New Studies for Larger Paintings

 Lucca, Italy Market Scene

approx. 5 x 8

$175.00 (unframed)

I'm finding that small-scale paintings are a great way to work out design and value details before starting large studio pieces. They often end up being fresher, too. I generally work 5 x 8 and after I photographing them, most are framed and delivered to galleries. This one, a Sunday morning market scene from Lucca, Italy was just completed.

Travel Postcards

    A few years ago I began painting and mailing postcards to myself when I traveled overseas. It's so much fun to come home from a trip, and a few days later, receive a reminder of a particular moment. Plus, it's fun to have a collection of foreign stamps. The card above is one that I painted while in France.
     Before leaving home, I cut a few "postcard" size pieces (4.5" x 6.5") of Arches 300lb paper. I always go to an overseas post office to verify mail cost and I've never had a problem mailing them. They've always arrived home none-the-worse-for-wear, even though I don't seal the paper in any way. I suppose if the mailman delivers them in a pouring rain though, there might be a problem.
     In October I'm traveling to Italy and am thinking of offering to paint and mail a postcard to folks that pre-purchase. The price would be $30 per card (a real deal for an original piece of art!) If you're interested, send me an email!

7 a.m. on 5th Street

     Most artists agree that early morning is a beautiful time to capture a scene. Occasionally on Sunday mornings, I'll head out with my camera and a coffee in search of an interesting subject for my "next watercolor". As I drove through a neighborhood near downtown Roanoke, I happened to glance to the left and saw the sun shining on the fronts of these closely lined up houses. A very unassuming scene, made magical because of the light.
     I exaggerated it a bit more, as we artists are apt to do. Salt and sprays of water helped me achieve the texture of the road. Overall size is 13 x 20. I'm happy to say this painting won an Award of Distinction in the 2012 Virginia Watercolor Society show, and an Award of Merit in the Virginia Highlands Juried Exhibition.

The Joy of Sketching

     Make no mistake, I love creating full-scale studio watercolor paintings, but it's my travel sketchbooks that are dearest to my heart.
     I create my own by cutting down sheets of watercolor paper into manageable page sizes (6x8 or so) and have them spiral bound at the local office supply store. To me, each trip warrants its own sketchbook... sometimes it's 6 pages, sometimes it's 20. I wait to decorate the cover once I'm home and have time to reflect on the flavor of the trip.
     Here's a peek at a sketchbook I completed last fall in Italy. It's 7.5" x 8" and has 18 pages. The cover is white mat board that I covered with an old piece of rice pager and then painted and glued the circular design on the cover. (That design was inspired from a beautiful ceramic table top that I saw in a shop.)