Here is a new finished piece 'New Connections'
Below the finished piece you will see a few photos as a small example of the process used.
The blue watercolor background was painted and dried before starting the drawing. This is different from what I did in the last post [drawing and then painted into it].

Below you can see a few stages of this process. Each piece will have a different start and many different steps from beginning to end. I took 3 photos as it developed.
Photo 1: I began with 3 circles. To create these 1st lines, I used a micron pen and a crystal, pushing the crystal around the page. This is to prevent a predetermined line connection. You can use a penny or any coin. I used "Apache Tear". 
Photo 2: This is the point where your subconscious is given the opportunity to surface. This is a meditative and relaxing experience.  Connections, can be added, enhanced, more circles may manifest, networks appear, no ego allowed, just let it flow. Then put it aside for a bit and see how it feels.
Photo 3: At this point I see a few more neural connections coming through in the lower right circle. But after this, the work seems complete, so I am done. Final work as shown above.

Relaxation through artistic process.
A meeting of two minds - the conscious meets the subconscious

Exploring a new meditative, creative method of art therapy, linking the conscious with the subconscious. This process is based on nuerographics, which is a way to work with your subconscious though the process of drawing. It is said that our outer world is a direct reflection of our inner world. this creative method is believed to stimulate new neural pathways, where neurons process information received. 

Art therapy for personal growth.
​This is a meditative art technique, an innovative approach to healing by channeling stress and anxiety through drawing. You will surprise yourself by letting go, letting your subconscious evolve into works of art. 

Monotype etching is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. Each drawing or painting will only yield one piece of art. Hence the term "mono" type.
These plates can be copper, zinc, glass, and I have been busy working with 8 x 10 acrylic plates to create some unique monotypes. 

Although it's been a while, I will try to document each different process and outcome in this post.
The pieces you see below are all hand painted on an acrylic plate with akua inks. 
Once each plate was ready, I pressed it onto Rives BFK etching paper using a Conrad E-12 Etching Press.

For the two pieces above, I started by inking the entire plate, then created the images by using a scratch board process of removing ink in fine lines with an etching tool. Then each plate was printed as described above. 

The three pieces seen above, the plate was hand painted, and then scratched into with etching tools before being pressed. 

The above piece was a two step process. I first printed the plate with the inside design and color on the entire piece. Then I inlaid a smaller 6 x 8 piece od paper over the center, reprinted the plate with red and black inks additional scratchboard work as seen below, printed and removed the center paper leaving two pieces, the 8 x 10 above and the 6 x 8 below.

I did the same two step process with two additional works. Below you see the two pieces separated, but on careful inspection, you can see the scratchboard work that overlaps in each, as well as the color overlay.

Experimenting with new techniques is always very rewarding. You just never know what might happen, but the process is as exhilarating as a 5K run.  Good for the mind and soul!

This is a watercolor painting done from a wedding photo shared with me by the groom himself. The photo is taken at the fountain in front of Jedediah Hawkins Inn in Jamesport. The groom is the proud owner of this classic Mustang, so I was excited to be able to paint them together with it. The slideshow will exhibit the various stages I took in creating this painting. 
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I would love to hear from you.
Feel free to leave any thoughts, comments or questions below.

I am truly grateful anytime I can get out into nature and paint. The days are lovely, the energy is abundant and being able to walk the grounds, helps me connect to the feeling and energy of my subject.

On this particular day, I was joining some plein air friends on the grounds at Old Westbury Garden. The day and event were just lovely. It was a bit of a warm day, so finding shade is essential for comfort and wellbeing. Luckily there were plenty of majestic trees to sit beneath, a tiny breeze off the water's edge, and the friendliest gaggle of geese to hang with.

Below are 3 photos of my process. First up is a rough graphite sketch of my composition, just to lay in the key areas of the painting. Second photo shows my first watercolor glaze. This adds the lights and color values throughout the composition. Next I add 2 or 3  more glazes to get in the mid tones and darks.
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Plein Air Motto: Keep it loose, keep it simple and keep it up!
I will be leading a Plein Air workshop at Down's Farm Preserve in August. See homepage for details.

Please feel free to post questions or comments below.

This is a 5 x 8" solar plate processed with an aquatint screen and then an etching on acetate. It was printed with Akua black ink and a chin-colle mulberry strip. It seems that when an aquatint screen is used to process the plate, it picks up shadow and fine detail.

You do not get a deep bite in the plate which makes including a relief over the intaglio inking a bit more challenging. As I rolled a relief color on the plate, I could see it picking up the black ink in the grooves, changing /muddying the relief [background] color a bit from it's original vibrant yellow to an ochre. Just an observation in the exploration, nothing wrong with ochre.

Here I added a bit of phthalo blue to the yellow on the roller ink.

I rolled the plate with blue akua ink, but then after past examples, I felt less ink would be a better outcome. The thick ink seemed very flat. On this blue piece, as an after thought, I used a crumpled sheet of newspaper to rub off some of the applied ink before pressing. I was extremely surprised and excited by the outcome. I loved the texture that was created in the paint. It appears to let in the light, allowing the white of the paper to peek through. 

Ok, why not one last try - The Ghost Print
​I again used newspaper to remove ink, only being more mindful to leave the randomness of the texture and light. Notice the black ink is much lighter and chalky looking on this print. That is because it is a ghost print. A print that is pressed without reinking the plate, allowing the image to be much lighter and ghost like.

All comments, questions, thoughts and suggestions welcome.
Thank you for joining me on this artistic discovery journey.
​Wishing you all love and light!

Inspiration abounds when we are given the opportunity to participate in the artistic process. After seeing a talk / demo by master printmaker Dan Welden at Gallery 11 West, it resurrected my urge to get back to exploring the intaglio printmaking process. At a current CEEDs workshop with Dan and East End Arts workshop with ChrisAnn Ambrey, I created a few small solar plates that I have been working with. Here you will see a few different monoprints that all started with the same 4 x 5" plate. Intaglio, aquatint, chin-colle, additive and subtractive color . . . explore the process and embrace the results. You can never quite "see" what it will be until it is unveiled on the press. 

The print on the left is intaglio print with black ink. I did not get tremendous detail in the lower right circular area because I decided to process my etching screen without an aquatint process. I was interested in seeing what would happen. The aquatint would have allowed more of the shading detail to come through, without it only the darks and lights are very processed. But sometimes less is more. I have been having so much fun with this mighty and powerful little design. Second printing, I added a bit of color, used a brush to add circular detail and rubbed less ink off the plate before printing.

These two monoprints include Chine-colle, including thin pieces of mulberry paper.

These two are experiments with the inking process and imbedding different mulberry pieces.

This example is the plate double pressed with an offset. Although this is interesting, there is so much I can see to change the outcome of this idea.  One color, full offset, minimize the  edge ink. I'm open to all suggestions.

I volunteered to man a table at the new outdoor farmers market in Riverhead. I was promoting the Annual Mosaic Festival held Memorial Day Weekend each year on main Street. While there I was inspired to do this energy sharing Mosaic. I had paper, chalk, and asked visitors to pick a color and share a line. It is interesting to witness what the outcome was. All children are so open to new adventure, don't think twice about a subject, just grab a color and start creating with abandon. But what happens in life that stifles most adults? With the same prompt I get responses like, I can't, no not me... I'm not an artist. I didn't ask then to paint a masterpiece, just some sort of colored line in a tile. Eventually some did open up and add a line. Others created a complete tile after they loosened up. Some just couldn't let go of the restraints, the ties that bind. Below you see the tiles as completed.  Some were done by one, some by many. It was a community energy sharing project. It was wonderful fun meeting all these farmers market visitors and sharing news about the Annual Mosaic Festival.

I am grateful to have spent a day painting with fellow artists. There is always something new to learn, and inspiration is ready for the taking. I was excited to get my oil paints out again and see where it would take me. On this adventure it took me to a wonderful workshop with friends, painting, sharing critique, simplifying compositions, and working with light and shadow. 
Shown below some of the wonderful outcomes by all the artists and some inspiring works by Howard Rose.

On a quick trip upstate to Narrowsburg NY to see the family for Christmas, we were greeted with a beautiful blanket of snow on the fields. As a passenger I was able to snap a few quick photos of some barns along the way through Bethel Woods. This is a quick watercolor of one that caught my eye. The slideshow will walk you through my process of glazing, building the painting up from light to dark.