I'll bet that you thought that I had "Moo"ved on from creating my blog. I have been very busy. I just finished my last summer show this past weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio. If I should ever stop doing these shows, I would be very sad. They are my opportunity to interact with other artists and get responses from the viewing public. While making money is a plus, the real value is that sense of self-worth that the comments create. Many people visit these shows to interact and learn from the participating artists. As a former classroom teacher and a thirty year veteran of street fairs, I enjoy every exchange with the visitors to the different fairs. So thank you for a season of encouragement and enlightening conversations. I do appreciate them!

Today's painting is a good segue into reminding you that the Fairfield County Fair begins this Sunday and continues through the following Saturday. This county fair, the last in the state of Ohio, is a joy to attend. The grounds are located only a few blocks from my home, making it within walking distance. The time of year, the setting, the agricultural exhibits, the fair food and the rides make it a trip that anyone would enjoy. The first Sunday the admission to the grounds is free. I encourage you to visit our "fair" city- Lancaster, Ohio.

Inspired by my love of patterns, this piece creates the "lay of the land" in a non-traditional manner. It is my hope that I have created a sense of movement and rhythm in this painting.

Note to all viewers of this blog all work shown to date has been sold. I have one show left this season. In October I will be at Cincinnati Hyde Park. I would like to thank all of you for making my year successful. I am taking time off to "restock" and enjoy my great family. With each painting I have expanded my knowledge of my medium and gained a better insight into my thought processes. Creating art is a very rewarding and personal experience. Once I have more paintings I will again share . If you are a fellow painter, "Happy Painting!" To my followers, "Thank you for your interest."

It's a Thursday morning and I have just finished another painting. We are gearing up for our final three outdoor shows. The season has been good for us. I think that we are ready to call it a season. While I love painting, the production of a quantity of paintings each week to sell is at times very difficult. In working in this fashion, I find success and I find failure. The failure through the years has become easier to deal with- I can look at the painting and say that it doesn't work and begin again. So as I leave for the day I hope that each of you realize that there are going to be failures and that we each move on in search of success. Have a great weekend. See at Salt Fork.

We just finished hanging 32 pieces of work for the annual art walk in downtown Lancaster. For this 12 day exhibit, I have included many pieces that have never been shown. It is always exciting to get reactions about new work. Because of the great diversity of my work, I often hear ,"Did the same person do all of these?". I reply that it is curiosity that fosters the many different appearances of my work. While I enjoy working with all of the basics, I do not want the my of paintings to be photographic. There is the need to go beyond the mastery of watercolor techniques. I want to bring something to my paintings that fosters independent thought. This need is the starting point for the real adventure in painting. For me, it takes real courage to create images that are not traditional in their appearance. Creating images that "look real" is a measuring stick that I could and should learn to live without in my painting. I hope that this blog serves as documentation that I do,indeed, possess skills of watercolor mastery and that my search for self through experimentation is a continuous process. I have been fortunate that my followers have encouraged this exploration. Sooooo......Paint on Ed! Paint on!

Good afternoon. I am still painting for Friday night. There are times that I feel I can not paint what I want. Then I get a hold of myself and realize I do not have to paint for anyone else but myself. Today's painting actually started out to be flowers. I am not particularly fond of painting flowers but I went to my garden and spent considerable time drawing flowers. I even cut some of them to bring in so I could get the hues correct. About two hours into the painting I was bored with the act of painting the flowers. I became a little angry with myself and scrubbed them all out. This is the painting that resulted from my disdain for flower painting- hence the title "Where Flowers Once Grew". Dr. Coretta Mitchell at the Ohio State University was always amazed at how I could turn my "mistakes" into positives. So this one's for you Dr. Mitchell. Remember you have the power to change things in paiinting and in life.

Seldom do I paint people. I find this rather odd, considering that I am fascinated by all of the people who I have met throughout my life. I met this young man at the Lilyfest last weekend. He and his friend, Dale Hatfield, were working with chainsaw sculptures. Lover of patterns , I liked the striped shirt and the shadow cast by the hat on his face. I have attempted to give the portrait a vignette(a painting with no definite borders) appearance. I like the simplistic, unfinished look of the shirt and the irregular edges that surround the subject.. I hope that you enjoy the painting. It, plus other new works, will be introduced at the Lancaster Festival Artwalk this Friday night. I am sponsored by Standing Stone National Bank. If you have not attended this event it is quite the social event for my hometown. From my viewpoint, people look like they are having a good time. Maybe I'll see you there! Have a great day.

This is a cropped full sheet painting that I just completed. I painted all day yesterday and through the night. At 5:30 a.m. I needed a break for a little shut eye. After breakfast it was back to this painting. At 1:30 I needed to be in the hills to put up my display for the Lilyfest this weekend. Two hours later I returned home. After working a short time. I stopped to make a quick trip to Columbus. Arriving home I continue to work on this painting. Because I must produce a large quantity of work in order to do outdoor art festivals, I find myself going many different directions. This helps make my days(and nights) more interesting. We carry about 30 framed pieces with us to all shows. If I sell work then I must replace it. Undoubtedly I always find passages in the piece that I would do differently if beginning again. (Paintng is much like life in this aspect-there are so many things that I would approach differently given the opportunity.)
Hope to see you at the Lilyfest.

This red sky painting was completed before yesterday's post. While I started yesterday's painting first, I felt that it was not working so I began to paint this image. I completed it and then returned to the red sky painting that I posted yesterday. This painting is a little more straight forward in its subject and does not invite as much participation on the part of the viewer. As always, when painting things that are similar in subject matter, I find myself comparing the works. One Christmas I decided to give my daughter and daughter-in-law a painting similar to one that hangs in my kitchen. My daughter had stated that she really liked it. I decided that I could not paint two because when the first picked her painting the other would feel that they got the lesser of the two. My solution- I painted three. They each, therefore, had a choice. The remaining painting was sold to someone outside of the family.

As I paint, I find myself returning to many of my favorite things . I have used red as my sky in quite a few of my works. I think that the hue is a warm and exciting addition to the painting. In this work my thought process is as always- move my hues throughout the painting. If I use the hue in one area I repeat it in yet another area. This helps hold the work together. This work also includes curves that are repeated. In order to create the illusion of a large space, I take my elements off all four edges of the painting. Rhythms are created through the repetition of hues, lines, shapes. I attempt to create a landscape that is both familiar and still new. I have attempted to let my viewer see the landscape through my eyes. I encourage them to enjoy the elements(color, shapes, textures, lines, values). The landscape has merely been a vehicle used to enable me to work with these elements.
Due to the nature of doing outdoor shows, I find that many times I do not get the opportunity to "live with" the painting. Given the opportunity to have the work long enough to put it away and return to it days later, I will find areas in the composition that I can improve upon. Returning to the piece a few days later often permits me to "see" my work in a different way. This particular piece sold one day after I created it. I hope that it will bring pleasure to its new owner with each look.

This is a cropped area of one of my paintings that my Father gave me. It was created by his mother, Tella Kitchen. Her story telling was always one of her assets. Being able to tell stories with images was even better. What a wonderful way to communicate your life stories to others through paintings. I find myself always thinking of my life and the images associated with it. I tell Mary Anne( my lovely wife) that I, too, am going to paint many of the events of my life growing up in Lancaster, Ohio. Did you ever stop to think about all of the changes that you have seen in your lifetime? Do you think about those friends and family members who have shared these same changes? Maybe you could create a keepsake for someone you love to cherish. It doesn't have to be painting. It might be a scrapbook with all of your family identified. I created a calendar book with all the important days and people in our life for my dear sister. It also gave me the opportunity to continue that sibling rivalry. It might be a written story about your life. I wrote books to my children as they grew. They received them at a wedding rehearsal dinner. I gave my son a blank book hoping that he will take the time to write "love" notes to his children. My wife and I created books for her brothers and sister using Snapfish. It made a one of a kind Christmas present. Maybe you can pass on a keepsake to someone while your both here to enjoy the exchange. I know that we are all busy but....these gifts are gifts that only you can give someone. It doesn't have to be big or elaborate, it has to be personal. Have a great day.

Well, our season officially begins tomorrow morning. We have spent many hours preparing for our first show. People visiting the art festivals fail to realize the preparation and work that it takes for the artist to be "sitting" at the festival. I scrubbed weights, packed paintings, packed the tent, and barely managed to get everything in the van. Throughout the summer and fall we will be in hot weather, stormy weather and pleasant weather. We will meet wonderful people and be exposed to many creative artists. We will visit cities that we would normally not visit. We will start at 6:30a.m and work until about 9:00 at night. We will then work through the week to prepare for another show in another city on the following weekend. We share these experiences with hundreds of artists. They have become good friends and have taught us much.

People have come into our lives that we would probably never meet. Thirty years of hard work have been good to our family. I take this opportunity to thank each person who has supported our efforts throughout the years. Thanks!

This is a painting of the Prentiss School located in Canal Winchester, Ohio. As a former teacher I found this subject matter pertinent. As an artist I took a few liberties. I moved it from the historical area back to a more rural setting. I guess if the historical society can move it, Ed can move it. As in most of my paintings, it is the background that I like the most. I have tro go...we just had our second grandchild.... a little girl. byeeeee :-)

Good morning! This is another Polaroid manipulation. I did enough of these to let me know that this is not what I wanted to be doing. It was an adventure. The subject is our city hall in Lancaster,Ohio. Three sides of this structure are sandstone with the backside being brick. For those "older" residents of Lancaster, this is the building that also housed our county library. It's an interesting building. So here is to trying new things even if they aren't exactly what we thought they would be......... Have a great day.

Here we are about to start summer and I am giving you winter. So if you need to stay cool one of the winter scenes might be good for you. We are doing a number of outdoor art festivals this summer. We start with a new show being held in Granville, Ohio at the Bryn Du Mansion.They have a nice website www.granvilleartaffair. My work was used prominently on the advertising cards. Following this show you will find us spending father's day in Worthington, Ohio on the square there are artists on all four corners. If you miss us there you still have a few more chances. Next up, The Lilyfest! They also have a website www.lilyfest.com This show is in the Hocking Hills. If you love beautiful surroundings come to this one. You say you don't like driving in the hills(shame on you), then catch me at the show that I have almost called my second home.. The Salt Fork Arts and Crafts Festival in Cambriidge, Ohio www.saltforkfestival.org . Whew, are you tired yet? During the Lancaster Music Festival www.lanfest.org .

Standing Stone National Bank is where you will find my lovely wife and me during the annual Friday night Art Walk. The bank has live entertainment and of course the prerequisite- free food and drinks. Too busy during that week? If you are up in Northern Ohio.... you can find us in our trusty spot on the green in Chardon. We will return to the comfort of our own hometown for Art on Fair www.artonfair.com This is a Saturday only show. I'm exhausted..... but..... it is now on to the Hyde Park on the Square Art Show in Cincinnati, Ohio. So I really should not be sitting here typing away...........sooooo... I'm off to my studio to paint, paint, paint!

I hope to see you at one or all of these shows.

Good Morning everyone! It looks as if it could be a rainy day in Ohio. I guess I will come in from outside and settle back into the routine of painting. I really enjoy it once I get started. As I grow older it is the self-discipline that I find harder. Working in the yard, listening to the birds and my fountains, feeling the warm breezes on my face all are pleasant distractions. The painting above is a scene from the Hocking Hills. My wife and I backpacked to Old Man's Cave and spent the day exploring. It is so close that we often forget to take time to enjoy the beauty of the area. For an artist each piece of work is a challenge. For me, using green is a big challenge. I hope that you enjoy this trip to Old Man's Cave. I encourage you to visit it and get that sense of scale- man to nature. Enjoy your day.

It's another Moooooooon picture! This is a Polaroid transfer of a slide of one of my original paintings. Then trying to be creative , I embellished it with some painting. I guess we won't be doing any of this again- now that Polaroid film is not available. This will impact some really big name artists. For "capricious ed" it just means that I will have this experience to recall. There are a great many experiences that we have all had that are now mere memories. Treasure them!

Right now you are probably saying, "This guy doesn't know what he wants to do!" My answer is "I don't want to do the same thing each time I sit down to paint." Creating new problems to solve has kept me going for the last 30 years. Writing this blog has forced me to take a closer look at my work. I have discovered that I am, indeed, fascinated with the moon, the stars, and water. Many of my works include these elements- some realistic, others symbolic. Here I have limited my palette and repeated the circular shape throughout the work. The desire to create with just simple shapes dictates the direction of this particular work. It is my hope that I bring to each of you a new way of looking at what surrounds us. Today, let's keep it simple.

Special note to Mary Wegman: Wassily Kandinsky- 1913-"Squares with Concentric Circles"=
inspiration.

In this painting I have tried to take a cold subject matter and warm it by using a golden hue for the sky. There is something very pristine and calming about a winter evening immediately after a snow. When I paint I often transport myself to a place that evokes a feeling within me and try to capture that feeling in the work for everyone to enjoy with me. I have used the stream again as a device to lead your eye through my composition. I have three horizontal line movements that also serve to lift the viewer's eye upward. Enough..... the idea is to have a piece that is calming to you. I hope my painting brings a restful moment to your day.

How many of us have not seen this view of a landscape. Spending many hours in an automobile, driving to visit our children, I entertain myself by mentally painting the images I have seen. There are times that I will encourage those "lucky" people riding with me to look at the colors or contrasts that I see. The white that becomes warm in at sunset. The shadows that stretch across the land. So again I come home to doing landscapes. On my last post I was given the url to a site that would make great large abstract paintings. It, too, is mathematical(thanks Diane). So don't be surprised if you see a piece that incorporates a Mandlebrot set- yikes that sounds so math-like. "Google it.", as the math teacher said. Keep this up and we will all learn some new terms. I hope the sum of your day adds up to be perfect!

Hello from Lancaster, Ohio. I offer to you this morning another landscape. I love patterns. I think that it is the rhythm that they create that affects me mentally. I find them to be calming. I have always loved creating trees. I can still remember my mom telling me I did nice trees. So she probably , through her statement, encouraged me to continue drawing and painting trees. I hope that my view of this landscape, unlike the soft appearance of the last post , encourages you to see things differently. As an adult, I have a friend, who teaches mathematics. She taught me about the Fibonacci series. She showed me the math in nature. You never know where influences can begin. I encourage each of you to share a little of your knowledge with someone.
Your influence is greater than you think. Have a great day.

Good Morning Everyone! It is Monday the day after. Our open house was ,once again, a resounding success- thanks to all of my loyal patrons. The majority of the paintings are now someone else's property. I have regrets about losing them. I have to produce a great many pieces of work and therefore do not get much time to "live" with what I have created. The work above is one of the pieces that now will grace someone else's home. I always am in awe that other people buy my work. Grateful but still in awe. I leave you all today with a great sense of gratitude. Thank you!

The final countdown to my annual open house starts today. My art for the day is a new reproduction that I will have available at my open house. My family lived in the home that was at one time the old "Blue Ball Tavern" built nearby the mill. Located in Bloom/Greenfield Township, Rock Mill is Ohio's oldest and largest gristmill. Situated on the upper falls of the Hocking River, this historical mill has six stories with two below the grade level. It will be powered once again, by a 26foot overshot water wheel with a 30 foot long mill race cut through solid sandstone. It is currently under restoration. If you would like to donate or volunteer in this effort please contact:

David Fey
Fairfield County Historical Parks
407 East Main Street
Lancaster, Ohio 43130
740.681.7249

director@historicalparks.org

http://www.historicalparks.org/

A portion of each sale of my reproduction will benefit this worthy cause. Until after my open house, I hope that you each have a great week.

It looks like a great day in Lancaster, Ohio. Today's painting is a fun image about my annual open house. I am always amazed with the number of attendees. I am very grateful for all of my patrons. They have encouraged me for thirty-odd years. From a small mailing list to one of 1600 people makes the preparation for this occasion one that goes beyond painting. My lovely wife, Mary Anne, and I have already mulched , shampooed carpets, washed windows, ordered cookies , planted flowers(risky), and hung art. We still have more to do the attic loft has not been touched. I am thrilled that my daughter Sarah and daughter-in-law Lauren have new offerings as well. They have three new serigraphs plus a series of note cards. I am both excited and proud of them. Organizing the bookwork, hanging the attic loft, ordering the indoor flowers - whew- we may be getting to old to do all of this. I would be remiss if I did not also thank all of our friends and family members who, throughout the years, have helped make our open house a success. Thank you! Here's hoping that your lives are as busy and fun as our lives. Enjoy the day!

Good Morning everyone. Today's painting uses one of my wife's childhood teapots as the subject matter. I have suspended it in front of a quilt-like pattern. I, again, rely heavily on patterns to make my painting work. I repeat the curved shapes of the teapot and contrast it through the use of color. I add texture to contrast the smooth shapes of the pot itself. I like repetition but not to the point of each item being exactly the same. My patterns are not rigid and mechanical looking on purpose. It gives the piece a more human look. It appears more spontaneous. I like the adage "Variety is the spice of life." I hope that my use of variety adds interest to my patterns an in turn, to the overall success of my painting. Put a little spice in the pattern of your life. Have a great day.

Here is the second painting of the evening snow and moon. Why would anyone want to live in Florida? O.K.,I really do know why. The clean look of fresh fallen snow , the invigorating cold temperatures, the silence of an evening walk with the snow falling all about you- wow. Haven't we all talked about the beauty of a snowfall ? On our trip to Florida we drove through the mountains of Tennessee. It had recently snowed. The trees were laden with snow and some areas were softened by a fog. Pristine would be a good adjective to describe it. Enough! The flowers are pushing through the earth and summer is almost here. Bring on the next beautiful season. Enjoy the rain today. It will bring a prettier tomorrow.

I begin to wonder who is more fascinated with the moon? Is it my grandson or is it me? I find the moon to be a recurring theme in my work. Maybe it is the peaceful quality that it conveys. Maybe it is that sense of awe when looking at it. I am sure that this is not the last time that I will use the moon. I continue to prepare for my annual open house and hope that these sneak previews of my new paintings are interesting to you. This is one of a pair of paintings. Tomorrow I will highlight the second work. For now I must get back to work painting. Keep your aspirations as high the moon and the stars.

An artist's life is not all black and white. This painting is actually very colorful, but I elected to post it in gray scales to show the values(lights and darks). You ask why this pattern? I was reading an article on the demise of Polaroid and how it is going to effect the work of certain artists. Chuck Close was one of these artists. I have always liked patterns. He certainly uses them in the creation of his large portraits. Gustave Klimt also has nice patterns in his work. I encourage you to look for these artist's work. I am sure that you are familiar with it. You might not associate the artists name with the work. Artists are influenced by many things in their lives. One of these influences is historical art work. I hope that you enjoy my "Close " call of painting my rooster. It is going to be a beautiful day.

It is a great day to be outside. Because I have some discipline, I will stay inside and continue to paint. (My open house is less than a month away.) Just as snow blankets the earth, I ,too, have blanketed my landscape with the "Ohio Star" quilt pattern. This is one of four prints in which I have used local homes and quilt patterns for my subject matter. I still enjoy working with patterns as a method of unifying my work and adding a different look to my subject. I hope that this painting brings a sense of serenity to its viewers. The historical homes are Lancaster, Ohio. Enjoy!

Good morning! It's a rainy Friday, but our weekend looks bright. We will see both of our children and their spouses , our grandson, plus a visit from my wife's sister and son. Busy! Talking about busy , today's painting is one of two paintings that I created for Hocking College. It depicts the small, southeastern Ohio community of Nelsonville. I am known for "rearranging" community landmarks. I have elected to show the downtown area with its active Opera House. This small community has become an art haven. It has many art galleries, art walks , festivals and theatrical performances. It is also home to Rocky Boots. The train station, volunteer run, is quite impressive. Parts of the college and other historical pieces of the community complete this work. In the summer a train will take you to a small community of log homes with artisans.and in the winter there is a ride with Santa. Nelsonville, Ohio is certainly a small community worth visiting. I had fun doing this and met many nice people from the area. Meeting nice people seems to go with being an artist. I am sure that we all count as a blessing those nice people who play a role in our lives. Be safe!

Unfortunately, that keeper that I had hoped to accomplish is still on the board. I get a bright idea and then stay up all night working to finish it. The new one is a little tedious- interesting, but tedious. I hope by now that you have all surmised that it would be hard to pick my particular style. I think that this is due to teaching students to be creative and be problem solvers. I also need to challenge myself to solve problems. Today's work consists of actual small squares that are cut and overlapped(1/4"each). When viewing the actual work shadows are cast by the individual squares onto the one beneath it. Throughout my various types of paintings patterns have been very important. I have a brother-in-law who creates work using this technique. His are all very large and color field types of paintings. He uses color match-like paper to do them. He is an architect by trade. I think that he should pursue his painting. We are all impacted by that which surrounds us. On this beautiful Monday afternoon, I hope that you have taken the time to step outside and smell, feel , hear and see the day.

Good morning everyone. Today's comments will be short. I want to thank all of the well-wishers for all of your birthday greetings. Today is the actual day. The boys(Matt and David) and I are going to do the Zip line- yeow!!!!!! I'll call it male bonding and fun. We celebrated last night. So on this actual day, I hope to create a keeper. Thanks again for the thoughts and happy painting everyone.

I hope that this painting is a pleasant surprise. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this person's work, it is a painting that my Grandmother created. It's title is "The Day My Father Died". Her name is Tella Kitchen. She was a great story teller, not only through her painting medium, but also through her ability to tell a story. I often think that I gained some of my desire to tell the history of my community because of her. I find her paintings fascinating. She was discovered by Robert Bishop former curator at the Ford Museum and eventual curator to the American Folk Art Museum. He felt that she was destined to be greater than Grandma Moses. In my eyes and heart there is no comparison. I am giving a talk in Bexley, Ohio in a room named for Leland McClelland. He was how I started. I often would talk about my Grandma to him and he thought that it was just a loving grandson talking. He visited her and as curator of the Art at the Ohio State Fair, she became the featured artist twice. Her work can be found in many prestigious collections and in books on American Folk Art. I recently spotted a piece in Architectural Digest. So on this Friday afternoon, I pause, I smile, and I think of Grandma. Take time to think about those good stories that you have in your history. Pleasant thoughts!

It is a rainy Thursday morning. I hope that the colors in this painting will soften the gloom of the day. The pastel appearance of this painting is created through the use of my transparent paints being mixed with opaque white. I think of myself as a painter first and a transparent watercolorist as a matter of category or medium. I like the appearance of transparent watercolor but occasionally I enjoy not worrying about painting around the objects in the paintings. I also find myself returning to a theme that I like- water and the circular shape of the moon or sun, each helping create some type of mood in the piece. I hope that you have a worry free day.

Who among us can not appreciate the effects created by the sun. Having stood at the ocean's edge with groups to watch the sun set, I have been in total awe of the speed and the beauty of the sun "sinking" into the water's edge. I am assured by the applause around me that I am not alone in this appreciation. I hope in this painting that I have created a feeling for the power of light on our earth. As a painter, I am always aware of lights and darks(values). I hope that you will take time to look at all of the elements around you- lights and darks, colors, textures, shapes and lines. Take time to study how they all work together to make interesting visual images for you .

Enjoy your mornings, your afternoons and your nights!

I have made it to Saturday. Above is another painting that uses the moon . This is a more traditional painting. I return to using water to carry your eye to the focal point. Yesterday's landscape painting was not as literal. I enjoyed painting yesterday's rendition much more than today's. I find it more stimulating to paint and respond to what I have just placed on the surface. I like the "what if" and the "aha" of discovery in creating some of my paintings. I like solving problems. There are times that a tight drawing makes me feel as though I have no freedom in the direction of the work. I would like my work to have a more spontaneous look. Maybe the next one. Enjoy your evening. I'm off to paint.



I must now go back to work on the next painting. The first of May is not that far away. Have a pleasant evening.

It's is Friday and I am about to begin painting for the day. Today's painting is a mixed media piece. In this painting I have worked on creating interesting textures- some real, others invented. The media-color pencil, watercolor, gel medium, acrylic paint. Realizing that I have an audience for my work, I tend to feel the need to paint subject matter that is based on our surroundings. My grandson is fascinated with the moon. We look for it out the windows and some nights, of course, we are not going to find it. So Glen, Grandpa has put the moon where it is easily found. This blog also permits me to show my daughter, the graphic designer, what Dad is doing. So Sarah, here is Dad's offering for the day. I hope that you enjoy it. Speaking of enjoyment, may you all have a great day. To answer the question about leaving comments you click on "comments" and the comment box appears.

Today's painting was inspired by that Key West rooster that awakened us every morning of our stay. I was intrigued by the fact that there are roosters everywhere. Evne in one of ther restaurants that we visited. The elements of art are at work for me in this painting. I have always liked patterns and the idea of using lines to create form made my painting more interesting to me- the painter. Key West was a true experience. Fun. Fun. Fun. I hope that my image for the day illustrates the same feeling. Fun. Fun. Fun.

It's Wednesday morning and time to give another peek at offerings for my annual open house. On our recent trip to Florida, we took our bicycles to get around. The bicycles that are seen in the area are reminiscent of bicycles from our early days. In this piece I have used a mixture of painting and collage. I used our AAA Trip tik for the background and of course watercolor for my subject. We loved riding our bikes to and from all of our destinations. My lovely wife,Mary Anne, wanted a bell on the bike. Next time! The actual textures of the torn paper add an interesting quality to my final piece. I find that I must always keep that "what if" attitude when I work. It is this curiosity that keeps me painting and gives my work a diverse appearance. I often receive comments at art shows about this diversity. Many people think that my display was created by more than one person. No, its just me and my curious mind. Here's wishing you a happy journey.

Now that I am home, it is time to get back to work. I have decided to show you a few of the paintings that I am creating for my annual open house. I have had an open house for 30 years. It has grown with me. I am grateful to all of my patrons. I hope that you will enjoy thiese "sneak peeks" of some of the paintings that will be available in May.Here is a painting that I owe to friends of ours that took us to lunch on their boat while we were in Florida. We passed through a harbor that had many "shrimping" boats. They have such character. I liked the textures, the colors and the lines that the image of these docked ships created for me. I also liked the name. I recently lost a friend whose name was Shirley. She would be pleased. Thanks Jim and Lois for the lunch and the painting. I hope that today's painting will stir a few memories for all of you. Have a great day.

I am back! After a restful trip to Florida, I am ready to begin painting again. I often paint water because of its calming affect on me. I like the sound of the water. It is time to continue to get ready for our thirtieth open house. I prepare for this all winter. After we have this show it will be time to hit the road for the outdoor art festivals. I hope I will see quite a few of you out there. Summer is just around the corner. But I still paint those winter scenes. The contrast of the empty shapes next to the trees gives my work more visual impact. I hope that you will find this painting restful.

Yellow Barns

This painting was done as a demonstration painting for a local art group. It is going to be auctioned for a college scholarship fund. This is the first demonstration painting that I have done in front of a large group of people. I was nervous about my outcome given such a limited time to create the piece. I think when you have to talk about your work it makes you think more about what you are doing and why you are doiing it. The composition has a stream to lead your eye back into the picture plane. ( We have discussed this in previous blogs.) It leads you to the yellow barn. The color helps emphasize my focal point- the barns. The use of color also balances the right side against the left side where I painted a tree in the foreground. I hope that as you paint you might look at your treatment of the foreground, the middle ground and the background. Think about how light (aerial perspective) might effect the hues and values of the things in each area.

Stay focused. Have a great weekend.

Sunday Bouquet

I seldom paint flowers. I think because one of my good friends is very adept at creating florals.While I feel the need to tell you evrything, she has a way of telling us just enough. She uses delicate lines and paints in a negative style. (Negative is good to a watercolorist) Being able to paint around your object instead of painting the object, letting the background flow into the foreground, using nice calligraphy(lines) give her paintings a nice look. I think everyone has to admire someone. She manages to make her florals look as if they took very little effort- of course I know better. You can check out her watercolors in the link below. She 's an experimenter- so all of the work is not watercolor. The Daylilies seem to have an energy about them. Donna is one special lady.

Now, to my painting! I masked out the large flowers. I do not like masking out areas. I find it monotonous and boring, but some of the time it is a necessity. This technique permits me to be loose in the background. I don't have to paint negatively , thanks to the liquid friskit I can paint right over my foreground without loosing my images. After I am happy with the background then I remove the frisket and paint the foreground details. I often have to come back and redraw the insides of the shapes because the removal of the mask has also removed my graphite drawing.

It's the start of the weekend. It has been cold but beautiful. I hope the floral warms up your weekend. Enjoy.

"While We Sleep"

In this painting I have attempted to create the fantasy of what occurs while we sleep. Creating a sense of visual balance was one of the issues that concerned me. The two large rabbits constitute a major focal area due to their size and their position. To encourage "my audience" to move to other areas of the painting, I incorporated a jumping rabbit and a stream. I encouraged the viewer to gaze upward with the addition of the rabbit jumping from left to right over the stream(this helps move the viewers eye across the surface). I also highlighted the rabbit with a circular motif. While the stream serves as a tool to lead the viewers eye from the back of the composition forward, it also leads us to the jumping rabbit and movement to the back of the composition. In many of my paintings I use a road or a stream as a tool to carry the viewers eye through the piece. It is like an invitation to the viewer to step into our painting. As I use to tell my students- once you have invited them in you probably should entertain them.

I hope you are entertained. Be happy.

Skating in the Park

As a painter, I paint that which is familiar to me. In my previous postings, I have used pieces that demonstrate my desire to work with the basics- the elements. I thnk that is the teacher in me. In today's image, I paint that which I have an emotional attachment. This more traditional piece is a park in Lancaster, Ohio-Risng Park. We have many beautiful parks within our community. This one is a place in which family reunions, weddings, birthdays are celebrated. Growing up nearby, this park was like my backyard. Keeping warm by the bonfires and ice skating were some of the activities I enjoyed in Rising Park. If you have never been here you should climb the "mountain" to see an aerial view of our community. As I go along, I hope to illustrate Lancaster as a special community This particular painting is one of many that I have created as limited edition reproductions. I think of these pieces as "shared-memory" paintings.

Through the use of shadows, I have tried to create a sense of time in this piece. The use of the shadows also helps create a mood. The ryhthm of these shadows helps lead the eye upperward. Cast shadows also work to anchor your objects to the surface. It can contain some of the complimentary color of the object casting it. Shadows in your work can add a great deal.

Stay warm.

It's still snowing here. Brrrrrr......

As you can see, at times I use my lines to define form. Yesterday they created textures and outlined contours. In this still life I have used my lines in a repetitive manner to create a flat pattern and to help give the illusion of volume. Just as a song would be very boring if the same notes were played throughout, my painting, too, would be boring if my lines were all the same. Even cereal companies get the concept of variety by selling small packages in their variety pack. I have added interest to this piece through the use of variety. This variety is achieved by changing the values(lights and darks) of the lines. I have also used gradations to add interest to my background shapes.

With the use of so many lines, I needed a way to separate my subject matter from the background. I, therefore, elected to use a rectilinear background to contrast against my curvilinear fruit. I selected cool hues to make the cherries stand out.

Shoveling is beckoning- it's beautiful to be out in the crisp air and white snow. It's as "Pretty as a picture". Maybe I'll paint snow this afternoon. And you....add a little variety to your life.
Enjoy your day!

On this cold January day, I give you a warm painting to help you through the day- stay warm!

It is Monday and I still have many questions about how this all works. I have talked to my friends and we can not figure out how comments are made on my site. Oh, well! Today's painting is "A Sunset Serenade"( I am sure that this title will please my dear friend Mary-the English teacher :) ) I tend to like working with landscapes. They give me the opportunity to create space. Hopefully, deep space is what the viewer sees. I always tell my lovely wife,Mary Anne, that I should paint only backgrounds.I know as I walk and I drive I am constantly scanning the area to see the values and sizes of objects. I have even been known to request that Mary Anne remember what we are seeing. It is nice to have another set of eyes- epsecially on someone who has a good memory. When I paint I realize that as long as I give the viewer a good shape of the object the color can be very subjective. Here I emphasize the warmth of the sunset by limiting my hues to the red end of the scale.

The elements are always on my mind. I think that is because I taught a beginning drawing and painting class for forty years. I stood while I painted this painting- not a typical procedure for me. There are tiimes that I put my right arm behind my back. This keeps me from getting too tight with my paiinting. I have an unsteady hand and keeping my forearm on the table helps stablize my hand movements. I loved using the line element throughout my composition.

First, I apologize for yesterday's post. I am still trying to figure out how this all works. Below is a watercolor titled "A Tennessee Walk" . As a classroom teacher, I found that many of my student's problems occurred because of color. They tried to use every color that I had in my classroom. I encourage everyone to limit their hues. By doing this you tend to become more value(light and dark) conscious. In this painting, I also use the unexpected to create interest- not only the lack of color, but also the push pins holding the neutral image in its place. Try limiting your hues.

As a proud parent, I encourage you to look at my children's web site. Our girls, Sarah and Lauren, have started a business using their artistic talents. So search under Milkmoon Kids. I have their work hanging in my home- the graphic designs are good for all ages. Check it out!
It's Sunday afternoon and I am off to my studio to paint. Enjoy your day.

FISH

Here I am at day two of "blogging". I have already deleted the post that I wanted . So now it is day two and post three. My daughter, Sarah, has informed me that she will be interested in reading my musings. Just a little more pressure for a person who tries to please. I'll get even. She's my technical advisor). My thoughts also are about Mary Wegman, my friend and fellow teacher. I team taught with Mary. She was the English teacher. She would probably say,"Edwin you can come up with a better title than that!" (She always called everyoone by their proper name :) But I use the more direct approach- today's painting title: FISH. I continue my interset in creating patterns. I like the freedom of chosing subjective colors, of creating movement and space. While this may sound "fishy", there are many times that I start a painting and have no idea of where I am going. The journey is so much more thought provoking. Each stroke, each color forces more thought about the next stroke or color. Those preconceptions of what the piece should loook like often kill the joy in the act of painting. I hope your journey through the day is a joy.
Well, here it is day two of this new adventure- putting my musings(a term my daughter uses) on a blog. Here is another piece in which I have emphasized the use of pattern. I like the freedom of being able to create a line, change a hue, create some space- create an image that requires the viewer to "buy into" my experiences. I team taught art with my dear friend, Mary Wegman, and I think of her- she would say "Edwin, you can come up with a better title!" She's right.

"Tea Party"

Putting ones art into the public domain leaves the artist open to criticism.

Always trying to be a pleaser, my work reflects many different styles. While some of my paintings are done to make a living and please others, some are done to make me feel more like an artist- a person who can go beyond his technical skills. It is so much more exciting to show people things in a way that they have not envisioned. This particular piece was about color and pattern. I hope you enjoy it. Oh yes, this is one I did for the artist in me!