Into September

It’s been a busy week. I brought work home from one show, hung another show, and found out my art has been accepted into a third show. While updating my exhibitions page, I realized that that makes six times I’ll have exhibited my work this year. Very pleased with that number. I’ve also been rejiggering … Read more

Finish it or ruin it: Gardenstown edition

Some paintings go from idea to finished work quickly and fluidly. Plenty of others get started and then cast aside, lingering around the studio in a half-finised state. Over time I manage to figure out some of these pieces, but there are always those that continue to stick around, not making their resolutions obvious to … Read more

Painting the Isle of Skye

It’s a busy week in the studio, as I’m finishing up some oil paintings and framing some works on paper for the 3 Harbours Arts Festival. As I was cataloging my new landscapes, I realized that a fair number of them were inspired by the Isle of Skye, a beautiful island off the west coast … Read more

A week in Gardenstown

I’ve just had the privilege of spending a week on the Scottish coast at a workshop led by Gillian Lee Smith, an incredible artist and teacher. The workshop was held in Gardenstown, an impossibly tiny and adorable village with one pub, one cafe, and no mobile phone reception. We started the week with a lot … Read more

Highland landscapes show, and getting organized

Feeling a bit more organized this week. On Monday my new Scottish landscapes went on display at Bistro Provence, a French restaurant in Leith (a neighborhood of Edinburgh). They look good on the walls, and people had lots of nice things to say at the opening, so I’m starting to believe that landscapes and I might … Read more

January landscapes

Happy new year, my three readers. It’s cold and drafty in my studio, but I’m pretty sure it’s building my character, or something. This month my art has mainly focused on Scottish landscapes. Landscapes are a new challenge for me. How to create paintings that are interesting? Communicating an aspect of the beauty of a place … Read more

Getting bigger

Now that that’s over, I’m moving on to some larger canvases, and now suddenly I have too many options. Do I focus on cityscapes next, as I had planned? Pursue Highland landscapes a bit more, as they turned out to be my favorite new subject last month? Go back to the Edinburgh pub and restaurant … Read more