Cape Neddick - Nubble Lighthouse, Maine

After my one brother saw the lighthouse I did in water color class, he put in a special request for a painting done of the Nubble lighthouse that's located in Maine. He spent some time in the northeast area between collage and living in N.H. I hope he's going to like this painting.

Gdansk, Poland

Google maps can take you to very unusual places. I felt very lucky to find this spot that got hit with some interesting graffiti in Gdansk, Poland for April's Virtual Paintout.

St Petersburg, Russia

It's been awhile since I've added some water to my paints and it felt pretty good too. Here's March's Virtual Paintout. Somehow when I was taking the google map trip through St Pete I was able to find a small amusement park.

Virtual Elba

I'm still having problems with the link on google maps for the Virtual Paintout so this one might not show up on that blog. Once of these days I'll get it right again. It would be so fun to actually go to these places each month. Maybe San Diego will get picked one day then I'll be able to paint on location.

Close Up Challenge

This months Sketchbook Challenge was zooming in for a Close Up. I sat very close to my five foot high cactus that I planted in the back yard six years ago. It didn't take me long to actually see the symmetry in nature.  This was one of my favorite challenges.

Rookiepainter Challenge 33

I love finding blogs that provide you a monthly challenge. Here's one and my attempt at the still life that was given.

Sketch Crawl #1 - Elfin Forest

I went to my first sketch crawl! Even though the weather, cold and with a chance of rain, kept a lot of the regulars away, I did meet up with one fabulous San Diego member. This was my first time out in the open sketching and painting with people walking around. Two hours into it and I had to say goodbye to the peaceful surroundings since the chill was starting to go into my bones. It was a great day sketching plus finding out that a beautiful reserve is right in my home town....priceless.

 It's not my best work....but it was fun and relaxing to sit out near the running stream.