My parents live on a lake in Florida and in certain months, the weather is perfect for breakfast outside. My parents and I would enjoy breakfast on the deck, often joined by a faithful and friendly woodstock. This scene reflects the happy and festive atmosphere of vacationing amid the exotic flora of Florida.

Here's the sister painting (oil on canvas 11 x 14) for Un Beau Jour a la Plage. I started this one on Compo Beach, Westport, CT last summer and finished it in my studio in Trumbull. More than my other paintings, it could almost pass for a stained glass window.

The Friends of Hall Brooke will exhibit this painting at their Annual Art Show In Westport, CT the weekend of May 7th and 8th.

I painted this colorful little painting (oil on canvas, 11 x 14) on Compo Beach, Westport. Often, I sketch on location and return to my studio to finish the piece. On this occasion, my artist friend, Lynn Pritchard, and I packed a lunch and headed to the beach to paint for the day. I completed most of this painting outdoors on the beach. Half the fun was chatting with the curious children and answering their endless questions.

You'll see similar themes in many of my paintings; people getting together and enjoying themselves. I like to see paintings where I can imagine myself in the scene; it brings an element of joy to my life. After our record cold and snowy Connecticut winter, this particular painting, and its sister painting (up tomorrow) looks very appealing to my cabin-bound self!

Coffee Break (oil on canvas, 11 x 14) shows two women sharing an intimate moment on an ordinary coffee break. It shows the wonderfulness and comfort of something as simple and mundane as a coffee break when you share it with a friend.

I sketched this in Greenwich, CT in the park on the side of Greenwich Avenue, and then painted in December of 2010

One thing you can see in this painting that you see in many of my outdoor paintings is the reflection of the unity of nature; the field is alive, and the trees stretch their limbs to embrace people and the sky dances around the trees.

You can view this painting along with five others at the Friends of Hall Brooke Annual Art Show. (Saturday, May 7th, noon to 8:00 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4:00 pm. at 47, Long Lots Road, Westport, CT).

This little painting (oil on canvas, 11 x 14) breaks the "Uneven Numbers" rule of composition. Four tents (plus two halves) doesn't work, according to the laws of composition. Uneven numbers (five or seven) would make this a better composition, according to the rules of composition. However, this painting ignores the rule and the composition works anyway. In fact, because it breaks a traditional rule of composition, it becomes more interesting to the brain.

The other rule this composition breaks is the rule of symmetry. Traditional painting composition runs away from a symmetrical piece. We have two tents on the left and two tents on the right; a tree on the left and a tree on the right. So why does this work? Perhaps because, once again, since it breaks a traditional rule of composition, the brain finds it more intriguing.

I don't set out purposely to break the laws of composition. I sometimes notice the transgression after it's happened, because I paint intuitively, more than from a plan.

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This painting, My Party (oil on canvas, 18 x 24), exhibits more ugly colors, which, like in my painting My House on French Street make the pretty colors glow.

The pretty-ugly contrast intrigues me very  much, because somehow it brings the bright colors to life, and creates a type of harmony we're not used to seeing. This unusual harmony makes the painting interesting to the brain.

I painted much of this painting in Westport, CT on scene with my fellow BRAWGers (Black Rock Working Artists Group). Spring, art, wine and friends always made a great combination for out group. In this painting, I left the party attendees out, as an open invitation to you, the viewer.

In 2007, I visited my parents in Lantana, Florida where I painted this scene for them. The chairs in this painting seem animated and content to sit by the table. My mom and I found the unusual  flower in the table centerpiece on a walk around the nearby marshes.
My parents and I enjoyed  all our breakfasts on this deck, where a four-foot-tall woodstork frequently joined us for breakfast.