"Cochran House" - Study

We braved the 100+ degree heat the other day and went downtown to plein air paint this old mansion. It's one of Austin's treasures and a great place for events. They are also very "artist friendly" here. The curator was gracious enough to come out and bring us cold water while we were withering on the vine.

"Italian Architecture"

Last year I snapped a photo of this building in Italy. I can't remember what town this was, but I liked the way it looked. Since it's only a couple of weeks before I leave again for Chianti country, I'm trying to get my head back into the country. Ciao!

"Colors" 2 - SOLD

I finished this companion piece to "Colors 1" last night. It took me a couple of days to get the mood back. As you can tell by the number of posts this month (or lack of) I'm not as available for painting right now. I'm getting ready for my annual trip to Italy and will be gone most of the month of September. I will paint while there and hopefully have a batch to post when I return. I want to thank everyone who follows me and are moved enough to leave me comments on my work. You all don't know how much that means to me to hear from you - it's the force that helps keeps me encouraged and moving forward. Thank you!

"Colors" 1 - SOLD

As most of you know, we are in the middle of a horrendous heat wave and drought. I painted this one on 2 consecutive 105 degree days. I had no preconceived image, rhyme or reason, just pure mood/feelings are expressed. Quite a change from my previous 2 paintings!

"Galveston House"

Before the hurricane, we'd run down to Galveston a lot. There are so many old charming houses there. This is one I drove by on the way to lunch one day and just loved the place. I snapped a photo and am just now getting around to painting it. I've got to get back, but will probably wait until this horrible heat wave is over.

"Going" - SOLD

This was painted alla prima (all at once) and took 2 hours and 15 minutes. I was attempting to lay the paint down quickly but accurately. My natural tendency is to keep going over my paint work with additional adjustments. I was attempting to force myself to lay the paint down and LEAVE it alone. Sounds easy, but it's not.

"Mountain River" 9 - SOLD

Ok - this is it - the whole enchilada!! This is the total 9 piece puzzle that about drove me crazy to paint. I attempted to post the 9th piece by itself along with the entire piece. Don't know if it worked or not. If not, the 9th piece is the upper right hand corner.

"Mountain River" 8

One more after this and the entire piece is DONE!! This is the center piece in the top row. Maybe we've all been concentrating on water (or lack of it) lately and we were finally blessed by some desperately needed rain today.

"Mountain River" 7

Here's the top upper left hand corner - the only piece without any water. I will photograph the final 2 pieces tomorrow.

"Mountain River" 6

This is the far right side of the center row. I finished the final pieces on this today. Whew, it took a lot longer than I though it would to do this project. When I get to the 9th piece, I'll show the entire project photographed as one.