Betsey Nelson-Full Sun

Betsey Nelson - Full Sun 12x9 oil $625
This is a quick start-painting. I usually work on something with a lot if intensity and get almost done (or done). I then leave the piece and come back with a fresh eye and try to clean up, strengthen or restate. Sometimes it needs nothing but a signature.

Carol Marine - "Standout"

Carol Marine - "Standout" - 6x6in. - buy, $100

Recently my friend Qiang Huang, another daily painter, gave me several sheets of thin blue plastic that I taped to the front of my "daylight" spotlight lamp (a fairly yellow light, even though it's called daylight). This turns the light almost completely white - near enough - which I am really enjoying! If this is something you'd be interested in, Qiang's 10-yr-old son is selling them - just go to Qiang's blog and click on North Light Filter.

Carol Marine -

Vince Fazio -"Sisters"

Oil on canvas 10x10 NFS

This was done on Father's Day and depicts my daughters on a recent trip to Lawrence KS. A gift to my Dad - Happy Father's Day!

Betsey Nelson-Patient and Pretty

Betsey Nelson-Patient and Pretty oil 12x9 NFS
This is an end of the day start for a painting for tomorrows work session.
I often end a studio day (or plein air day) with a quick sketch for the next day.
It gets me right back into the game for the next day. Sometimes coming into the studio fresh with nothing on the drawing board so to speak makes it harder to get into the mood to paint.
This start is simple with no detail yet has all the information any painting needs. The challenge will be to keep it fresh and still do all that needs to be done.

Carol Marine - "Apple Pie?"

Carol Marine - "Apple Pie?" - 6x6in. - bid

This is one of my favorites of what I've done lately. I did a larger painting too with a similar theme for my opcoming solo show at the Wally Workman Gallery (opening July 11th).

Adele Earnshaw "The Other Side of the Fence"

I've been painting lots of cows lately. This oil is only 6" x 6". I find small pieces easy to paint...they aren't as demanding!

Libby Caldwell-Journal Pages of New York 2

Another illustration in the hand made journal I took with me to New York in May. On my way to the Museum of Modern Art, I passed this hot dog stand, and was attracted to the light shining through the bottles.

Adele Earnshaw - "Chow Down"

This quick 6" x 8" painting really qualifies as a 'painting a day' as it only took an hour or two.
It's hard to paint pups without it being 'cute', so I put my emphasis on my warm/cool colors and used the long shadows for a strong composition.

Vince Fazio "Riverside Park NYC"

Oil on canvas 10x10 $125

An evening walk at Riverside Park on the upper west side.

Please Email me for purchase information.

Adele Earnshaw "Blue River Valley"

One of my favorite places to paint is in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where I spend a lot of time each summer. This 8 x 10 oil is of the Blue River Valley near Frisco.

I used a pre-gessoed panel, then painted another coat of rough gesso over it. If my painting surface is too smooth, I end up 'noodling' (getting hung up on the detail). This rough surface forces me to keep the painting loose.

Libby Caldwell - Journal Pages of New York

This is an illustration in the hand made journal I took with me to New York in May. As I was walking over the Brooklyn Bridge I took a photograph looking to my right, of this skyline, and used that photo as reference for this ink and watercolor illustration.

Betsey Nelson- Two Boats

Betsey Nelson - Two Boats 9x12 oil NFS
This is a start that i like and will go back to work on. If successful i will post the finished piece or successive steps to the finished piece. The intent of the piece has (thus far) been achieved. I was attempting to get the feel of dappled light on the two boats. As a painting gets worked and reworked the first steps of the painting,the start, can be destroyed in later stages. The artist can lose sight of the original intent and become engrossed in some insignificant parts/part usually only appearing on the artists radar and not at all important to the bigger picture. It can become just a figment of the artists obsession and on the larger scale insignificate to the viewer. This is one of the reason the student (and that would be all of us) needs to STEP BACK and view the painting as a whole.

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Carol Marine - "Olive Shot"

Carol Marine - "Olive Shot" - 6x6in. - sold

I have to admit I hate olives. But I LOVE painting them! Color-wise, I tend to be drawn to complimentary colors a lot, but also often colors near each other on the color wheel, like the green of the olives and the turquoise background. I particularly like this combination.

Adele Earnshaw - "Promise of a Hot Day"

This 8" x 10" oil was done plein air while on a painting trip in north San Diego county, California. I was painting with my friend and fellow SAC instructor, Joe Garcia (come to our workshop in Italy next September!). We started early in the day and went to one of our favorite painting spots. I found the most perfect motif and had just started the painting when an official looking truck arrived on the scene. The driver rolled down his window and asked, 'do you realize you are tresspassing?'. It seems we were painting on a 43,000 acre privately owned 'irrigation district'. It was ten in the morning before we found another perfect place to paint - and by then the sun was intense and the shadows had shortened.

When I'm painting plein air, searching for just the right motif, I often think of the French impressionists who walked, loaded with their painting gear, yet managed to find very paintable landscapes. Yet some days I can drive for twenty miles and not find quite the right spot.