A Bright November Afternoon, 9" x 12"

When I'm in the mood to paint but do not know exactly what, I take the time and look at my digital photos. I try to name photo folders with titles that can help me find what I'm looking for. Two examples are Just for Inspiration, and Must Paint. The photo for this painting wasn't in either of them. I've studied it before and then have moved to another photo. Last time I looked at it though, it really spoke to me, as if I was seeing it for the first time. I started it right away and it turned out to be a smooth going from beginning to end.

The place is somewhere on Rt 218 before reaching Rt11 N, in the heart of Central New York farmland.

Suggested Landscapes

These two paintings came about by chance. I had this failed painting I had reworked so much that the tooth of the paper was almost gone in some areas. I decided to cut the sheet into four pieces and apply some pumice gel with acrylic paint to restore the tooth.
Because the stain I used was so thin, two of the pieces showed a ghost of a landscape (see pics below), so, with some apprehension, I let my imagination run wild. For me, this means taking great chances because all previous paintings that came out from my head had been real flops. To my surprise, this time I ended up with two small studies in which I had incorporated things learned from direct observation or from other paintings. It's amazing how little successes like these have the power to erase our failures and prepare us to take more chances with our painting.

Padgett Workshop-Last Day

How I wish this workshop had continued for at least two more weeks! I think the reason I have enjoyed it so much is because I have felt very relaxed, with no pressure to produce great pieces.

This time I did more than simple studies. The top one was the last of the two I painted, but it was the more successful. Perhaps that was due to several things: I had a little more than half an hour to work on it before the final critique, and I used a very bumpy watercolor paper, covered with micaceous iron oxide--I was very apprehensive at first, but very soon I realized that the bumpiness kept me from giving too much detail to the daisies.

For the calla lilies I used Colourfix paper brought back to life with yellow green acrylic paint and fine pumice gel.