69. Winter in the Studio: Little Big Skies, the first installment

Storm at Sea, 6x6

I feel like I just slipped into this series - unintentionally beginning something that I am not sure where it will take me.  This is the beginning of the my Little Big Skies paintings.  I had painted another painting of this scene on this panel and didn't like it.  So I sanded it down (like I do all paintings that I don't like, unless I wipe it down before it dries), and was going to put it in the pile of canvases when I thought:  why not try it again?  So I did, and I really liked it.  Actually I love it.  There was a freedom and painterliness that I had been reaching for. 

Then I  thought, I am liking this small size a little better now, maybe I should try it again.....

Storm at Sea 6x6

This is the second in the series (although it was really a series in my mind yet)  I liked this one well enough to paint a larger one from it (more on that later).  

I felt like I was getting somewhere now, so I painted another big sky painting - or a "cloudscape" as my sister Rachael like to call them!

Layers of Light 6x6

While I do like this one (I didn't sand it down after all!), it is not as lose as the first that I fell in love with in the very beginning...

 So another one:

Big Clouds 6x6  (Little Big Sky #4)

Now I am thinking of this as a series.  I can't wait to start the next one!

So I asked my husband to cut some panels for me - he cut 20 panels and I have clear coated them 3 times, and sanded them all down.  A bit of work, but they are my new favorite support!  What to do in Maine in the winter?  PAINT!