Let Freedom Ring

On the eve of the inauguration of a new president, I remain hopeful that our country be a model for promoting peace, well-being, and dignity for all. Very best wishes Mr. Obama as you begin your new role as our President.

(detail from "Field of Honor," posted 6/28/08)

My Work in OnTray Magazine

As of today, lucky magazine readers in the Boston area will get to see a 2 page spread of my paintings in OnTray Magazine, a periodical that is distributed to restaurants and many other locations in the Boston Area. It features many of the wonderful eating establishments we are lucky enough to enjoy plus places to go and things to do in this area with a focus on enjoying life. Publisher Joe Chinzi appreciates fine arts and has been featuring an artist in each of the recent editions. The January-February edition also features my studio mate, Kathi Dugan in an additional spread. Thanks Joe for including us in your wonderful magazine!

Out of This World 30"x30"

I did this painting for a show with the subject being trees. I saw this scene while walking through the town graveyard with my husband and daughter last fall; it's an historic graveyard that dates back to Revolutionary War times and has nice views of the harbor and the historic downtown area. In all the years I've lived here, it's one spot I don't remember ever visiting previously, but it's really about as lovely as a graveyard can get. I looked up at the trees and considered painting several different views but decided on this one that included the elegant monument. I added the jet plane because I had seen them pass by several times and considered the dreamlike state I can be in when gazing upward. As I was painting this recently, I wondered about painting the monument, but then after seeing the death and devastation that is taking place in the world on the news and considering the escape of being on a plane and the cycle of nature with the trees turning, it made sense. It got rejected from the show...but I still like it.

Sunoco I (?)

I started this painting for a show about trees, and I took the original photo last fall at Scarsilloni's Sunoco station in Scituate, MA with this in mind. I began this painting and it never felt quite right, so I never really finished it and submitted different one instead. I do like this in spite of a few issues I have with it, one of them being that the entire time I was painting it, I felt like it needed to be larger. This one is a strange size...somewhere in the range of 13'x 17" or so...not sure where I got the canvas...but I'm thinking of trying it again only much bigger....I would like to see what happens to the technique since I prefer to use big brushes, could be interesting.

First Night

This really isn't an attempt to be Kincaide...but it was New Year's Eve, and we were experiencing a snowstorm and sub freezing temperatures, and the glow from our little outside Christmas tree was just so appealing in the snow...so what's a girl to do? Paint! ...and why not paint the storm? (glad we have digital cameras..it would have been really miserable out there, not to mention dangerous...for me and my paints!)

So...I looked at my palette at the end of my painting session at the studio today...I worked on 2 paintings including the one posted today and I wondered if anyone else works with such a haphazard arrangement of colors? I went to a seminar recently on how to present my artwork and it was funny sitting with other artists and seeing how their note taking resembled mine...a little like my palette, all over the place. I guess that might help me to understand why I did not pursue accounting as a career....(I could have though...really!)

Happy New Year!