Cough, cough, cough…

 A day at the Art institute gave me a week’s worth of coughing on the couch! I had to send my girls home early, cancel brunch plans, and just lie around and cough…the place was packed and I’m sure I caught it in the Thorne Rooms which has terrible ventilation…

So these two little sketches are all I’ve done all week. I have a beautiful amaryllis in bloom and I couldn’t let it go unrecorded….

Alan Winter 11

 Had a strange little week painting. It started out with a couple of sketches of things around Truman. Even though they were sketches, I put more effort into them than I usually do and was reminded by Elaine’s rough orange and blue paintings that the energy is important as opposed to painting inside the lines. Anyway……here’s a couple that I saw walking around the campus. 

This is 5 X 10 on a hot press sketchbook of the Wilson el stop taken from the parking lot.

Here’s another looking out from the parking lot that is 5 X 5 on the same sketchbook. 

This piece is on a canvas board primed with gesso. It’s 8 X 10. Looking east from my house. There’s a lot of work to do but I got the initial washes in and the general shapes together. Darker values with shading and foliage to be added. Now I just need to have fun. Also I love the texture of this surface. 

Goofy stuff.

 Added a bit of olive green to this since class.  Just think of it as a Cornell Box of various brushstrokes.

And these are the steps I took to get there.

And this is the tree you saw in class

And this is the tree now.

Not that crazy about these two masterpieces, but I learned a lot and I had a lot of fun.  Both are 3x5 yupos.

The. Noble Robin

 Finally painted a bird I know about. This is an adult male. The female builds the nest and he helps her search for supplies. Then he brings her food while she sits on the eggs. He also protects the nest….humans who come too close get dive bombed.  Both male and female must find food for the babies. Babies are in nest for 14 days. On the last day in the nest each baby eats 14 feet of worms…that’s per baby,,, It is he who guides the fledglings when they leave the nest. Hoping robins build their nest in my garden this year as they sometimes do. 

This is 6x6. 

March 1, 2025 — Elaine O.

Just when I thought I finished this painting, I had the feeling that something was missing in the background. Not much—maybe just a shadow or something. So, I added the outlet and despite the logic of a cord that seems to end under the still life (what? electric lemons?), I stand by my choice. 

11" x 14"

I found a Paris sketch that I started and abandoned when I lost interest. I was still feeling so-so about it, but decided to finish it and not waste the paper. Once I started painting, it started to feel a lot more interesting.

12" x 9"

Class Photo — Spring 2025

Here we are—looking and painting fine! Notice our graduating "beginners" in the front row with the still life set-up they all painted. Love the different perspectives and styles.

(And yes, despite the cold weather, this is considered Spring 2025. I checked!)