Portrait of Native American - in progress

I'm working on my first large portrait -- a 20x16 portrait of a Native American.

I still have some work to do on this painting but it's coming together nicely.  Considering that it's my first large portrait, i'm happy with what's happening on the canvas, so far.  Now i need to be careful not to overwork the painting.  Sometimes less is more.

Saturday at the NC Museum of Art

l to r:  Lisa, Jana, Kris
at the NC Museum of Art
yesterday afternoon

Yesterday spent some time with Lisa and Kris.  Here's a photo of us in front a painting with three trees and two clouds.  It was great to see them again and catch up.   

--- jana

Kathryn Stats instructional dvd

Yesterday I watched Kathryn Stats' instructional dvd "Overview - Mountain Scenery".  During the six hour video she painted a scene of mountains just outside Zion National Park in Utah.  I am a big fan of her work, and it was interesting to watch the video.

On the Eastern Shore in Maryland

This past week I studied with Camille Przewodek near St. Michael's, Maryland. I learned that Camille is a wonderful teacher as well as an accomplished painter. The workshop was held at Maple Hall B&B on 10 acres along the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. I painted the study above on the fourth day of the workshop.

This was my first week painting with a palette knife and I found it very interesting. I loved being free from the turp and medium. And mixing clean colors is much easier when using the palette knife.

Even though we were under some massive trees during one of Camille's demos, the Maryland hot and humid weather took its toll. This photo is of (l to r) me, Camille, and Nita Harper. Hot weather aside, this area of the country is absolutely gorgeous. I hope to return and paint there again. Around every bend is another scene that makes you want to stop, get out, and paint. Right then, right away.