Babcock Ranch, Montana

I spent a week at the Montana ranch of friends, Dixie and Vose Babcock this past September. What a awesome experience! Dixie was the perfect painting hostess, driving her Polaris to all corners of the ranch finding the best views to paint, and packing picnics and wine to be shared between paintings. Here are a few of paintings done that week:

Florida Land Trust Paintout "The Bartrum Trail"

Painting the Region's "Bartrum Trail" Paintout October 2009 benefiting North Florida Land Trust provided a great variety of painting opportunities throughout the small communities located along the St. John's River. Alpine Groves Historical Park, located in Switzerland, Florida (about 30 miles South of Jacksonville) was the center of activity with an old cracker house as the wetroom and gallery.

Here are some of the paintings I completed over a period of three days in October.

Florida's Forgotten Coast Paint Out

The Paint Out for Florida's Forgotten Coast was an event to remember. Painting for ten full days for up to 14 hours a day resulted in 17 finished paintings for the Gala Patrons Reception on Saturday, May 16th.








I stayed in a private home in Historic Apalachicola. There are so many assessable, picturesque subjects and places to paint. The most difficult part of this trip was deciding on what to paint. I wanted to paint everything!









The people were friendly, interested, and helpful. The talent and dedication of the other artists was inspiring! The event was one of the best I had ever taken part in, and I am anxious to return.

Plein Air Florida & Avon Park Paint Out

I had two pieces accepted into The Museum of Florida Art and Culture Plein Air Show this past month in Avon Park, Florida.

"Bill Cone's Pasture" and "Calm Sunday". I also painted the next day in the plein air event...no prizes, but a lot of fun!

Workshop with Lois Griffel

I am taking a workshop this week with Lois Griffel in Sarasota, Florida (through The Southern Atelier). She is a master on painting in the style of the impressionists, and on color theory. Most of this information is very new to me, as I have never before studied color theory (at least not in this fashion). It was a bit confusing at first, but I opened my mind, and got some interesting results! We are painting in the "Mable's Rose Garden" at the Ringling Residence. There are so many roses, it is insane! I can't wait to try some of these techniques in tomorrow's class!

Lois had the class do "block studies" one morning...It was a great lesson. One I plan on passing onto my students, for certain!

SPRAA "Paint the Town"

SPRAA's Paint the Town in St. Petersburg, FL. was a fantastic event this year. There were so many wonderful places to paint. Met up with Susie Covert at 7 am and chose Passe-Gril to paint the first day. The light was all filtered, but we had a great day, walking along the beach and picking up a few shells before settling in to paint the sailboats behind the marina.

After a quick lunch, we painted the colorful cottages along the center of town, where we met up with the town cat who kept us company throughout the afternoon! Heading off of the Island, we detoured into Fort Desoto Park where we each picked a spot on either side of the causeway to paint the evening light along the water's edge. We finished just as the sun was setting and headed home across the Skyway with a spectacular sunset to finish off a perfect painting day!

Other areas I painted included the Salt Creek Boatyard, Historic St. Petersburg Neighborhood, and North Beach at Fort Desoto National Park.


Anyone interested in finding out more about SPRAA (St. Petersburg Representational Artist Association) can visit their website: www.spraa.com. It is only $25.00 a year to join, and the paintout every year is so much fun. Lots of great people and great art. This year's show is at Finn Gallery.

(My little painting "Evening Waders" received an "Honorable Mention"!)

Don Demers, Mary Erickson Workshop

Last week I had the pleasure of painting and learning with old friend and painting buddy, Mary Erickson, and her mentor, Don Demers. The weather was a bit chilly the first day, so us students watched Mary and Don paint demos of local scenes of Venice, Florida from memory. Mary could paint scenes of the Venice beaches blindfolded, I think. She knows the landscape there better than anyone I know. Don managed to keep up with her, however; with a surf filled painting of the North jetties. After lunch, we went out to the beach for some hands on painting.

Day two we met out at the beach at 7 am for the sunrise. Don and Mary both gave demos later that morning. Don's demo of a palm tree along a beach path, and Mary gave an excellent demo relating to the unique structure of palm trees.









Day three we met at Spanish Point. Here, Don gave a demo in drawing accurately with a brush, and then painting. His demo was of the old boat builder's shack. Students painted in the afternoon. I painted the old Gutpill House.












Day four started with another sunrise paint out at 7 am. Afterwards, we went over to Higel Park to watch both Mary and Don paint demos of a sailboat, then the afternoon was spent back at Venice Art Center working on finishing our plein air pieces from memory and using all students and instructors plein air work as reference.

Finally, we ended back at Mary's for pizza, beer and wine. It was a great workshop, I learned a lot, had fun, and met some interesting and talented artists.

Class Notes February 23, 2009

We have been enjoying absolutely beautiful weather this winter at the Ringling and Powel
Crosley Estates in Sarasota. Here is a demo using a limited palette of White, Yellow Ochre Pale, Cadmium Red, and Black:


I am amazed each week with the dedication and enthusiasm every student has for learning.
It is inspiring to be with them! Here are a few pictures of students hard at work (but having fun, too!):

Paint Out In Paradise, Venice Florida

Yesterday was the first day of "Painting in Paradise".
The town is lovely, friendly, and picturesque. The beaches
are beautifully preserved and the water is the most awesome
shade of turquoise. It is a painters paradise, and I had one of
the most invigorating, relaxing, productive days ever.
I got off to a later start than I had hoped, not setting up my easel
until just after ten o'clock, but I managed to get a small painting
of the pier done before noon.




After a leisurely lunch down at Higel Park, I wandered around downtown until I stumbled upon a little bungalow located off a side street and tucked in behind larger houses. The afternoon sun was perfect, and I set up to paint just aftertwo o'clock. Finishing around 3:30, I packed up and headed for the pier once again.

Setting up on the beach down by the water's edge, I painted "Sharkey's"(a restaurant). It's outdoor seating beneath palm tiki huts and large coconut palms provided a fun, tropical picture, and a perfect ending to a "perfectly paintable" day.







The last day of the paintout I decided to paint at Historic Spanish Point. It is a beautiful place to paint. I took the morning to walk around before deciding to paint the the bouganvilla growing up around the columns at the pergola. A soft breeze came off the water, keeping the sun from getting too hot. It was a fantastic morning. I painted two different views, and decided to put one into the show for the judging.