Blog

Welcome to my blog! Although I’ve been sharing back-stories, announcements, and insights online for a number of years, I make no promises since I’d rather be painting than writing about painting any day. Still, I’ll update this area from time-to-time. And so here we are. If you’d like to have future posts show up in your inbox, please visit this page to subscribe. I hope you’ll enjoy what you read here and as always I look forward to connecting with collectors and art-lovers who visit!

collaboration, creativity, events, exhibits, Landscape, ocean, Oil Painting, skies, waterscapes collaboration, creativity, events, exhibits, Landscape, ocean, Oil Painting, skies, waterscapes

Checking In After a Summer Filled with Art Activities

It’s been a while since I took the time to write here, and I have things to catch you up on! What have I’ve been doing for the past nine months? So much… especially on the art front. I’ve been in two different art shows with an exciting group of artists called the 50+ Artist’s Community... meaning everyone in the group is over 50 years old.

I was also a participant in a show at

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challenges, change, creativity, emotions, inspirations, learning, ocean, palette knife, poetry, skies challenges, change, creativity, emotions, inspirations, learning, ocean, palette knife, poetry, skies

Creating a painting, step by step. The frustrations and the rewards.

I have been asked recently about one of the pieces I painted for the CCL show. It’s the one that’s 14 inches wide and 60 inches long and is entitled ‘Light Shot with Birds’. The poem by Betty Adcock is entitled Topsail Island and the line is “For now, the island’s mine, talking a cold tongue blue, the light shot with birds.” Don’t you just love that poetry line? I would love to create a whole series of paintings just using that one line; to me it’s so extraordinary.

So I decided I would write about and show you how that painting came into being, once I had

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abstract, announcements, challenges, creativity, events, exhibit, inspirations, new, Oil Painting, process, skies, technique abstract, announcements, challenges, creativity, events, exhibit, inspirations, new, Oil Painting, process, skies, technique

As promised 'A Pale Blue Dot' finished and on display.

As promised, an image of the final painting is included here, at the bottom of this post. BUT I want to tell you something that I'm really excited about, as I've contemplated the progress and completion of this painting. Although my painting is filled with a large expanse of blue, I also included dark at the top and side to represent distant space. And in distant space, nothing shows up clearly. Instead, what does that look like? 

Here's a photograph I found back in December,

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challenges, inspirations, Oil Painting, process, skies challenges, inspirations, Oil Painting, process, skies

In-process painting, inspired by Carl Sagan quote, planned for "Visual Spirituality Show"

My second painting for The Creative Center's "Visual Spirituality Show" isn't nearly as completed as the one in my post Jeffrey Dunne's beach sunrise photo inspired my newest oil painting. Here's what I'm using to accompany this painting, called 'A Pale Blue Dot', a part of a Carl Sagan quote, which will be posted beside it in the show. 

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creativity, emotions, exhibit, inspirations, nature, photography, process, skies, sunrises creativity, emotions, exhibit, inspirations, nature, photography, process, skies, sunrises

Jeffrey Dunne's beach sunrise photo inspired my newest oil painting

I'm a morning person. If I sleep past nine o'clock I feel I've 'lost' a whole day. Fortunately, I have a Facebook friend in Florida who is a 'real deal' morning person. He gets up before daybreak every single day of the year to be on the beach at dawn and photograph the arrival of the morning. He shoots hundreds of shots, then returns home to edit the work. Afterward he puts three to twelve of his best shots on FB before eight am. WOW! He generously asks his friends to use, or copy the ones they like or want. 

I want to show you one he recently posted.

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