Inspired by a whole year of plein air painting in my Mathews, Virginia home; my new collection, Right in My Own Back Yard, opens today at The White Dog Inn.

Each painting portrays a different location in Mathews, painted at a particular time of day and day of the year. The Collection  includes views of Bethel Beach, Chapel Creek, Haven Beach, Misty Cove, New Point, Put In Creek and more.

Pictured here are; top, Island in the Sun, oil, Bethel Beach Preserve, $1500 and bottom, Tide Coming In, oil, Bethel Beach, $500 .

The White Dog Inn is open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday. Reservations are accepted. 804-725-7680

The Coffee Bistro at The White Dog is open Monday through Friday from 7 to 11. (continue reading…)

I have had this vision of The Winery in my mind’s eye for some time now ~ at least a year or two! I had taken photos, but I didn’t want to rely on painting from them. Somehow being there is so much more powerful. Last night proved me right about that. This is not exactly what I had envisioned … in many ways it is so much more!

I had had a very busy day; a list of thing to do, paintings to deliver, install, wet paintings, damaged one in the process, a meeting in Williamsburg, finish making prints, load the van with paintings, unload paintings, load painting gear… Finally, it  was 5:30 and it was time to paint. The sun was still high and very hot. I scouted for a place that would be cool. None to be found.

I wanted to get started on my Conservation project: to paint all of the landscapes protected by The Williamsburg Land Conservancy. I have had THIS vision of the earth in my mind’s eye for nearly five years. Now it was finally time to start. I have done a lot of preparing for this; honing my painting skills, painting on location non-stop for the last year, in all kinds of temperatures, rain, cloudy and hot sun. Today, I went for the painting in my mind’s eye. To begin the series at The Winery seemed the right place to start. (continue reading…)

Three Steps to Composing a Good Painting

In the process of painting Song of the Robin, I let Mother Nature work her magic on me. Initially, there were many things which attracted my eye to this subject. I will show you how I worked through a simple process to discover the painting.

1.  Ask yourself a key question. What is it which is attracting your eye and KEEPING your attention?

You can see from the photo of the garden, there is lots going on here. In addition to the obvious; two stunning hydrangeas, two sculptural crepe myrtles, the iron gate, daylilies and pathway ~ each time the sun came out from behind the cloud, everything changed! To create a painting from all this inspiration ~ I would have to be selective. “What is it you really want to talk about here,” I asked myself. (continue reading…)