January 6 – March 29, 2024 Join us for a special pop-up show in our new Studio Spotlight space featuring the talented Frank Eber. The show will feature a variety of Frank’s work that explores nature’s transitions in painting. According to the dictionary, transitions are ‘the change from one form, state, style, or place to another’. In painting we call them edges. The human eye sees things separated and at first glance they sure seem to be. When we think of a tree in a field, the tree seems to be its own ‘being’ and it certainly has a real presence. But what seems like a separate tree is, upo ..read more

Rader Garage Rods I am happy to finally introduce the brush that I was able to develop with the DaVinci company in the last few months. It is a new watercolor brush. These are pictures of the prototype. Notice the amazing tip on this brush. It is a fully synthetic white bristle with a super elastic and stiff point. Perfect for details that require ‘drawing’ action with a brush. The tip is similar to a dart, hence the name ‘Dartana’. It is also capable to create very thin lines similar to a rigger brush, however, with much more control. I have been working with this brush for a month now an ..read more

I am very happy that my painting ‘Anytown USA’ won the ‘Award of Excellence for water media’ at this year’s National Juried Exhibition of the AIS. The Exhibit runs from September 27 to October 28, 2018 at the Guenzel Gallery, Peninsula School of Art, 3900 Co Rd F Fish Creek, WI 54212, USA. It is the same venue that hosts the famous Door county plein air Festival every year. This is the second time I have won this prestigious award (2016 was the first) Many thanks to juror Dawn Whitelaw, AIS master as well as Debra and Don Groesser for all the hard work. I am very honored ..read more

Once again I was hosted by Coastal Maine to teach a workshop in this beautiful state. In 2016 I was teaching in Belfast and this time it was held in Rockland. A beautiful seaside town, famous for its lobster industry, among other things. The best (and reasonably priced) lobster roll is available at “Claws” on Hwy1. I also went back to see Andrew Wyeth’s work at the Farnsworth museum in town. Always a treat to see his paintings. I had a full class with 16 students and the week was a blur of painting, sightseeing, eating and more painting! Thanks to everyone who who came out! I’ll be back in 202 ..read more

What to do if the temperatures reach 100F (38C) or more? Is it still possible to paint in watercolor? Well, as the old saying goes: ‘they paint watercolor in England and NOT in Egypt’, I’d say forget about it. It would be like trying to go for a run in a sauna. Something like that. I went to the coast instead and painted in oils. We had a perfect 65F or 15C as a high and I actually had to wear a jacket while painting. I loved it. The good news is, Highway 1 has re-opened last week, so it is possible to drive up to Big Sur again. It will be a relief for business owners in our area, from Cambr ..read more

  Not the content of today’s blog post, but it certainly gets more attention than talking about painting. Or maybe we should discuss politics in America instead! Wait: it *is* better to talk about painting! I find myself in a bit of a painting slump right now. Coming back from painting and teaching on Cape Ann MA I have a lot of new references to paint. I took lots of pictures in Gloucester and surrounding areas. It’s just that I don’t feel inspired to paint them. Quaint boats in harbors. What normally sounds great just makes me yawn. Maybe it’s the heat, I don’t know.. How do you find ..read more

  If you ever find yourself inside the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, check out the paintings by Swedish/ American painter Gunnar Widforss. They are all over the lobby and some of them are huge. All watercolor and painted about 100 years ago. Some are better than others (just like with any painter) but they are all worth looking at. From what I heard, he was strictly painting outside which is remarkable given the sizes of some of his works. A truly dedicated artist! Widforss painted the tunnel view (Yosemite) in his time. Nowadays you mostly see photographers there to capture the sunset ..read more

Visiting and painting a scene at different times of the day is a very good idea. I have my favorite scenes that I just keep painting over and over. This scene in Yosemite valley is definitely one of them. I keep learning about how light changes color appearance and value patterns. For instance, in a back lit scene like the horses in the morning there is less color range compared to the afternoon scene. Or is there? Yes, in the morning the colors are predominantly cooler in temperature, the warm colors are there too but they are less warm than later in the day. That is the major difference in ..read more

On the road to Baiwucun Village (2018) The Quotidian (2018) This blog post was originally published in my newsletter earlier in March. Edited for clarification. Being invited to the inaugural 2018 Huize Watercolor Exhibition in Qujing, China, was a big honor for me. I did not expect it. There are plentiful outstanding painters in the watercolor world, and I was surprised (and flattered) to have been invited. Our Western contingent hailed from Australia, Brazil, Italy, Ukraine, Russia, the US, and Germany. The Eastern contingent arrived from Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and over 50 Chi ..read more

I am happy to announce my participation at the International Watercolor Plein Air Week in China, from February 25 to March 3, 2018. The event takes place in Yunnan province, the tropical area in southwest China, and the itinerary will include an exhibition, demos, seminars, plein air painting and sightseeing. I will post pictures after my trip. Here are two paintings that will be on exhibit there: Touching The Earth (2018) The Coulee Region, WI (2018 ..read more