Corn, corn, corn

My "rural upbringing" is showing again. One of my favorite activities as a girl on my grandparents farm ( besides jumping off the roof of the grain room into the broken bales of hay ) was to run through the rows of corn, slapping the leaves. I don't know what it is about corn but it does seem to grab my attention in any form. Some day I plan to revisit the Indian corn series, but for now I have to do some paintings of the lush fields of corn that are every where here. It was a wonderful spring with the rainfall making up for the drought of the past summers and the farmers are reaping the rewards. I had to stop along the road and take photos of the sun and shadows patterns on the broad leaves and the abstraction of the way the leave overlap and lead in varying directions. This is the first one in what I hope will be series as successful as the Indian corn. I also made an effort to see what greens I could mix. There are a bizillion greens in the world and something special about the greens of a corn leaf. Is it me or as artists are we all dealing with a challenge to mix green ? Or are we confined to what the manufactures are able to make for us? I am determined to find my green without blue dominating the painting. It did creep in here but hey, it's a start.

My sincere apologies to all that posted comments on the past two posts ! It was only when I went to compose this post that I noticed I had comments to monitor. Pryor comments always came to me via email and I'm not sure what happened this time. I just thought everyone was away on vacation and not checking in on me. Thanks again to all !

Becca and Jared Are Married

This past Saturday our niece Rebecca and Jared were married on the beautiful grounds of Hartwood mansion near Pittsburgh, PA. Of course everything was out of this world gorgeous; the bride, the groom, the setting, the day. Well, it was beastly hot but that's just one more memory for the book.

I snapped more than a few photos and a good many will be put in the "to paint " pile which grows higher each day. Hope you see one or two of these sometime soon.

Shamless Self Promtion

Last week I dropped off Jersey Girl (bottom left on post card ) for the PWS annual show. This year the show is in Reading, PA at Goggleworks Center For The Arts Cohen Gallery with the reception being Sunday, August 9 from 3-5 PM.

I am so honored to be a part of this prestigious show and as this is the second year accepted, it permits me to include PWS after my signature.

Pinch me.

Visit Goggleworks.org for directions. Hours are

Mon-Sat 9-9,Sundays 11-7

Lunch Time for Becca

Well, this really took longer than I wanted. I think I escaped without overworking too many areas and there was certainly a few things learned on this one, too. A lot learned but I can truely say it was fun to do, so perhaps there will be other window paintings.

Iwould have liked more washes on the red but backed off. I'm happy with the reflections and how they trick the eyes when they see something and then it gets lost again in the painting.

There are sections better than others but that is for me to know and you to point them out to me. So ...let me have it folks. I welcome all comments and constructive criticism . Oh, I might mention too, that this is the first one I did without stretching and I haven't framed it yet. So, some of the "straight" edges might not look too straight. I will be able to flaten it but please offer any tips on framing without a mat.

Wow, where does the time go ? It's not like I haven't been on the computer. Just having too much fun reading others blogs and playing on Facebook with friends. Now it's back to work with all engines full.

This is a piece I started last week for my niece from a photo she took in London. Quite a surprise when she sent me the photo. I was expecting a London street or quaint European village. She said she just thought it was really funny to see this car in a store window.

It's a full sheet done with transparent watercolor. I'm having a grand time with all the reflections which are time consuming but I don't find too difficult but it does give me renewed respect for John Salminen.(Looking forward to his workshop with the BWS in 2011 !!) I plan (hope) to continue with what you see overall then go back to deepen the darks with out overworking. I also am not satisfied yet with the reds. I am never satisfied with reds. If any one out there knows what reds W. Homer used, please clue me in. It's been a constant search for years. I even went back to the exhibit at the National Gallery several times esp. to take notes while pouring over his paints and sketches. You know that warm, orange/red, geranium red ? Any way, hopefully the darker darks will make the reds jump. This is only the first wash to establish the lightest areas.

I haven't posted work in progess before ( too insecure ). If I'm away too long, you'll know I'm still at it. Becca, don't peek.

A plein air (re)treat

Many,many,many THANK YOUs to Susan and Bill Johnson for a wonderful two days at their mountain "getaway" home in western Maryland.

Susan and I were water color students a couple years, well a few, OK a really long time ago at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. Having since kept in contact with a group of plein air artists from Switzerland and France, she and Bill played hosts last week to these artists well as some members of the West Virginia Water Color Society.

Their beautifully unique home was constucted from materials saved from deconstructed buildings. It appears as the builder came upon a treasure he hauled it there and built a room around it. Thus the bell towers and leaded and stain glass windows, oak panels and even kitchen cabinets from a chem lab from a school. Equally charming is the setting. The house is perched along a hill a short walk across a covered bridge from a mountain stream and reservoir. This place is the dream of every artist or other person with even an ounce of imagination.

A picture really is worth a thousand words, esp. when one doesn't speak French ! It was interesting to see the different approaches each artist took to interpret the location. And after a day of painting...ah, the wine, the food, the wine...

Ooops ! Must have been one of my frequent senior moments ! How could I have forgotten that I had done an other floral ! I guess that because it wasn't done super realisticly, I didn't think of it. Still, don't look for me to take over the market on floral paintings .