"Field in Burgundy", 12 x 16 In, Oil on Museum Board
This was a field close to the chateau where we stayed in France--beautiful rolling hills with old stone houses.
"Field above Cormatin", 4.5 x 4.5 In, Watercolor
This is a first for me in many, many years--watercolor. I think I haven't painted a watercolor for maybe 20 years. We sat up on the hillside on one of the beautiful days and played with a very limited set of colors. I felt like a kid having fun without any thoughts of how I should be doing it.
"Daisy Study", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board NFS
Painted in the back of the Chateau where we stayed in Angoin, this still life was another painting started with transparent washes. Some of them I just left there. I've known for a long time, but have not worked on it significantly enough, that leaving transparencies showing in the painting gives it a quality that is lost when every inch is covered with thicker paint.
"Bridge at Angoin", 12 x 16 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is the second painting I did on the cloudy/rainy day in Angoin using mainly transparent washes to start and not going far beyond that. It is unusual for me to paint so deliberately though it probably doesn't look particularly deliberate!
"House Gate at Angoin", 12 x 16 In, Oil on Museum Board
For two weeks in May I painted around a small town in Burgundy, France at a workshop. I experimented with a different approach, mainly starting the oil painting with a water color like wash.With this painting I didn't actually go far beyond the wash, so it was an interesting contrast in approach to my usual thick paint brush load. The skies were overcast much of the time, so this painting was full of grays.
"Zangle Cove", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
Sometimes I want to close my eyes and paint--not just in my imagination, but with paint actually coming onto the canvas. Maybe it is a kind of physical/mental metaphor for painting without having any thoughts about how it should be done--those thoughts that are so hard to get rid of. This is a 10 minute painting done from the view out the back of my house "with my eyes closed."
"Self Portrait", 16 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
I have done many self portraits and mostly I toss them. I'd be interested to know how others work with this subject--I always seem to manage to have a lot of anxiety when I approach it.