a new water garden

My son was here for the past couple of weeks and we put in a water garden with a waterfall.............something that I have wanted for as long as I can remember. I now have six goldfish and one koi (all tiny). I painted it yesterday but it didn't come out very well and I wiped it down. The light is pretty changeable and I'm certain there will be a learning curve since it's such different subject matter for me. I have recently been studying Sorolla's garden paintings and, though my little spot can't compare, I am really in love with the entire concept. 

This painting is one that I have been working on in the studio - it's 20" square and I'm making progress. The striped back of the dress has been challenging to say the least but I really didn't want to just paint it solid and give up since I found the stripes so illuminating for the form of the woman......it's been a balancing act back and forth between the planes and the stripes but I felt like I got somewhere today - scraping and reevaluating the values.

small stuff - 8x8"

I have decided that I am going to do a whole bunch of little paintings for a while.....to put them first anyway. I need the immediacy right now. So, I did a little one this afternoon and am about to begin another one. It's a real treat to know I can work wet into wet and finish all in one sitting.....not like there was any reason why I couldn't yesterday. I suppose I was a little stuck!