Before I start, I want to mention this weekend's watercolor workshop at the studio here near Greensboro. We'll be painting a Chesapeake workboat and it's reflection. Read more about it below, or here. 

Actual fruit... Some of my favorite fruits actually grow wild behind and around the studio here outside of Greensboro. Blackberries, big and plump and sweet are ready for picking right now along the brambly tangled hedgerow at the edge of the woods. They are a summer delight in one way, and a bane in another. While they are delicious, the blackberry canes are studded with long, recurved spines, like fish hooks waiting to catch you as you reach for a dark shining berry in the shadows of the brambles. I bet I've picked three quarts of the beautiful little morsels this year, at the same time looking like I got into a drunken brawl with a sackful of angry badgers. My arms are covered in cuts and little puncture wounds from the dangerous spines.

I gather grocery bags full of the ripe fruit each year, extract the juice, and freeze it as ice cubes. The cubes, two to a glass with a little vodka, makes a great passion fruit martini. I suppose there are other ways to use the delicious liquid, but I don't see a reason to try anything else. It's that good.

Using green in a painting... Now that summer is fully here, I'm faced with a dilemma. Everywhere I look, bright greens are everywhere. And that is great. Summer should be filled with green things growing, like the blackberry canes and passionflower vines. But for some reason, I prefer the subdued shades of autumn. Even when I'm painting a forest scene, I find I'm adding violet or burnt sienna to my greens, toning them down a little from their natural brightness.  I had a discussion about this the other day with fellow artist Jim Rehak, who loves painting bold colors. We agreed that I naturally paint more along the lines of Wyeth, with a limited palette of subdued colors. I'm okay with that, but I want to work towards expanding my palette, and broadening my own preferences. 

This Weekend's Workshop... If you haven't already signed up for this Saturday's watercolor workshop, "Painting a Chesapeake Workboat and it's Reflection," you'd better hurry. There are a few seats left.  This should be a good day. We'll start with a bring-a-dish potluck lunch at 11:00. After we eat and talk, we'll head to the studio. There, beginners and more seasoned watercolorists will look at how to create realistic reflections, how to thoughtfully reserve whites in a painting where no paint is used, and how to make water look like... well... water. Not always easy, but the way we'll do it on Saturday will be straightforward and simple. Paper will be provided, and if you are a rank beginner, you can borrow a palette and brushes for the day. Sign up soon by calling (410) 200-1743 or emailing [email protected]. See you Saturday!

First, July's watercolor workshop at the studio... On Saturday, July 29th, we'll be painting a Chesapeake Bay workboat as it is reflected in calm water. An easy painting with some interesting techniques, including masking out whites and an effective way to accurately depict reflections in water. This is a great project for both novice and experienced watercolorists. To reserve a chair and be a part of this one-day workshop experience, contact the studio at [email protected].  For more information about this and other workshops, see here.

 What's Going on Out There... Last month, I watched the Pink Lady's Slippers progress through their blooming cycle, beginning as a couple of small, unfurling wide green leaves.  Then, a flower stalk began to poke it's way up from the center of the whorl of leaves.  As the big bud at the top of the stalk opened, the bright pink flower began to nod, looking like some sort of weird shoe dangling at the end of the flower stalk.

The Lady's Slippers were one of many species of flowers to be found in the woods in late May and early June.  The trees had not fully leafed out, and plenty of sunshine managed to reach the forest floor.

Now, however it is early July.  The sun is shining brightly and longer.  Even so, the woods are a dappled place of deep shadows, and the woodland flowers are few and far between.  Now, the flowering plants are more prevalent in open spaces, along road edges, in marshes and in fields.  Chicory, Queen Anne's Lace (really a wild carrot) and some early Asters dot open areas with bright splashes of blue and white.  As lightning bugs begin to fill the sky with bright flashes, they are echoed in the marshes with the occasional big bright flower of the Marsh Mallow.  Escaped Daylilies, free from their original garden homes, drift in orange-yellow clumps along the roadside. Down near the river, the scorching red of Cardinal Flowers surprise the eye with their brilliance. Summer has arrived.

​​Painting as Fast as I Can... With Summer and warmer weather here, I've felt the urge to really get out there and paint what I see. This season, my goal is to paint faster, and to work to create more dynamic compositions as I paint both in the studio and en plein air. Oddly, while I have been working to paint faster, I found that for some time my painting has been in a rut, and I produced no paintings that I wanted to show anyone. The saving grace is that there is always the other side of the paper to try again. But now, I'm beginning to feel that I can see a light, and I'm heading towards it. I'm using different brushes, more contrast and really looking at the stories behind what I paint. I'm trying to get out of my "horizontal versus vertical" compositions and I hope that by the time Summer really heats up, I'll have some new work that I really like.