On my easel today

Catalpa Blossoms on Webster Street

This was a fun exercise and is almost done. I bought an 8" X 10" piece of gessobord (which is a prepared board that has gesso on it already and is not canvas). I decided to work with my acrylic paints in a watercolor fashion.  First I did negative painting of the leaves in a light green (ultramarine blue plus yellow). When that dried, I painted the flowers. Then I darkened up the leaves and background. (I used sap green and yellow for that.) I am almost finished. I'm letting the paint dry, then I'll do a little more with contrasting values.

I looked in my tree book and this tree is listed as "Southern Catalpa".  I'm not sure what it's doing in New Hampshire, but it has lovely leaves and flowers.  I took a photo, then cropped it and focused in on the blossoms.

I have paintings up in two exhibits this month in Manchester and Bedford (NH). My paintings are part of a group exhibit at City Hall Gallery (first floor hallways at City Hall).  We have ten artists/photographers exhibiting from my group Friends of Art Manchester.  The artwork is in all different styles, both representational and abstract.

I also have some of my paintings on exhibit at the Bedford (NH) Library, lower level.  That is part of a group exhibit too, from Manchester Artists Association.

Spring is very slow getting here this year. I have been out on my bike twice now.  I'm really enjoying learning how to ride again and the mountain bike is more fun than the city bike since I like being in the woods.  I bought a used bike, then decided to turn it in for a new one. Waiting for better weather to try it out.  Photo below taken on the rail trail by Lake Massabesic (Auburn/Manchester, NH).  That was my first ride. I fell in the mud, did not get hurt, and was happy to be out on the trail.

On my easel today -- Sunrise, WIP

Sunrise, a New Day.  This is an acrylic painting in process. The canvas is 16" X 20"  I am happy with the way it looks so far and will work on the details when it dries a bit more.  This painting will be donated to Families in Transition, a wonderful organization in New Hampshire.

I am participating in a painting project organized by Friends of Art Manchester.  I am the treasurer (and chief blogger) of this organization and we are trying to get more public art downtown.  Families in Transition has some residences that have bare walls.  It's a match! We have artists and they have walls.

FIT is paying for the canvases and the artists are donating their time and expertise to create paintings to beautify the walls.  You can find the details on the FOA blog (link above).  We are starting with six 16" X 20" canvases and two 8" X 10" canvases. Some are already reserved.  We hope that this will be an ongoing project and will encourage some local artists to join our organization.

Meanwhile, I have a display of paintings, prints and cards at the Derry Public Library.  This will be up until the end of September.  I had a wall display there in April and now I have my paintings in their beautiful display case.  This is in Derry, New Hampshire.  I lived there from 1979-1984. The library has expanded and has a different exhibit each month.

The display case is quite large and I went back a second time to fill in the extra space with cards.  I didn't realize how many paintings would fit into the case. Photo below shows one section of it. I received some positive comments while I was arranging the paintings. That's always nice to hear.