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.