Summer workshops

Please join me this summer to paint beautiful, northwest Michigan. I’ll be teaching three workshops.

The first is a one-day, plein air basics class at the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort, on June 24. An easy way to get your feet wet for beginners, and good practice for others. I’ll do demonstrations and we’ll paint at a couple of nearby sites.

In August I’ll again be teaching for the Glen Arbor Art Association. A three-day workshop at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Thorsen Farm and nearby spots, August 7-9. More in-depth, with demos and concentration on light and color.

From August 14-16 I will be with the Leelanau Community Cultural Center at the Old Art Building, in Leland. My first time teaching here, but it’s a location I love to paint. I have participated in “Leland Air,” their annual plein air event for the past three years. Below are the two paintings I did there a couple of weeks ago.

Hope to see you up north. Visit the sponsors websites to sign up.

Toward Pyramid Point, oil, 12" x 16"
Lakeside birch, oil 13" x 10"

Cruising with Gouache

Our spring-break this year was a wonderful, southern caribbean cruise. I knew there would be lots of subjects I’d like painting, but not a lot of time and bringing oil paints was not practical for going on and off a cruise ship. I don’t have much experience with gouache, so I thought this was a good opportunity. An opaque form of watercolor, it allows you to rework and paint over areas.

Here’s some of what I did. I used a 7" x 10" watercolor pad. Each of these took about a half hour.

Palm studies and a view from the deck of Fort de France bay on Martinique.

For Mackinac Island

Continuing winter studio work for the coming summer season in Michigan. These two are headed to Mackinac's Little Gallery on Mackinac Island.

Side By Side, oil, 14" x 16"
Harbor View, oil, 8" x 8"

Shipped to Hawaii

Here's some new and touched up work from my last trip to Maui that were just shipped to Village Galleries in Lahaina. I'm making plans now for another trip in the Fall.

Morning stroll, oil, 8" x 8"
Sailing along the shore, oil, 12" x 9"
Between the Islands, oil, 12" x 16"
Canoes on the beach, oil, 11" x 14"

  

Winter work

It's easy to get out of the habit of posting when you are busy. Busy with work (I’m still a part-time graphic designer), family, travel, and all of the other necessities of life.

I have been painting a lot though. Large paintings, studies, and finishing past starts. Here’s a study for a commission I’m about to begin of the Michigan shore and plein air start from last summer that I couldn’t complete at the time because of an impending storm.

More coming soon.

View from Arcadia, oil on paper,
8" x 6"


Storm over the Bay, oil 9" x 12"

New small works

I had a beautiful November day last week for plein air on the Lake Michigan shore. Hard to believe it was a sunny 65 degrees, I enjoyed every minute. Also a couple of small, studio pieces.

Dunes and shadows, oil, 10" x 8"

Beside the wetlands, oil on paper, 6" x 10"

Morning over Sleeping Bear Bay, oil, 8" x 10"

ArtPrize—Grand Rapids

After a couple years off, I again have a piece in ArtPrize, the giant art event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. One of my largest paintings, 40" x 78", Footprints in the dune, is a depiction of a morning at Warren Dunes.

Grand Rapids is a great town to visit especially during ArtPrize. My painting is hanging in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Downtown for a couple more weeks.