"Summer Lake Cruise" (watercolor on paper; 14" x 10") sold

sold

The scene is a lake in the New York state, which I visited on way to Niagara Falls many years ago.  The vacationers were getting on board of a cruise ship festooned with patriotic flags; you can see the captain on the bench watching them.  I left the foreground and the sunlit parts of the figures and boat untouched, since nothing beats the pure white of the paper for imitating the sunlight!

"Under a Willow Tree" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

"Under a Willow Tree"
sold

"Morning Garden" (oil, 8" x 10")

"Summer Garden" (the improved version; oil, 10" x 10")
sold

"Capitol Hill in Summertime" (oil, 15" x 8")
sold

"Capitol View from the US Botanic Garden" (oil, 15" x 8")

Paintings are like your children.  You nurture them; you pour your heart out; you even lose sleep over them.  Once you do all you can, you wish them well.  You want them to shine--get into juried shows, receive awards of excellence, and admired by the public.  Whether you keep them in your private collection or sell them to collectors, you want them to be loved.

Alas, paintings do not always turn out well.  Unlike children, however, there are things you can do to improve paintings.  After they sit around in my studio for a while, I seem to gain certain detachment.  I can see things that I didn't see before.  Composition can be tweaked; drawing can be corrected; values can be strengthened; colors can be made richer.  Or, they may be retired so that I can get on with my life. 

In this positive spirit, I am working on a series of old paintings to see if I can make them better. Why not?  After all, all paintings are just a playing ground to grow as an artist, aren't they?  Paints and canvas may be transformed into an exquisite work of beauty that transcends everyday experience.  If it doesn't, well, no harm was done.  Nobody died in the process.  Ha!

"Smithsonian Castle Rose Garden" (oil on canvas; 18" x 18")

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Reference photo

One spring day, I went to The Mall with my family and saw the rose garden at the eastern end of the Smithsonian Castle.  The air was so thick with the rose perfume that you couldn't have missed it while walking by.  I didn't, however, stop to take pictures because I had company.  So I went back a couple of days later, hoping that the heavy rain the day before didn't damage the flowers in full bloom.  I timed it carefully so that the garden would be basking in morning sun as you can see above.

So far, so good.  Painting the scene was not as easy.  It was tough to make the various components of the picture--the castle with a complicated mock medieval architecture, two big trees, garden, benches, etc--work together harmoniously without drawing too much attention to the castle.  I finally finished "Smithsonian Castle Rose Garden" yesterday.  I am going to enter it in The Art League's annual landscape show in two weeks.  We'll see how it goes.