Remembering Oregon

I was planning a realistic water or woods or ocean or mountains type painting after my return from a month spent in Oregon.    This is what I came up with.   I got the color right!     Mixed media on 40x30 canvas.   I think I want "Remembering Oregon" as a title because that was my intention and where I was in my head while painting the canvas.  

Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition

I wish I could travel to Golden Colorado to the opening reception of this years RMNW 40th exhibition.   I am so honored to have my work accepted in this prestigious exhibit for the second time.   Wow!   Gouache is the medium I now use on all my watercolor paintings and I am so glad that most watercolor shows have opened their doors to all water-based mediums.

  I love a good transparent watercolor like everyone else, but the additional water mediums allowed today for the American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society and the Rocky Mountain National make for some exciting work.   If you are a watercolor painter and have never tried gouache, give it a try.   Ah yes, we get to paint lights over darks, wipe and remove areas we don't like and use white for heaven's sake.  Great fun and a wonderful medium!  Painting on left, "Ascent" 2011 Western Fed Exhibit, and painting on right a new one,  "Fractured.  Both gouache.

Fred's Wall and Emoting Apples to Nashville

One of my favorite all time paintings is heading to Nashville to the residence of Shan and Mike Kearney..  This painting was done at home after a 4 hour acrylic class I was teaching gave me some very fun ideas.   Fred's walls were painted a terrible orange that  clashed horribly with most art and the apples my students painted that day were expressing emotions not usual for apples.   The class was so much fun that day that I was inspired.