"Chincoteague Marsh"

18" x18", Oil on canvas

I haven't painted a Chincoteague, Virginia, scene for a couple of months....it's always one of my favaorite subjects to revisit.. especially in the winter months, when I'm yearning for summer! To purchase, click on the link to the right to take you to my ebay store. Thx for looking!

Watercolor "Pour" Painting, WIP(work in progress)

Here are a few of the stages in the process of creating a watercolor "pour" painting. In the top photo, you can see the areas that I masked out with a liquid mask called Friskett. After lightly drawing my design, I first painted the areas I wanted to remain white with the Friskett....that would be the snow on the mailboxes, and the snowflakes falling, which I created by splattering the mask -out with my thumbnail and the end of a stiff brush dipped in Friskett . Then I proceeded to wet my paper with a brush and water at my sink,(which is neccesary before every "pour" , so the paint can move on the paper) and then took watered down watercolors paints which I mixed into separate cups ( first a yellow, then a deep rose, then a deep blue), and one at a time, actually poured the paint onto the paper, and let it cover the paper, in random ways, sometimes tipping the paper one way or another to direct the puddle. After letting the paint run off the paper into the sink... I'd let it dry completely, and then again, mask out the next areas I want to remain as is, before the next pouring of paint. With each subsequent pouring, I darken the paint in the cups.. so with each pour, the paint not only covers over whatever area has been left exposed(areas without the Friskett protecting them), but gets darker from the deeper colors. After the final of 3 to 5 pourings and maskings,, I am ready to peel off the Friskett, using a rubber cement pick -up... and see the almost finsihed product. I can then go back into the painting and carefully add details with a brush, while trying to maintain the fresh look of the poured paint. Next time I do a pour painting I will take pictures of the actual process.... so if this is totally confusing.. stayed tuned!

"Montmartre, Paris"

8" x 10", Watercolor on Arches

This is another watercolor "pour" painting, done using the same technique as my previous listing of the mailboxes. It's a fun way to work, yet a challenge in thinking in advance of the placement of lights building up to darks...

Snow Day

9" x 11" watercolor on Arches paper
This was done with a technique I've been playing around with recently. It's watercolor that's poured on over a series of masking with Frisskett.. a liquid mask that blocks out areas I want to keep white, and then after subsequent watercolor "pours", I can mask other colors to protect them from the next "pour". IT's a fun technique that I am just experimenting with. .. and will soon show step by step photos here of this technique.

"Tux"

5" x 7" pastel on Pastelbord.

OK.. equal time for a cat painting. They say black and white cats are the smartest.. although my solid grey Nikita would have to disagree.... Click on the link to my eBay store to purchase.

"Papillon"

5" x 7" , pastel on Pastelbord.

This one is cloe to my heart.. it's my very own little dog, Riley... who we adore. He celebrated his 2nd birthday last week, and in his honor.. I'm donating a portion of the sale price to a wonderful no-kill shelter in my area called the Geauga Humane Society Rescue Village. To purchase, click on the link at the right to take you to my ebay store... and please feel free to contact me with any special requests! (clikc on the image for a closer look!)Thanks for looking.....

"Wheaton Terrier"

5" x 7" , Pastel on pastelbord.

I love working on my little dog paintings. They are a great ay to warm up if I haven't painted for a day or two, or if no particular subject matter is applealing to me at the moment. I ALWAYS get totally absorbed in them... painting them is just pure relaxing fun. I've been working alot in pastels over the past month or two.. so have been playing with the pastels with my dog/cat portraits... So, see the next few listings for more. (You can click on the image for a larger view).

Click on the link at the right to my eBay store to purchase... or feel free to email me with a custom animal portrait request!