Blog

For some time now I have been wrestling with the idea of creating a full-fledged website instead of, or in addition to, my blog. Don't get me wrong, I loved my blog, but felt I needed a better way to showcase my work that looked polished and professional. I also wanted to still be able to write about my art and my artistic journey so I started looking for ways to do both. I researched many options, made a choice and got started. Though I'm no website expert I have had a little experience and, by looking at some tutorials, felt I was up to the challenge. Well, after one week and many hours I still couldn't get past the home page. I was frustrated, tired and very humbled, but I tried again. After the second week I still hadn't gotten any further despite putting in several hours. I threw up my hands in despair thinking I would never be able to do this and knowing I could not afford to pay someone to do it for me. That's when I found Fine Art Studio Online!

Welcome to the home of my new website and blog!

I am very happy to report that with minimal effort on my part I was able to put this website together and I couldn't be more pleased. Fine Art Studio Online (FASO) has made it very simple and affordable to put together the type of website I need by using templates designed with artists in mind that are still somewhat customizable. So look around and let me know what you think. It is pretty much where I want it to be, but I will be tweaking it here and there as I have time.

Now that the website is finished I can get back to more important things like painting! Currently on my easel is the start of a painting depicting a pair of tundra swans that I photographed last fall. I took over 100 photos of these two birds as they rested in some quiet backwater not far from my house. The light was soft and diffused and the fall colors were vibrant. The swans were incredibly co-operative, coming quite close while I stayed tucked behind some convenient blackberry bushes.

Eventually, they made their way to the end of the little bay and like two jumbo airplanes taxing into position, they rose running and splashing along the length of their water runway until they rose into the air and disappeared. I got several excellent photos of this and that's the basis for this next painting. Even though I have good reference it's going to be a challenge to get the fall colors reflected in the water as well as the splashes as they take off. Hopefully, I will be up to the challenge as landscapes are not really my area of expertise. We shall see. I have a pretty good start so far, but it's taken a few tries to get it there. I will try to post some of the progress as I go. In the meantime, enjoy looking around!

Blessings!