February has come to a close as March rolls in, with the anticipation that the threat of winter's harshest weather has ended.  It was a lovely site to see just the same, as the tree limbs shimmered under the weight of snow and the evening sky glowed with a soft pastel color by the cold frosty air.
I enjoyed taking short walks on the snow packed sidewalks, taking photographs of the neighborhood gardens buried under a deep blanket of white.  But it is also the best time of year for me to brew a hot cup of tea, pull out the sketchbook and sit down to draw and paint my indoor windowsill plants. This helps to improve my drawing skills before the upcoming springtime when the flowering trees and garden plants come alive with an abundance of subjects to illustrate after the long winter's slumber.  

Last year I was asked to illustrate the Christmas Mushroom for a gift.  In order to create a final piece, I needed to illustrate several potential paintings.
Below demonstrates how I worked on more then one illustration before deciding on the triple mushroom piece in watercolor on Bristol 400.  
Finally, I began to work on a mini acrylic painting which is unfinished.
Happy New Year!!

Skywalk Arts Festival 2020, hosted by the HBHV.
This year I displayed two tables.  One table consisted of my mother's fine art prints on canvas and paper along with my mini prints on canvas and mini acrylics on canvas. 
The other table I displayed six gold leaf framed Plein Air paintings representing my original work. 
You may purchase these paintings and prints along with other work on my website located at:  https://www.stilegalleryshop.com

In this video, I share a little insight into how I might begin the painting process for a particular body of work such as in my acrylic shell compositions. I show how I spend time seeking  objects of interest along the beach front for sketchbook material, watercolor and acrylic.  Many of these studies are then used as reference material for larger scale paintings done in the studio.

Springtime Tulip Garden        Acrylic on canvas

As a botanical illustrator, there is no better time to be outdoors capturing the many flowering plants in bloom during springtime. The weather can be pretty unpredictable making it difficult to work on site which is why taking so many reference photographs or by working quickly on a pencil sketch helps me to have reference material.  Each day a new color appears on the many lawns and gardens of neighborhood properties as I head outdoors to take my afternoon walk. The crocuses, forsythia and daffodils were the first to appear from the long winter landscape, bobbing their bright yellow arms and heads against the chilly breeze.  In the past few weeks that followed, soft pastel colors began to emerge on trees and shrubs in striking contrast to the bright blue sky.  I put a selection of these photographs below.

While the country has shut down due to covid-19, it has given the air a chance to become clear again after being blanketed in haze from pollution for so long. This spring, these waving arms of blooming trees has now had the opportunity to display an array of stunning color against the backdrop of a brilliant bright blue sky.  

I love to watch how an upright bouquet of flowers begins to wilt and bend, dropping it's petals or curling in shape, all in creating new compositional challenges to enhance a sketch.

My first adventure down on a riverbank early in the spring of 2019.

While walking along the beach, I like to keep an eye out for interesting objects to sketch for possible reference in larger paintings in the studio.  On this day, I picked up two feathers on the sand that were from sea birds and a couple of shells to sketch in pencil and color pencil.
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