Thanksgiving portrait

My niece, Fiona Mary. She is seven and a half, a blonde firecracker. Loves horses and stepdancing. Although a very good model when asked, she is not usually seen sitting still.

Acton Arboretum again

This time I painted the back of the house on the other side of the pond. To finish this painting, I turned it upside down which is a favorite trick of mine. It works wonders when having difficulties with composition or the balance of values.

two guitar players

Not from the same band, though. The fellow with the fantastic dreadlocks is from an R&B band that I saw in Gloucester, and the cool dude with the glasses is from The Prarie Oysters who play in Holden. There's nothing funner than going to hear live music and sketching the musicians.

Sholan Farms

There's still a little color around. I painted this in a field of very tall Queen Anne's Lace at Sholan Farms and I was bombarded by lady bugs the entire time. I felt bad when they flew into my palette. I tried to keep it tilted to prevent them from landing on it.

Marblehead sketches

Marblehead is one of my favorite towns in Massachusetts, especially the area near the waterfront where the streets are delightfully narrow and crooked. These two pen and ink sketches were done from life.

Acton Arboretum

This little oil is only 4" square. It's been over a month since I've had time to go out painting. Three part time jobs are keeping life hectic for me! It was great to get out.

Two pieces of news since I've last posted:
1. My pastel "Emma" won second place in the PSNH national show.
2. I have rented wall space in a brand new gallery downtown Leominster. I'll have some pics after we hang our work.