My Final Post and the last two paintings of 2011!

New Year's Eve Morning, 8x10 oil on linen panel

     What a beautiful day to wake up to!  Considering what a difficult year this has been for so many and all the extraordinary natural disasters, it was encouraging to end the year celebrating such peaceful beauty as I experienced today.
      This was the first painting of the day which was to be filled with fast moving, wonderful cloud formations.  Oddly enough there was hardly a breeze which made painting very easy.  I guess the air was moving faster above.  I loved the silvery effect of this morning light.


     This was my second and final painting of the day.  All I did was turn my easel around and face north.  The cloud show was magnificent!  Just when I thought I had the best formation another wonderful one would float by.  It was frustrating.  I also found it difficult to get as much luminosity into the clouds as I wished.  Adding a little cadmium lemon yellow to titanium white helped for the brightest spots. 

New Year's Eve Afternoon, 8x10 oil on panel

    I want to thank all of you who have spent a few minutes visiting me and my work this year.  I have only been blogging since July and I wasn't sure I would like it but I must say I do.  It helps to put down my thoughts and I love the opportunity of reaching a much wider audience than I ordinarily would.  I do hope some of you feel moved to leave comments from time to time.  Feedback is always good to have. 
      This has been a trying year for the world.  My wish for all of us is for more peace, happiness and success and much less hatred, war and destruction.  That may sound cliche but I can't think of a better way to state it.  I hope the beauty I find in nature and that I try to express in my paintings says it best of all.  So world, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Let's do it better in 2012!
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