Moment in Time

Did you know that there may be different settings for color on your computer than there are on mine? This may mean that the painting you see on your computer may look slightly different than than the way I see it on mine. I make every effort to get an accurate representation on my computer, but don't know what you might be seeing on yours. If any painting you purchase from me over the internet is not what you expect, you may return it for a full refund. This painting has a nice quality of light. I hope you can see it, too!


I'll be taking some time out of the studio and the Glades for some family visits and travel. Hope you have a great couple of weeks. Sometimes I may be out of contact, but will get back to you as soon as possible.

Remember that I'll be teaching at the Marco Island Center for the Arts for a six week class starting the end of June provided they can get at least six students. Contact them here if you'd like more information or to sign up!

Moment in Time
20" x 16" (50.8cm x 40.7cm)
acrylic on canvas
$500 plus $35 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Three's a Crowd

You might like to know a little about how prepare for a painting. I almost always work on a stretched canvas, and usually prepare the canvases ahead of time. I tend to scrub and work the surfaces pretty hard, so professionally stretched canvases work best for me. If the canvas is not at least double primed, I add a coat or more of acrylic gesso, and sanding after each coat. This gives a nice "tooth" to the canvas. I don't overdo the gesso or the sanding, because the texture of a medium canvas has a welcome naturalness that I enjoy. Then I usually paint the canvases a warm dark. This can be any dark mix of red and blue I happen to have around my studio. I usually do the whole order at once so there's always just the right canvas available when I'm ready to start a painting. You can expect this quality preparation when you purchase a Sanborn painting!

Three's a Crowd
12" x 12" (30.5cm x 30.5cm)
acrylic on canvas
$300 plus $15 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Veiled Sun

A few mornings ago the sun came up amid some clouds diluting the luminosity of the sun even though the ground was clearly showing sunlight. It was an interesting, if short lived phenomena. I've tried to capture it in this small painting. I'm always amazed at how quickly the morning sky changes. Looking out the window before my shower it can be a rich grey, and by the time I go out for the morning paper there can be layers of morning colors reaching high in the sky. Each day is different, and here on the island it's rare to have the morning light "flat".
On another subject, what will you be doing this Memorial weekend? Make it a safe, restful and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend, but take a moment to remember and to be grateful for those who have served our country. We owe them our freedom. If you'd like to learn more about this traditional holiday, click here.

Veiled Sun
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
acrylic on canvas
$150 plus $12 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Verticals & Red

One of my daughters tells me that my Everglades work is all about a balance of verticals and horizontals. It's very possible that she's right! The upright palms against almost any vertical background continue to interest me. When I come across them, whether a group, a clump, or a line, I am compelled to explore the scene further in a painting. Sometimes it's about trying to get the most distance possible out of the scene. Sometimes it's about a balance of color or light. In this painting it's about getting past the confrontational aspects of the landscape and into it's heart.
Several of my paintings have been selected by curator Jack O'Brien into a show called Florida Naturally at Physician's Regional Medical Center on Pine Ridge Road. My work is the soft counterpoint to a number of landscape photographs. If you love the Florida landscape you'll enjoy the show. Stop by before August 20. They have a wonderful cafeteria if you're out for lunch!

Verticals & Red
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
acrylic on canvas
$150 plus $12 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Racing for Home

The other day a group of sailing boats reminded me of an earlier time in my life when I often sailed Long Island Sound and north to the Maine Coast. Moving along with no sound but the wind in the sails and the cries of sea birds was exhilarating and good for one's soul. Clouds are building in this painting and the ships are looking to get home before the storm. Soon the summer rains will come and this will be a common scene. When out on the water in the summer in South Florida you learn to gage the speed of the building storms, and learn correct timing to be home just before it pours.

Racing for Home

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Framing and Talking

I mostly sell my paintings framed, so dashed across the Everglades early yesterday morning to pick up an order of frames from my supplier who had received a container the day before. We found upon opening the boxes that the style I needed most came through with an unacceptable quality. I was able to get some of what I needed, dashed back in time for yesterday's Artist's Tabletalk luncheon.
A wonderful group of women artists on Marco Island meets once a month for art talk. We are all serious artists working regularly, and have only one rule for our table--that for those two hours, the subject must be art! If someone digresses we lead them back to art. We struggle to have only one conversation going on at a time, so have a limit of 12 participants and sit at a round or square table. We start by going around the table so that each artist can take a couple of minutes to tell about what they've been working on, reading about, or exhibitions seen in the month since we've met. We're usually so excited about what everyone is doing that this takes most of the time! We all know that we spend so much time in our studios working alone that socializing becomes very important. Meetings like this energize me. I'm so grateful for all my artist friends who take the time to come to the table! I hope they get as much out of it as I do!
Today's painting is a simple one reminiscent of my mad dash across the glades. It's just about a hundred miles across from Naples to Fort Lauderdale and this scene is a common one. Remember, all my prices include a simple gold frame.

Golden Grasses
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
acrylic on canvas
$150 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Stream in the Back Country is a little larger than my last few daily paintings. I had blocked it out a while ago, and it was sitting there quietly waiting to be completed. It's a nice country meadow, and if you know Collier county you can find the scene off Turner River Road. I enjoyed working with the deep, rich colors. The rest of the last two days were spent opening a Paypal account and learning how to get the button working. I wanted Paypal because you can purchase a painting with your private information secure and it can be used from anywhere. But I so struggle with the technical aspects of the Internet. (Sigh) Deep apologies if you received several strange emails or repeats on Monday. I'm not sure how it happened, but will really try to ensure this doesn't happen again!
Many, many thanks to David Darrow, a fine artist with technocrat abilities as well. In addition to David's skill as an artist, he wrote a Paypal button compatible with Blogger for other artists to download. Paypals own buttons are more suited to Ebay, so are sometimes cranky on Blogger. Although we have never met, when I emailed David with my questions and frustrations, he immediately called to help. I'll be forever grateful! Also thanks and congratulations to Ms Ries, who was willing to give the Paypal way a try when she contacted me to purchase "Hurricane Cut." She and her sister own many of my smaller paintings, sometimes exchanging with each other back and forth. They're among my dearest collectors!

Stream in the Back Country
20" x 16" (50.8cm x 40.7cm)
acrylic on canvas
$500 plus $25 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Blue Water

Painting a small painting each day and putting it up for sale on the Internet is a new way for artists to market their work. Selling in this way means there's no gallery representing the artist, and the artist doesn't need to represent themselves, like at an outdoor art festival. The customer makes a decision on what they like, and in the case of Ebay sales, even what price to pay. Most of these artists blog to bring attention to their work.

The most famous Internet artist, sometimes called the father of this movement is Duane Keister. Duane paints common, everyday objects, and sells them on Ebay. He's very good, and did so well with this method that a number of artists have adopted his methods. Check Daily Painters and Daily Painters Guild and see some wonderful artwork! I paint daily, and am listed Daily Painters Guild worldwide list of everyday painters. Now if I can figure out how, you may see a Paypal button on my blog soon! In the meantime you can contact me by email if you see something you'd like to own

Blue Water
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
acrylic on canvas
$150 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Hurricane Cut

The humidity is up today reminding us that summer isn't far away, with that, many people will soon give their palms a "hurricane cut" for the summer. Some people believe that having less fronds on the palm will reduce wind resistance and help the palms to withstand strong winds, but exactly the opposite is true. Palms need every green frond to stay healthy and withstand both winds and disease. The only fronds that should be cut off are the brown, dead ones. So clean up those palms now and then, but don't give them a buzz cut!

Lately, the elongated palms hold an interest for me. I'm not sure why, but maybe I long for verticals in this horizontal landscape! Here are some with a nice painterly quality. If you are getting this in your mail box each day you might like to visit the website here. There's more color, and it's easy to enlarge the painting. You can visit some of my special sites, too.

Hurricane Cut
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
Acrylic on Canvas
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Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan

It's encouraging to see our lawmakers finally coming into agreement and beinging to fund the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. More information about the plan can be found in these stories from USA Today. As you know, I feel storngly that the Eveglades hold a special place in earth's ecosystems and are important to us all. There's been a lot of controversy about the plan, but finding ways to work together and acting now will begin to bring this part of the earth back to good health.

Growing up in Gloucester, MA, the harbor was filled with trash, debris and polution. Thanks to the Clean Water Act and a lot of hard work, the harbor is almost pristine again. Let's wish the same for a speedy Everglades recovery!

Groupies
6" x 8" (15.3cm x 20.4cm)
acrylic on canvas
$175 plus $15 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Spring Morning

After being lazy about it for a while, I'm renewing my efforts to paint a small painting most days. The paintings will always be a day behind, because the blog is a morning thing for me and I want to have something ready to show you. A small painting a day will build inventory for the shows to come, and allow experimentation with color and techniques. It's a great way to warm up, and since I can do some of them in an hour or two, there'll still be time to work on larger paintings. It's fun to do because there isn't the emotional involvement of a large painting. Most of them will be from photographs or memory. Today's was painted on a bright pink background that still peeks through.

Then, when I get really committed, I'll paint the sunrise each morning. Sunrise is so beautiful here on Marco Island. Each morning has it's own distinct personality of colors and pattern. But getting up and out that early is a whole other issue!

Spring Morning
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
acrylic on canvas
$150 plus $12 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Annual Meeting for the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts

Five years ago a group of Marco business and civic leaders met to create a new Foundation with the mission of promoting art in public places. The goal was to provide additional arts and culture opportunities as the City of Marco Island grew. The organization has held two international exhibitions of sculpture, and a number of other arts events. Today is the third annual meeting of this growing membership organization. Congratulations, MIFA! You can learn more about this organization or subscribe to receiving messages about art events here.

How different each morning sky is when I go around dawn to get the morning paper. Yesterday there were pinks tones and puffy clouds, today the early sky was gray and quiet. I've taken yesterday's sky and put it in an imaginary location. A couple of busy days mean that I don't get to paint outside as much as I like, but there's still time for a mini painting!

Morning Sky
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
acrylic on canvas
$150 plus $12 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.