last blog post. Seems there have been some problems with the Blogspot site for the past several weeks. Let's hope everything has been resolved!

In the meantime, I've been able to work a new painting from start to finish. This is an exciting time in my career as an artist. As I constantly think of fresh approaches to my work, the task of breaking away from my comfort zone is not an easy one. The “loose and painterly” background in this painting is something I struggle with on a regular basis. By paying close attention to my oil painting colleagues, I’ve learned a few things about making this type of brushwork look more painterly and less sloppy (as were my early efforts). It’s also a challenge to pull this off with the quick drying quality of traditional acrylic paints, so working quickly is imperative. This is also my first falcon painting and I wanted to the title to reflect the high speed potential of the fastest animal on earth. "Latent Velocity" 12x9 acrylic on board.

"Winter Goldfinch" 4x6 acrylic

The first of my minis for the year... I'll be posting more soon.

Rainforest in PA?

There are times when the shack nasties get the best of me and I just have to go outside… rain or shine. The local woodlot where I find most of my morel mushrooms was seemed more like the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest than western Pennsylvania. I shrugged on my raingear, shouldered my camera bag, and headed for the door. As always, Otis beat me to the truck.

I never have to look far to find something interesting when I walk these trails. Today, warblers seemed to be in every tree and bush. Rose-breasted grosbeaks sang pleasantly from the upper canopy. Newts and frogs went about their business of amphibious life. If I happened to miss something, Otis the Wonder Dog was sure to point it out. I pushed the may apple aside with my walking stick hoping for a mushroom or two. I was not disappointed. Amid the jack-in-the-pulpits, trillium, and wild geraniums, morels were there for the taking. With such a short season (maybe two weeks for these larger specimens), I snatched up as many as I could find. Not bad for a couple of hours in the field. It sure would be easier if Otis didn’t need a bath every time we went for a hike J

"Osprey Bay" 10x8 acrylic on board

Since my last several paintings have been fairly large, I need to spend some time focusing on smaller paintings. “Osprey Bay” is a good start to this upcoming series of smaller works. Now that I think about it, I’ll need to work a very large commissioned piece in too. Looks like I’ll be working both large and small well into the summer.