vacationing at Fenwick Island,MD,  2006,  I work on the view from our back deck ...

Where to begin?

Looking for a teacher is like going to a wine tasting....I ask around, then look at the artists' work and then choose something that fits. I decided to try out a pleine aire week-long class at Sanctuary Arts in Elliott, Maine. My passion for the ocean and being outdoors figured into the decision. It was a great week and I recommend Sancuary Arts if  you want a worthy experience. This painting I finished just as the sky opened up and we all broke down our easels and ran to the cars. The majority of the week we spent inside painting due to the deluge outside. Still it was OK-I was painting.

Time for something new!

After 36 years teaching art in the public schools, I finally get to retire.  My longtime desire to work in oils is promoted by my son Ben when he gives me a gift of paints, brushes, canvases and a first lesson with none other than Robert Douglas Hunter.   Bob told me to go out and paint a picture and then come over to his hoouse/studio and we'd talk. So that is what I did and this is what I painted. I'd worked with watercolors and pastel, but hadn't the slightest idea how to paint with oils...feeling a little foolish I trotted myself to the Hunter's and although I'd done almost nothing right, Bob critiques and encourages me my love affair with oils begins....