Upcoming Solo Show in Orleans, Massachusetts

Wishing a Happy and Creative 2015 to all who are reading this!

Winter is the time for me to paint most intensively. It's taken me a while to get started this year, but I have finally gotten what I hope will be a daily practice.

Meanwhile I'm getting ready for what is turning out to be my biggest solo show ever!

I was invited to hang my paintings for the months of February and March at the offices of Southeby's International oldCape Realty, 6 Route 6A, Orleans as part of their ongoing focus on local art makers.

Please come to an Opening Reception on Friday, February 6, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm., with food and drink representative of Cape Cod, Grenada and Ireland.

There's LOTS of nice public space, and great lighting, as well as several distinct areas in which to show. To do the space justice, I will be showing a lot of work, both past and present, in pastel, oil and watercolor.

Hope you can join us!

Oils, WS-Oils, and Watercolors, Oh,My!

At long last, I'm finally ready to post this blog on my brand-new computer!

It's been a long, snowy and cold winter, but I personally had a great "off" season, with lots of time to paint, and the motivation to do so. My paintings were mostly oils and watercolors, which is a big change for me, as I often paint in pastel. This change is an indication that I'm finally adjusting to the longer periods of free (painting) time in my life! When I'm painting in oils or watercolors (wet media), I tend to spend much longer periods of time on the painting, while with pastels (a dry medium), I work for shorter periods, although the paintings may take months to complete.

My wonderful season started in late October with our much-anticipated trip to beloved Grenada,(seemingly an unending source of inspiration for me) and a short visit to Carriacou, Grenada's sister island. Carriacou is different enough from Grenada that it was a whole new world of inspiration! Right after I arrived home, I took a class with an excellent instructor, Megan Hinton, at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. The thrust of the class was painting large pieces. As  pastel painter, I tended to keep my paintings small for practical reasons, so these paintings would turn out to be the largest pieces I have done. Most of my classmates were using traditional oil paints, but I opted to use water-soluble oils because I had been given a set by a downsizing painter, and wanted to try them out. For supports, I used some large pieces of acid-free mat board that I had, rather than spend a lot of money on canvases. This worked well with the paint, and I was able to get some nice, subtle, almost watercolor-like effects. You can see some of these paintings in my "Recent Work" folder on this website.

I  also painted almost a watercolor a day, with exploration and experimentation being my goal, rather than paintings I would hope to sell.  I had lots of fun! Mountains, dunes, sea and skies were where I went with these paintings, most of which are not on the website. I also painted the view outside the window many times, as I watched the next snowstorm roll across the bay from the West.
I enjoy watercolor  painting, and I was happy to get into a one-day workshop given by Tracy Harmon, also at PAAM.

Now "The Season" is beginning to rev up, and I know there will be less time to paint, as I will be spending more time at my seasonal job, guiding tours and wine tastings at Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod. I'm  hoping to take the motivation and sense of exploration I felt this winter with me into the Spring and Summer months, and paint as much as possible, as well as enjoy (and be informed by) the life and beauty all around me.

Here it is, Spring 2013! I had a busy Autumn and Winter, as my son and his family have moved back to Cape Cod, and are living in close proximity. I've found that grandmothering my now 20-month old grandson to be both spontaneously creative as well as process specific! We've had lots of fun - but I didn't spend as much time in the studio as in past years.

There are half-dozen new paintings recently uploaded to the Web Gallery. They are in several media - the majority are oils, with one pastel and one watercolor. I also did several portrait pencil drawings over the winter (not on the website), and have some paintings in the studio that are calling for ongoing experimentation in mixed media and surface build-up.

Thanks for checking out my website. I wish all who read this a happy, peaceful, love-filled Summer!

Lots of New Paintings!

Happy Days to all who may read this!

I had a productive fall and winter in the studio, and have just added about two dozen new paintings to the website.

Viewers may notice several small oil paintings with 1.5" edges, which I call "wraparounds".
I'll be having a show featuring just paintings of this type in October 2012, at the Wellfleet Public Library, in the "Glass Case" by the front door. I'm planning on calling the show "Wraparound Glances". I will attempt to complete a few more wraparounds between now and then, and choose what paintings will work best in the case.

I've also got a few goats, sheep and monkeys, California seascapes, Cape Cod studies, Grenada fantasies and Irish memories...

My "day job" will be at Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod once again this year, and I look forward to another fun, busy season amidst the grapes!

I'll be showing a selection of paintings in the shop at Truro Vineyards. These pieces will be small land and seascapes of the Vineyard and Cape-tip, as well as still lifes featuring local foods. I thank the Roberts family and manager Rebecca Gawley for the opportunity, and for their enthusiasm!

Best to all from Pat

Recent Work - 23 New Paintings to Show You!

Happy Spring 2011 - at least that's what the calendar says - right now it's very chilly on Cape Cod! But the sun is shining - I feel like a cat, looking for the sunniest window! With the help of Monja at Spicy Design, we've uploaded 23 new paintings onto the website. They're in a "gallery" folder of their own., on the "Gallery" pages. There's alot of variety in this mix - pastels, oils and even a few watercolors. Subject matter varies widely, too. There are Cape Cod land and seascapes; A Grenada seascape series, called Webcam Daydreams, inspired by the webcams at www.grenadaexplorer.com; a surfer series, entitled Facing the Waves - about courage in the face of huge uncertainty; some "wraparound" oils, painted on 3 surfaces; birds, beasts and more... I'll be participating in a number of shows this May, details are on the "Exhibitions" page. One May 2011 show I missed mentioning there will be the Wellfleet Painters Show of Recent Work, which will hang through the month of May at the Wellfleet COA. The Wellfleet Painters get together on Friday afternoons at the COA to work on individual projects. When it warms up a bit, we'll be going outside. This will be a show (our second) of work we've produced while painting together. Bob and I enjoyed a trip to the Savannah area recently. What a great place to visit - it was Spring there, months ahead of us! In addition to visiting the "Historic District", we got a chance to get out into "the swamp" and visit the seashore, as well. I've already got 2 pastels in the "work-in-progress" stage, based on photos taken there. Also got some good photos of migrating birds, who may be seen flying into future paintings. The Sandpiper Gallery, which showed my paintings for many years here in Wellfleet, has closed. I was glad to have the opportunity to show my work there, and I wish Mary Houk the best with her new-found free time. In May, I expect to be employed again at beautiful Truro Vineyards. This year, I'll have an even sharper eye out for the many painting possiblities there. Til then, I'm trying to paint some every day, and be mindful of the beauty all around me....

Updating...

Hello to all. It's been a busy summer, and I've not updated my "blog" in a while so here goes...

I've been spending the Spring-Summer-Fall season working at Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod. It's been such a pleasure to watch the grapes grow and ripen around me! I know these images of adundance will work their way into paintings, hopefully this winter.

Painting time has been hard to come by, but things are easing up and I've been working on a few pieces. I participated in two shows this summer, one with the Visual Artists Cooperative, a showing of "New Works" that hung at the Orleans (Ma.) library for the month of August; and in September I was part of a group of plein air artists that hung a show entitled "Rose Farm" at the Truro COA. Two more show with the VAC are coming up in November.

Cape Cod is in it's most beautiful season right now, and there is inspiration everywhere I look!
I'm hoping to get out and work en plein air a few more times before it gets too cold and blustery.

Thinking, as always, about Grenada and hoping to sell some Grenada paintings to help finance a trip there. I look daily at the webcams on the Grenada Explorer website www.grenadaexplorer.com
and am very inspired by them, but I long for the day when I will walk the beach at La Sagesse again!

Abundance, and best wishes to all...