Coco Pazzo

Oil on canvas, 24" x 24"
Summertime dining on the sidewalk. Fun to paint, but really made me want to paint it was the red awning.
This will be in my show at the F.A.N. Gallery in Philadelphia, opening June 7, 2013.

Waiters waiting

Oil on canvas, 8" x 10"
Waiting for the crowds to arrive, at a restaurant in Philadelphia. This will be in my show there in June at  the F.A.N. Gallery.

Portrait class

Oil on board, 9" x 12"
I'll be teaching "Painting portraits with four colors", based on the palette of renowned painter Anders Zorn, at the South County Art Assoc. in Rhode Island this July. Four weeks, Tuesday mornings. I really enjoy teaching this class. If you'd like to try an approach to painting portraits that simplifies color, sign up! The first class explores the color palette, the next three weeks we'll paint from a live model. I do a short demo every class.

Cafe in the quarter

Oil on canvas, 16" x 20"
People watching in the French Quarter of New Orleans. This will be in my upcoming show at the F.A.N. Gallery in Philadelphia.

Ladies Painting

Oil on canvas, 16" x 20"
I've been wanting to paint this for a while. These are some students of mine at a plein air class a few years ago. No shabby painting duds for them!
This will be in my show next month in Philadelphia.

Heading West, oil painting

Oil on canvas, 18" x 24"
The larger version of the sketch I posted a little while back.
This will be in my Philadelphia show.

New Orleans Trolley

Oil on canvas, 18" x 18"
We were in New Orleans the week before last, just for fun. The arc of the trip covered the Boston Marathon bombing, from seeing the bombing on a TV in a bar in the French Quarter on Monday afternoon to seeing the suspect apprehended on a TV in the airport on the way home on Friday.

Anyhow, I loved the red trolleys and the palm trees and couldn't wait to do a painting of them. This will be in my show in Philly, just a month away.

The tavern at Olneyville

Oil on canvas, 24" x 30"
Almost done with this- I think the beer signs need a little more work.

Heading west- sold

Oil on panel, approx. 7" x 7"
This is a quick sketch I did for a larger painting that's just about finished.

The Anders Zorn exhibit

I visited the Zorn exhibit at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum recently, it was great to finally see a number of his paintings (24) in the flesh. They were all masterful, but I was really amazed by this one of the skater. What an idea for a painting! It's quite large, mostly black, gray and white. The one really warm spot is her face.

You can't take photos in the museum, otherwise I would have a better detail here. Her eye socket is just a smear of dark paint, no detail at all. I stood there staring at it for a while. So simple but so perfect! And I love the skate marks on the ice.

Here's one of my latest efforts at portrait painting. 12" x 9", oil on canvas board. Not bad, but you won't be confusing me with Zorn, at least not in the near future.

In the studio

Oil on canvas, 8" x 10"
At the club where I teach painting, there's a lovely corner room with a lot of windows and a skylight. It makes it difficult to set up a still life because the light changes all day long, but if you're feeling light deprived it's a good place to be.
Not for sale at this time.

Sushi chefs

Oil on canvas, 8" x 10"
Say "Sushi chefs" 10 times fast, if you can. I can't even say it once.
I love painting bright lights against a dark background. The secret is to paint it wet into wet, so you can get the degree of softness that you want. Keep the dark paint thin, then pile on the light. Use a warm transition color, like a reddish-orange, to keep the feeling of warmth.
I'm saving this one for my show in June.