Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Sonoma Plein Air-Day 1

After hearing that rain was forecast for Wednesday, I registered first thing on Monday to get going early. I started with a painting of the Sonoma Plaza fountain, which has been my first painting each of the last two years. With everything backlit, it makes a nice composition, and the water from the fountain sparkles. This has made a nice series, seeing the slight landscape changes from each year.

After a quick lunch with a sandwich from the Boulangerie, I once again surveyed the Plaza and found the Bear Flag sculpture to be in the sun. I have wanted to do this painting before, but the statue is surrounded by trees and is rarely sunlit. Once again choosing a backlit vantage point, I went to work. I rearranged some of the trees to strengthen the composition. Everything went quite smoothly, and I was pleased with the result.

I decided this year not to drive around a lot, so I stayed in the Plaza and went over to see if I could find a way to do the Sebastiani Theatre. I had painted it in silhouette many times, but avoided painting it as the subject. Generally I try to avoid specific building "portraits". They rarely make strong paintings. I usually catch a piece or make them secondary to the overall composition. But this time I succumbed. I tried to direct the eye to the sign and the opening. The tower though is so strong an element it is hard for it not to be a major element. I'll have to try a different approach next year.


Friday, May 20, 2011

Sonoma Plein Air 2011


Next week is the 2011 edition of Sonoma Plein Air. I'll be spending the week painting the sights of Sonoma County. The show of all of the work by over 35 artists is next Saturday, May 28th on the Sonoma Plaza from 10-5. As always, it should be a great show.
This year I'm also doing the watercolor demonstration at 12:30 on Saturday. I'm substituting for Dick Cole while he recovers from some recent surgery. Some big shoes to fill.
And the long term forecast, unlike the last two years, is for no rain!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

The Artist's Magazine


I'm pleased to see my work in the new issue of The Artist's Magazine. The article is entitled "Running Water" and explores the use of fluid acrylic and freeflowing watercolor. In addition to my work, three other painters are featured, my friend Robin Purcell (cover artist), Dale Laitinen, and Mark Workman.
The editor, Maureen Bloomfield, chose one of my paintings, Reflections, for use in the magazine's Close-Up feature. I go into detail about how I paint one section of this painting.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Au Revoir, Mes Amis


My six week run at the Thomas Reynolds Gallery ended over the past weekend. It was a great experience, meeting many people and introducing many of them to my work.
Thomas Reynolds was great to work with. Eleven paintings found new owners. Ten of those are shown here. It's sometimes hard to let go, but I trust the buyers will be pleased to look at them every day.
The gallery is going to continue to display several of my "California" paintings in one of the gallery rooms. I will be sharing with this month's showcase artist, Ken Auster, a master oil painter from Southern California. Please visit www.thomasreynolds.com for more details.