One of the things I love about painting in the studio is that it’s never work. Whether I am painting something on commission, or something of my own, or just experimenting, it’s fun, not work.

Today I was painting with some new materials, experimenting with light, and painting on a largish painting that is nearly ready.

This little painting, “eye level” is a watercolor, painted on a new (to me) material called “Aquabord”. My daughter gave me some of it to play with as part of a larger gift of art supplies. It takes the paint wonderfully, without much seepage, and the paint drys faster than on normal paper. That’s important to me because I use a lot of layers. I was able to do this on one morning, and on paper, it would have taken me a few afternoons, not because of the painting itself, but because of the need to dry between layers. That fast drying makes the actual act of painting way more freeform and relaxed.

These three little paintings are collectively called “veins of gold.” The tiny little canvases are just an inch square, and were a gift from my wife at Christmas (It was an art supply holiday around our house.). I have never painted anything that small before and it took me a while to figure out what to do. I finally decided that painting them in threes made sense. Who wants a single 1″ x 1″ painting? But a trio is large enough to make a statement.

The metallic paint is new to me too. Another gift, this one from my stepdaughter at Christmas. I am having fun experimenting with it. Not just here, but also on a larger (3′ x 10″) canvas. In these, obviously, the metallics dominate. In the larger painting, they are highlights.

Yes, these are for sale, should you want something small and bright. Just drop me an email if you are interested.

Tom