I finished this painting, Pinehurst No. 4 - Hole 10 recently and thought viewers might like to see it after Day 1 and the finished piece. I often take daily photos of paintings as the digital image helps me to see how the piece is progressing day-to-day. It's a way of documentation too. Looking at the image digitally shows me if I'm on track with color, focal point, and composition. For a golf painting the tree line is important. I don't always finish it to this point initially. Here I decided to do that. Note, too, that I've taped the paper to my drawing table using plain painter's masking tape. I didn't used to do this, but found it more helpful to the framer to have a very defined edge.

After painting every day for two weeks, I finished it! Carefully removing the tape and signing my name is always a defining moment. You can see that I used a dark brown sub-straight called Tobacco (Canson Mi-Tientes brand). I use earth toned colors a lot and never use white. I've found that this particular tone consistently gives me a look and feel for a particular time of day. In this case it was late afternoon,

early evening.

     Several visitors to this blog suggested this topic. Since I just finished a painting a few minutes ago (Pinehurst Resort Course No. 4, Hole 10) I'm already thinking about what I'll paint next. Perhaps I can articulate my thoughts as I'm at that point. What to paint? The easy answer is, it depends.

     When I was painting a series, like Pinehurst No. 2, I had set an ambitious goal for myself, and I painted all 18 holes with only one interruption to paint something else. So, the decision was easy. It's also easy when I have a commission, even if the client says, "No hurry." Still, while the subject and client discussion are still fresh in my mind, I like to get started as soon as I can after things begin to jell in my mind. I think of a commission as a new challenge, but I'll save that for another topic.

     So, with a clean slate, I'm free to paint what resonates with me. I have thousands of reference photos as I am a studio artist. I have source material from as long ago as 30 years, pre-digital. Photos are catalogued and stored in albums and shoe boxes. My subjects are landscape, seascape, golf art, and more recently some of the historic homes and cottages of the Village of Pinehurst.

     Paintings I've done more recently tend to guide my instinct towards what I want to paint next. I may have explored a different palette and want to continue doing that. Or, I want to explore a totally different palette. If I've been painting mostly landscapes, I usually want a change of pace. I'll look through my seascape resources. Perhaps I've discovered something in my recent piece and want to try to adapt that technique to another.

     After finishing all 18 holes of Pinehurst No. 2, someone asked me what I was going to paint next. I think my answer was, "Something with very few trees!" I wanted those paintings to be absolutely faithful to the architect's design, so they were all done to scale to within 1/16th of an inch. I wanted the next few paintings to allow me more freedom and the flexibility to take some artistic license.

     Right now, it's time to clean up, put the pastels away where they belong, clean the drafting table so that I'll be ready to begin to paint again tomorrow. I don't know what that will be. Sometimes I just have to go through my digital images and something will speak to me. I'll know then, that's the one! Check back. I'll let you know what I decided.

And, welcome to my new web site. I paint every day, but will try to also keep you current on new paintings, events and things relevant to the day-to-day activities of an artist. I hope they will be of interest to you. So, please check back from time to time. If you have specific questions or topics you'd like to read about here, let me know. I'd like my blog to be meaningful and interactive.

Since moving to Pinehurst, NC in August 2017 I've re-established my studio here after 23 years in Virginia. Visitors are welcome, but since I paint every day, an appointment is requested. I live and work in The Village of Pinehurst, carved from the Sandhills, cradled in golf and steeped in history. You might say I paint history!

I paint representational landscapes and seascapes and more recently, golf. I do play golf, so adding golf holes and other iconic images reflective of Pinehurst's storied history was a natural thing for me to do. Painting Donald Ross's home, Dornoch Cottage, has inspired me to paint some of the other New England-style cottages of this quaint village. Pinehurst No. 2, of course, is well-known worldwide and for me to be able to capture its beauty hole-by-hole was professionally very rewarding. Although the original images are now in private collection, I've made available signed and numbered limited edition prints of each hole. My 8 1/2 month painting journey will also be available in book form. That too is new to me and pretty exciting, really.

Thanks for visiting. Talk to you again soon. Enjoy my portfolio!

Jane