Now that I've planted that Judy Collins song in your head, here's the latest Baxteriological news:
I've been busy with "office" type stuff, working on some web sites for clients, learning new software (Adobe is abandoning their great web development product GoLive, so I get to learn Dreamweaver now), and doing some long-range planning for my art career. I've been learning how much thought and planning goes into being a painter, and how much attention is required on the business side... Someday I hope to work out a balance between the creative and business sides.
I've also added my mom to the
tribute site to my parents, something I've been meaning to do for three years now. Designers know that working on your own projects is the hardest... no exception here. But it feels good to have them both remembered and out there for all to see. There's a link to it on the bottom of my home page if you want to visit later.
In the meantime I was able to get some easel time in, and the results are on my
new works page. "Contemplating Spring," (above) and "Desiree" (right) are the latest creations.
I was contacted a few months ago by a designer friend who expressed an interest in some of my painting-a-day pictures, and wanted more. So I've been working on that for the last couple of months, and will post images once the commission is fulfilled.
At the end of April I took part in the
"Paint Snow Hill" plein air painting event run by
Bishop's Stock Fine Arts and Fine Crafts gallery in (you guessed it) Snow Hill, MD. It was a fantastic time of reconnecting with painting friends from all over the eastern shore, and getting out in the fabulous weather to paint "en plein air." The best part was having a couple of painters challenge a group of us to meet at a waterfront site and "grab" a sunset. 10 painters were there, starting at 6:45 pm, frantically trying to capture the setting sun on canvas... we had a blast, laughing and joking about how crazy we were to try this, and then admiring the work that came out of the session-some really great stuff. Paintings from the weekend event are on display through May at Bishop's Stock, including three of mine ("Taylor's Landing," above left, "The Gold Nugget," above right, "A Perfect Ending," below left).
Upcoming events include the
Riverbend Plein Air Paint Out event on June 7, and I'll be jurying the
Rehoboth Beach Plein Air Paint Out on the weekend of June 20 (reception and awards ceremony on Sunday, June 22).
Meanwhile, I've become addicted to a site a friend of mine on the "left coast" has set up, called
"Dave the Painting Guy." David R. Darrow is a wonderful guy, a fabulous painter, and a techno-weenie, and has set up a video camera in his studio to broadcast while he paints. There is a chat window next to the video display, so you can "talk" to him while he works. His computer is right by his easel, and he monitors the chat and the broadcast, responding to your comments and questions. He's a great guy, with a wonderful quirky sense of humor. It's a delight to hear him talk about what he's doing, giving away lots of sound advice on the process of painting and how he goes about it. Since he's four hours behind us easterners, you can generally see him during the evening hours. Check out his site at
http://davethepaintingguy.com/.
I painted three paintings over the weekend. "Fields at Porter's Crossing" shows the wonderful farmland in that part of the state, with the colors of spring just sprouting up. "Water Queen," (one of the most painted boats in the area, I think), was a challenge to get her lines just right... but I loved the high contrast of the lights and shadows as the sun was setting. Another sunset painting of pylons left from a long-lost dock and some of the beautiful shore foliage left me hunting for a title for it. I couldn't resist: "Monty Pylons."
