Peaks Wave's Curl

Peaks Wave's Curl

on a balmy windy winter day of surf on the
east ocean-facing shore at Peaks Island, Portland,
Maine on February 23, 2020, painted January 1, 2022,
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed
$300

Apple of Solidarity

Apple of Solidarity

an Opal apple on the snow
in my yard at Shapleigh, Maine
on February 27, 2022, painted February 27, 2022,
5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$150

Uplifted Seaweed in a Curl of Surf

Uplifted Seaweed in
a Curl of Surf

on a balmy windy winter day on the east, ocean-facing
shore at Peaks Island, Portland, Maine on
February 23, 2020, painted February 25, 2022,
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$300

Getting Off the Ferry Together

Getting Off the Ferry Together

The Machigonne II Casco Bay Ferry at Peaks
Island, Portland, Maine on February 23, 2020
on a balmy winter day, painted February 24, 2022,
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$150

Dinghies Try Angle

Dinghies Try Angle

at the public pier on Bickford Island,
Cape Porpoise, Kennebunkport, Maine, on
May 16, 2020, painted February 21/22, 2022,
17.5" x 13.5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, for sale online at my art blog theartofbruce.blogspot.com

Orange Half Full

Orange Half Full

an Orange in the snow behind my home
in Shapleigh, Maine, February 5, 2022,
painted February 5, 2022,
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $150, for sale online at my art blog

Stone on the Way

Stone on the Way

to the next Olympics, 2026
in Italy, from John Shuster (Skip)
and Matt Hamilton (Second) sweeping
of the 2022 US Men's Olympic Curling
Team in Beijing, painted February 19, 2022,
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $300, for sale online at my art blog

Hard! Hard! Hard! to Bronze

Hard! Hard! Hard!
to Bronze

The Swedish Olympic Curling Team sweeps
their last stone to a dramatic winning finish to
the 2022 Olympic Bronze Medal, and being part
of Olympic Curling history as the first country to
bring home three Olympic Curling Medals,  
painted February 19-20, 2022,
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $300, for sale online at my art blog

The Bronze Concession

The Bronze Concession
by USA John Shuster

to Canada's Brad Gushue (left) in the Bronze Medal game
at the 2022 Olympics on February 18, 2022, both
Skips each now having a Gold and Bronze Medal,
painted February 18, 2022,
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$300

Sweeping to the Medal Round

Sweeping
to the Medal Round

10th end last stone from John Shuster (Skip)
of the US Men's from Olympic Curling Team
swept by John Landsteiner, left, and Matt
Hamilton, right,  on February 16, 2022,
painted February 16/17, 2022,
8" x 10" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $300

Winning Release

Winning Release

from John Shuster (Skip) of the US Men's
Olympic Curling Team painted February 12, 2022
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$300

Skips Winning Fist Bump - Essay

Skips Winning Fist Bump

with John Schuster and the Chinese Skip
at the concession during the USA vs China
Olympic curling match (USA 8 - CHN 6) on
February 13, 2022, painted February 13, 2022,
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $150

Watercolor Painting and the Sketch

This, below, is what I painted first, a study...

Skips Winning Fist Bump Sketch Study
with John Schuster and the Chinese Skip
painted February 13, 2022

This was my first study, a sketch. In it I figured out what worked; hence it's overworked. But I was painting it truer to the scene rather than fully interpreting it. By doing this I figure out what works, and what I'm doing. This took three times as long as the finished painting, since I was figuring things out. Once I knew where I wanted to go, the final painting flowed.

So, after spending a lot of time on the sketch, I dashed off the final watercolor. It takes a study and practice to get to the simplicity of looseness, and the art of leaving out. Perhaps many people would see the study as the finished art because it's more realistic, like a photo. But I'm painting a painting, not reproducing a photograph. I had my career taking photographs for my many children's books, satisfying in its own way. Watercolor painting is a whole new way of interpreting what I see, so involving and satisfying in its own way. And as my Grandson Teague said years ago, "It's a painting. You can do anything."

When someone asks how long did it take to paint that watercolor, as you can see, there's no simple answer, is there?

Winning Throw 10th End

Winning Throw 10th End

by Tabitha Peterson during the USA vs KOR Olympic
curling match (USA 8 - KOR 6) on February 13, 2022,
Becca Hamilton (left) and sister Tara Peterson (right),
painted February 15, 2022,
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $300, for sale online at my art blog

Winning Shuster Stone 10th End

Winning Shuster Stone 10th End

with John Landsteiner, (Lead) left, and Matt Hamilton,
(Third) right, during the USA vs China Olympic curling
match (USA 8 - CHN 6) on February 13, 2022,
painted February 13, 2022
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,  framed,
$300

The Throw's Away

The Throw's Away

from John Shuster (Skip) of the US Men's
Olympic Curling Team, with John Landsteiner,
(Lead) left, and Matt Hamilton, (Third) right,
during the USA vs Great Britain Olympic curling
match (USA 9 - GBR 7) on February 10, 2022,
painted February 12, 2022,
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed,
$300

Matt Sneaks into the Curling House

Matt Sneaks into the House

Matt Hamilton, second on the US Curling Team,
sweeping a stone, while wearing his statement socks
and sneakers, during the USA vs Great Britain Olympic
curling match (USA 9 - GBR 7) on February 10, 2022,
painted February 12, 2022
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$300

USA Women Curling Sweep - Win

USA Women Sweep
to Another Beijing Win

Becca Hamilton, left and Tara Peterson, right, sweeping
in the 8th end to their 8-4 win versus China on
February 11, 2022, painted February 11, 2022
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $300

FYI: The 2022 Olympic Emblem, which appears here embedded in the ice,  was designed by artist Lin Cunzhen, inspired by the Chinese character for winter. It resembles a skater at the top and a skier at the bottom. The flowing ribbon-like motif between them symbolizes the China's rolling mountains, Olympic venues, ski trails and skating rinks.

USA Curling Game 1, 8th End

USA Curling Game 1, 8th End,
Last Rock

Skip John Schuster curling a very difficult shot with
skill and success, to steal three points, on February 9th
at the Beijing Olympics, painted February 9th, 2022
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $300 for sale online at my art blog

Italy's Unbelievable Curling Gold

Italy's Unbelievable
Curling Gold

Italy's Stefania, 8th End, Last Rock
with teammate Amos Mosaner throwing her last
rock to with the 2022 Mixed Doubles Gold Medal
at the Beijing Olympics on February 8th, with an
11-0 record, from a country that has only 3
curling clubs and 400 participants,
painted February 9th, 2022
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $300

And So It Begins

And So It Begins

2022 Olympic Curling
USA mixed doubles, Vicky Persinger,
vs Sweden extra end
overtime win 8-7, February 4, 2022
painted February 4, 2022
5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $150

Seven Minneolas on Sunny Snow Study 2

Seven Minneolas
on Sunny Snow Study 2

behind my home in Shapleigh, Maine on
January 31, 2022, painted February 1, 2022
17.5" x 13.5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$600

Orange and Blue in Art - 2022 edition

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Orange and Blue in Art
2022 edition

with these artists:
Christina Bingle (1959- ), British
Herbert Davis Richter (1874-1955), British
Michel Droge, Portland, Maine, American
Per Anders, Danish
Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004), American
Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Norwegian
Piet Mondriaan (1872-1944), Dutch
Tom Thomson (1877-1917), Canadian

1
Oranges on a Blue and White Cloth
Christina Bingle (1959- ), British
Oil on canvas, 25" x 21" (w x h), 1998
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
Piet Mondriaan (1872-1944), Dutch

Source Cheltenham Group of Artists edited:
Christina Bingle attained her degree in Fine Art in 1982. She paints still lifes in her studio, landscapes in the field, and occasionally portraits. I am intrigued by light and color, and the beautiful complexities of oil paint. She's a member of the Cheltenham Group of Artists, exhibiting in group and solo shows locally and around Britain. She has paintings in private and public collections across the UK.

2
Eschscholtzia, Flower Study
Herbert Davis Richter (1874-1955), British
Oil on canvas, 24" x 20" (w x h)
Gift from Sir Ernest and Lady Swain, 1928
The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate
Swan Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England

Source Artists in Britain Since 1945:
Herbert Davis Richter was a painter, mainly in oil, if interiors and flowers. Born in Brighton, Sussex, he initially studied furniture design at Bath School of Art, and he continued to practice as a designer and architect there for about 10 years from the mid-1890s. Then, in London he studied painting. He exhibited prolifically, including RA, RBA, ROI, RSW, Goupil Gallery and Leicester Galleries. At the Paris Salon he won a silver medal, having won both gold and silver medals for furniture design at the Paris International Exhibition, 1900. His paintings are in the Victoria & Albert Museum and many British provincial and overseas galleries. His work is well shown in Paintings and Poems, which he published, with poems by Lady Margaret Sackville, in 1944.

3
Heart of Dynamene
Michel Droge, American
Oil on canvas
Exhibited: Maine Jewish Museum,
Portland, Maine

Source Artist's website, Portland (Maine) Press Herald and Maine College of Art and Design:
Michel Droge is an abstract painter and printmaker living and working in Portland, Maine. Her work and research implicate the relationship between the environment and its living creatures.

Since May of 2021, Michel Droge has been a Visiting Artist in Residence at Bigelow Laboratories for Ocean Studies in East Boothbay, Maine, meeting regularly with Dr. Beth Orcutt who studies microbial life in deep-sea environments and the effects of deep-sea mining on the ocean's ecosystems. In his Deep Sea series, Heart of Dynamene seems to depict deep sea hydrothermal vents with their orangey red eruptions amid cerulean blue grounds. The name comes from Greek mythology, Dynamene one of the 50 Nereids, sea nymphs that were daughters of Nereus and Doris.

Michel received her BA from Oberlin College and her MFA from Maine College of Art. After graduating from Oberlin, she worked as a printmaker for Styria Studios in New York City. She is the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant and two Maine Arts Commission Grants. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies at the Tides Institute, The Joseph Fiore Foundation, The Stephen Pace House, and The Saltonstall Foundation.

Michel's solo exhibitions have been at the University of Maine Farmington, June Fitzpatrick Gallery, and the Frank Brockman Gallery. Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at Bates College Art Museum, The ICA at MECA, Gould Academy, The Cue Art Foundation in New York City, and Boston University's Young Contemporaries.

4
December is Close
Per Anders, Danish
Acrylic, oil on paper, 23" x 31" (w x h), 2021
$1,530 USD

Preparations for December's homemade marmalade. "My love cooks the best marmalade of all times. And for more days the whole house is flavored in lemons and oranges. Organic fruit and much care and attention.

Per Anders is a painter and printmaker based in Denmark and France, exhibiting in both nations as well as Russia and Germany. "I have a degree in dental surgery (DDS), studying dentistry at the University of Aarhus, Denmark and the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. I've worked as both a dentist and an artist for a long time but about 10 years ago I skipped working as a dentist to concentrate on art as a professional artist.

5
Still Life #51
Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004), American
Formica, printed paper,
plastic and acrylic on canvas, 8' height, 1964
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Wesselmann made a series of nudes and still lifes through his life, gaining fame and success, both commercial and artistic.

6
The Girls on the Bridge
Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Norwegian
Woodcut printed in colors on cream wove paper,
20" x 25" (w x h), 1901
Sotheby's Auction Sold 221,000 GBP, $300,000 USD

The motif of Edvard Munch's The Girls on the Bridge has been widely recognized as one of his most celebrated, even from its first unveiling in 1901. As was often the case with the artist's successful works, Munch continued to revisit the composition throughout his career, producing a total of twelve known oil paintings between 1901 and 1935, as well as the woodcut offered here and a number of variations in lithograph, etching and another woodcut. Girl's on a bridge are in the background of his famous The Scream.

7
Two Trees with Orange
Foliage Against Blue Sky
Piet Mondriaan (1872-1944), Dutch
Christie's 1998 Auction
Sold 357,492 EUR (403,800 USD)

Source Wiki, Christie's and Robert P. Welsh (1998) edited:
In this painting the striking orange versus blue complementary color contrast is quite dramatic, and improvised brushwork equally so. All in all, this oil sketch represents one of the artist's most experimental paintings as he began to employ the rainbow palette of the French modernist tradition" - Robert P. Welsh, 1998
Piet was born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, in 1872 in Amersfoort, Netherlands. He has been described as "the world's greatest abstract geometrist". In 2014, the Tate Liverpool displayed the largest UK collection of Mondrian's works, in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of his death. Mondrian and his Studios included a life-size reconstruction of his Paris studio. Charles Darwent, in The Guardian, wrote: "With its black floor and white walls hung with moveable panels of red, yellow and blue, the studio at Rue du Départ was not just a place for making Mondrians. It was a Mondrian - and a generator of Mondrians."

8
In the Northland
Tom Thomson (1877-1917), Canadian
Oil on canvas, 45" x 40" (w x h), winter 1915-16
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada

A member of Canada's noted Group of Seven, Tom Thomson, first made small oil sketches on wood panels, of which there are around 400, and then he painted around fifty larger works on canvas. He considered most of his sketches to be complete works in themselves, not necessarily studies for larger works. He sketched this painting in detail in the fall of 1915, which is now in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and I was lucky enough to see it there. He painted the final painting (above) in the winter of 195-1916, which is now in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and I was lucky enough to see it there. The paintings stand as a fine example of sketch to final art transition. See the sketch HERE.

Satsuma Mandarin on a Snow Drift

Satsuma Mandarin
(Citrus unshiu)
on a Snow Drift

behind my home in Shapleigh, Maine on
January 31, 2022, painted February 1, 2022
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$300