Saturday, October 31, 2009

"Big White Pumpkin"


I actually painted this a long time ago, but because of what day it is . . . you know . . .
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

"Monteriggioni Church"


This is a partial view of the large church located in the walled town of Monteriggioni, Italy. This is such a quaint little town completely surrounded by high rock walls with lookout posts at the very top. The entire town is located on the top of a hill so they had great views of any enemies approaching. Now it's full of restaurants, gelato stores, art, gift shops and actual residences. We definitely enjoyed our time spent here.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

"Man in the Hat"


Not for Sale. I took a one and a half day workshop a couple weeks ago with Joe Fettings. Anyone who has taken his workshop will recognize this guy. The students all painted the same image with the same basic color combinations. We were learning how to lay down layers of watercolors and blend. Even though we all painted the same subject, at the end of the day, we all had different individual paintings. Each person's "style" came through on every version. Fun class, but very exhausting. It's tough bending an old mind in new directions.

Friday, October 16, 2009

"Fruit & Veggies"


This is another watercolor sketch I did one day when we had a big rain storm at the Villa. This particular day we were planning to eat the eggplant and use the cucumber in the salad for dinner. I decided to paint this before they were gone. I had to slap hands twice to save the bananas before I completed my painting.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

"Villa Next Door - II" - SOLD


Last year we stayed at the villa behind the one we stayed in this year.
Last year I set up an easel one day and painted the "The Villa Next Door"
and that's the villa we ended up staying at this year. This painting is
a plein air painted from our front porch view looking in the same
direction as last year, but seeing yet another villa next door. I wonder
if this is a form of painting destiny. Think maybe this will be the
next one we actually stay in next year???

9 x 12 Oil on Canvas



THANK YOU TERRY & JAMES. MAY YOU ENJOY A LITTLE BIT OF ITALY WITH YOUR NEW PAINTING!! This is the community pool at the villa compound. Everyone staying
here has access to this olympic size pool. There's a cabana and bathroom
off to one side and is also surrounding gardens and stunning views.
You can swim some serious laps in this pool.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

"Villa Gardens"


This is a watercolor sketch of the villa patio next door. I was looking for a shady spot to sit and decided to do a quick sketch of this view. I tried to do at least one quick study of something every day.

Preparing for the Sunset


This is just one of the nightly sunsets we watched from
the rock wall.


Below is preparation for watching the sunset. Wine at hand,
snacks at the ready - just watching and waiting. We came
in for dinner after the sun completely disappeared behind
the distant hills.



Left to Right: Diane Peters, Courtney Brown, Carol McCollum, Rae Andrews, Eileen Pestorius

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

"Italian Hay Bales" - SOLD




THANKS JAMES & TERRY! HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS. This is a painting I started in Italy and finished at home. These hay bales were just down the road at the bottom of the hill from our villa. We decided they needed to be painted and several of us painted our version of this scene. It was fun comparing our different interpretations.

Traveling Partner


This is my traveling buddy, Rae Andrews, who's a super artist and best friend. We've had many road trips together, but this was our biggest one to date. This was taken at one of the many great restaurants we tried along the way. As usual, we are toasting another wonderful day in Italy!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

"Castillina Storefront"


This is a watercolor postcard I sketched while sitting at a sidewalk cafe sipping wine one day. The town was Castillina in Chianti and whenever our group got separated, we'd always stop outside a cafe and sip wine. Eventually, we'd all find each other and continue sipping.

Monteroso - Cinque Terre


This is the town of Monteroso, where we stayed while visiting Cinque Terre. We got off the train and walked to our hotel, dragging our suitcases behind us. We loved this town with it's many great restaurants, old town, hiking and beautiful water. We ate dinner at one of the sidewalk restaurants and immediately thereafter, jumped in the ocean for a refreshing end to the evening.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

"Sunflower II" - SOLD


This little watercolor was done from one of my photos taken in Italy. We missed the huge fields of blooming sunflowers, but I snapped a photo of this big one in a local gelato shop. I enjoyed looking at the sunflower while eating yet another Pistachio gelato.

Villa View


This is a piece of the view off the front porch of our Italian villa. This is the scene we woke up to every morning. Later I will post some of the spectacular sunsets we watched every night looking out in this same direction.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

"Garden Flowers"


Well, I'm finally back from Italy and what a trip it was!!! Three glorious weeks in Tuscany with a side trip to the Italian Rivera (Cinque Terre). I pretty well shot the month of September with travel, but it was all worth it. This little water color sketch was done one day from a couple of flowers I picked from the garden at our Villa in Tuscany. I will try to show a few of the photos along with my painting dabbles as I begin posting again. I did miss everyone, hope a few of you missed me too!

Travel Buddies


These are my traveling buddies. From Left to Right: Rae Andrews, Me, Eileen Pestorius, Courtney Brown, and Carol McCollum. Taking the photo is Diane Peters. I'll sneak in another photo of Diane in a later post. We are all fellow artists who regularly paint together at home and if we're really lucky, get to travel abroad once a year. We toasted many many glasses of great Chianti wine together in appreciation of each and every day, sunset, meal, painting, gelato and anything else we deemed worthy.