A Little watercolor

Yesterday I went to Diana's to paint with a group of friends I haven't seen for along time.  Some of them used to be my students.  For years I came to Eastport as a teacher.  We would all stay at Diana's for a week, going out to paint every day.  I would chose a sight and do a demonstration there.  The the students would find a spot nearby to do their own painting.  I went from person to person, offering pointers and advice......or probably more to the point, demands.  I was a hands on teacher, not adverse to grabbing the brush out of their fingers and painting on their work myself.  It was all good-natured and fun, though.  We all had a wonderful time.  Now these students are painters in their own right, most of them more successful than I.  They live in Bangor, so I don't see them much, and I really enjoy them when they are here.

In any case, we all became friends and I enjoyed painting yesterday.  I worked on another wood piece for awhile, and then painted this little watercolor from a photo I like.  Obviously it was a quick sketch, sort of, but I actually like it as a finished painting.

Outdoor Painting

It's been a very long time since I painted outside.  My equipment is in sad shape and my sketchbox easel barely hangs together..with the help of bungee cords.  I enjoyed sitting on the road across town, looking at this arrangement of buildings and greenery.  This is a watercolor 10x14. 

Not exactly a painting............

This is a new attempt at pyrography.  I've tried it before with what I thought were good results, but this is a lot better.  I once painted this image when I was in school...a response to the assignment "Put yourself in a famous painting."  It was fun to place myself in this Caravaggio painting, holding the horse.  I titled it "I Witness the Conversion of St. Anthony(I think) and Caravaggio Captures the Moment."  What fun I had in that class.  It was an advanced figure drawing course with my wonderful teacher Mike Lewis.  It's actually a pastel drawing and not a painting.  I still have it.  I never had any trouble thinking of subject matter then, responding to the confines of an assignment.  Without that stimulus, I can't come up with much.

Something New

Will it last?  I don't know. I had the idea of separating the painting posts on my first blog, Dogs, Chickens, and Me, from my many comments on what I experience as a maker of so-called art.  I'm not sure there is a way of distinguishing one from the other, but I plan to try.  For this first post I will download my very latest work...a miniature about 3x5.  I've been experimenting with this way of working, inspired my my old friend Janet who is now an internationally known artist.  This is partly to give me something new to try and partly due to the fact that I can't afford the materials to do big paintings anymore.  Also I have shoulder problems that I won't go into which prevent me from lifting my arms high enough to use an easel.  Age is catching up with me.

So here is my little painting, the fifth or sixth miniature I have done....the first one that shows much promise.  Later I plan to post pictures of the paintings I have done over the years..maybe starting with the oldest (also the best).  There is a definite decline in my expertise, but I can't blame age for that.  I will talk more about that, I'm sure.