Le Procope

SOLD  Acrylic on canvas, 53 x 83 inches.  I painted this Paris cafe scene for Dinner and Dancing Under the Stars at the Museum of East Texas.  The theme for the party is Paris.

Blue Vase

14x11 acrylic on canvas board. Yes, another demo for my painting classes at the Museum.

Summer Flowers

11x14 acrylic on canvas board. You guessed it--another demo for my painting classes at the Museum. It's fun to paint shiny objects. Paint the shapes and colors you see in the reflections and not the object itself.

OUT THE WINDOW

8x10 acrylic on canvas board, yep, another demo for my Museum painting class. I can't get the same affect with acrylics as I do with oil, but I enjoy the adventure, anyway. My class is beside a huge window, so we can paint landscapes almost en plein air, but not quite.

Museum Bouquet

10x8 acrylic on canvas board. This is a demo I did for my Museum class this week. I don't know for sure what these flowers are, but I bought them for my students (and me) to paint.

SUMMER BOUQUET

8x10 acrylic on canvas board--a demo for my Museum class.

CHOLULA WITH FRUIT & FLOWERS acrylic, 8x10

The Museum of East Texas Art Camp is over for this summer. This is the last demo I did for my students, so I thought I might as well post it, even though it's not a finished painting. I'm, now, working at the museum temporarily, filling in for the Curator of Education while she's on maternity leave. So, I'll be busy, but I think I'll have a little more time to paint than I did during Art Camp. Teaching of any type is all consuming. I've always taught--high school, college--and it takes over you life. I'm not saying teaching's bad, it's just different than other jobs. Teachers are entirely responsible for what goes on in their classroom and they must plan at home, purchase materials, take items such as still life contents with them, and pay close attention to everything and everyone at all times in their classes, then often take home papers to grade and plans to make for the next day. It's all consuming. Teaching is very difficult and stressful (if done well) and good teachers deserve more respect than they get.

BLUE VASE acrylic on board, 6x6

This is a demo for one of my museum Art Camp acrylic painting classes. I enjoy teaching painting, especially when I get to paint, too. I bought this bouquet of flowers on the way to the museum and it was painted by students in my 4 classes today.

SUMMER SUN acrylic on board, 8x10

This is a demo I did for a group of kids at our museum Art Camp. It's an acrylic painting class that I'm teaching and they are doing some nice paintings. I don't normally use acrylics. Oils are my medium of choice, but sometimes acrylic paint has it's advantages and it's necessary in this case. I could almost call this a plein air painting, but not quite. My class area has a huge window and I painted this of the view outside the window--from inside. My students also painted their view out the window.

Mural Repair

Here's what I've been doing the past 2 days. No, not creating this mural, (I did create it 3 years ago) but cleaning and repairing it. Vandals sprayed graffiti on my mural and another mural (painted by Lance Hunter) a few blocks away. So I helped a City Parks official remove the varnish, which removed most of the graffiti. Then I had to repaint parts where some graffiti remained and put an acrylic varnish on it. I'll go back in a few days and reapply Soluvar, a removable varnish. I don't understand why people vandalize.

BUCKET OF TOMATOES acrylic on board, 6x6

I used a palette knife to do this painting. It is done from a photograph I took of this bucket full of tomatoes my Dad brought in from his garden a few weeks ago.

EMPTY JUICE BOTTLES acrylic on board, 6x4

These are some of the juice bottles that my mother has emptied. I thought they were too pretty to throw away before photographing and painting them. I did this painting with a nylon brush. The painting is smoother than I wanted. I should have used a bristle brush!

MORNING MIST WITH COWS acrylic on board, 4x6

This is another scene from my parents' farm. I took the picture early in the morning while there was mist over the lake and the pasture. I painted this with a palette knife.

MISTY POND AND COWS acrylic on board, 4x6

8/10/08 I painted this with a palette knife. It's from a picture I took at my parents' farm. It was early in the morning and there was a mist over the lake and pasture.

RED CUP WITH FLOWERS acrylic on canvas board, 14x11

This was the demo for today's painting class. It's the same cup as before and the yellow flowers are the same ones. But, I bought the purple and white flowers this morning.

BOWL OF FRUIT acrylic on canvas board, 11x14

8/5/08 This was also a demo for the painting class. I love painting and I love teaching painting.

DUCK REFLECTION acrylic on canvas board, 11x14

8/4/08 This was done as a demo for a painting class I'm teaching. I used a brush for this and I may do a little more to it. It isn't quite finished.

DRAGON LEAF BEGONIA acrylic on board, 5x7

This is a plant sitting on my parents' deck.

M'S PETUNIAS acrylic on board, 4x6

These petunias are growing in my mother's flower bed. She sat outside on the deck with me this afternoon while I painted this en plein air.

I've finally gotten the last 3 paintings posted. I'm back with my parents again and posting is much slower and more difficult here. It surely makes me appreciate the technology in my home.

EARLY MORNING SHADOWS acrylic on board, 5x7

This was painted from a photo I took at my parents' farm a few months ago. It's a beautiful place--so quiet and peaceful.