Painting

My friend, Meredith owns a business in Lexington, KY, called M’s Canvashouse, which supplies hand painted canvas designs and anything else you could need for needlepoint.

She works with all kinds of artists; including Charlie Harper (one of my favorites!) and …..Ken Swinson!

She recently moved to a new building, and needed a painting for her new office! The walls in her office are pink. What better place for ” Here, Birdy birdy”!

I love it when I get to deliver a painting in person (especially big art). It’s very exciting to see my painting in it’s new home.

Thank you Meredith, for supporting my art; bringing it into your home and workplace, collaborating with me, and inspiring me with the possibilities of builidng a successful creative business.

Stitchers! if you haven’t already visited her new shop, pay her a visit the next time you are in Lexington.

Or visit online: www.mscanvashouse.com

It’s a hot sunny day, but I still can’t help stopping at the picture perfect Goddard Covered bridge in Fleming County, Ky.

It’s been awhile since i’ve made a plein air painting. This is a perfect opportunity!

I just finished this portrait of my cat, his name is Here. He’s a sweet cat, but unfortunately, a birder–he’s also lazy, and will try anything to keep from having to work so hard.

The original is a 24×30″ acrylic on canvas. Because of the size, If you live within 100 miles of Maysville, KY. I will hand deliver your painting. if i need to ship by USPS, there is still no charge, but the canvas will be removed from the canvas, and shipped in a tube. UPDATE: the original has found it’s forever home

Prints are also available if you or someone you love is a cat/art lover.

My friend and neighbor gave me an old paint box that was missing a few screws.

I decided to take the easel part from the reat of the box, then mount it on my wall… Yhat way i get adjustable easel features, without legs taking a lot of prexious space in my studio.

The easel can hold a pretty large canvas for example, this 28“ tall canvas fits with room for even larger! (pay no attention to the unfinished painting on the wall)

Today i came to Georgetown, Ohio with a goal of painting US Grant’s Childhood home.

After sketching the front view of the home, i decided that the light wasn’t right for a painting, so i walked around, looking for a better view.

The back of the house had much more interesting light, so i sketched it out, and was surprised that the composition wanted to be a panoramic.

I decided to ignore the bright blue sky, and emphasize the orange bricks and yellow light bouncing off everything

Not only did i get a good painting, but i also met quite a few really nice people, like Vince and Bobbi Shelton, a retired couple (celebrating 50 years of marriage) who are traveling to see all the different homes of the different presidents.

They have been to all except, Obama, Ford, Reagan, Nixon, both Adams and Kennedy…isn’t that a cool project!?!

UPDATE i stayed long enough, the light is where i wanted it, so im going to make my original painting. Stay tuned for updates as they happen

I really love Arkansas! Once I crossed the Mississippi river and Missouri, there was a southern vibe I have never experienced. Armadillos, Cotton Fields, and miles and miles of wheat! Much of the landscape is flat, so I can see for miles and miles.

For my first plein air painting, I chose a giant grain silo. Agriculture is such a big part of this area, and with the land being so flat, the grain silos tower over the towns. I decided to stop in in the town of Corning to paint their grain silo because of the muted primary colors: red, yellow and blue.

I wanted to make a painting to capture the flat landscape of the Mississippi floodplains. Coming from the hills of Kentucky; flat earth takes a little getting used to. Once again, i tried to zoom in, and paint the little farm, far off in the distance

It was a whirlwind trip, but my first time that far west on Us Route 62-I’m looking forward to returning soon to get to know it better and make more art!

Ive been busy today, doing non art chores and getting ready for an upcoming trip, but i wanted to make at least one painting today, so i am at one of my favorite views of maysville. The view from sutton hill. Its cloudy, a grey day, so im going to have a lot of fun with the red roof and the whites of the buildings

The weather forecast has some rain, so im spending the morning in my garden…i dont paint a lot of flowers, but these poppies are too beautiful to ignore.

I almost abandoned this painting, because the weather kept causing interruptions, and it was getting kind of wild, but i finally have it under control, and see a path to finish…its just down to the details. I have a feeling, like most of my challenging ones, it could turn out to be one of my favorites!

Well, that’s a wrap! I stayed dry for the majority of the painting. I tried mixing colors in a way I never have before, and learned a lot with this one…I had some doubts while working, but I think the finished painting is fantastic! I like the dark, rain storm in the top right corner.

To continue celebrating teacher appreciation week, im going to make a painting of this famous kentucky schoolhouse. Heres my sketch-im ready to start painting.

this painting has already found it’s home. You can browse available plein air paintings by visiting my gallery, or clicking here

The fields in Kentucky are covered with a beautiful yellow flower. My goal for today was to paint one of those fields.

While looking for fields, i came across this farm (it does have some yellow field) and decided to paint it instead. I was interested in the way the light was illuminating the red roofs of the barn, and the white of the building

once I got the thumbnail sketch worked out, it was time to paint!

i was so excited about the painting, i forgot to take a photo of the monochromatic underlayer. So here is a photo of the painting as I started to add color.

since i am painting on a regular basis, I have more opportunities to experiment and explore color. I decided to try to paint this scene without using any green.

the colors aren’t true to life, but the subject and light are. My hope is that the painting captures the ‘feeling’ of the place

I’m really pleased with how this painting turned out..AND I learned some new things about color!