New Paintings for Autumn Art Show

Tuscany Tables

8 x 10

oil on canvas

Lunch in Florence

20 x 24

oil on linen

Two new pieces that I am planning for the Autumn Art Show, Nov. 19 - 22, at the Lookout Mountain Studio, 116 N. Watauga Lane, Lookout Mountain, TN. My "gals" in the Tuesday weekly classes will be showing oils, pastels, and watercolors. Those exhibiting are: Ann Curry, Evelle Dana, Martha Elder, Sarah Fowler, L.J. Huffaker, Betty Moses, Barbara Murray, Jeanne Rudisill, Anne Platt, and Wendy Williams. Some of them have been painting with me for nearly five years now. Their paintings are topnotch, if I do say so myself. I expect over 50 paintings in the show. This show is a great way to add to your collection and by directly from the artists. This is the Third Annual for us and always a pleasure to see the guests and patrons. Let me know if you need directions or have any questions. I would love to see you there!

My heart is still in Tuscany following my workshop there in late Sept and Oct. There is a painting everywhere you look! I am making plans now to return next October so if you are interested, let me know! We will be creating a sketch journal using a variety of media. This experience will inspire you for a very long time.

On the home front, Bill and I are moving back into our "old" neighborhood at the golf course this week. We lived there 18 years in a house we designed and had built until 3 years ago when we decided it was time to downsize. Now we see we need to upsize a little, not much, but this house is just the right size. I am looking forward to having Thanksgiving there.

Happy Fall, Ya'll!
Durinda

Toughing it out in Tuscany!

Our Paint Group at San Fedele

http://picasaweb.google.com/DurindaCheek/TuscanyWorkshop2009

There is so much to say about our wonderful time in Tuscany for the one-week workshop. Yes, the weather was perfect. Yes, the food was delicious. Yes, the wine was flowing. Yes, the accommodations at San Fedele were excellent. Yes, the directors of Il Chiostro, Linda and Michael along with Michael the Younger, were very attentive and genuinely cared about us. Yes, we had a great time, visiting hilltowns, a winery and wine tasting, grape stomping, and seeing David in Florence. Oh, and yes, we did paint! We also enjoyed the company of the painters with Barrett Edwards who worked in oils.

And for those of you who didn't make it this time, I will be returning next fall. If you are interested, better speak now! I can't imagine a better place to enjoy the scenery, the people, and the food in Tuscany.

Enjoy the first slide show. I shot 698 photos so can't possibly post them all. Now it's back to the studio and paint some of these lovely scenes!

Ciao, Ya'll!

Durinda

Ringgold Gap Festival and Art Exhibit, Oct 2 & 3

Confederate Money Only, General Grant

Oil on Canvas

On Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3, a festival celebrating Gen. Cleburne, a confederate civil war leader will take place at the Ringgold Confederate Park on 41 south. A bronze statue will be dedicated to him at 10:00 am Saturday.

The festival includes historical lectures, music, vendors, and living history camps with artillery demonstrations. Go to: www.ringgoldgapfestival.com for more information about the weekend and an article about Gen. Cleburne written by Dr. Smith Murray. You will get the background of why he is being honored and what happened here in 1863.

As part of the festival, an art exhibit will take place inside the historic Ringgold Depot. Raye Brooks, owner of Ringgold Art and Frame Gallery, invited several local artists to participate. I chose the Whitman house in Ringgold and using the information on the historic marker, portrayed the scene when Gen. Grant is offering to pay Mrs. Whitman for his lodging there after the battle of Ringgold Gap. She refuses his Greenbacks and asked for Confederate money instead. He turned to his men and said, "She isn't whipped yet."

What appealed to me was the fact that since Grant later became our president, he did act as a gentleman. And, Mrs. Whitman showed him how feisty a southern lady can be. Sounds like they had mutual respect for each other. Fortunately, the Whitman house was not burned by Sherman on his way to Savannah. This is unusual for me to paint a historical work. The first was Polo at the Fort that I did for the Sixth Cavalry Museum in Ft. Oglethorpe (www.6thcavalrymuseum.com) Using composite resources and researching is a lot of work. Of course it comes down to the artist's interpretation.

Participating in the show are some of my Studio artists: Ann Currey, Martha Elder, L.J. Huffaker, Betty Moses, Barbara Murray, and Wendy Williams.

Since Ann Currey and I will be flying back from the workshop in Italy that Friday night, I hope to be conscious and coherent enough to come to the festival Saturday. I hope that you will be able to support the festival and see the local artwork in the depot.

Artfully yours,

Durinda

Traveling Tuscany Coming Up!

I am starting to pack for the Tuscany workshop at San Fedele. I leave on Wednesday out of Atlanta. My whole group will be traveling together- Ann Currey, Faye Woolfork, Lisa Hutcherson, and Cam Busch. We will change planes in Paris and then arrive in Florence on Thursday around noon. From Florence, we will join the others who will be spending the week, an oil plein air group led by Barrett Edwards from Naples, Florida. A short bus ride and we will be in San Fedele.

To say that I am excited is an understatement. This will be my third trip to Tuscany and my first to stay at the converted and updated monastery of San Fedele. It is in the heart of Chianti country. Yes, this is the season for the grape harvest and wine festivals! See, I told you you should come! We will be using our watercolor paints, watercolor pencils, and Sharpie markers to capture all we can. I made our watercolor sketchbooks by cutting paper and matboard and having Office Depot bind them. I will be demonstrating some different techniques with the materials and encouraging everyone to not only sketch, but journal in the book as well.

And just when things couldn't get any better... we were notified that we are invited to exhibit our own paintings in the village that weekend and take part in a Quick Draw painting event on Sunday. So now I am packing a small framed painting to take with me for the show. Cam and Ann will bring along a painting too. I think I had better get another card for my camera! It will be a week of adventure and art. Who could ask for more? Oh yeah, great food, wine, scenery, and new art friends. I guess I will just have to "make do". ; )

If you missed this trip and are interested in one for next fall, let me know now so you can get on the list!

Ciao for now!

Durinda

Poppy Fields Aglow

The Studio is filling with French poppy fields this summer!

Besides teaching workshops in professional development this summer, I have been working on a series of paintings based on my stay in France last June. The painting on the left is an 8 x 10 that recently sold at the Art-a-ma-jig auction for the Arts and Education Council in Chattanooga. This scene is the same field where my classes painted one afternoon. My plein air study there was Poppy and Pea Field. The center painting is a farm close to the edge of the village where the classes painted the first day out from a distant view. I did a very small oil study- 4 x 5- and then walked back one afternoon to see the barns closer. The poppies here were scattered amongst the hay field. This painting is French Barns and 20 x 24. The painting on the right is another section of the pea field. This painting is larger: 24 x 30 and on gallery wrap canvas. I love working in a series. One painting gives you ideas for the next. I have another on the easel currently, another drying, and more to come.

The interesting thing in these paintings is working with the complements of red and green. Greens I love. There are so many mixes you can do with greens. Reds are harder. They turn other colors like orange, pink, or violet. You also have to be careful not to layer reds over greens or greens over reds because that makes brown!

Having the experiences of painting on location before painting in the studio brings back the memories of the place, the feeling of being outdoors in the sun and wind, hearing the sounds and smells around you. I feel like I can close my eyes and be back there again. This is what I strive to capture on canvas- that feeling of the moment.

As I am finalizing plans for the Plein Air Journaling Workshop in Tuscany in September, I am looking forward to capturing many more memories to share.

Enjoy your summer days!

Durinda

Arts Infusion in Alabama

Top: Tina Cherry, assistant; and Durinda

Bottom: A classroom full of teachers

Last week I was in L.A. (Lower Alabama) to teach for a workshop on Arts Infusion. I love that title! We met at the lovely Troy University of Dothan. Teachers from two schools in Dothan, Grandview and Fain Elementary, came for four days of training in presenting the arts along with their regular subjects. We began with a study of Texas artist David Bates who paints people and places that he loves. Our first production was a collage showing a favorite place or memory. Tuesday we worked with Leonardo da Vinci and his work with portraits and inventions. The photo shows the teachers' faces they drew using a grid method of drawing. Wednesday was the study of Jacob Lawrence and his depiction of the scenes and people of Harlem where he lived.
Teachers created paintings with tempera (remember that?). What fun!

It can be out of your comfort zone to paint or draw if you don't ordinarily do anything like that. I was proud that each of them, including their principals and program directors, attempted the productions. I think the arts are VITAL to a child's education and providing them the opportunity to communicate through the arts is so important. We want our children to be creative thinkers and problem solvers. Their world is going to be so different than ours, who knows what problems they will face in the future? Let's give them the tools to be creative!!

Check out http://www.alaarts.blogspot.com for more on teacher professional development this summer.

Spreading the Gospel of Art....

Durinda

Bank Notes

Bank Grand Opening

Durinda, Pam VanZant, Bank of Chickamauga Branch Manager; Larry Kuglar, Director, President & CEO of SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc and First National Bank of Polk County

Friday was an exciting day as the Bank of Chickamauga held its Grand Opening of the new building. I was so honored to have been selected to create paintings for the space. It is a beautiful building. I had the opportunity to "see" it from the blueprints before it existed and watch the stages as it was built. Pam VanZant, the Branch Manager, gave me sample swatches of the furniture and wall colors. She even had a tiny wall of brick built so I could see the colors in it. Having a brick wall in an interior space is an unusual accent, and I loved the idea of bringing the colors and textures indoors. It really warms up the space.

The paintings depict scenes from the historical area of Chickamauga: The Train Depot, now a museum; the Lee and Gordon's Mills; and the original downtown Bank of Chickamauga. I chose a fall color scheme to fit with the interior colors and to tie the three scenes together. My friends at Ringgold Art and Frame did a super job with the framing and I was happy to see Raye Brooks one of the owners of RA&F there for the opening.

It was fun to see man other people I knew in the area who came by for the opening and the ribbon cutting. I also met the contractor Dan Baker and several others who were a part of the project. Visitors enjoyed hotdogs and ice cream under tents outside and received gift bags.

If you get the chance, drop by the bank on US 27 south in Chickamauga and take a peek!

Later,

Durinda

Oh, I come from Alabama.....

The Visual Arts Staff on Friday, minus Sally

What a great week with the Alabama Institute for Education in the Visual Arts, June 15 - 19, held at the Montgomery Museum of Art. We had 36 participants from all over the state. This was truly a group "who played together well." My deepest thanks go to my facilitators aka "The A(Art) Team": Sabrina Hubbarb, Donald Myer, James "Doc" Bender, Sally Chambliss, and Margaret Snider. The week could not have gone on without them. Our special guests were Margaret Lynne Ausfeld, curator of paintings and sculpture at MMFA, and Charlie Lucas, sculptor. We were very fortunate to have Pat Wanglie, a seasoned docent from MMFA, joining us for the week. Pat did a great job describing the museum's sculpture collection. She also contributed a lot with our classroom activities

Some of the units we covered during the week were da Vinci's painting and inventions; Van Gogh's expressive painting; Georgia O'Keeffe's nature subjects; Picasso's Cubist sculptures and Charlie Lucas' Outsider art. On Friday, we had a rotation day with the other art institutes and a lesson with Jacob Lawrence. I am hoping that the teachers who attended will be able to share new ideas about using art in their classrooms. I look forward to teaching again at the Arts Integration Workshop in Montgomery and a Professional Development week for Dothan schools in July. I created a new blog for posting art related lessons and photos from the week: http://www.alaarts.blogspot.com/.

Just a plug: the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts has a wonderful collection of American art. It is a beautiful setting in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival park.

Wishing you lots of creative thoughts!

Durinda

Painting the Emerald Coast

Painting at Eden Gardens

Dinner the first night



Evelle painting a wooden bench next to the path

Martha and Barbara working on the cute post office in Watercolor

The group paints a red boutique in Baytowne

Ann painting a view of a home in Watercolor

I hope I can speak for all of the participants when I say that we had a great time painting in the Panhandle. The weather was just perfect; warm, but not too hot, no rain and slight breezes. Our locations were accessible and the foliage and flowers were beautiful. We varied from landscapes to architecture.
When painting outdoors where it can be so overwhelming it is easy to lose focus of what you want to capture. We started at a fountain surrounded by flowers that was in sunlight. By walking around it completely, we were able to find a view that showed the statuary with sunlight and shadow making it appear more three-dimensional. That same day I demoed the mansion from a distance to show how to capture the light and shadows on a white building.

The second day we went to a commons area in a development nearby. There the paths were landscaped and manicured. Evelle even had the gardeners trimming what she was trying to paint! The lesson there was to find a subject where you could work in the shade. Everything was beautiful, but you need to be comfortable as you work. We liked the architecture that peeked through the gardens and paths with dappled light.

The last morning was spent at an area modeled after New Orleans with shops and restaurants. The buildings had the southern architectural style with balconies and ironworks. It was a warm day, but we were able to find shade from a building to paint the scene across from it.

Plein air painting is not for everyone. It can be frustrating when the conditions are not right. But it can also add so much to your ability to "see" the essence of a subject in a way that photographs can not.

Enjoy your summer days!

Durinda

New workshop: Tuscany in the Fall

Announcing... a week of drawing and painting in Tuscany this September! Bring your sketchbook, drawing tools, and watercolors! Maybe you have been to the area before on one of those whirlwind tours or maybe you went with family. Now see Tuscany through an artist's eyes! It's time to do something for yourself that you will never forget. I have structured this workshop for all levels of experience in drawing or watercolor painting. We will explore the region without heavy equipment, messy paints, or wet canvases. No worries going through the airports with paints. No stained clothes or tired shoulders from carrying easels. This week is all about observing your surroundings and choosing your own focus. The accommodations are superb, the food is excellent, and the company of others will be enjoyable. I have chosen Il Chiostro as our hosts. Linda and Michael will make sure you are well taken care of. Airfares are down, the dollar is strong, now is the time. You only live once!

Check out the information and go ahead and register for this week in the land of dreams. You will be amazed at how much you will get for the price. I will be happy to talk to you further about the trip and will send a supply list with your registration: Durinda@Durinda.com.

Now, Let's go to Tuscany!

Ciao!

Durinda

Chickamauga Trio Preview

SH-H-H-H! Here's a preview of my commissioned paintings for the new Bank of Chickamauga branch which will open soon (next week?). The "Chickamauga Trio" is finished and at the framer. I apologize for the little bit of glare because I tried to light them with spots in the studio. Each is 36" x 48". The scenes represent the historic area around the town of Chickamauga, Georgia. Chickamauga was the site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. A National Battlefield is just north of the city. A house in town was used as a hospital during the war. The streets there are named after civil war generals. The train depot is now a history museum. The original bank is still in use and takes up a corner of town. The town still looks the way it did years ago with the addition of nice streetscaping and parking. It is friendly small town with quaint shops and restaurants.
Lee & Gordon's Mills is located a few miles outside of town. The old mill is used to grind corn into mill and is open on Saturdays. I always thought it should have a water wheel on the outside, but it is underneath the floor.
Let's just hope that the paintings are what they expected! I will let you know how they look after being framed and hung.

Now that they are out of my studio, I am ready to get back to plein air painting for awhile. Wouldn't you know that today was rainy and cold? We went downtown Chattanooga to see the 4 Bridges Art Festival. Thankfully, the artists were in the pavilion. I think there were 150. I truly admire them for being tent artists. That is a hard life on the road with no guarantees of sales and the uncertainty of the weather. This year the festival charged admission and charged for parking. I will be curious to hear how the sales were from some of my friends and also how the money collected will aid the sponsor, The Association for Visual Artists, of which I am a member. Maybe next year I will volunteer to help. I am usually out of town when it happens. Sorry to say, we didn't find anything we couldn't live without, but loved looking.

I am looking forward to the Sketching Callaway workshop coming up next weekend. The mountain laurel, native azaleas, and some early rhododendrons should be in bloom. We will sketch Saturday and Sunday using different media and adding color with watercolor pencils. I also suspect that the huge poppies will be there again in the vegetable garden. Saturday night there will be a concert by the Atlanta Symphony. An extra treat! Here's the contact if you are interested or know someone who might: education@callawaygardens.org.

During June, I will be directing the Visual Arts portion of the Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts. I have been writing new curriculum for this year using a different artist as a focus each day. So, here's a quote from one of them that touched me this week:

"It is very hard work to turn out anything that looks like a good painting."
- Georgia O'Keeffe, 1887- 1986

Back to Work!
Durinda

O Canada!

Imagine setting up your easel to paint in a sunken garden with masses of spring flowers and weeping willows cascading over a pond running under a stone bridge. You hear the Canadian national anthem "O Canada" being sung by the wait staff of a restaurant nearby where whiffs of grilled steak permeates the air. It is a comfortable 70 degrees in late March. Life is good!

My adventure in the Artists in the Gardens weekend of Epcot was wonderful. Despite the windy day we had on Saturday, the early Sunday morning rain, and the lack of shade in the afternoons, I had a difficult time choosing what to paint. When I first received my assignment, I thought, "What's in Canada that I would want to paint?" Little did I know that the area is based on the Butchart Gardens in British Columbia. The original sunken gardens were developed in a limestone quarry. Of course the gardens and grass in Epcot were "Mickey" perfect. An ideal setting for a plein air artist, if you can paint and talk to mulitudes of people at the same time. :>) That is really the fun of it all, meeting the guests and talking about your art and art in general. Children are especially curious and ask great questions. I was fortunate to have four paintings go to new owners. I even painted under shelter Sunday when it was pouring down rain!

My "art buds" this year in Canada were Dorothy Gardiner from St Pete and Linda Pence from Gainesville, FL. Both are wonderful artists and old pros at painting en plein air at Epcot. We shared a great host, D.J. Gibson, who normally works in management. He helped with our setups and getting us where we needed to be on time. The three days went quickly and I am so glad that we were able to paint through Sunday this year. Last year, we had stormy weather that called off Sunday afternoon painting. If you have a chance, you should definitely go to WDW during the flower festival months of April and May. You won't be disappointed!

For you painters, I tried out my new Anderson easel that swivels. It has telescoping legs like my Soltek. I think it weighs 7 or 8 pounds and is very easy to put up and carry. It worked great for my watercolors this time because I could lower it and sit down to work, stand and paint upright, or swivel it flat to add detail. The only problem was adding an umbrella. I will have to work on that! I worked on Stratmore's Gemini paper which has a softer tooth than Arches. It took the washes well and worked fine for outdoors where you usually have to really pile on the paint to keep it from disappearing.

Wishing you a season of beauty and good scents!

Durinda

Truth or Dare?

The bank- first layer of color- tilted to cut the glare

The depot- the drawing

The Mill- a start, with darks and lights.

This seemed like the right title for my post today. As an artist, you can portray what you see as closely as possible to the "real" thing, or you can take an inspiration from nature and do your own interpretation. One way is not better than the other way or more important. The question lies within you. What are you wanting to express? What do you want the viewer to see or feel by looking at your painting or drawing?

I guess I was ready to hear what watercolorist Tom Lynch and oil painter David Leffel were saying during their workshops last month. Both said, "Make a painting." I understood that meant put yourself into the work and the viewer will relate to it. So if that means you change a color, you move a tree, you lighten or darken an area to make the work itself better, then do it! It is not a "put see" as Jack Beal says. You are in control of the painting, it is not in control of you.

All that said, I have been working on my three commissioned paintings and still worrying about what I leave out, what I move, what I change to "make a painting." On most occasions, I work with a client about what they want. I change or enhance to please them. I am on my own with these. Since the images are "real" places and things that people will recognize, I want them to resemble the actual thing. But I also see where I can make the overall image "read" better. So how much of the truth do you give the viewer and how much do you dare to change? Think about it in your art if you paint or in your own line of work. How much will I change?

Stay tuned......

I leave for Epcot this Wednesday to paint in the World Showcase for three days. So as they say in WDW,

Have a Magical Day!

Durinda

It's Spring- time for painting outdoors!

I am just getting into the Spirit of Spring after returning home from two months in Florida. How do they know it's spring? Well, I know because it is almost time for my return to WDW's Epcot Artists in the Gardens. The event this year will be March 27, 28 & 29. This will be my third year to get to paint on site in the World Showcase along with twelve or so other artists. This year I will be painting in Canada. I will be taking my watercolors along with mats and bags so the paintings will be ready to go home with someone! It is really fun to be assigned a different country each year. I have been in Italy and the U.K. Having the artists painting in the countries looks very European. We interact with the visitors and are treated to our meals and room. We will be staying in the Wilderness Lodge. I hope we have great weather this year and get lots of painting time. Starting the last week of March and into May, Epcot will be filled with beautiful flowers and garden spots. This is the place to come if you are a garden lover, and who isn't?

Coming up in April will be the Sketching Callaway workshop at another beautiful spot, Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. I taught the workshop last spring in May and we had a great time working in our sketching journals. This year I plan to add tips on drawing buildings or fences in perspective along with the flowers and landscape. Most gardens have some type of structure or rows of plants, so I think it will be helpful to demonstrate. The dates are Saturday and Sunday, April 25 & 26. Registration: education@callawaygardens.org or phone 706-663-5153. All supplies are provided.

It's Springtime, let's get out and paint!

Durinda

Working with a Master

David's painting demo

David's model demo. David starting his painting. My first still life set up.

David and I are all grins

Nancy's portrait by David

Some photos from the week long workshop at Longboat Key with master
artist, David Leffel.

I went back and forth on whether to take it.
I really love his work. I really felt he is a

great American master artist, but was I ready to give up a week of Florida sunshine to paint indoors? Did I feel that I was up to the task of painting with him?

In the end, I was more than happy that I gave up my week outside. David not only is a master artist, he is very personable. Soft spoken, he makes painting seem so effortless. Every stroke has meaning. He just enjoys painting! Some secrets? There are no secrets. There are no tricks. Painting is hard work. You must paint to learn how to paint. No one will love your painting unless you love it first. I could just listen and watch him all day.

You can imagine on the last day how I felt when he came by and told me my jar in my still life was wonderful. I almost cried! I need to shoot my paintings. I have been working all week in the studio on one of three large paintings for a commission due next month! But will try to catch up with my paintings from Florida plus my oil still lifes from the workshop. Before you know it, it will be time to head back to Florida for the Artists in the Gardens in Epcot the last weekend of the month.

Think Spring!

Durinda

Siesta (don't think so) Key Painting Adventures

Painting at Selby Gardens: Back row: Ruth Cox, Myrtle Beach; Sandra Babb, Ringgold Ga,;Jacq Baldini, New York. Front: Jacq's sister and Durinda

Jacq is here to teach a two day workshop. She is president and founder of International Plein Air Painters. We met up to paint on Thursday before her workshop starts. I know they will have a wonderful weekend to paint.

Ruth painting at Spanish Point. Ruth is a signature member of IPAP.

Ruth and Sandra enjoying a break from painting

Sandra painting a boat repair building (don't know what else to call it). These two gals are part of the Southern Ladies Art Conference which gets together in different areas when we can to paint plein air and talk art! Since there were three of us this time, I guess you could say we had a "mini" SLAC. I will miss seeing them in late March at Callaway Gardens because I will be a guest artist again this year at Epcot that week. There I will paint with other SLACers, Linda Blondheim, L. Diane Johnson, and Barbara Perrotti.

Out in Sunny Florida, Painting! This is Katie Cundiff's Plein Air Group which meets on Mondays. Katie is represented by M Gallery in Sarasota: http://mgalleryoffineart.com/artists/dodsoncundiff_katie

Monday Painters at Ringling Museum: Toni, Eileen, Mary Jo, Marjory, and Katie and Durinda. We had a few more but I missed shooting them at the end of the day. Can you tell our study was on trees?

It was so helpful to really study the values and forget the colors for this exercise. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this group of painters and working with Katie. She is not only a wonderful painter, but a very informative instructor. I will miss you gals!






It's been a great week of painting. Now to clean up and prepare for my workshop with David Leffel. Yes, I will be inside :-( but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with such a master artist. At least I know I won't be getting green paint all over me next week! (brown, maybe? ;>)

Wishing you a week of wonders!

Durinda

Celebraties

This is Katie Cundiff painting with a limited palette at the Ringling Museum. Did you know you could make a landscape with just red, yellow, black, and white? So, no excuses about not having the right tube colors.

On Saturday, I painted with the Tom Lynch en plein air watercolor workshop at Marina Jack's in downtown Sarasota. Tom is here for a week of sessions sponsored by Sarasota Art & Frame. You could choose your days and topics. I took part in the Mountains and Mist day on Wednesday also. Tom really gives you a workout with a series of exercises. My "teacher self" was impressed. He also generously gave each of us one of his prints that he signed.

You never know who you will run into while painting en plein air. Ever get that feeling that someone is watching you? Susie Covert and I enjoyed a morning of painting on Lido Key Beach with our new "friends". Lido has some wonderful trees which sounds strange when you think about a beach, but for painters, it is much more interesting than just the flat white sand on the beach.

We also painted with Suncoast Plein Air Florida at a marina on Thursday in the fog! Usually the fog will lift after a while, but this one didn't. Talk about mixing grays! Do not attempt this from a photo! ;>)

So much to paint and so little time!

I also attended a demo this week at M Gallery. Roger Dale Brown from Nashville was in town and showed how he painted in the studio just like he paints outdoors. He uses his computer screen for his image. This scene was in Ocala where he had painted on location and also took some photos. It was interesting to see how he modified the image from the photo to produce a beautiful composition.

With all these new ideas and information, what shall I do today? Hmmmm....paint?

Wishing you a week of new discoveries!

Durinda