Goldfish, at Last...

I have been studying Goldfish for well over a year. My goal was to figure out the shimmers and glimmers of these beauties. Goldfish have a unique shape and they come in many sizes and colors. So after slogging through numerous photos, books and other paintings I was ready to paint these fish myself! I created a background that has the colors of water with plant, light and sunshine affecting the shades. Fun.

After sketching the fish, loosely with a pencil onto the canvas, the moment arrived. All of my theories and techniques came together in a perfect storm and 5 Goldfish appeared on the canvas.. Yes I am joyous, I am happy to look upon my canvas of Goldfish, finally!



Goldfish #1.... 2'x2' Acrylic on canvas.

One Morning In Maine Laboratory...

This piece has been in the works for several months. Inspiration? Simple, I love Maine.


I have been walking on the Rocky Coast for more than 20 years. I was lucky enough to move here in 2001. What a truly beautiful spot, this Maine coastline. On my walks I find funny and interesting things like Heart Rocks, Egg Rocks, Moss and Seaweed, Junky Bottles, Feathers, Sea Glass, Sand Dollars, Urchins, Clam and Mussel Shells and funky pieces of Wire. Most of the pieces in this box I have had stashed away for many years. I found this old junky brown 4' box at a Junk Store and knew that it was indeed the box for my Maine Laboratory. I painted the box to look as if it was also found on the shore, added a glass front and pulled the whole piece together with wire and string. That is it. One of my favorite moments of this piece is the magnifying glass section. It allows one to see up-close a fun Mussel/Barnacle sculpture Neil gave to me last September when we had the magical "Full Moon Week in Harpswell." This piece measures 4'x 15".
CLICK ON ARROW BELOW TO VIEW SLIDESHOW

Branchy Nest...

Branchy Nest was inspired by the color palette I was using when I was working on my Assemblage piece "One Morning in Maine Laboratory".

This very large Nest Painting was painted loosely and more abstract. I have been studying Field guides to Nests mostly because it is very interesting.






I was struck by the amount of energy that truly goes into building a nest and how large some birdies make their nests. Cool fact: Crows nests have an outside diameter of 22-25" and an interior measurement of 10 or so inches. WOW! It is winter in Maine and there is plenty of time to study things of this nature! I like the peaceful, quiet, all is right with the world feeling it seems to evoke. This canvas is 6'x2', it was painted with Golden Acrylics and Glazes.

December POP Art...

December is a busy month for all of us but I was on a mission to finish these pieces before Christmas. Achieved!





I love creating pieces of art that feature my darling fellow and partner Neil. I found an old photo of him para-sailing in Florida. These 2 pieces were inspired by the Warhol series of manipulated photos. This was fun and I loved using the bright primary colors. The energy is as strong as the color palette. This is a mixed media piece: wood substrate, paper, Acrylic paint, Black Grease Pencil, a compass and found words.

Picky Eater, Mixed Media...

My partner Neil is the "inspiration" for this piece entitled "Pickey Eater". Long story short, the inspiration for this piece was the very long list of "forbidden foods". So I have spent months with the seed of this idea. This piece is about 3 feet long. I incorporated: Painting, Drawing, Collage and Assemblage using, Acrylics, Oil Pastels, Pencil, Grease Pencil and an Antique Level & Sorry Game pieces.
The original concept for the style is called "inchies'. The concept is to have inch squares drawn, etched and or painted onto a substrate then images are added, painted and manipulated.

When finished the effect is not unlike an Elemental chart. Somewhat gridded and very graphic.

Nido con Dos Huevos

The last week of October, Art came together in my studio like crazy. I completed three pieces, some of which I had been working on for many weeks. The last of the three is this small sweet piece. Nido con Dos Huevos, or Nest with Two Eggs. It was painted over an image transfer piece I was not particularly smitten with. This nest was painted with many sizes of brushes in translucent layers with Golden Paint transparent acrylics. Two eggs, all cozy in a comfy nest, yes, we are ready for the big and cold Maine winter.

Encaustic Art=Bees Wax+Pigment...

Encaustic art is made by melting wax adding a pigment medium,(color) crushed or prepared and painting on one thin layer at a time. The result is a rich, vibrant, textural piece of art. Using a Heat gun to fuse and manipulate the many layers of brushed on beeswax, etching tools, along with oil pastels and ephemera to create the finished piece is a challenge, but wow is it cool and worth the extra effort.

I have been studying "Encaustic Painting" for almost a year. Books, other Artists and finished pieces in galleries have been my teachers. I was lucky to have been able to take a 3 hour tutorial with a superb artist, Helene Farrar. She answered all of my questions (poor girl I had many) and we created art. It was wonderful. She co-owns a gallery, Cerulean and has recently been asked to place her encaustic work in a high profile location. She was informed, efficient and showed me the ins and outs of Beeswax, materials, chemical reactions the + & - of the medium and we laughed alot. An amazing 3 hours and for me an art changing day.

My imagination is swirling with all of the possibilities. I now have a practical roadmap, know the approach I would like to take and have a vision of the first series of work I will create. It truly feels like a new frontier. I could not be more excited. Absolutely.

This featured piece (my first encaustic endeavor) is inspired by old Japanese brush art and incorporates Ephemra, Layers of Wax, Oil Pastels and much manipulation with the heat gun.
Fun, Fun, Fun...