What a summer!

There have not been many paintings.

I did paint, and go to the studio almost every day, but I have nothing to share here. I made piles of studies, and a few large messes. My dear friend John would say that this is a good thing. He says that this frustration and disapproval of my own work will be followed by a huge breakthrough. I hope so.

In preparation, I made a trip to Des Plains, to Owl Lumber and picked up some nice birch plywood. I have been busy with shellac and rabbit skin glue, and have several panels ready to go. My dilemma and one thing holding me up, is size. I love to paint big, but my studio is crowded with large unsold pieces. So, I am going a bit smaller. I have a few 20x30 pieces that will probably get paint first.

I have to apologize for the state of my blog. Between all of the deaths, Autumn's stroke, the many losses from every direction. I have been distracted for a few years now. I have really had a hard time moving on. So...

Rick and I went to Burning Man a few weeks ago. It was one of the greatest experiences ever.

New England Adventure

Am back from Boston- got back Tuesday. Wow, what a long drive- 17 hours just a little too long to make in one day alone.

The show was nice, New England was gorgeous and the Barn was quaint. Only sold 3 pieces, but my work was very well received- I was honored to be invited. It was slow for all of the artists there this year. I suspect that it is the housing market and the price of gasoline. Not to mention that in that part of the country, most homes are heated with fuel oil, which is more expensive than it has ever been.

I stayed with friends while I was there, which was great. Really getting some time to sit down and talk- and hug in the real world. :-)

I even met someone on the way home, and he gave me a little something to remind me of the trip- a souvenir . I am adding his picture too.

Another view of Newburyport.

this painting went together pretty fast. I started it yesterday and finished it today. I love it when paintings go together as easily as this one did. Though I will still be working on it some, the lights in the foreground, and the sidewalk are too bright, so I will be fixing that.

My two newest paintings

I am really happy with the way that these new street scenes turned out. My two newest paintings are both 24x24, Oil on linen on panel. They are of Newburyport MA. On my recent week long to Rob Howards's studio for the much talked about "Free-for-All" , Leslie Sealey and I did sneak out one afternoon to go sight seeing and picture taking in a nearby port town.

We had a great time, even though we were walking around all grubby from being painters all day. (it did get the tourists to move out of our way:-) I will remember that afternoon for a long time. (and the martinis that we found too) I have several more paintings of Newburyport coming. Stay tuned.