Sea Wall at Antibes

This is another painting I was dissatisfied with. I think it benefited from some touch-ups and glazing.

I started this painting on a chilly morning in Antibes, racing the changing of the shadows. Finally, worn out and hungry, I packed it up and left it to be finished later. Since getting home, I've been working on it. Another look at it again tomorrow and I'll decide if it's finished. And yes, the Mediterranean is really that color.

Cote d' Azur trip

I just returned from a plein air painting trip to Cote d' Azur (beautiful) and wish I'd simply left the paints behind and taken more photos. With all the insistence that you HAVE to paint plein air to see the colors, I found that I actually had a hell of a time seeing the colors on my palette and canvas well enough to have any idea what I was doing. Had I worn sunglasses, all the colors would have been contaminated. Without them, I was simply blinded by so much light.

In 10 days, I started but did not complete, 4 paintings. But I had a great time and will finish at least a couple of the paintings from photos I took. So, no new paintings to post today.

Off to Monaco & the French Riviera to paint!

I'm hoping that the next time I log on I will have a stack of new work to upload!

Officer

When I laid eyes on this policeman, I was fascinated by his exceptional beauty and all the colors in his skin. He was surprised when I asked his permission to paint him, and may have ended up the butt of some teasing by his fellow officers.

Giclee prints available at http://connie-schaertl.artistwebsites.com/

Prepared to Wait (16x20)

I revisited this painting a number of times and the top image is it's current stage.

First iteration:

This one has taken awhile. It's painted on 16X20 stretched canvas. And, of course, the model is my daughter, Laurel.

My first true plein air painting

It's only 5 X 7, much smaller than I'm used to painting, but the Texas weather was finally cool enough to spend a few hours outside. Since it was a wonderfully rainy day (if you don't live in central or south Texas, you can't imagine the significance of this!) I set up my easel on my front porch. This was a trial run for the equipment I'm planning to schlep to France with me next month, and it functioned very well.

Austin Visual Arts Association Juried Show

I finally submitted some pieces for the annual juried show that Austin Visual Arts Association holds at the Dougherty Arts Center. My painting, "The Man from the Valley" was selected for the show, a very eclectic mix of interesting works of art.