Here are a few of my most recent watercolors. Car lovers will appreciate the first two: I did them for my brother who used to own a Porsche dealership in Illinois.


Old Bug-Eye, watercolor on Indian Village handmade rag paper


Hot Wheels!, watercolor on Indian Village handmade rag paper


Sundown Over Provincetown, watercolor

And this was a fun master-study of Sargent's Madame-X and the parody was for comedienne Suzanne Westenhoefor, which I gave to her at a gala in Provincetown last September.

Studies in watercolor

Great work lefthanded! Beautiful

Beautiful...

Obviously you have training and are professional.

I love seeing what others are doing.

I've been moving away from two dimensional work lately...

But here is a sample of an intaglio color viscosity print I did many years ago,
when I was training in art after my other professional training was over.
(I did mostly printmaking and life drawing then). At one point I considered becoming a medical illustrator. But 4 more years of college and an interview
who suggested I would be wasted there (I am too creative for them) squashed that.

I do watercolor and pastel now, mostly highly realistic, and tending to nature.
But I have become restless and 3 -D work (sculpture) seems more appealing these days. The detail work becomes more difficult with trifocals, I've discovered.

MRSD said:
Well . . . not really, but thank you. I am mostly self-taught, although there have been a few workshops and a couple of classes at Gage Academy here in Seattle. . . but my degree is in History/Pre-Law with an English minor. I try to get in a class or workshop every year, but several times have missed more classes than I was able to attend because of my health. I also used to attend life drawing sessions regularly, but they are so far away now that I have let that little luxury go.

Right now I am working up a series of smaller works. And I have signed up for one workshop locally and am considering another one on the Outer Banks later this year.

are LOVELY... (but many mosquitos in some spots).
Take repellent!

You are lucky your parents were positive. Mine hated my abilities as a child and made me buy my own supplies. I never took art in school, as a result, but I
drew alot on my own (I had an abusive childhood, so was alone alot).

I didn't get training until I was in my late 20's. I went to University as a post degree student and took many courses. Being self taught I skipped some basic ones, but did like the design ones very much. I took both of those with relish.
I fell into printmaking when I found it was sort of chemical and I had lots of
experience with chemistry. The color intaglio was the first one in many years done there, since most people won't attempt a one pass print with multi-layered inks of difference viscosities. (it is also called a viscosity print).
I also studied on my own, on the side--- I found the psychology of visual perception, and the creativity books out then very helpful for strengthening composition for me. I also learned self hypnosis which has come in handy now for my pain issues! (I think the weakest thing about being self taught is that you don't get critiques from teachers or mentors...and these critiques are really valuable!) So going to workshops will give you that input.. YOu don't really need a "degree" -- I have more than enough for a BFA, but I refused to take the freshman lit courses AGAIN, since I had them already...so I just amassed credits! (220- on the quarter's system).

I didn't return for my degree until I was 31. Right out of HS I was a science/biology major, but met my ex and gave up my education to get married and do the family thing. But in the early 80's when the midwest economy was tanking I returned to get a degree and go on to law school. I graduated Cum Laude and got accepted at 6 out of the 7 law schools I applied to. . . went to U of Iowa Law, but hated it, didn't get it, and didn't get the promised support form my ex at home. (I commuted 110 miles round trip daily and still came home to dishes, dinner to fix, laundry to do, etc. ) I tried to quit mid-third quarter but Dean Hines worked with me to stay until the end of the year. He said he didn't want me to carry around the "quitter" stigma on my shoulders. He was wise, and sat there and listened, and handed me the box of kleenex when I broke down in tears in his office that day.

So, with a liberal arts degree, having dropped the only art class I ever took way back at ISU my freshman year (it was a 7am class across the big Iowa State campus in the winter. . . enough incentive to drop!) because I didn't want to repeat everything I had already learned (stubborn and egotistical, eh?) . . . if I had any regrets in this life it would be that I did not pursue the art degree at Minneapolis Institute of Art like I had always dreamed. I visited MIA for the first time when my daughter was in junior high, and when I walked in the doors it was as if my "alternative" life flashed before my eyes. I could see me sketching in the great rooms of that institution, and the classes, the studios, the art I might have produced and the great stuff I would have learned! Taking a couple of classes at Gage have helped fill that void. Gage is one of the few art schools that concentrate almost exclusively on the classical approach.

Right now I just need to get back to being productive every day. I am so off track. . . .

LH ... please don't stop .. and paint something everyday!! even if it's organizing your studio ... you DO have talent!!

if you are looking to do a gallery showing .. check with the local American Legion or VFW halls ... their rates are great .. and they can run an ad about your dates for minimal charge (if any!)