Just Hangin' at the Lake

Down at the end of one of the bays on our lake there is a scene I had been wanting to paint for a few years. A kayak nestled in the weeds, surrounded by trees with buoys hanging from them, reflections dancing in the water, struck me as being the quintessential image of our laid back life here at the lake. Some days, when the surface of the water is like glass, the lake provides a mirror image. But with just a touch of my kayak paddle, I can stir up the most interesting abstractions of color and light.

I finally started the painting this past winter as part of a demo I was doing at Eve Galleria. After the demo, the unfinished painting got put away for a few weeks as I was busy with other things. I don't usually work that way; I like to keep the momentum going until the painting is done. But as we all know, life gets in the way sometimes and we put our projects on hold to deal with all of those other things. I finally was able to finish the painting last week. It's Spring now; the first flowers are in bloom and lawn mowers are whirring throughout my neighborhood here in the suburbs.

But in my painting, I'm at the lake and it's high summer. You can feel the sun on your back and listen to the sounds of the lake around you. A fish jumps, creating more of those wonderful abstractions on the water, birds call to one another and in the distance you hear the laughter of the children as they canon-ball into the water. Ahhh...summer.

Drawing classes begin the week of April 23

It's time to get out my pencils and sharpen my drawing skills (and the pencils too) as I get ready to teach "Intro to Drawing" beginning the week of April 23 at the Y Arts Studio. It is good to get back to basics every now and then, and teaching provides me with that opportunity every few months. I have been busy teaching Acrylic Painting and Watercolor, which satisfies my need for color! color! color! But now I will take a few weeks to just look at line, form and value. Eventually color will make it's way back into my work...I can feel the Prismacolors in my hands already!!!
Here's a colored pencil drawing from a few years back, based on a newspaper photo of Dale Earhart. My favorite part is the reflections in his sunglasses. The background is watercolor, the rest all pencil work.

Registration for the "Intro to Drawing" class is going on now. The class is open to YMCA Members and Non-Members; all supplies are included in the fee. The Y Arts Studio is located in the East Area Family YMCA in Fayetteville, NY. Visit www.ycny.org for more information on registration.