this must be why they are called WORKshops....

so i hauled my phobic self to Cape May CH this past weekend, thinking "you can do this"...and trying to figure out what was more anxiety provoking, painting in a "Master Class" or making the three hour drive myself...uh the drive it turned out..
Would my 10 year old car that pulls to the left make it there? Would my lack of directional skills get me lost even tho the GSP is a straight road? Would i psyche myself out, stop at a rest stop and "rest"?...
yes, no, and no.


Stan Sperlak was extremely generous in his talent, time, patience, and food. My tour of the 37 acre farm was the AHA moment of how he can be inspired by the same views day in and day out. His sense of humour about all things personal and professional put me at ease. Well, my version of ease anyway. The other painters all brought their own talents and fears. For the most part it was a nice group of people. It was an intense 48 hours, painting and/or learning from 8am to 8pm with occasional breaks. It will take quite a while to absorb the weekend, and get what i learned from brain to hand.

Above is the 20 minute pastel of Rose, a beautiful woman; Im trying to get more comfortable with my Terry Ludwigs.

This is my landscape of Terry Ludwigs, then sprayed with alcohol and reworked.

I also did a scene with a barn in it, realizing i never did structures before, that was weird.

so i worked really hard and learned a lot.  Hopefully my next workshop will be soon

still much to figure out

this study has been annoying me since i did it, thought it was that i was tired after all day of painting, but then i did what ive been doing lately,,, i thought about the painting in my mind while i was falling asleep and then i start to see it the way i want to change it. i realized that even tho i saw both her shoulders while painting, it visually was wrong. and that even tho i saw her ears and earrings while she sat, it still felt wrong, so i went back and reworked that whole right side of "her", and it makes more sense, and should it ever become a painting, at least i know that the shoulders are where i want them now...

figuring it out

i've been straddling too many worlds these days. Since i could hold a pencil (or was that a crayon with a perfectly sharpened point nestled next to those that were its color-family members--yes i rearranged that box of 64 to MY liking) , wait, where was I?... oh yeah since forever ago, all i can remember is drawing people, clothing, FASHION dahling, never animals or street scenes, always people. So this has always been my comfort zone. When the world around me was crumbling down, i had my art work. When money's tight, the sons are aggravating me with a capital A, theres always drawing...So, as those of you may know, the last year or two it was time to cliff dive and do something DIFFERENT.

i started taking classes and workshops of landscapes, and gulp, i liked it..i especially loved my forays to the shore (beach) and taking photo after photo of the waves crashing and then studying them on paper. how many colors of blue and green and white are there, holy crap, a lot. But then i got itchy again. Wanting to draw people but afraid my women would come out looking like oceans. So i just started again,  and it WAS like riding a horse or a bike (BAD analogy as i hate riding both of those things).

I am about to hang 5 portraits in a show come April 1st and last Sunday took a 6 hr workshop with Alex Piccarillo, and old teacher and friend of mine.

I am still loving oceans, clouds, crazy sky colors and assorted flowers and marshes, but nothing is more fun that the ladies........ this is from that workshop