Cipolla Rossa & Art for Japan

"Cipolla Rossa" 6x6 oil on panel

Happy spring Monday everyone! Doesn't "Red Onion" sound sexy in Italian? Spurred on by my acceptance into the Randy Higbee 6 inch square show, I wanted to concentrate on a few more 6 x 6 oil studies. I love working with analogous color triad: red-orange-red-red-violet. (This is that same pesky onion I've been trying to get to sprout with no luck, and I got tired of waiting.)

Specifically, an intense red violet magenta has been one of my favorite colors since I was old enough to flip open a the big yellow Crayola 64 box. (Periwinkle and Seafoam were other favorites.) Speaking of Italy, as some of you may know, the color name comes from the town of Magenta in northern Italy and refers to the bloodshed in a battle there in the 1800s.

Also, I wanted to help share the word about Daily Paintworks Help Japan Challenge. The Daily Paintworks site (which features weekly painting challenges) currently features over 300 beautiful paintings up for bid to help such agencies as the Red Cross in Japan. They've raised almost $20,000 so far. 

Finally, over the weekend I had a chance to to see the Colorado Watercolor Society 20th Annual State Exhibition which runs through April 17, 2011 at Foothills Art Center in Golden. Definitely worth a trip if you are in the area.