DAILY PAINTING: As you can see, I'm making decisions about color and shape. Much to consider yet, but so far, so good! Each decision impacts other aspects, so each choice must be weighed against the overall composition. This painting is at the point where it's taking on a life of its own. You just gotta trust yourself and let it happen!

DAILY PAINTING: Moving in the right direction! I had told you how unhappy I was with this painting, as it was. And yes, I'm feeling better health-wise, also! I realized that I needed to pull the composition together, and I think this goes a long way toward that goal. I'll have to take a little time to adjust to this change and to be able to "see" in my mind's eye, what should come next. But I'm happy that this is working out.

DAILY PAINTING: I'm not feeling well, which is not the best state to try to paint, but it can't be helped. I'm going to call this painting "October" for obvious reasons, but I'm not at all pleased with it at this point. It has not come together yet, and I'm too tired and ill to think about it anymore.

DAILY PAINTING: As you can see, I have a earth toned palette in mind for this painting, which I've begun to block in, getting a feel for value and color temperature. The paint is fairly thin, mixed with cold wax and turp. You have to work and think in layers, so my intention here was just to begin to suggest some elements of composition that I can later build on. Already you can begin to see relationships developing.

DAILY PAINTING: While I'm waiting for the paint to dry on my other painting, I created this abstract collage. It is glued down to a 14 x 17" wooden panel, done in pastel and then sealed. I like the variety of color and pattern, so now I have to think of how I can unify it. It's so active that I need to figure out how to calm it, keeping the activity for the focal point. There's a lot of orange and green, so that makes yellow the common denominator, along with black, of c

DAILY PAINTING: All of the masks have been removed and a few brushstrokes placed to solidify the main calligraphic element. Not sure how I feel about it right now, whether or not anything else needs to be adjusted. We'll see.

DAILY PAINTING: The initial, overall layer of paint is on, and I even removed the large stencil, which I thinks works well. Very low key, understated, which is what I had hoped for. Now this has to dry for a few days before the next layer of mask can safely be removed. After that, it'll be a matter of making final adjustments, balancing the composition, etc.

DAILY PAINTING: While the paint is drying on the other abstract, I've begun the next painting, which will be called "Fiesta". It is meant to be a bold celebration of life, and you can see that I've begun to place a couple of stencils. The background colors key the whole mood, and I will continue to use vibrant yellows, orange, yellow green and of course, red.

DAILY PAINTING: The working title of this painting is "Gotta Unwind", so you can understand why the main element is a single, bold brushstroke. Color and shape will all be balanced and adjusted later, but first I've got to get some paint down. The soft purple is the key to the mood, and I intend to use some tint of either viridian or yellow green in the upper part of the composition (perhaps both). Once that's down and dry, I can remove the masks and then adjust what's lef

DAILY PAINTING: As you probably know, we've been dealing with Hurricane Matthew for the last few days here in FL. We surely are grateful that our State has fared so well, but we keep the poor folks in Haiti and Cuba in our prayers. Back in the studio: I've taken this photo from the side to better help you to see the masks I've applied. You see the stencil I cut so painstakingly (I didn't use all of it). I've also cut the undulating lines you see near the top. Paint shoul