award at the Beaufort Art Association Spring Show

I'm pleased to report that I won an award at the BAA's Spring Show (I know it doesn't seem much like Spring) which opens today at Tabby Place on Port Republic St. in Beaufort and runs through Monday, February 29. Both the venue and dates have changed for this year's show for any of you have attended in years past. I helped set the show up and it looks great so anyone in the local area should come and see it.

fetch - 12x16"

Sometimes I really fall in love with a dog while I'm walking on the beach. I'm much more of a cat person but this guy was just adorable.......it didn't hurt that the conditions were right for photo taking. The past couple of days have been freezing here so I've been in the studio. I'm not complaining - after talking to my sister this morning (where the actual temperature was -22) I felt kind of wimpy for even my silent complaints.

Frogmore Nocturne - 24x12

There's nothing like entering a painting in a show and buying a frame to get me to finish a painting! I was nearly done with this but always put it off because I wanted to work on new things. This painting is one of two that I have entered in Beaufort Art Association's big spring show......more on that to follow. Frogmore is basically a crossroads on St. Helena Island where I live and can't really even be called a town but the spot had a distinctly metropolitan feel to it on this night!

marsh geometry and some chickens

When I went back to finish this after two days of rain the light conditions were totally different so I just brought it back to the studio and went from there. I have a little more to do but it has to hang on the wall for a bit so I can see anything that bothers me. The trees aren't completely finished yet but I have to let the colors in the "sky holes" set up a little. I am leaving some of the initial drips at the bottom because I like them.

I am still working on the chickens a little - thought that the background was too light so I darkened that and need to finish their faces and may lighten the front chicken since I think she's still too dark.

process for loosening up........24x12" plein air beginning

I have been trying to begin my outdoor work in a more "inside out, gestural" manner. Sometimes it can be hard to put into words but I look for the center of shapes, their gesture and how they relate to one another rather than so much drawing a composition.

This example of the beginning of a plein air study I did the other day is kind of an example of that. Because I started late in the day, I ran out of light in about an hour and a quarter and it was too late to get an accurate photo of where I stopped. The past two days have been downpours for the most part and I would really like it to clear up so I can get back out there in the afternoon tomorrow!