Sunday Sketchbook: Paris

I'm on my way to Paris, where I'm leading an art history and sketchbook workshop, and then staying on to paint, walk and generally just enjoy being in such a wonderful place (the only place I'd rather be than Vermont in October.)

Sunday Sketchbook: Figure

A rocking chair and model strike a pose together.

Sunday Sketchbook: Paris

Tomorrow I leave for two weeks of teaching and painting in beautiful Paris, where I will have the chance to share two of my favorite activities with our group--eating French food, and looking at French art. Stay tuned for my "journal" watercolors from the City of Light!

Sunday Sketchbook: Washington, DC

Next week at this time, I'll be driving down the east coast to teach--and, as always on these trips, with never enough time for all of the friends, family and art I'd like to see.

Sunday Sketchbook: Bahamas

The waiting room at the Marshtown Harbor Airport in Abaco, Bahamas, is al fresco, and I came to know the views from it well as my scheduled two hour wait to fly home turned into seven hours. This delay put the travel domino effect into play, and my supposed twelve hour trip back to Vermont became a two day travel extravaganza--leaving me plenty of time to finish this sketchbook.

Sunday Sketchbook: Bahamas

Two faces of the islands: the workers who ride the ferry to their jobs in hotels and restaurants, and the vacationers who come for sun, sand and relaxation.

Sunday Sketchbook: The Caribbean

On Tuesday I'll be leaving for my second trip to the Caribbean (the first was to Bequia, pictured here) this time to teach and paint for a week on Abaco Island in the Bahamas. I'm looking forward to starting a new series of Travelogue studies--check your mailbox for daily posts, if you're a subscriber!

Sunday Sketchbook: Road Trip

Late night hotel in Yachats, Oregon, with rain and waves as mood music.

Sunday Sketchbook: Pacific Northwest

On the train from Seattle to Portland, eating a picnic of smoked salmon from Pikes Market, ciabatta, Oregon cream cheese, and blood oranges--with views to match.

Sunday Sketchbook: Road Trip

A couple of years ago, my son Colin and I went to Florida for the first time, and as we both are afficianados of out-of-the-way places, we enjoyed our stay in Everglades City. Tomorrow we're leaving on another trip together, this time to the opposite coast. We'll be in the Pacific Northwest for ten days, and I'll be posting (rain-spattered) paintings and sketches along the way.

Sunday Sketchbook: Figure

"The mirror is not you...the mirror is you looking at yourself." What I take from George Balanchine's words is that we are more than what others see in us--and more than what we see of ourselves reflected back from others.

Sunday Sketchbook: Figure

A person I can't remember at a meeting I've forgotten. Memo to self: this coming year, always carry my sketchbook.

Sunday Sketchbook: Vermont

I'm back on the road again this week, gathering sketches and impressions of towns small and miniscule for my blog Let Me Show You Vermont. Here's a view from the southern part of the state of Main Street, Wilmington.

Sunday Sketchbook: Roadtrip

Driving into New York from Vermont on an early winter morning, greeted by a cold sun and the first billboard of the day.

Sunday Sketchbook: Vermont

My blog "Let Me Show You Vermont" is up and running again with a report on my adventures in Bennington. I'll be happily exploring new (to me, anyway) Vermont towns this winter and posting back to you on what I find. You can click the link above to subscribe, and join me from the warmth of your computer!

Motel on 302 (study)

Starting a new painting requires "confident groping", or maybe it's "tentative decisiveness". That's the acceptance that there'll be moments of abject uncertainty about both the image conceived, and the ability to develop that image to a successful completion, while at the same time believing absolutely in an idea that exists only in mind's eye.

Sunday Sketchbook: Road Trip

I'm on my way to Washington, DC to deliver the NRECA commission--and hopefully have some time to explore museums. It's a beautiful cool, sunny day, perfect for a drive down Route 2, through the Mad River Valley, and due south.

Sunday Sketchbook: Montreal

I've been leading a workshop with Karen Kane in Montreal this weekend, touring studios and painting exhibits with a group of fellow art lovers. We've seen varied and exciting work, from academic realism to installations--and we also enjoyed sampling the wonderful selection of food that Montreal has to offer. It's an accessible, vibrant city that I hope to keep exploring in the coming years.

Sunday Sketchbook: In Transit

I'm in Vermont after weeks of travel and teaching, and looking ahead to some more of both--but today I'm happy to be home on a damp autumn Sunday. I'll make sauce from a bushel of my apples, dig the last bed of red potatoes, and then come in, pick up my brush and see if I can find my way back to painting again.

Sunday Sketchbook

I'm in Washington, DC teaching for ten days. This weekend it's a travel sketchbook class, which is always a reminder for me of how much I like the voyeurism of looking at other people's journals.