Monday, February 01, 2010

Half Moon Bay Library Art Show






Our Plein Air Painters of Half Moon Bay have just hung a show at the Half Moon Bay Library. I have four paintings on display.

Two of these are done in the "Judi Whitton" style leaving light and air around the paint and striving to allow the colors to mix on their own. The first painting is titled: "Orchids on the Porch". I took a bamboo basket of orchids and posed it on the porch wicker settee. The composition is interesting, I thought.



In the second bright painting "Purple Vase" (9" X 11") I was trying to see how dense I could make the color. One truth about watercolor is that the values are often pale and subtle. Inspired by an artist names Jeanne Carbonetti whose work is almost "day glow" in intensity I tried to paint and overpaint to achieve a vivid color balance. She recommends splattering as does Whitton.

Once a year there is a field near the high school that is flooded with yellow mustard. The hills behind are dark evergreens. The contrast is really striking. This was a Wednesday morning painting a few weeks ago
titled: "Mustard Field in Half Moon Bay."


Last summer my dear friend Victoria Labalme invited me to her family estate in the Adirondack. It was a magical week with a house party of the famous and talented. I was rubbing elbows with filmmakers, architects and writers. On one rainy day a glass vase of roses caught my attention. This small piece (7" X 9") titled "Eagle Nest: Roses on a Rainy Day" is the result. It was done with a Sharpie ultra fine pen and watercolor.

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