"en Plein Air"

With the heat of summer now finally over, I've been having a great time going out and painting "en plein air" (in open air). It is such a fun experience! With the light changing so fast, it's necessary to finish a painting in less than 2 hours. The top piece was painted at Olive Branch City Park. The next 2 were at Central Park in Southaven, MS, and the bottom one just off the town square in Hernando, MS. I'll post a few more shortly that I also recently completed.

Two New Exhibit Acceptances!

More exciting news! "Morning Window" above was recently juried into the 2015 OPA Eastern Regional Exhibition and "Shaded" above into the 2015 OPA Salon Show! Coincidentally, I painted both of these from a photo shoot I did of my daughter on the same day at the same location last summer. The place had such great lighting -- it's all about the lighting!

2015 MGAL National Award

I was so fortunate to receive the Suntrust Bank Award for the above painting titled "Vintage" in the 2015 MGAL National Juried Exhibition! The reception Saturday night was well-attended and an enjoyable evening at the WKNO Studios' gallery where I got to visit with so many local artists & friends!

Bright

I know this seems like a strange title for a painting with so much dark in it, but I named it for the brightness of her white shirt. (The photo didn't capture the brightness of it unfortunately.) This was very fun to paint! I tried to make the white shirt interesting since it is the painting's focus. I wanted the face, hair, and background to become one large dark mass. I think it came out pretty good.

Laid Back

I recently joined a group of artists who hire a model weekly to pose while we paint. It's been a while since I painted the model from life and it is such a great experience! I did this one a few weeks ago and I have another one from last week that is currently drying.

Strawberries and Silver

Here's a little 8x10 I did a few weeks ago when the local strawberries were in season. Painting the light blue highlights that surround the seeds was a new challenge for me, but fun!

Yellow Iris

A few weeks ago when they were freshly cut from my garden, I painted these yellow iris. I was really drawn to the way they all flopped to one side. They are such a complicated flower, but simple at the same time. The day after I painted these, the buds had opened up into blooms already! And the blooms only looked good for one more day before quickly fading. Glad I was able to finish them in one sitting.