Returned to the Easel

"Plane Compression"

Transparent Watercolor 22 x 30 inches

Okay I am back! Hawaii was fantastic ! Frankly, however, I have been itching to return to the easel here at home.

This piece is quite similar to the other non objective pieces I have completed in the last few months. It was half finished when we left for our Hawaiian Holiday

All I needed was one look at it's lonely, half baked existence on the easel to awaken my juices and get me rolling once again. I arose quite early this morning (4AM) to get after it. I am still not certain that it is complete. I may let it hang around for several days before I declare it final and finished.

On another note, I put the last few non objective pieces down on my studio floor this morning and lined them up next to each other. They all look very similar . . . . .which has both good and bad points . . . .it is a spur in my sides, though, as it indicates that I am becoming stale. Gotta move on to another 'theme' . . . . .which may not be all that easy. I like the motif of floating planes and shallow space, which is what all of these are . . . .and I noticed that the compositions are quite similar, too! A change up is due!!

Until next painting . . . .

A Great Excuse !

So! I haven't been painting because I have been travelling. The last week of June, I was in Boone, North Carolina, teaching some brief workshops for Cheap Joes Art Stuff. It was a wonderful experience and a terrific opportunity to get to know some marvelous folks.

This week and the next I must report that I am undergoing a loathsome serving out of an obligation I committed to some months ago: I am spending two weeks in Hawaii. Yes, it is indeed difficult. The weather is more than special and the scenery is something out of a story book. Painting? Not at all . . . . .well, some little sketches. But who can paint when there is so much to look at here?

Right in front of our housing . . . . .a condo right at the edge of the water . . . . Sea Turtles surface every minute or so. Big, blue green waves smash the rocks and send snow white plumes of foam 40 to 50 feet in the air. The pounding of the waves can be heard at night while we sleep. I tell you, this is very, very difficult to endure! ;-)

Swimming, snorkeling, eating, walking, sight seeing, eating, visiting galleries, eating and just plain loafing is what my wife and I are doing. Am doing a lot of reading and simply resting . . . . . .heck! I shouldn't even be doing this!!!

So, please forgive my laziness. My easel will see me soon enough.

Meanwhile, I am laying claim to this excuse.