Monpazier, France

This is a cafe scene from the Village of Monpazier, France located in the Southwest corner. A few years back, I painted this scene with a different composition but wanted to try a different layout. I am intrigued with capturing the weathered stone walls with watercolor granulation and texturing techniques.The medieval village of Monpazier to find such textures is an excellent source. This is the first new painting of 2025!

 

4TH Annual Women in Watercolor International Juried Competition

 I am pleased to have received the following message:

Dear Artist,

We are pleased to inform you that your paintings "Reaching Out" and "Monpazier" have been accepted into the 4th Annual Women in Watercolor International Juried Competition. Congratulations!

Your paintings were two of 216 accepted entries this year out of over 1800 entries from over 60 countries, from the best of the best women watercolor artists; so you should be very proud!

And I am very proud! Here are the paintings:

Next Bit of News! Won Raymar Merchandise Award in the Women in Watercolor Exhibition

 "Aphrodisiac" was accepted into the Women In Watercolor Exhibition and won the Raymar Merchandise Award in the still life/floral category! This has been a good year for me. It is so nice to get recognition for the work that you perfect over the years. According to the information on the site: https://womeninwatercolor.com/  , they had 1615 submissions from 56 countries. They selected 220 paintings for acceptance. So just making it into the show is an honor. To be selected for an award is very special! I will be eager to try out the products that Raymar produces. Please do go to their website and check out their watercolor boards and other products.

Finished!

Here it is! "Aphrodisiac" 40" x 60" watercolor on Arches paper. Not a roll but an actual sheet that came from an art supply store in NYC. Took me 2 months and a week to complete, sign and photograph. 

I have attached two close-ups to show some detail. I decided that the title is appropriate. The actual name of the plant, I do not know. It was something that caught my attention at Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. It is from the bromeliad family. If you know, please forward the information on.

On to the next!

Hilbert Museum

Received this little piece of information:

 Your painting has been chosen from a large response to our call for NWS Member Artists to enter their best work and be a part of our last 100 year celebratory exhibition with the Hilbert Museum of California Art.  We share your excitement and look forward to displaying your work across the globe.

New Hydrangea/butterfly watercolor

This is my latest painting.  I do not know what I want to title it yet.  If anyone out there can help me give it a great title, please send along your comments.  I have done this hydrangea in the past but from a different angle and format.  I compared the two.  The first one I did in 2012 and it went off to an international biennial. I did a better job on this one so experience does show that you do improve through the years of keeping at it. Look back at paintings you did 5 years ago and see if you can see a progression in your art. But please, if anyone has any clever idea of a good title, please drop me a comment or message.  Thank you.

The making of "Au Petit Versailles"

For some of my paintings, I recorded their progress by taking photos along the way.  I would like to share the steps it took to show the development of the painting to the final result.  So below are photos showing the gradual progress to this painting that might give some insight for other artists.

When all was said and done, I was happy with the result.  I did end up cropping a little bit off the bottom.  Thought it made a better composition.  As you can see, I also muted the background street scene to put more emphasis on the objects in the window.  I will gladly answer any questions viewers have in addition to what is shown here.

American Watercolor Society 150th Anniversary International Exhibition, NYC 2017

Hello from New York City!  Here are some photos from the AWS Awards Dinner at the Salmagundi Club which I was honored to of had my watercolor painting "Wisteria" accepted into this show.  Oh, and yes, you are not seeing things.  that is Tony Bennett at the affair receiving an award from AWS as an official honorary member.  It was a wonderful night.  I met Dean Mitchell, Joe Miller, and Lauren McCracken.  I got a chance to have a conversation with Antonio Masi also.  I came away with much inspiration.  Looking forward to upping my game even more with my paintings. 

International Artist Magazine Challenge

I participated in International Artist Magazine Floral and Gardens Challenge and became a finalist!

My painting "Peony" was the one accepted.  You can view it in the June/July 2016 109 issue. Thanks IA for the exposure!

Received Shenzhen Biennial Catalog and Certificate

I believe it is necessary to say that I have never been so impressed with the incredible level of watercolor expertise from an exhibit as what is shown in the shows catalog! 

I wish I could have attended and will seriously consider attending the next one.

The catalog is fabulous and the certificate that I received is one that I will cherish.  My painting was even mentioned in an article that was written by one of the jurors:  Hui Shang Ph.D who happens to be Executive Editor-in-chief of "Arts" magazine, China and vice Director of the Commission of Theory of the China Artists Association (CAA).

I would recommend that if you can purchase the catalog for yourself, you will have a chance to expand your vision of what watercolor is all about.

Peony

Have a brand new painting just completed entitled "Peony". It is 19" x 34" done on Arches 260 lb. watercolor paper.  I have been interested in doing florals and hope to continue adding to a series. I wanted to show it in a garden with rays of light hitting the pedals and creating shadows and shades of crimson pink surrounded by a seeded eucalyptus also caught in in the backlight of the sun.

"Wisteria" made it into the 2015 National Watercolor Society Show!

Just found out that my "Wisteria" painting made it into the NWS show this year.  Very Happy!

67th Michigan Watercolor Society

 The 67th Michigan Watercolor Society had its opening reception on Saturday June 7, 2014.  Paul Jackson was the juror for this show and it was held at the Flint Arts Council.  This was my first time meeting Paul Jackson who I have admired for many years.  My painting was selected to be included in the traveling show!  From here it will be in display in Charlevoix, MI  at the Charlevoix Circle of the Arts.  From there it will travel to Lowell, MI and be displayed at Lowell Arts.  The last place in Michigan will be in Port Huron at Studio 1219.  

I am thrilled that my painting will be doing some traveling this year!
Schedules of the exact dates can be found on the Michigan Watercolor Society web page or at the above galleries.

Accepted into Michigan Watercolor Society Show 2014!

My painting "Pearl River Mart" has been accepted into the 2014 Michigan Watercolor Society show!  This painting was inspired by a trip to NYC and entering into a SoHo Asian market called "Pearl River Mart".  It is located on Broadway.  I loved the colors, rich textures and patterns of everything Asian in this store.  Paper dragons hang from the ceilings along with bamboo bird cages and paper lanterns.  The show runs from June 7-July 3, 2014.

Pearl River Mart

"Venetian Gold" in Splash 11

The new edition of "Splash 11-New Directions" is out on the bookshelves! My painting "Venetian Gold" made it into this book because of the new direction that my paintings are taking recently.

The quote by Anais Nin is one that I supplied keeping in theme with the book. The quote reads:

...."and the day came when the risk it took to remain all tight in the bud became more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

This is so true in many areas of life. We don't care for change but in order to grow and blossom, you have to move forward even when it seems painful and scary to do so. I recently went through a scary time of uncertainty, not knowing what was going to happen in my life, but you have to trust the universe to help you out along with yourself. I'm happy to be a part of this wonderful book and I feel that the design and layout of this one is the classiest in the series. Check it out yourselves.

Discover & Download

"Discover & Download" is finished! Accept for a few "twikings" here and there. This painting shows a snapshot in time back to 2007 to Times Square in New York City. This was the year that I won the Gold Metal from the American Watercolor Society. Many photos were taken of the city at that time. What drew me to this one was the abstract design. Each window which shows reflections of the city or the times we live in had a contained abstract design which made a whole composition of abstraction. I wanted to show the energy of the city in this painting.

For the most part, it is finished but I might just make a few small, subtle changes.

International Artist Magazine is Out!

The April/May edition is out with my painting on page 13. Along with the painting is an artist statement about my inspiration, design strategy and working process. And of course, contact info. I am happy to be going international with my art especially when I see that I have people following my blog from across continents. Spring is here!