The new issue of “Practique des Arts” is out, and I can finally share both the piece I created as an exclusive for the magazine as well as the article.  Auburn Vessel, above, was completed last December after working on it for most of the fall.  It measures approximately 18 x 19 inches.  The article, below, shows many of the stages, so I won’t go into detail about the working process.  It is, unfortunately, difficult to read as is (font is too small) and a bit blurry when enlarged.  But it is in french, so unless you can read french, there’s not much lost.  And the stages are pretty self-explanatory.  If anyone has any questions, I’d be most happy to try and answer them.   There is also a link to the article on my website news page, which you can access here.  Thanks for reading!

I’m going back to the leaf drawings I enjoyed doing so much, but combining them with stones.  I’ve been working on this drawing, Prismacolors over Caran D’Ache Supracolor washes, done on Bristol Board Vellum.   I have a couple of new ideas to explore, including a triptych.  While this drawing is not complete yet, there is enough here to share.  The stone needs more development, as well as many areas of the leaves and shadows.

I am excited to be heading off to Strasbourg and Paris in a few hours.  We will be visiting friends in both cities, and I am very eager to see friend and colleague Elizabeth Patterson’s current exhibition of Colored Pencil drawings in Paris at the Galerie Louis Carre.  It will also be a great opportunity for my son, who has been studying french for four years, to hear and practice the language.  And, to eat!!!  Oh, and I suppose to take in some art…..Thanks for reading, and a bientot!

It has been such a long time since I’ve written a blog post, but I have not fallen off of the face of the earth!  I have been busy with my art, and finally have a couple of new drawings to share.  Continuing with my Stones series, I have a Stones Pile, and a small Stones/bowl.  I’ve come to group them into these categories in my mind:  Piles, Vases (with and without water), and “zen” studies.

The drawing above is in the Pile category. It’s done on Canson Mi-Tientes paper with Prismacolors and measure approximately 11′ x 17″.  The upper right corner of the background is the actual paper without any pencil.

The drawing below is also on Canson Mi-Tientes with Prisamcolor pencils, and measures 8″ x 10 1/2″.  It’s a fun little drawing that took only a couple of days to produce.  I purposefully kept it looser and less detailed, if one can call my work those things!

I’m excited to share the news that most likely the drawing I did as an exclusive for the French Art Magazine Practique des Artes will be published in their upcoming April issue.  At that point in time I can share the image and article here on my blog.

Thanks for reading!

I spent the past two weeks working on these three little stones drawings.  It’s always fun to do these smaller pieces and work out some ideas quickly.  Well, I suppose quick is a relative term – quick for me!

I have more ideas for little drawings to do in the future, but now I’m on to another larger stones drawing.  It’s a piece that is being executed for publication in an art magazine that wants an “exclusive”, so I can’t reveal the image until it’s completed and published.  It’s exciting to think about sharing the stages of my drawings in this venue.  I would have been doing this piece regardless, but their timing was excellent.  It’s going to make me think more clearly about delineating the stages of my more complex drawings.  That’s always good practice and helps one to be able to better “present” their art, whether it’s verbally or pictorally.

Thanks for reading!

I have been working so hard on this drawing and it feels like it’s taking forever.  I am working uninterrupted now that my spring travels are behind me, but it still feels like such slow going!  This drawing is about 22″ x 26″ and there is so much snow and delicate detail to accomplish.  I think I’m going to basically execute the entire background and then go back and insert the fine details, such as little bits of debris on the snow, etc.   Maybe a touch more blood?  There is more blood in my original photograph, but I’m still deciding how much to put in.  Meanwhile, it’s a gorgeous spring here with everything in full bloom, the birds are singing, mating, worm hunting.  It’s an odd juxtaposition to find myself working on this winter scene.

I was recently interviewed by Paula DeMarco, the host of “Art Beat”, for a local cable station.  I’m attaching a link to the interview, which is available on line throughout the month of May.  You can access it here:  Art Beat interview.

As always, thanks for reading!

“Rock/Candy” – is currently up at the Wellesley Free Library from March 1st through the 31st, 2011.  Please click on this link for hours and directions:  www.wellesleyfreelibrary.org.  This is a two-person show that colleague and friend, Kendra Bidwell-Ferreira and I are hosting together.  We are each exhibiting over 20 drawings done in colored pencil.  The opening is on Saturday, March 5th from 2 – 4 p.m., and I hope that if you live in the area you’ll stop by and say hi!

National Pencil Day

My colored pencil drawing “Amber Bowl” was awarded First Place in the Graphite, charcoal and colored pencil category of the Artists Magazine’s On-Line All Media competition.  I am so honored to receive this recognition for my work, especially as there are so many fine entries for them to judge from.  I spoke with Chris McHugh, the Managing Editor of The Artists Magazine, who told me that there were over 1,800 entries this year.  You can see all of the first place winners and honorable mention award winners at The Artists Magazine.

In spite of my lack of blog entries lately I have been working hard.  I’m planning to post a photograph of my latest drawing, last written about  on February 11th, by next Monday.  So please check back soon!

I also had a small exhibition of colored pencil drawings last night in conjunction with a wonderful concert by the Choir of King’s College London.  This was part of the St. Andrew’s Performing Arts Series (SAPAS).  More information about upcoming SAPAS events can be found at www.sapas.org.

These college students gave a superb performance of Renaissance and contemporary choral works.   The Choir of King’s College London is one of the most acclaimed mixed voice university choirs in England, comprising about 27 undergraduates who are awarded choral scholarships, and in addition to performing Renaissance polyphony, they have an extensive and well-reviewed collection of discography available.

I wanted to include a copy of the program cover, which includes my name in such a prominent way that, had they not put “(colored pencil)” after my name, it looks like I was a star soloist!  I found this quite amusing, as it’s the closest I’ll ever get to performing with my voice in public!

I’m eager to move onto the next drawing in my rock series, and plan to try and incorporate water in the drawing.  Coincidentally, I’m just back from the 17th Annual Exhibition and Convention of the Colored Pencil Society of America, where I took a workshop with CPSA Artist Pat Averill on the power of water. . . entitled “Unleash the power of water in your drawings”.  Below are two photographs from the workshop: one of friends Dee Overly (left) and Mari Kaye Moehl (right) working on one of the four projects we tackled that day, and the other of workshop instructor Pat Averill.  I’m not sure that the workshop concepts will transfer to my drawing, but you never know!  We worked on the distortion of images in reflected water, drawing moving water (ie – surf), drawing water moving over rocks, and looking at wet sand to dry sand within the context of a seascape.