Ashlawn Farm, Rain On The Goat Shed by Roxanne Steed

8"x10" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

For more information about this painting, visit this link.

Goats may look pretty silly, but they must be "smarter than they look"!  When I set up to paint the red barn and out-building (aka goat shed), they were all inside their little hut. One brave soul was peeking out.  It was very overcast and they were calling for some strong showers that day.  The rain held off for a good bit of the morning, and the little goats came out into their long pen. Hmm, I liked that composition better- deciding to wipe out some space to include these short-legged tank-like eating machines.  Then it started raining! All the little goats ran back inside - not wanting to get their little "goat-coats" wet! Who would've guessed- they're secretly neat-niks!   And it wasn't evening raining hard- just barely a sprinkle! I wasn't going to pack up until I had those goats placed in the painting - no matter how briefly I had to do it!  So I worked back into other areas of the painting, the sprinkles stopped momentarily, and I quickly wiped off field greens and painted those goats in there quickly. They weren't going to stand around for long!

Dusk On The Eastern Shore, Virginia by Roxanne Steed

Available for purchase from my website. 

8"x10" oil on canvas mounted on archival panel 

Can you be in love with a place?? I drove down from Connecticut to Virginia on Monday to visit with my painter friend Norma Wilson. When I finally reach the Eastern Shore of Virginia, the sun is a bit lower in the sky, and the farm fields are rich in shadow. The cool blue tones reflect off the tin roofed barns & silos. The storm clouds from Sunday were still lingering, as the sun tried burning through the remains. The last bit of daylight glancing across these acres of flat coastal farm land is full of color. As I reach Cape Charles, just on the north side of the Chesapeake Bay, I look forward to that first glimpse of water! Heading up on the first huge bridge span past Fisherman's Island I look left to count the huge container ships in outer part of the bay. There were eight out there yesterday. Am I a bit nervous about passing a semi head on in the tunnel? Well, yes... but as I leave the second tunnel, I'm closer to my destination, the place I enjoyed living for so many years.

Reconnecting with your artist friends is such a treat. I've had a wonderful day today getting together with my old painting buddies Norma, Barbara Mastaglio & Scott London.

Now, I've been back from convention for a week, and still no posts? Yes, I've been unpacking, re-packing and reading my notes from that week - I do still have lots to share!