A Real Art Town

My wife and I had some great adventures on Maryland's eastern shore this weekend, and stayed in the town of Easton. Many towns claim to be "art towns", but Easton is the real deal. Not only do they host a plein air festival every year, but they celebrate art every day with many great art galleries, an art museum and live music pretty much every night. Not to mention fantastic scenery that is truly inspiring. We even stopped in and said hi to my friend, Nancy Tankersly at the South Street Gallery. She is the owner and a fantastic artist in her own right.

Inspiring scenery, a great art community and friendly locals make Easton my new favorite spot in Maryland!

Football!

I'm really happy that the players and owners worked their differences out, and am looking forward to the upcoming season. Although my team, the Denver Broncos are far from their glory days, I love football season because with it comes fall and its colors and cooler weather. Above is a mixed media piece I did a few years back of my childhood hero, John Elway.

Mad dogs and Englishmen

I actually planned to venture out of the studio today and paint en plein air, but then I remembered Noel Coward's quote, "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun." Although he may not have been referring to plein air painting in the summertime, it seemed wise not to risk it! So I stayed in and painted in my air-conditioned studio.

Great Week for Art!

I am happy to report that people are buying art again! My new friend, "The Urban Kayaker" just bought this piece and one other. He was happy to point out after looking at my body of work that I need to paint more figures. Sounds familiar. I'm on it!

Prairie Drive-In

This painting has found a new home! I painted this one and about four others after a trip to my home state of Montana two summers ago. They are some of my best paintings to date.

Woodland Stables

Here is my newest piece, entitled "Woodland Shack". I painted outdoors in the snow a number of times this past winter, and although nothing ever came of those pieces, they were very helpful to me as I painted this. The colors Mother Nature presents in winter rival those of the fall and summer.

Spring on the Clackamas

I've been hearing a lot lately from artists I respect, amongst them James Whistler, how value and line are of the utmost importance in a painting. Even more so than color, which is obvious in his most famous painting, "Whistler's Mother". Although I don't use black as liberally as he does, I took the wisdom to heart, and have been paying close attention to the values in my paintings. I think it paid off in the one above.

Willow tree

I love the accessibility of watercolors. Few other wet mediums allow for such quick setup and clean-up. That said, few other wet mediums are as confounding as watercolors! I enjoyed working on this one, but it is not at all what I had intended. I added the inking about halfway through, at a point where I was ready to throw it in the trash. Perhaps I should take a class from my friend, Bruce Hanford -- a brilliant watercolorist, and member of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters. Please check out his work if you get a chance.