Author Archives: jlr7
Painting Cats
Painting with acrylics and developing an approach to different subjects has been one way to stay actively learning while spending time in social isolation. While I have painted with watercolors for two years, acrylic paint behaves so very differently. And painting with the palette knife requires the development of a certain dexterity. Subject-wise, I’ve […]
Hiking, Painting, Plein Air
Recently, the Gainesville Fine Arts Association call for artwork for an “Earth” theme encouraged me to paint three inspirational mountain views with acrylics and two using a palette knife. Mt. Hood view from Palmer Glacier I admired and painted the view of Mt. Hood both from downtown Portland and from lavender fields during the Willamette […]
Artist-in-Residence: Painting and social distancing
This week I was scheduled to be one of the invited artists for the Santa Fe Springs Plein Air Paintout. Like so many other events, the Paintout was canceled. And so I have decided that I am not just social distancing, as has been ordered by the Governor of Florida, but I am now an […]
East Naples Winter Classic Pickleball Tournament – Women’s singles
The day before I played in the mixed doubles at the East Naples Winter Classic Pickleball Tournament, I watched the women’s singles competition at this same Pickleball Capital of the World. As I watched the matches, I admired both the agility and strategy of the players. For most of the games, the women played at […]
Pickleball Capital of the World
Playing pickleball at the East Naples Community Park was amazing. The park calls itself the Pickleball Capital of the World because it has more pickleball courts (54 courts – with 10 more to be added) than anywhere in the world. I had watched on YouTube the 2019 US Open Pickleball Championships, held at the East […]
Cycling and Painting the Hawthorne Trail
One of my New Year’s ambitions was to cycle the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail more often than I had in the previous year. By January 7, I’d cycled 80 miles on the trail. The trail is through sections of Paynes Prairie State Preserve. I enjoy going downhill at 24-26 mph, feeling the rush of wind on […]
Great Lakes – painting water and sky
Water and sky present interesting challenges when painting with watercolors. A recent trip put me on the shores of two Great Lakes – Lake Huron and Lake Erie — and gave me the opportunity to paint water and sky. I painted the Gratiot Lighthouse, at the juncture of Lake Huron and the St. Clair River. […]
Grand Canyon raven watercolor
A watercolor portrait of a raven was created during my recent hiking and painting trip to the Grand Canyon. As I took photos of a raven sitting on a fence rail, I talked to the bird, telling it I admired its glistening feathers. I think its response indicated that it wasn’t interested in conversing unless […]
Grand Canyon art in watercolor and acrylics
A wonderful art challenge for me has been painting the Grand Canyon. Recently I hiked and painted at the Grand Canyon and had many opportunities to paint en plein air (on location) at the Canyon’s edge and on trails in the Canyon. Sitting on the edge of the Canyon with my paints, I could see […]
Art Festival 2019 at Thornebrook
Come to the Art Festival at Thornebrook to see my latest artwork. The festival is Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 12-13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. My work includes pieces I created at the Lavender Festival in Oregon, views from hiking in the Grand Canyon, and new scenes from Barcelona. I will be selling original […]
4T Trail – exploring and painting Portland
The 4T Trail was one of my ventures during a visit to Portland, providing a different way to see Portland. From attending conventions in Portland, I’d already come to admire the city’s progressive transportation system. Using the train (MAX light rail), I traveled from the airport to my hotel and was able to travel by […]
Selecting paints for my new watercolor palette
My new watercolor palette arrived in the mail. Now it’s time to decide which colors to include. My new palette includes 12 small pans (the containers for the paint). I have dozens of tubes of wonderful watercolor paint, but I can only choose 12 to include. A big factor for me is that I do […]
