Finally Painting Big

Here is a painting of the inn, the Moulin du Chapitre in Soreze, France. I just finished it. It is the biggest watercolor I have ever done. It is 20" by 28". It was time to work big. I really wanted to make paintings that could hang on walls and be seen from a distance. So, I bought some stretcher bars and soaked my paper then stapled it to the stretcher bars. When I finished the painting, I varnished it with a brush and some special varnish for watercolors. It isn't perfect but I learned a lot and want to continue to make some more big paintings. What do you think?

Daughter and Friends

I swore I would never take my child to Mac Donalds, never brag about her and never bore my friends with photos. That was before I gave birth. Now, I cannot believe how proud I am of my daughter and how much I enjoy watching her grow up. So, I am breaking my promise and posting these recent pictures from the high school homecoming dance. So, this post has really nothing to do with watercolor, except, that I should be painting now.

Blue Doors Come In All Shapes and Sizes

So I was wandering around this charming little French town called St. Felix and saw many beautiful doors. These blue doors seem to come in all shapes and sizes and each one is more beautiful and paintable then the next. I will post the paintings these doors inspire as soon as I paint them.

Gwen Gibson's Work from the France Workshop

These watercolor paintings were done by Gwen Gibson, the owner of La Cascade. She has worked with many different art forms and is now revisiting pen and ink plus watercolor. She was a joy to have participate in my workshop and I love the composition and spontaniety of her work. She draws beautifully and has a great sense of how to simplfy her subject matter.

Mint Green is a Good Color for a Door, Don't Ya Think?

Just finished this watercolor sketch. It is painted on a piece of Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper. I really liked the feel of this paper and how the paint flowed onto it. I had a really good photo to work from taken by Eileen Condon (see previous post). Her photo had great shadows to copy. I must admit sometimes the photos I take don't have great shadows so I make them up. So, what do you think?

Check Out Eileen Condon's Paintings from My Recent Workshop

One of the best things about my job as an art instructor is watching my students blossom into incredible artists. These paintings are the work of Eileen Condon, a wonderful world traveling artist who resides in Boston. She loves to journal when she travels and did these paintings to accompany her words during my recent workshop in France. I think she captured the feelings, colors and essence these subjects she found in the small villages in France. Did I mention she is a great photographer as well?
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Wall in the Garden of Moulin du Chapitre B & B

Sitting in a sun-lit garden outside of a wonderful b & b called Moulin du Chapitre in Soreze, France, I tried to capture this wonderful aged wall. I painted a thumbnail size painting and recorded all of the colors I observed and mixed up colors to match what my eye saw. Usually, when you return home from a trip, unless you've noted the colors on location, you can't duplicate the exact colors in your studio painting. This is my attempt, let me know what you think.