Helen's Grove

"Helen's Grove," Acrylic on Panel, 12x9"

A dear friend of mine wanted to buy one of my paintings (below).  Unfortunetly, it had already sold, so I decided to make her another.  I didn't look at the original painting for color reference and it's  interesting to see the different choices I made in this version. It's almost the inverse of the first. I also found it interesting to see how my technique had changed since I painted the first -- more translucence and layered colors.

Red Tree

"Red Tree," Acrylic on Board, 30x40"

It seems that every time I finish an oil painting, I feel the need to do one in acrylic w/extra bright colors.  It's hard to tell in the small version, but this one is an homage to woodcut.

Look Left

"Look Left," Oil on Board, 20x16"

I'm continuing to develop my work in oils.  I think this is the best so far, though I'm not totally happy with the likeness (Meghan again).  The danger (for me) about oils is that I feel like I can always go back to it later, so I don't think of any of them as 'finished'.   This isn't particularly rational, since I can  always go back to the acrylics too, but somehow, it doesn't feel the same.  One of these days I'll declare one of the oil paintings done and sign it.

Ineffable Violet

"Ineffable Violet," Acrylic on Board, 48x36"

I started this painting before I went out of town (visiting my sister in NYC) and it was hard to resume.  I'm much better when I can keep working on a painting without any long break until it is finished -- especially a big one.  It came out better than I thought it would mid-process.  This view is from Laguna Gloria.  I liked how the dock blended in to the water (which wasn't by the way, actually violet).

Echoes

"Echoes," oil on board, 16x20"

I forgot about my blog for the last week, so I thought I should try to get back on the wagon.  I find all of the social media overwhelming.  For every painting I finish I have the option of blogging, tweeting, instagram-ing, or posting to Facebook about it.  I suppose I could link them all, so I could post once and it shows up on most of the sites, but then do I end up spamming the people I want to engage? Sigh.

In any case, here's my latest.  The workshop I took a couple of weeks ago whetted my appetite for oil painting, so I've been experimenting.  The colors are much more subtle, I think, though I suspect I could get the same effect in acrylic if I tried.  Maybe I'll experiment with two similar paintings, one in each medium, and see which I like better.

This painting was inspired by a drive through Bastrop on the way back from Houston last month.  I hadn't seen the devastation created by the fire before and it was striking.  As someone who loves trees, this was particularly sad.  Drought or scary amounts of rain....which is better?