Exploring Toulouse France

The Sainte Valière sky tonight is marvelous

Late afternoon walk in Sainte Valière

OMG, the skies! #artistresidency #sainteValière

Took a short bike ride to a neighboring village for lunch.

My life is all about food and art right now. It's a lovely combination. Pic 1 is the amazing tart we had for dessert. Pic 2 is the charming young man who comes around on Wednesdays with fresh fruit and veggies from his garden. @hotelsaintevaliere #artistresidency

For those of you who were curious, this is the contents of my studio backpack- watercolors, acrylic paint, palette knives, palettes, paint containers, sketching kit, paper, brushes, and some misc stuff. #artistresidency

Getting settled in at Hôtel Sainte Valière. This is a corner of the studio, and the view out the windows. ##artistresidency

Our last afternoon in Montpellier, after several gorgeous days...

The studio is packed and ready to head out for the residency. 13.5 lbs! We leave tomorrow. #artistresidence #hotelsaintevalerie

The intense pink of the sky is made hotter by the orange that seems to burn through. Is this a sunset enhanced by some unfortunate man-made event? We are standing on solid ground, in an ordinary scene. But the further we look, the more the world turns into a dream. #contemporarylandscapepainting

Still loosening up those sketch muscles. Trying to approach a sketch the way I might jazz improvisation. Creating studies drawing from some watercolor artists whose abstract approach I find interesting to see if I want to incorporate these kinds of marks into my process. #watercolorsketch

Another small work I'll be taking with me for a show during my artist residency. Title: "Dance with Me." The palm tree is vibrant, formed by abstract areas of pooling paint. It is equally a palm tree, an explosion and a flower. #goldenfluidacrylics #contemporarylandscapepainting

Another one of my small works painted in the last several months. "Parliament of Sparrows" The houses perch like sparrows on a wire and seem to lean on each other, conferring, or perhaps trying to keep their balance in an unfriendly environment. #contemporarylandscapepainting

I've been working on a series of small paintings. This one is titled - "American Dream (Pink)". The intense colors create a slightly hallucinogenic Alice-in-Wonderland feel. The American dream slowly melts into a pile of peppermint frosting. #goldenfluidacrylics #contemporarylandscapepainting

Just found out that my fellow residents for the artist residency are: a sculptor/painter, a chef, a writer working on a novel, a "community art maker", a photographer/painter, a lighting designer / sculptor, a musician, and a print maker. What a group!!

This is part of my prep for the French immersion side of my artist residency. I've been brushing up my French for at least five hours a week for the past several months. Vive la France! AI audio translation has been helpful, although it occasionally leads to histerically funny or obscene results. 😆

Had such a good time at the artists' reception for "Weight of Place" @anyatishgallery . Great to meet the other artists Megan Harrison and Marisol Valencia Photos by @rjwarren.bsky.social #contemporaryarthouston #artistreception

Loose watercolor sketching. Always ready to mess around and try something new. This idea might be something I put in my toolkit. #studioprocess #watercolor

Finally, cool enough for yoga outdoors.It's only ninety degrees

😮Oh my gosh! Exactly 3 weeks till I leave for the residency in southern France. Exciting, but I'm not ready! #artistresidency

Back in the studio! #studioprocess #watercolorsketch

I spent time in Rocky Mountain National Park today. Pictures absolutely can't do justice

Visiting a friend who lives in the Colorado front range. The light is amazing.

Fabulous show at the Menil Drawing Institute, "What Drawing Can Be, Four Responses." None of the work is adequately captured in photographs. Constantin Luser's work, in particular, is a delight for the eye and the mind. The show is up through August 10. Don't miss it

I encourage you to visit the exhibition Love Languages at the MFAH Kinder building. There's a lot of interesting work focused on personal and collective relationships. This piece by Henry Taylor caught my eye

Noticed that my studio cleaning rag looks like abstract flowers. Kind of fun. #studioprocess

Another painting that will be in "The Weight of Place" @anyatishgallery opening this Friday. An urban landscape oddly emptied of people and cars, dominated by an expressive sky. #contemporarylandscapepaintings #contemporaryurbanlandscape

Love the color interactions! bsky.app/profile/moma...

This painting will be in "The Weight of Place" opening @anyatishgallery this Friday, June 11th. This is a quite painting with a sense of dream-like isolation. Come see it in person if you can! #contemporarylandscapepainting

When working with fluid acrylics, my palette is a collection of airtight containers. That way, I almost never have to throw away paint. #studiopractice #goldenfluidacrylic

This must be AT LEAST the 5th version of this painting! 😂 I kept simplifying the composition and working to make the colors more interesting. To paraphrase, art is 1% inspiration and 99% persistence. It's more interesting in person. The software keeps trying to "clean up" my colors.. @#$%*

Recently discovered this podcast. Thank you, Nancy Wozny. A series of short podcasts about women artists, some I knew about, and some, I did not. #greatwomenartists

Another painting in "The Weight of Place" opening July 11th @anyatishgallery I love working with abstract skies, and the colors and textures that I sometimes find on the sides of dumpsters

Various sketches and under paintings for a new painting; digital, watercolor, and acrylic. Testing variations on color, abstraction, use of line...it's my mind on loudspeaker, or in paint I should say. #studioprocess

A closer look at one of the paintings that will be in the upcoming show @anyatishgallery , opening July 11th. "Why Argue with the Clouds", acrylic, charcoal, and oil on mylar. #contemporarylandscapepainting

Just delivered newly framed works to the gallery. Come see them in person!The opening is July 11th, "The Weight of Place" #AnyaTishGallery

A mix of art reference books serving as weights during frame assembly, alongside a hefty French/English dictionary #studiopractice

While visiting a Pazda Butler gallery, I particularly enjoyed the collages by Drew Bacon. At a distance, many appear to be imagined landscapes. Up close, they deconstruct into insanely detailed collages of text and maps. #joshPazdaHiramButlerGallery

Underpainting, for a new small work. I'm never sure how much of this crazy color will make it to the final version. #studiopractice #contemporarylandscapepainting #goldenfluidacrylic

Enjoying a painting by Stanley Whitney at the Menil Collection. It looks very simple and geometric from a distance. But up close, it has some wonderful play between transparent and opaque paint, as well as painterly and expressive washes.

Getting ready to assemble some frames, and my studio assistant is busy with a quality control check #studioassistant

This is a painting of contradictions. A receding space is interrupted by swaths of ragged color and floating lines. The ground is green, which could be grass, but so is the sky. The dumpsters seem ready to dissolve. #contemporarylandscapepainting

Two strong shows at the Blaffer Art Museum, each with a wide range of thought-provoking, beautiful works.

Great turnout for the Big Show. Congratulations to all the artists for all the great work! #lawndaleartcenter

Had some time to look at art today, and I enjoyed Anthony Subar's work at Longnecker Gallery, with its layers of intricate details, historical and spiritual references, and complex visual vocabulary. @nicolelongneckergallery

With watercolors, the type of paper you use makes a tremendous difference. I want something that will allow me to improvise and change an image as it evolves. That’s important for plein air sketching. #studioprocess #watercolorpainting

Strong work (of course!) by Leticia Huckabee, Earl Hundal, David McGee, and Delita Martin at the Rive University Moody Center for the Arts. And interesting conversations among the work. Make time to see it. #figurativehistories

Working on a series of small paintings this summer. #studioprocess

This painting was inspired by some weeds / wildflowers bursting through on the edge of a parking lot. The work has a lot of nice texture when viewed up close, and I enjoyed working with the abstraction of forms in the foliage. #contemporarylandscapepainting