Another one I've been working on recently...

 In a similar vein as landscapes I've done over the past year. Nocturne(ish) 14"x20". Since I've returned from the residency, I've found it difficult to finish anything. I feel as if I'm being pulled in a million directions ideawise, and I need to get each of those ideas down as quickly as possible. This method doesn't really lend itself to seeing a painting through to the end, but I think at this point, it's the most fruitful working method available to me.

Scarborough Marshes- 2nd Session

Went out and did a quick sketch in the Scarborough Marsh- Matt needed a quick session to finish his  underpainting from before, so I came along and did a very quick sketch on panel (took about an hour). No great shakes, but it is always good to get out...

Landscape Painting Plein Aire

  Did a little landscape painting with my brother Matt on Scarborough marsh. Whooda thunk there'd be so many biting flies on a marsh? (and so clever, too.) We were on the side of rt. 9 and I'm sure I looked a little strange to the passing cars- "Mommy, why is that man twitching and flailing on the side of the road?" "DON'T LOOK AT HIM!"
  I didn't get much further than what you see in the photo. My plan is to bring it back to the studio and finish it there. I could schlep it out again, but I've been playing around with the idea of schemas (and looking at a lot of Charles Burchfield, as was recommended to me by many people at AIB). I think that being out in the field initially will give it the sense of place that only being there can provide, but working on it in the studio will free me up to take it in new directions.

Painting I've been working on

Here is a painting I've been working on recently- still has far to go, but I'm relatively pleased with the direction it's heading. I would have liked to post the finished piece, but I'm under orders to start a blog (part of the A.I.B. MFA program) and I didn't want to look like I was slacking off. It's titled, "The Wreck of the Venus". You might recognize the wave from William Stott's "Birth of Venus"- I attached that below...

   Also, I just finished Kandinsky's Concerning the Spiritual In Art, which, while hilariously overblown, was pretty decent. I think he unnecessarily downplays materialism, but it was in keeping with his work. As a defense of his paintings, the book is great.