I will be having a solo exhibition at the Hopkinsville Community College in Hopkinsville KY.  The show will run from January 3-31st in the Auditorium Gallery. 

It was a wonderful month in the Catskills.  Surrounded by incredible landscape and the energy of a great group of painters I thoroughly enjoyed this experience.  Back to the studio now, but I hope to continue in the landscape here in Kentucky starting with some work in the Clarks River.  Here is a pic of a tree study from last week. 

The third week of the HRF has ended and it is hard to believe we have only one more week here.   This week I had the opportunity to complete a rock study I’d started as well as a painting of some hydrangea done at dusk. The colors during this time of evening continue to amaze me and I’m beginning to find it is my favorite time to paint. I’ve also spent some time working on a drawing of a nearby tree which is a much slower process- taking the time to record what I’m looking at in terms of the lines and not color. The week ended with a great trip to the homes of Frederic Church and Thomas Cole where we enjoyed tours of these historic sites. It was a great chance to learn more about the painters of the Hudson River School and the inspiration they found in this country.

Today was the first day of rain we've had since the fellowship began.  I worked on this painting from the porch while the clouds rolled by...

Week two of the Hudson River Fellowship has come to a close and the time has flown by!  This week the emphasis has shifted from thumbnail sketches and detailed drawings to tonal and color studies.  I've been doing oil sketches in various areas here including the creek bed at Platt's Cove and several studies from the sunset point.  Trees have been a major area of focus for me, so beautiful and complicated...how do you paint them?? 

It has been wonderful absorbing the wilderness here and I've had several bear sightings!  The weather has continued to be a perfect 75-80 degrees with low humidity, hard to beat!!  I'm excited for what the next two weeks will bring.  In the mean time here are a couple of paintings in the works...

And we’re off!

The first week of the Hudson River Fellowship has been amazing and cram packed. Our days are spent scrambling rocks and creeks with our painting gear, finding a multitude of possibilities for compositions. The landscape is inspiring and the weather has been wonderful. . Friday night we were treated to a lecture by a wonderful artist, James Gurney whose blog can be found at: http//gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/.  In the evenings 15 artists or so gather at the top of a hill overlooking the mountains to paint the sunset. This is quickly becoming my favorite time of the day. It is a fast and furious painting session that lasts about an hour as the light disappears and evening descends, which always leaves me feeling happy. I am inspired by the talent of my fellow artists here and excited to learn from them as we progress through the month.