San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

Friends–it’s been so long since I’ve sent out a post. John and I had a great two weeks in Italy and I’ll be posting some paintings soon. I’m currently working on a 20 x 24 of San Giorgio Maggiore,  working from a similar view  to the one I’ve included. I think this is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It’s on a small island just across from the Piazza San Marco in Venice. And next Saturday I’ll be do a demonstration using the photo of a poppy field. This was in Polignano a Mare, in Puglia (Italy’s heel), where we stayed for 7 nights. I first saw it from the bus as we were heading out for a trip and was so happy when I realized it was in close proximity to our hotel. It’s a beautiful town and I got a number of great views of the Adriatic. Venice is something else altogether!  The canals and beautiful buildings reflecting in them are really magical. The crowds, huge cruise ships, and smell of the water is not so magical and we were glad not to be there in hot weather. But it is a place truly worth seeing at least once. Hope to do a number of paintings from the trip.

Poppy field, Puglia

Spring Azaleas, 14 x 11 UART 400

I’m really not a spring painter– I’m not a big fan of pink! But after this past winter, spring is very much appreciated.  We had an opening at Capitol Arts Network last Friday for the show “A Burst of Color”. I needed to work on something while I was there, so I took a photo of my front walk and painted it. (Some of my students will have seen this view before). I took some liberties. There is no bush in the foreground (we lost that one). I had it painted in with deep reddish pinks, then realized it was identical to the bushes on the left. So I added oranges to it. Then added some orange in the background to balance it. I tried to make a pattern with the whites to lead the eye back into the picture, around and up into the dogwood.

Looking at this now, the paved walk seems too large for the size of the bushes.   I may need to make changes in it.

I like the overall composition, however, and have filmed it a number of times. It’s the one place I can get a picture without any houses showing up.  I really don’t live in the middle of an azalea preserve!

We leave for Italy next Tues. so I don’t expect any more blog posts for awhile. For anyone in the area, I’ll be giving a demonstration (probably an Italy photo) at Colorwheel Gallery 65 in McLean on Saturday June 7, 2-4.  I’d love to see you!!!

Happy spring. The 80’s are coming tomorrow and this may be the end of it.

Kwanzan Cherries, Clarksburg, 14 x 11 UART 400

It was a lovely sunny day when I was grocery shopping this morning and I looked forward to getting outside for the first time. But, alas, by the time I’d found something to paint, the sky was totally overcast. I did as I often do, driving out of the driveway, having no idea of my destination!  I ended up in Clarksburg on Burnt Hill Rd–a lovely rural area with a humongous housing development 1 mile away!

I drove over a hill and saw this and knew this was my subject. I wanted to do something with spring colors, and I loved the flow of the road and the shape of the roof.  The big challenge was the two cherry trees because they could become very isolated color. To offset this, I added magenta in the foregrounds grasses, the road, the background trees and in the shadow areas of the house. Also used come cool reds in the chimney, so that it would be more compatible. The greens looked so bright outside, but became duller when I brought the picture inside, which was fine with me. I wanted it to have a painterly look  and not be too shocking. I see some things I probably should have changed, such as the  background trees and roof being at the same level. The greens in the foreground also look quite similar to those in the background. However, I was freezing and I didn’t have a pencil and (can I find any more excuses???).  Ah well.  Not too bad for the first one.