Are you noticing it? The longer days, even just a bit longer makes such a difference. Here in the Northwest, the cherry trees and daffodils are blooming. You might see bright yellow blooms on the Forsythia branches. Many of us are planting seeds, anticipating the flowers we'll see from them in a few months. I have added some new varieties for bouquets which will make it to the homes of friends and neighbors, as well as into my new paintings. 

Along with growth in the greenhouse this year, comes growth for MJFA. This will be the first year we join the Camano Island Studio Tour and the first time we open the studio to visitors for direct art sales on site! I hope you can join us and also check out many other artists on the tour. We have about 20 studios, including a couple of galleries in the Stanwood-Camano area. For more info, click the link above, just keep in mind it's Mother's Day weekend Friday, Saturday and Sunday, plus an "Encore weekend the following Saturday-Sunday only.

The studio will be filled with paintings available to purchase on site, in a range of sizes, and we will also have a new item at the request of our friends and patrons: FINE ART GICLEE PRINTS! I have chosen a few favorite paintings to reproduce in 8x10 and 11x14 inches. When you visit, you'll notice that I've been really busy making lots of new work. I'm so excited to share it with you. Thank you so much for all of your support throughout the years. We hope to see you soon!

I'd like to try updating this space with news more frequently. Please feel free to comment below and let me know what you'd like to see here, if you have questions about the studio, the art, etc. Happy Spring, art friends!

In getting ready to begin a new series of work for next year, I've been trying to pay attention to what I can do that helps me keep doing the next thing. Starting a new series is exciting, but can also be intimidating. So I've found that starting with a drawing really helps. We've all heard that working out the composition using just line and areas of tone is important, but sometimes it takes a long time of practice before really understanding that idea. And maybe for you too, but for me, I had a lot of frustration with drawing for a very long time. I'd encourage you to study the sketchbooks and drawings of artists that you love.

We don't have to be excellent at something in order to benefit from the practice. After looking at the drawings of Pierre Bonnard and other post-impressionist painters, I notice the different styles of drawing and the evidence that they really are using their drawing as a part of the process of working out the many puzzles involved in painting. So it really is ok if my drawing doesn't look anything like DaVinci. I've embraced my own scribbly style of drawing and am enjoying the process so much more now; not to mention getting a lot more paintings completed satisfactorily. 

I'll be sharing the new work with you as it gets completed, and come back to visit for more information on spring shows. The first will be during the Tulip Festival the first Friday of April 2018. Scott Milo gallery will be featuring my work as well as Tulip Festival merchandise. Thanks for visiting and have a delightful Holiday Season!

I've been busy working on this series for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. After having spent so many hours over many years in the tulips, I can combine my drawings from life with photos and come up with some unique compositions and color moods. I am thinking that it would be fun to do a tulip series each year, in honor of the Festival. But that's part of my challenge...I love to have big ideas, and dreaming is great for that. The brainstorming phase of, "How far could I take this idea?" is a fun exercise. But I have to be careful. The next thing I know, there are all of these expectations and lots of pressure. I think a good thing is to go ahead and dream, but let it be for gathering possibilities. Wait for the ideas to simmer and see which ones are worth doing, and fit with my long term goals. So there we go. For now this is a series of tulip paintings for 2018, with the option to do another next year. 

By the way, if you haven't been up to the Tulip Festival in awhile, pack a lunch or snacks and spend a few hours next April in the glorious fields. It changes your whole outlook. And you will get some amazing photos. Or paintings, if you're a painter.