Painting Glass

Glass Demo

6x6 oil 

I've been teaching every other Friday at the Von Liebig and have the most wonderful students. Fearless and full of enthusiasm, they tackle anything I throw at them. 
Yesterday's lesson was painting glass which is difficult but not as difficult as one would think. The point is to paint the masses and the shapes. 
The lessons are quite advanced but it's a good learning experience, much like my early classes with John Kilroy. He threw us into the deep end of the pool and really made us "see". Those classes, as I like to say, "broke me out" from a rut, where I was painting subjects that were beyond my abilities at the time, and ending up having a lot of unfinished paintings hanging around the studio. From that experience I feel that it's better to teach the same fundamentals to all levels of painters and give them the tools they need to advance.

Linda's Painting.

I think she's got it!

Orchid Dance

Orchid Dance 
12x16 Oil on canvas board

I feel for my homies in New England who can't even get out of their houses for the mountains of snow that are piling up there. There's a limit to one's patience in the face of needing to get to work or even just out and about. Most streets are now only wide enough for one car, including in my little beach neighborhood. Snow is so high you can't see around corners and driving is dangerous. Stay safe and warm is all I can offer.

Meanwhile, my classes at Von Liebig have been well attended and my 'girls' are coming to my home studio once a week to paint! 

I wanted to step out of the box and do a larger painting with a more complicated subject and so I set up my orchids. This is on a 12x16 canvas panel and I did a drawing first, trying for accuracy and taking my time. It took quite a while and I'm not completely satisfied with the result but I don't hate it either. There are areas where I need to do more on the flowers and I lost some freshness in the greens (put it down and leave it). I'll go at it again after it dries some and then do another with maybe just one orchid. It's all about practice. I really enjoyed it, which is the point.

drawing

initially I had more leaves (another plant) 

behind the left hand flower, but they didn't work so I eliminated them in the end. I also may rethink that permanent rose background. It may have been working against me.

my setup

Love and a Blizzard Story

"Love"

4x4 oil on panel

Feeling fortunate to be in Florida as winter storm Juno wreaked havoc and destruction on coastal Massachusetts. 

I have first hand memories of the Blizzard of '78 which caused the same kind of devastation. 

My sister and I were living in Humarock, a peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the South River and I say with no exaggeration, we escaped with our lives.

Blizzard of 1978 ~ Humarock, Massachusetts

This photo, which ran in the Boston Globe shows my sister's Ford truck, which we abandoned when it began to float, resting on about 10 feet of sand. There was no road to drive out on but we tried anyway. The whole thing was surreal.

On a lighter note. The quintessential flower of love is the rose. Check out Girls Just Wanna Paint for other interpretations of "love".