forest floor

This is an image I have wanted to paint since early last fall. This spot seemed almost magical to me when I came upon it in the forest, with its deep shadows and carpet of pale-blue flowers. I plan to do a larger version of it later this week.

robin

When I was growing up in Ohio, we always watched eagerly for the first robins to return, as they signfied the return of spring. Every year, we would find at least one nest on the front porch with pale blue eggs and watch as the babies ate, grew, and fledged. Here in Tennessee, we seem to have robins year-round, but I seem to notice them more this time of year and think of their reminder of new life.

southern sunset

I painted a large version of this piece earlier in the week. I have been experimenting with different palettes for skies, different times of the day, etc. The image is from northern Georgia, a beautiful farm that we passed by once at just the right time of day.

winter skies

I have been spending a great deal of time in the studio this week, so many of the pieces are small studies for potential larger pieces. This is another image from my trip to Ohio. I think the final piece will be more vertical in format.

emerging

At last, I am able to post images again! This piece is from earlier in the week when I first noticed blossoms coming in on the tree outside the window. I thought it was a beautiful sign of spring coming.

technical difficulties

For the last two days, I have been unable to post images, so even though I havve been painting, I have no way to get the pieces online. We bloggers have been assured that they "are working on the problem" and it should be fixed soon, so in the meantime I will keep painting each day and post the images as soon as possible. Sorry!

beaman park

Today we made a truly thrilling discovery: an amazing park only 15 minutes away. The weather was so perfect here today that we just had to get out of the house for a hike. Derek had heard of a park donated to the city by the Beaman family, and we had never bothered to explore it, thinking it would be like many of the other city parks-- nice, but overused and with little freedom or privacy. We were happy to be proven wrong! The park itself is 1500 acres of steep terrain, with a shallow, clear creek cutting through limestone bluffs. There are no old trees left near the trails, but this early in the spring, the view is clear from the ridge of surrounding hills and valleys. We only met a couple of fellow hikers on the trail, a definite plus. I felt what most other women must feel when they hear that their favorite store is opening down the block! I look forward to watching the seasons change there this year.

roots

Since today was a gorgeous spring day here in Tennessee, we decided to go to a favorite creek near Derek's childhood home with our friends Brian and Nicole (and Nicole's parents, who are visiting). We have long been promising Nicole that we would take her to our "secret" creek, where we have collected hundreds of crinoid fossils over the last few years. Nicole is almost as much of a nerd as I am, with a penchant for collecting unusual rocks and artifacts. With a degree in Biology instead of art, she actually knows the origin of many of these precious finds. We had a wonderful afternoon wading in the creek, taking pictures, and finding hundreds more fossils to add to our personal "natural history museums."

model in profile

In my figure class this week we had our first male model, and the session was excellent. I did this small study from a 20 minute drawing, so it is fairly loose and vague, but I really liked the emotion of the pose.

daffodil

I broke one of my own rules today. I swore to myself when I began this blog that I would not paint any fruits or flowers. Not that they are bad subjects, they are just not things I would typically paint. Today, however, it was so warm and beautiful that I ventured outside to find (much to my surprise) clusters of daffodils in the backyard. I desperately wanted an excuse to sit outside and paint, so I decided to break my own rule and paint this flower today. My fellow painters will relate to the joy I found in discovering a new color combination for the background: a blend of alizarin crimson and old holland golden green.

blue skies

Today in Nashville the skies were blue and it felt like spring. I wanted to paint a blue sky piece to commemorate the day, and I chose an image that I photographed in Kentucky on Friday of some remarkable clouds. Even though it is not the exact sky that we had overhead today, I think the image embodies the freedom and awe of a sudden sunny day after many dreary ones.

bare fields

I am still experimenting with images from the Ohio trip this week. My father suggested we drive out to this farm, where a beautiful old farmhouse once stood. Now it is only a treeline at the top of the hill that distinguishes the landscape. I liked the small crust of snow that grazed the frozen mud in the field.

icy day

I certainly liked the actual experience of this place better than the painting of it. Wanting to get in one last hike in Ohio (such close proximity to rural, unpopulated lands is too tantalizing), my father and I took the dogs out to the USDA research station where he works. We often walk there when I visit, since there are a few thousand acres of vacant land at the end of a highway and we usually have the place to ourselves on the weekends. This time he took me to a place I had not seen, down a hill through woods thick with deer (which my dog was thrilled to chase) and briars, to a small pond at the base of a valley, encircled by rolling bare hills. The timber had been cut in a wide swath near the pond's edge, leaving stark stumps and empty trunks towering above. It was a place of solitude...perhaps a little too much. I look forward to seeing it in the summertime, when the leaves and flowers are out and it seems more like a sanctuary than a cloister.

farm sunset

My father and I drove to some of my favorite painting spots this weekend after an afternoon hike in the woods. The air was frigid and the sun was setting as we reached a farm at the top of a hill near his house. I realized on this trip that many of my most favorite places to paint are within only a few miles of my childhood home, places I once rode a bicycle or passed by on the school bus. They will probably always hold a special significance.

obscured

This farm is at the end of the road I grew up on, and I drove or walked past it almost every day. I saw it change from soybeans to corn, year after year, and I always liked the way the land seemed to flow like a river into the distance. When I visited Ohio this weekend, there was often snow falling, clouding the air and dusting the ground. I really liked the effect it had on this nostalgic place.

winter beehives

I am staying at my father's house in the country, where it has just begun to snow. My dog Umber and I took a walk up the hill to the edge of the property, where my dad keeps his beehives. They look dormant and inactive, as the bees are sluggish this time of year. Brush has grown up around the hives over the years, but I have always liked the way they stand out against the dark green of the pine trees.

ohio evening

I made the last-minute decision to travel to Ohio to visit my father and brother (and my brother's new puppy). Passing through southern Ohio between Cincinnati and Columbus, the clouds were incredible. The sky is so big in this flat country, and the sky was a constant drama, all the way through Kentucky and Ohio. There is nothing like a long car trip with fresh CDs and my canine companion to inspire adventure and a change of scenery.

dark day

This Thursday in Nashville the schools closed early for fear of tornadoes and storms that were expected to pass through. By midday, the streets were almost deserted in my part of town as everyone prepared for the coming deluge...which never really came. We had a bit of rain, some nice dark clouds, but overall it was anticlimactic. I did get a glimpse of the oak in the backyard, tinted a glossy black. The shadows accentuated the pale green lichens growing on the trunk, and thankfully, I could enjoy the dark mood from the safety of my studio.

looking up

In apology for my delayed posts this week, I have been unable to access my site for the last few days, so I am finally catching up. This piece was inspired by a "drive-by" photo I took through the moonroof of my car as I was driving in downtown Nashville on Wednesday.

cowan street

At one time, I looked at this building on Cowan Street almost every day, and I always wanted to paint it. It had peeling paint the color of copper after it oxidizes, a bright turquoise green. It looked different every day, set against the backdrop of the very dramatic skies we tend to have here in Middle Tennessee. One day I came by to find that it had been painted tan; boring, beige tan. It was a lesson in grasping the opportunity in the moment...I would never get to paint that beautiful blue-green! It still has a structure and a loneliness about it, even if its color has been washed to neutral.