Above photo credit: Jaylyn McFadden
My studio is the former taproom in an 1830s brick house in rural Vermont.
But my favorite studio is under the sky where I get started on most of my paintings. The French call this en plein air, meaning in the open air. My brother gave me an old easel and it accompanies me around the back roads and hillsides near my home. In 2022 I started painting from the bed of our old pickup truck (I saw the Irish artist Elizabeth Cope doing this on the pages of Faire magazine and had to try it). I spend the winter months finishing my summer paintings, and creating dreamscapes that are composites of the places I’ve been fortunate to go. I work in slow-dry acrylics by Golden Paints and use wide hardware store brushes and Rosemary artist brushes. Just love them!
From my journal
Ruffles, Stitched by Hand
I've been making acres of ruffles. I have the punctured fingertips to prove it. The ruffles are part of a wedding dress project I've been entrusted with. No, I didn't make the dress, but I'm using raw silk and vintage lace to embellish it. The silk is...
A Tale of Two Lampshades
Last fall I began making a fabric shade for a wire frame I came across (where? can't remember...). It wasn't easy. But I like this kind of challenge. As usual, I got the bulk of the work finished in a frenzy and then got hung up on the...
Blue and White, Anticipating Gateaux, and Simmering Onion Marmalade
Thanks to Britta at MyBlackBookParis for reminding me about Sweet Paul, the beautiful on-line magazine and brainchild of food stylist Paul Lowe. The combination of blue and white seems to be popping up in a lot of places this spring and I particularly liked...
Follow Along
Want a little blue sky in your inbox?
I send emails when the stars align (every so often).
See Original Art Here
- Flower Festival Exhibit, Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, Vermont, through August 17
- Royalton Memorial Library, South Royalton, Vermont through mid August
- Bank Street Gallery, AVA, Lebanon (New Hampshire) ongoing
- First Branch Coffee (Vermont) ongoing
- In my home studio by appointment
Where I'm Teaching...
- Fall Classes and Workshops open for registration. More details here.
