Blog

I've been drawn to painting birds ever since I began watercolor lessons in the fall of 2009. I already enjoyed watching and photographing my backyard birds, so painting them was a natural transition. Birds are not often still for long, so I aim to preserve those brief moments when birdsong causes my head to turn or a flash of color draws my eye. Although I've branched out into other subjects, birds are definitely my first love!     Spring Fling, original 5.5" x 8" watercolor. I remember the first White-crowned Sparrow (the subject of Spring Fling) that visited my backyard one winter. He perched only [...]

Have you ever created a painting that you felt was "good" but not "great"?  Occasionally I have a watercolor painting that seems like it's finished, but there's just something it still needs...and I'm not sure what. When I get to that point in a painting, I know it's time to set the piece aside for a few days, or even a few weeks. I put it out of sight but not out of mind. My painting (Korea Veteran, above) from 2016 is a perfect example of this. Let me explain.   First, I'd like to apologize for the poor-quality cell phone photo (above). [...]

Baby, it was cold outside! I hope everyone is thawed out and back to normal after the recent deep freeze that swept across the country. I'm thinking especially of  Texas and the other southern states that were the hardest hit. Fortunately, we only had 6-8" of snow here in Missouri, although we did catch a frozen pipe before any damage was done to the inside of the house.   Fat Robin, original 5.5” x 5.5” watercolor painting  Like most birds, Robins puff up their feathers to insulate their internal organs (see Fat Robin and Fat Robin II above). The outside of the feathers are cold, like [...]