I can. I will. End of story.

Society of the Four Arts

I drove up to the home of Manon Sander, (www.manonsander.com) a fellow painter who was my host last week in Florida. I was there for the Festival of the Arts at the Lighthouse Art Center in Tequesta. I was thinking I’d taken a wrong turn - the house is palatial to say the least. Manon has a parakeet named Fritz and the home is jokingly referred to as The Fritz Carleton so you get the idea. Anyway the other guest at the "Fritz" was Morgan Samuel Price, who just happened to be one of the judges. Morgan is one of the finest landscape painters in the country and is the most energetic person I've ever met.

I’d been preparing for this trip for several weeks, trying to get outside to paint in spite of the staggering amount of snow and bone chilling temps we’ve experienced in Boston this winter. I often painted the views from my window in the comfort of my studio. I’m primarily a figurative artist so it's great to get out of the studio to paint nature from life. It was great to be juried in but I was a bit apprehensive given the talented pool of painters. 

Some of the most accomplished artists I know are riddled with insecurities when it comes to their work. Self doubt is a sign of creative progress and if anyone doesn’t believe they’re doomed to fail, I figure they are. In any case, as I said earlier this is my year to say YES to new adventures. It doesn’t always work out but I’m an optimist at heart. For now it's back to Boston (yes it's snowing) and the struggle continues at the easel but I have faith in what comes next.

More than 50 artists traveled from all over the US and as far away as Alaska for the Festival. The paintings are on exhibit and available for purchase through March 28. I’ll be teaching a 3 day workshop at the Lighthouse Art Center, February 2016. For more info visit: www.lighthousearts.org/ 

"Riverbend Reflections" 11x14
Available at the Lighthouse Center for the Arts

Jason Sacran won Best of Show

John Caggiano and Michele Byrne

Quick Draw at DuBois Park

Ken DeWald's painting of me painting.

Going it alone in Palm Beach

Church of Bethesda by the Sea

It’s probably no secret that I love to travel almost as much as I love to paint. This year the planets aligned and I met a wonderful couple who reside in Nantucket in summer and spend winters in Palm Beach. They also happen to be huge collectors and support artists by providing week-long residencies. I call them my “art angels”. 

I’ve decided that at this point in life I’m coming from a place of yes rather than no. So when I was invited to stay in Palm Beach the week before Christmas I wasted no time in booking a flight. I know… I’m supposed to be at the mall buying presents to put under the tree. I quickly learned to embrace on-line shopping. 

I was a bit apprehensive going it alone. Exploring for yourself is all very well, but sometimes the right guide can make all the difference. The Oil Painters of America website proved to be a great resource for connecting with other painters. The wonderful Manon Sander was extremely welcoming and provided me with a wealth of info on painting groups and locations in Delray, Jupiter and Palm Beach. 

St. Edwards Church

Painting a nocturne with Manon

Violetta & Manon, Delray Beach

Painting on Ocean Boulevard

I was unaware of how active the arts community is in Florida. Manon invited me to an opening reception at the Delray Center for the Arts, where she took Best of Show. While there I had the pleasure of meeting Violetta de la Serna, from Plein Air Magazine. She told me about the exciting paint-outs happening this spring. "The Forgotten Coast" scheduled for May, features some of the finest painters in the country. I'm planning on taking part in the Plein Air Festival at the Lighthouse Center in Jupiter this March. I'll also be offering a figure workshop during my stay in Florida, but more on that in my next blog. For now it's back to the studio! As sit here in Boston watching the snow fly by my window, I hold on to those treasured memories of sandy beaches and palm trees and people who became instant old friends. 

The Breakers decked out for the holiday

Visit Manon Sander website here: www.manonsander.com 

When Life imitates Art

The sun is just about to set over the Pacific ocean and I’m sitting on the deck at the Hotel Laguna with old friends. A glass of wine beside me, I’m basking in the glow of a scene which has been captured in paint countless times. 

Sunset at the Hotel Laguna

As the sun sinks below the horizon in it’s riotous display of color, I’m left to ponder the philosophical position of Oscar Wilde; Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life. Although others have watched the same sunset for centuries, does one notice the beauty and wonder of the iconic California scenery and light because poets and painters have taught the loveliness of such an effect? What is found in life and nature is not what is really there, but is that which artists have taught people to find there, through art. 

Crystal Cove Beach, Newport

I always spend a day or two in the OC before heading up to Santa Barbara for the annual Great American Figure show at Waterhouse Gallery. This year my husband came along and it was great to visit favorite haunts from our years in CA, including St. Francis by the Sea, the church where we were married.

Pamela by Richard Schmid

It was great catching up with with Molly Schmid, Hsin Yao Tseng and of course Diane and Ralph Waterhouse. Molly's father Richard had a painting in the show which was an early work from the fifties. It was quite interesting to see how his painting style has evolved. I also had the pleasure to finally meet Matt Smith (one of my favorite landscape painters) and Jove Wang, who's mural-sized painting was masterful!

Matt Smith and his wife Tracy

Hsin, Molly & me

   

Diane Waterhouse

Jove Wang

Not all those who wander are lost...

The art of wandering is not lost on me, it’s something I’ve mastered over the years. Truth be told, there's a bit of the gypsy in my restless soul. This year has been a deliciously long journey and artistically I’ve made some big breakthroughs in the way I see and think about painting.

Waterhouse Gallery celebrates it's 30th anniversary and I'll be heading to Santa Barbara for "The Great American Figurative Exhibition" on November 22. This is a hugely popular event for participating artists and collectors alike and I have several paintings represented in the show and I’m honored be a part of this event. I hope you'll join me at the reception.
For more info visit Waterhouse Gallery online.

The Pour House, 14x11 Oil on linen

McSorley's 14x11 Oil on linen

Mixologist, 16x12 Oil on linen

Why I never want to leave Gloucester!

I'm playing catch-up here with my blogging... the plan was to write about my experience in Gloucester every day but I've been swept up by the beauty of this place. There is little time to blog, since living here for the past month has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I'll try to post photos and write about my journey in chronological order once I catch my breath!  I'll be opening my Rocky Neck studio on Madfish Wharf to the public from 5 to 7pm this Saturday September 27th. Come, enjoy wine & refreshments and see some of the work produced during my residency.

I was selected by the Cape Ann Museum and Copley Society as artist in residence in Gloucester for the month of September. 2014 marks the inaugural year of the residency which was created and generously provided by the Charles Family Foundation of Gloucester as a dedication to and promotion of the North Shore and Boston art communities. I'm pictured below with Jan and Ted Charles at their home in Gloucester.

Why must all good things come to an end?

"Shimmer" by Eli Cedrone 2014

As autumn approaches I feel as though I'm about to go over the cliff’s edge. This isn’t quite as ominous as it sounds – I like autumn, I just despise winter. Nothing endures quite like the seasons in New England, so once I accept the inevitable I embrace what lies ahead. 

I'm honored to have been chosen for the Artist in Residence by The Cape Ann Museum of Art and the Copley Society, Boston. I'll be spending the month of September painting and studying in the Rocky Nect area where my studio and apartment is located. 

The Cape Ann Museum tells multiple stories, from its earliest days as a fishing and shipping port to its mid-19th century role in the granite industry, to its charms of light and sea that have attracted countless artists from the 19th century to the present, Cape Ann boasts a rich and varied culture of historical and artistic achievement.

On the heels of my residency is my workshop in Tuscany, October 13-20, 2014. Believe it or not there is still time to join us if you happen to be the spontaneous type! The weeklong workshop includes villa accommodations, breakfasts and dinners, airport transfers, ground transportation, instruction and food, all for the cost of  $2850, double occupancy. The single supplement is $600. Airfare and lunches are not included. A detailed, but tentative itinerary will be sent to you upon registration.  

Visit Tuscany Arts Vacations or contact Joan Hill at 508-255-7907 for details.

Tuscany: http://www.tuscanyartsvacation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=38

If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air...

So go the lyrics to the Patty Page song, "Old Cape Cod". As the years go by I grow to love this place more and more. On July 12th my solo show "Outside the Lines" opened at Gallery Antonia in the heart of historic Chatham village. About two months before the show, I was driving back from painting in CT and I got a call from the owner, Domonic Boreffi. Apparently my work was going to be featured in the July issue of American Art Collector magazine (that was the good news) and I had about 3 weeks to get images to the publisher (that was the bad). So my emotions went something like this... excitement, apprehension, fear, dread, and sheer panic.

I thought, "I can handle this". So I hit the studio bright and early and made a bold start with some new work only to find that painting on demand is a sure path to failure. I wasted yards of canvas and piles of paint. After a few days of feeling like a complete failure I began to revisit paintings that I had allowed to languish thinking I'd had all the time in the world to finish. In the end I managed to meet my deadline. Maybe not in the way I'd intended but more importantly I had a revelation about ambition, failure and the meaning of success. "In creating, the only hard thing is to begin; a grass-blade's no easier to make than an oak." - James Russel Lowell