Back in April I I started this industrial landscape. I love the hulking steel monuments of Johnstown, how they loom over the river landscape, shadows of their former fiery presence. This is 20" x 16" acrylic on canvas. First draft: in some ways I still love this the way it is. But I have such …
Following the BreadCrumb Trail
In October I joined the free 'Breadcrumbs' class from Art2Life. For five days we had live Zoom calls with painter Nicholas Wilton and his team, an incredibly generous offering. Over five days Nick led us on a journey along our own trail of breadcrumbs. With a thematic question each day, I headed into the unknown: …
A New Art Year
This week I’m spending more time on wrangling equipment and processes, instead of getting paint on paper. But, I am scaling up! My latest 12 x 18" paintings feel too small. Assembling this new easel took a whole afternoon! But the result is satisfying. I debated build-your-own vs. purchase, and chose to buy this studio …
Some days I flounder, some days I glide
For the past few days I’ve been wrangling my newest work into a ‘book.’ It’s over 25 painted 12x 18” pages, the final product of the SPARK workshop I did in November. I’ve pushed out so much art and moved through new ideas and methods... it’s dizzying! I’m wrapping up today having tried & failed …
Living my Art-Spirit Nature
A new calendar year brings the feeling of a fresh start, of an inauguration, a setting sail, that's uplifting and hopeful. I'll take all of those ideas and add them to my heart's momentum for this year ahead. And declare this intention. I intend to live fully into my Art Spirit Nature. Art Spirit Nature …
Rocks in the River
This weeks painting adventure is along the Stonycreek River in Somerset County, PA. I’m working on letting go of my dependence on realism. It’s continuing to be a challenge. Stony Creek River #1: stage 1 Off to a good start- painting the energy and heat of the rocks and the river that scattered them. Late …
Letting go of Realism
1. June Lake No.1 This past weekend I went in search of a natural swimming hole & came upon the Quemahoning reservoir. Such stunning landscape! After a deeply satisfying ( and chilly!) swim, I set out to paint in a new direction. I’ve heard variations on this suggestion from several sources. Basically: “Let go of …
Turtle Tale
After success with the “blob painting” technique I wanted to go a step further. The delight of blob painting is what shows up, like images in the clouds. Starting a larger piece on better paper, my initial blobs were without intent, just color and movement. I don’t have a photo of that stage, but you …
It’s poetry month
I'm at my computer these days, and that's pretty normal for me. I was in search of music for doing tedious financial work, and stumbled upon an ambient composer I had never heard before. Under the video there were the most extraordinary comments. I wandered in one thread and came upon this: The future is …
SeriousHealth Business
I'm morbidly obese. I've tried every diet and food plan known. Sometimes I'm successful, for a while. I'm unable to walk now, due to degenerating bones in my right knee, and at 63 I'm getting worried about an early departure. So starting today, this blog will chronicle my journey forward into diet, fitness, health, aging, …