Painting on site at Monson show

Participated in the “Artists at Work" and Ice Cream Social event at the Monson House of Art, where I’m also showing a couple of paintings.

 www.monsonartscouncil.org

 It was a beautiful day to be out painting and chatting with passersby.

Saw the inimitable Robyn Hitchcock and the fabulous Emma Swift at the Iron Horse Tuesday and did these sketches. I've seen him numerous times and tried to sketch him but found it to be devilishly difficult to catch his likeness. The top one is the nearest I've come. I showed it to Robyn, who annotated the facing page.

Some heads I’ve had the pleasure to know

 45 minute sketches using Cretacolor Nero pencil and white gouache on toned paper.

Two paintings accepted in the Monson Arts Council show
 www.monsonartscouncil.org

Three Women August-17 46" x 40" oil on linen

Stand of Trees  July-17 8" x 10" oil on linen panel

This one is currently showing at the Chicopee Public Library, where it earned a Merit Award!
The frame is cheap Michael’s readymade turned backwards to make a shadow box of sorts. The linen panel is attached to the rabbet with a few dots of super glue, so it can be easily popped off.

Painting the Snow Bomb

I've been trying to get better at rendering light, atmosphere, and aerial perspective in pen and ink. Both are imaginary scenes, based loosely on sketches and memories:

I'm finding that the key is a balance between precision and freedom - the myriad hatch marks need to be uniform enough to convey tone and texture without calling attention to themselves, but the overall effect needs to flow naturally.