My New Blog

I'm new to blogging so I've decided to give it a try. Although I'm retired, I work in my studio as a full-time artist. At times I ask myself why I feel it necessary to spend a good part of most days creating art? I have been painting since the early 1980's, so it seems natural to me to be painting. I find when I'm not painting, I feel out of sync somehow. It is quite a commitment trying to manage my time between working in the studio, managing the business aspects of being a professional artist and balancing this with an active social life, exercise, and household demands.

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Hi Everyone! My latest oil painting, “The Lobby,” is completed, framed and delivered to the Woodfield Fine Art Gallery in St. Petersburg, Fl.  This large format piece of 30" x 40" with multiple figures and architectural elements was challenging. The lighting effect presented a challenge as well, but I was pleased with the overall glow achieved. As in my other paintings, I like that the figures seem detached from each other even though they share the same space. Most are absorbed in their cell phones, caught up in their own separate worlds.  One of my favorite artists, Edward Hopper, explored similar themes in his work. I recommend what I feel is the definitive biography on the artist, “Edward Hopper, An Intimate Biography,” by Gail Levin. It’s an in depth look into his artistic development and also deals with his private life and times.   It contains color reproductions of his most famous pieces as well. Last week's topic for my class “Simple Steps to...
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This past Friday I had the pleasure to work with a delightful group who attended my "Capture the Moment" painting workshop. The class took place at the Beach Art Center (BAC) in Indian Rocks Beach, FL. The center is spacious, bright and cheerfully decorated with member's colorful & skillfully done artworks. It was my pleasure to share my painting techniques with this enthusiastic group, who plunged into the day's exercises with gusto. Because my work focuses on the figure, I selected an image I'd taken of one of my models for student's to use as a reference photo for their paintings. The day was divided into three sections, with artist's demos at each stage before moving ahead to the next step. Each class member had a finished painting by day's end. I was delighted with the results! Everyone did a great job and their paintings reflected their own style while incorporating the techniques we'd focused on. Kudos to this talented group! I t...
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On the Easel Currently working on quite a large piece featuring several figures. It's a slow process, developing each figure by first laying in the tones with bristle brushes, then repeating the process again with softer brushes. I've been working on this one now for a few weeks. Before beginning this painting, I made some new changes to my studio, adding a large monitor screen to better view my reference photos. Above are some progressive photos of my progress thus far. Standing up at the easel is very tiring. I simply cannot paint in a seated position. I often loose track of how long I've been on my feet because I'm so absorbed in painting. Thankfully I took a gym break today (as I do most days) to do some yoga. It felt wonderful and energized me to work on the piece a bit more later. new monitor
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