Colorplay Duck

I posted an image of a cow that I painted while playing with sunshine color (see below)  It was an interesting exercise but not a painting that felt finished.

Today, I turned that painting sideways and painted this duck over the base of bright colors. In some places, on this new painting,  I was working on creating vibration (placing color side by side that are  equal in value and intensity but opposite hue/temperature: the vibration occurs at the boundary). In some areas, I was playing with changes in hue while keeping similar values and intensity.

 I'll have to let this painting sit for a while to decide whether it is a "keeper". I like it better than the cow....

 underpainting:turned counterclockwise

Sunshine

I am working with thicker paint and bristle brushes on this one.
Seems I am still in an "orange period".

Welcome to 2016

 It has taken until mid January to define what I want to accomplish this year. Part of the delay is due to the large number of deadlines for national watercolor shows that I hope to jury into. Fingers crossed. 

As I completed today's show entry, I found that I completely changed my mind about which paintings I wanted to enter. If I can change my mind about my own work, I can only imagine how difficult a juror has it. If I presume that in the final decision stages (i.e. where only good paintings are left, the "easy" rejections are done) it would be easy to see that a different mood, change in weather, something intangible could affect a decision. 
I guess that it what makes me want to keep at this. I want to make a painting that sustains interest. This morning I came across this quote from Clye Aspevig  that seems to express this. He said that "An artist’s job is to create a piece that changes a person’s perceptions of something, to try and get you to think about things in a different way, to start looking at them as having more content, more meaning, more relevance to other things in life.”  
In 2016, I will continue working on understanding and to painting  qualities of "light". One way to do this will be to teach what I have been studying.  I have been invited to give a workshop in February in Tarboro. The description is on my webpage under the teaching tab.
The best way will be to paint and repaint and learn....

Here is the first painting that I will present at my show at Nash Arts (a little community gallery) in April. I hope you will mark your calendar. If you want an invitation to the opening, please let me know.