Blue Door #2

4"x 6" original watercolor
SOLD

I was excited about working on this
one today. Great warm blue against
the texture of the stone.
It has a light feel but strong shadows.

I was to help with our local elementary
track meet today but it was to wet. So
I had extra time home this morning. I
started right in on the blog. I also
played around with a sketch for another
commission, ran an errand and painted
some more. Abbey came home and we
are all going to DC tomorrow to help the
kids move into their new apartment. So
there will be no blog tomorrow!

Still Life #14

6"x 4" original watercolor
SOLD

This little painting took much longer
to paint than I planned. While it is a
subject I am very familiar with, it still
takes time to build the color and texture.

I was asked a question...
Don't you run out of subjects?
No I don't. Subjects are all around you.
You just need to slow down and look. I
also do a lot of historical sightseeing and
that helps excite me. I keep a camera
with me in case I see something I want to
reference for later. Also subjects look
different at other times of day and season.
Since I am a realist I am interpreting what
I see. My eye tends to see small parts of
a whole scene and I am drawn to light. It is
hard to get bored when I can paint a variety
of subjects and I like to mix them up daily.

Farm Scene

6"x 4" original watercolor
SOLD

This scene can be found often in my area;
Farmers working in the fields. I have great
respect for their work ethic. This is not
an easy job. I enjoy the patterns of the fields
and the feeling of action or motion.

It was to foggy and wet to ride bike this
morning. I wish I could say I went into
the studio and started painting but I
actually went back to bed and picked up
a few extra hours of sleep. I had a few
house maintenance chores to do. Then I sat at
my desk and started the blog painting. Now at
almost 11pm I am wishing I had stayed at my
desk but I stopped and went in to see my Mom.
Home in time for dinner and then we ran to the
mall to look for pants to go with my suit jacket.
Back home to spend another two hours on the
painting. I was feeling a little rushed to get it
finished, I don't think it looks rushed but I could
easily spent a few more hours on it. I was
inspired by Winslow Homer's genre' scenes.
Although I doubt he was trying to paint one a
day!

Lancaster County Barn

6"x 4" original watercolor
SOLD

I love the red on the barns around
Lancaster County. I went with a
familiar scene for my first blog after
two weeks off...


I am back!! I had so many emails wondering
if anything was wrong. It always surprises
me that there are people paying attention.
No worries, I just had to much to do.
Thursday, May 13 was track leagues. Girls
took 1st place and boys 4th out of 21 teams.
I am so proud of them. So, track is now over;
giving me back several hours a day which Linda
plans to fill! The next morning, Thursday the 14th
we left at 4AM for a 4-day show. It rained 2 of
the 4 days. I returned home Monday, May 18
with all wet show supplies that needed to be
set up and dried. I had a house commission
that I needed to finish so I concentrated on that
instead of using the time to paint a blog. It is
finished and looks great. I look up and it is
Friday, May 22 and I need to set up again for
a 3 day show in Harrisburg, PA. So today I
was determined to get back to the blog. I plan
to get one on everyday this week.

Signs of Spring #10

4"x 6" original watercolor
SOLD

Another inspiration from my neighborhood.
I am told the flowers are pansies. They
have a nice spring color and I enjoyed the
shadows laying across the porch.

I spent my weekend working on my
commission. I did not even stop for a
bike ride. This is a short but busy week
for me. Last two days of track practice,
finishing up with leagues on Wednesday.
Tomorrow I do a demonstration in Lititz.
Thursday we leave for a show. So I need
to get a lot accomplished in two days!

Signs of Spring #9

6"x 4" original watercolor
SOLD

With all the rainy days we have lately
I need any sign of Spring I can get!
One sign is getting out the porch
furniture and setting out the ferns.
I found this scene down the street
from my house. Warm sunshine
against the bricks and a shadow in
the window. Simply a pleasant painting.

I spent most of my day working on my
commission. The client came to watch
my progress, you had better be secure in
your talent to do that! Off to track
practice at 3pm. Back home and the rest of
my night was spent on this blog painting.
It is the glamorous life of a working artist!
I still have a van full of wet tarps and tent
to set up in the yard if the sun ever comes out.

Signs of Spring #8

6"x 4" original watercolor
SOLD

The Daily Painters suggested theme today
is "Celebrating Mom". I was stuck for something
to paint. So I asked Linda to come up with
an idea. I just knew she would go with a flower.
She went out to her garden and came in with
"Bleeding Hearts" as her tribute to mothers.
I think it is an inside joke of some sort because
she kept chuckling to herself. I never paid
much attention to this flower but it is very
delicate. She placed it in an old blue vase and
set it on the windowsill in my studio, creating
a flower stilllife but also a landscape out the
window. As a tribute to the mother of my
child, I painted the Bleeding Hearts with
no fussing at all!

Signs of Spring #7

4"x 6" original watercolor
click here to view eBay auction

On the back roads of Lancaster County
Pennsylvania you can find scenes like
this one. A young farm boy riding his
scooter on a sunny day.


Rain, rain and more rain. That should
sum up my weekend. We returned home
today at 3pm with everything wet...soaked.
I need a sunny day to set up the tent and
dry everything out. We used the camper
so that also needs to be set up and dried.
Not a profitable weekend, it was even to
wet for me to paint so I did not get any work
done. Even track practice was cancelled
which worked out ok for me, after a 5 hour
drive I was tired! I forced myself to get a
blog painted. I did not want to be off schedule.