Red-Violet Ridge (Framed)

In addition to framing work for the group show at Galatea Fine Art, I also framed 3 small (5" x 7") mountain landscapes for a second show at Galatea running concurrently in July. This a special members show called "Just Be-Cause." Participating artists are showing post-card sized art works, with a portion of sales proceeds going to a charity designated by the artist.*

*(My choice was F.O.R.C.E., Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered.)

Orange Mountain Sunrise (Framed)

Here's another painting that I framed over the weekend. This is one of the mountain landscapes that I painted for an upcoming show (at Galatea Gallery in Boston). These paintings are done with acrylic paint used with water on watercolor paper, and are based on my imagination and memories of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, my home state.

Thunderstorm over Turquoise Mountain (Framed)

I have been painting mountain landscapes for a show in July (at Galatea Gallery) Of the set, this is the last painting finished, but the first one I framed. I had already take six large paintings were framed for me at Michael's, but I had a few smaller paintings, and I framed them myself.

Postcard for "Sense of Place" Group Show

Today I took my paintings down to Galatea Fine Art because they will be included in a group show called "Sense of Place." This is the postcard for the show. My painting, "Clouds over Purple Mountain," is in the lower left corner. The show will be up July 1 to 31, with an opening on July 1, 6 to 8 pm. For more information about Galatea Fine Arts, go to galateafineart.com

Thunderstorm over Turquoise Mountain

I finished this painting yesterday, after adding layers of color to the sky and to the mountain, and after making lots of small changes. This is one of my "Mountain Daydreams," paintings of the Colorado Rockies done from memory and imagination. This is the last painting in a set of mountain landscapes that I have been painting for a show in July. Now they are all framed and tomorrow I am taking them done to Galatea Fine Arts in Boston.

Thunderstorm over Turquoise Mountain (As of June 24, 2016)

Here is another mountain landscape that i started yesterday (June 24). This one of my "Mountain Daydreams," painted from my imagination and my memories of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. This is done with acrylic paint on watercolor paper. This is the last of a group of paintings I have been working on for a show in July. At the time I took this photo, this painting was close to finished, but not quite.

Bouquets in Cellophane (Posterized Photo)

This image started with a display of cellophane-wrapped bouquets at Tendercrop Farms, here in Beverly, MA. I liked the way they looked, so I took a picture, and published it here last night. For this version, I used Painter to posterize the photo, which brought out the colors and the reflections in the cellophane. I didn't think these flowers could look more festive, but they do.

Bouquets in Cellophane

Here's another photo from last weekend's excursion to Tendercrop Farms, here in Beverly, MA.  I saw a display of bouquets, each wrapped in cellophane.  The flowers looked ready for a celebration, so I took a picture.  Tonight I edited the original photo to get this composition.

Orange Mountain Sunrise

Today I finished the painting that I started yesterday. I wanted the bottom part of the picture to be a bit darker, so I added some transparent red-orange washes to the base of the mountains. Then I added some opaque pale orange to the tops of the mountains, for highlights. This is part of my "Mountain Daydreams" series, mountain landscapes done from imagination and memories of Colorado. This is acrylic paint used as water media on watercolor paper.

Orange Mountain Sunrise (As of June 21, 2016)

I have been painting for a show in July at Galatea Fine Arts (galateafineart.com). I have been painting mountain landscapes, working from imagination and memories of Colorado. These are done with acrylic paint on watercolor paper. My plan was to do six larger paintings (18" x 24"), and those are all done, framed, and ready for the trip down to Boston. But I was thinking of doing a couple of small paintings just in case they are needed, so this morning I got this painting started. I like it so far because it reminds me of seeing the mountains at dawn in Boulder. Well, it was only when I was cleaning up that I realized I had grabbed an 11" x 14" watercolor block instead of the 9" x 12" that I had planned to use. (I already had frames to fit that size.) But I am going to just keep going with this painting, do another one the same size, and then pick up a couple of frames to fit.

Petunias at Tendercrop Farms

This weekend we stopped at Tendercrop Farms, a farmstead type market new to this area.  The practical mission was to pick up some cucumbers and tomatoes for a gazpacho.  But there was so much to look at that it was hard to concentrate on anything practical. The vegetables were beautiful, but the flowers were even better.  I took this picture in the greenhouse. Tonight I cropped the original image to get this composition.

Father and Daughter (Digital Woodcut)

Yesterday I was looking through old family photos to find a picture of my dad. I found a great set of pictures taken at my first birthday party. The photographer was my uncle, Ike Fitterman.* I liked a photo of my dad holding me up on the table. But part of the photo had been torn and the top was faded, so I decided to see what I could do with it. I cleaned up up a bit with basic photo software in my mac, and then got to work in Painter. The original version was sepia; I posterized it and tones of pink, yellow, and light green began to appear. I used color overlays and drawing in with digital pastel to add more of those colors. And then I added some woodcut effect. I like the result, and even more than that, I enjoy the process. Working on a photo of my dad for a few hours is a way of spending a little time with him. You can see in this photo that he has only been a father for a short time. But you can tell that he is already good at it.

*Ike Fitterman was a professional photographer, DBA Jay Phillips Studio in Pueblo, Colorado.

Evergreen

This is mountain landscape that I started on June 14th. I got up early the next day and got to work adding color to the sky and layers of colors to the mountains. This is acrylic paint used like watercolor, so I stopped from time to time to let the layers dry, and kept working on small details till I had what I wanted. This is what it looked like when I finally felt like it was finished. And just in time, because I needed to drop it off, along with five other paintings, to be framed for a show in July.

Evergreen (As of June 14, 2016)

In the morning on June 14, I got one more painting started. This is going to be another one of my "Mountain Daydreams," paintings of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, from memory and imagination. I use acrylic paint with water on watercolor paper. Here you can see how I start these paintings, with a line for the mountains, a red dot for the sun, and then brushstrokes to suggest the shapes of the mountains. To be continued. . . .

Colorado Brown Mountain

This is my painting as it looked on June 14, when I finished it. This landscape is part of my "Mountain Daydreams" series, paintings of the Colorado Rocky Mountains done from memory and imagination.  This is acrylic paint used as water media paint on watercolor paper.  I had the basic composition in place for several days, but made a lot of small changes as I finished up, including using layers of color to even out the values in the mountains and to soften the color contrast in the sky.  This is the fifth of six paintings for a show in July. 

Colorado Brown Mountain (As of June 13, 2016)

Here is the landscape painting that I started on June 11. This is one of my "Mountain Daydreams," paintings of the Colorado Rocky Mountains done from memory and imagination. This is acrylic paint used as watercolor on watercolor paper. On the 13th, I added more red-brown washes to try to get the characteristic color of the Colorado rocks and soil. I also added more color to the sky.

Colorado Brown Mountain (As of June 12, 2016)

Yesterday's post showed a painting that I started on June 11, 2016. That was a busy day and I only had time to lay in the composition with brown paint. Today's post shows the progress on the second day (June 12). I added some pink and brown washes to get that "Colorado earth" color, using some wash-off techniques to create texture. I also added some color to the sky. This painting is part of a series that I call "Mountain Daydreams," all created from imagination and memories of the mountains in my home state of Colorado. What you see here is a work-in-progress. To be continued. . . .

Colorado Brown Mountain (As of June 11, 2016)

Here's another mountain landscape that I started a couple of days ago (June 11). I had enough time to apply the first layer color and establish the basic composition. This is going to be another one of my "Mountain Daydreams," paintings of the Colorado Rocky Mountains done from imagination and memory. These paintings are all done with acrylic paint used as watercolor on watercolor paper. I am have painted a several of these recently because I am getting ready for a group show in July at Galatea Gallery in Boston(galateafineart.com).

Red Mountain Sunrise

Yesterday I finished this painting that I have been working on for the past few days.  The changes were mostly added color to the sky and to the base of the mountains -- and fixing a lot of little things that I noticed along the way as I was finishing.  This landscape is part of a series that I call "Mountain Daydreams," paintings of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, done from imagination and memory. All of the paintings in this series are done with acrylic paint used with water on watercolor paper.

Red Mountain Sunrise (As of June 10, 2016)

I started this painting a couple of days ago. Here is a photo of it as it looked yesterday after my painting session. I added more color to the sky, and orange and pink washes to the mountains. This is done with acrylic used as water media paint on watercolor paper. This painting is one of my "Mountain Daydreams," painted from my imagination and inspired by my memories of the mountains in Colorado, where I grew up.

Red Mountain Sunrise (As of June 9, 2016)

I started another painting yesterday, and this is how it looked after my painting session. This landscape is part of a series called "Mountain Daydreams" because I create this images from my imagination and from my memories of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where I grew up. I use acrylic paint as water media on watercolor paper. This was a good start in terms of composition and color, but its not there yet. To be continued. . . .

Gold Mountains

I have been working on this painting since June 5th, and this is how it looked yesterday (June 8th) when I finished it.  Yesterday I added some gold washes to tone down the green but also to add contrast so that the line of mountains in the foreground would be more distinct.  I also made some changes in the pink highlighting, and added more color to the sky to create contact with the mountains. This painting is part of a series of landscapes that I call "Mountain Daydreams" because I paint them from imagination and memories of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.  These mountain landscapes are created with acrylic paint used as water media on watercolor paper.

Gold Mountains (As of June 7, 2016)

Well, I am still working on the painting I started a couple of days ago. This landscape is done with acrylic paint used with water on watercolor paper. It is part of a series of paintings that I call "Mountain Daydreams," painted from my imagination and my memories of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. In these paintings, I use a lot of techniques that allow the water to do what it does, and since water also creates mountains as well as paintings, that seems to work. So there are a lot of happy (and unhappy) accidents involved. But after that, I do a lot of work to get what I want. In this case, I wanted more contrast between these two ridges, so I added some more green wash. . . Here is how it looked when I was done with that step.

Gold Mountains (As of June 6, 2015)

This is the mountain landscape I have been working on, as it  looked at the end of yesterday's painting session.  This  is part of my "Mountain Daydreams" series, paintings from my imagination and my memories of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, where I grew up.  All of these paintings are done with acrylic, used with  water on watercolor paper.  Yesterday I added some green washes and painted into the tops of the mountains with pink to create highlights.

Gold Mountains (As of June 5, 2016)

Yesterday I started another painting, and this is as far as I got. This is how it looked at the end of my painting session. This is going to be another mountain landscape painted from my imagination and my memories of the Rocky Mountains of my home state of Colorado. This is acrylic paint used with water on watercolor paper. To be continued. . . .

Green Mountain Rain

This is one of my "Mountain Daydream" paintings, painted from my imagination and my memories of the Rocky Mountains in my home state of Colorado. This is acrylic used as water media paint, on watercolor paper. I have been working on this painting for a few days, and finished it today. I added some highlights to the mountains, and also added some darker blue tones on the right side, for balance. I also got another painting started, which I hope to post here tomorrow.

Four Still Life Drawings at Porter Mill

This is a photo of the four still life drawings that I did for the Porter Mill Challenge. Porter Mill is where I have my studio, and the artists of Porter Mill were challenged to produce a new piece of art each week in April.) Today was open studios at Porter Mill, and also the opening of the Porter Mill Artists show in the gallery, where these drawings are now on display.

Green Mountain Rain (As of June 3, 2016)

This is the painting I started yesterday. I worked on it again this morning. This is one of my "Mountain Daydreams," landscapes painted from my imagination and my memories of the mountains in Colorado, where I grew up. This is acrylic paint used with water, on watercolor paper. I added some purple and pink washes to the sky and some blue and purple washes to the mountains. I think it is pretty much done although I might want to add some highlights. . . .

Green Mountain Rain (As of June 2, 2015)

I got another painting started this morning. This is as far as I got with it today, but plan to continue tomorrow. This is acrylic used as water media paint, on watercolor paper. This is part of my "Mountain Daydreams" series, all mountain landscapes painted from my imagination and my memories of the Colorado Rocky Mountains in my home state.

Boats at Salem Willows

Here's a photo from yesterday's little adventure. On the way back from an errand in Salem, we stopped off at Salem Willows park for a late morning walk. I took a few pictures; this is one of the best, looking at the sailboats with Beverly in the distance. Tonight I edited the original to get this composition.