Cluck - New Casein

"Cluck"                casein on board                     6 x 6"

Maybe it is because I am thinking Spring and Easter eggs and green grass.....but here is a new little casein done on canvas on board. For me, chickens mean spring......"Cluck" is available on my website.

"Durham Fields", pictured below, is another small casein  that was prompted by my thoughts of summer flowers and back roads. The old barn in the painting used to be standing on that field in Durham, Maine. The road that past by it was a dirt road and I rode my horses past this barn for years,until the road was paved....the barn fell down ...and new houses were built in the fields. Sweet memories.

We still have patches of snow around the farm. Some of those patches are two feet deep! But winter is leaving and a glimpse of spring it evident...this always makes my spirits soar! I have had good days in the studio,  new buds are starting on the trees and bushes outside, new paintings are sprouting inside!

"Durham Fields"     casein on board         6 x 6"

 Gallery B in Lexington, Kentucky, is having the opening reception of their  "Spring Invitational" art show on March 31st. My work is included in the mix that will be showcased there. I hope my Kentucky friends and clients will be able to get to see the show. I have sent some new work down to them....stop in and have a glass of wine and enjoy the art!

I am thinking about getting the rake out and starting to clean some of the garden.....but rain and s-n-o-w are predicted for later this week............I need to paint.

Trivia Galore

Well, I received the new palette and have filled it with some of my casein colors that I use. I almost don't want to touch it now, as it is so nice and pristine. But I know I need to "bite the proverbial bullet" and get down and dirty with it. I just needed to show everyone how nice it looks!! :-)

I have been busy going through the pile of photo shots taken in KY during our visit. Here is a shot of Bobbye and I in front of the American Academy of Equine Art. Bobbye and Ed were our hosts and tour guide during our entire stay. They gave us a royal tour of equine highlights in Lexington and Louisville; and then in Cincinnati we got into the arts and architecture of that great city. We can't thank them enough!


I have been painting some, but the past week was also taken up with caring for our Corgi, Addie, as she tries to get over a bad eye infection. Part of the ordeal is also keeping the puppy, Nell, away from Addie as the poor girl heals. Like kids!

Back to the drawing board now as I finish up a casein painting of a Lexington thoroughbred stallion who posed for me ....I know he wanted to be painted! I am putting the finishing touches on it now.

It Might Look Messy

But there really is a method to my mess...it works for me. I think I have explained before, in previous posts, that I do not paint in the time honored traditional ways. My palette is not set up traditionally. My entire studio is none conformist! The story of my life!!
I have been asked by several folks, artists and clients, to show a peek at my palette…so aiming to please.. here it is! ” Ah?” You say…..”It’s a mess!!” Maybe by some standards it is. But the most important fact is that I get the paint out of this shamble and do manage to put it down in the right spots on the canvas or board, or paper!
The other question I am frequently asked is "What colors do you use?"
At any given time I might be using Naples Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red Scarlet, Ultramarine Blue Deep, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Paynes Gray, Shiva Violet, Raw Umber, Venetian Red, Halftone Black, Golden Ochre, Raw Sienna, Terra Verte, [ I LOVE Terra Verte!!]Cadmium Green and of course Titanium White. I don't use a Ivory Black but will often mix my own black black if I need it.
All these colors are employed my casein painting...and I use them on canvas, paper, gessoed board...I love them!
I also love watercolors , but that is another ball of wax!

So my palette might be messy...I agree!! But I think this painting [ "Driven" ] is neat! I am hating to part with it. I sometimes get that feeling about a finished work and hang on to them...this is one of those! But"Driven" is slated to hang in the Gallery B show next month. We are starting to pack works that will be shipped down to Lexington over the next two weeks. My shipper is snoring on the couch at the moment! So I will continue to paint!

Doesn't "Driven" look lovely framed?