A day at the beach

Perfect Beach Day

10" x 8"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas
SOLD at The Red Inn

What a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend it was. It had the feel of summer every day. I am so excited for summer to start that I couldn't resist painting this scene inspired by a photo taken on Nantucket last year. It reminds me of what a perfect summer day looks like. Bring it.

Seeing Red

The Red Inn, Provincetown

12" x 36"x 2"

Oil with a palette knife on Ampersand Gessobord
SOLD

I painted this while working at the Art Gallery at Patriot Place this past weekend. The weather was beautiful here in New England and the gallery had a steady flow of visitors. It's interesting how you get used to painting with all the interruptions. In a way it's a good thing because it forces you to step away from your painting for awhile and then come back with fresh eyes. It's also so interesting to hear comments from the gallery visitors while you are working. One man said, "It makes me feel like I am right there, in the car, just driving by..." I loved that. It is also fun to watch the kids (usually young budding artists themselves) as they stare in amazement at your painting. So cute.

Frank sent me this funny photo he took as I was trying to take a photo of this painting at the gallery.

Below is a photo of the painting in progress after Saturday's shift. I then finished it up on Sunday and remembered to bring my bigger palette knives which helped make the job easier. You can also see here that I used the red orange underpainting again.

And if you ever get to Provincetown, you need to stop in at this place, The Red Inn. Spectacular views, food, and hospitality.

A wee cottage

Iota Cottage, Provincetown

8" x 6"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas

SOLD

This painting started out as a completely different painting of a completely different house. It was never quite jelling, so in a moment of frustration, I scraped it all off.  I then quickly switched to painting a different house on top of the ghosted remains of the old one and forced myself to keep it loose.  In the uncropped image below, you can see evidence of the underscraping (I think I just coined a new art term). I'm not quite sure how you could frame this but it is interesting to see the edges.

Oh-and in case you're interested, this home is currently for sale. It's a 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 3 room home for the wee price of $599,000.

Memories of Martha's Vineyard

Nancy's House, Martha's Vineyard

9" x 12"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled board
SOLD

Sarah commissioned this painting of her mother's house on Martha's Vineyard. Sadly, her family recently had to sell it, so Sarah wanted to have a reminder of the house and the beautiful gardens that held so many wonderful memories of her mother. Sarah has a great blog called Unshoveling the Past where she recounts many stories of her family growing up. She accompanies her stories with old family photographs, and of course, I want to paint each and every one of them!

Tiptoe through the tulips

Tulip Garden

8" x 8" x 1.5"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled board
NFS

I was walking back to work from lunch one day and this tulip garden outside of a nearby office building caught my eye. This one particular tulip had opened up so wide and the colors, light, and shapes were so magnificent. Just calling to be painted.