This summer and fall I was one of a group of about fifteen artists who visited the gardens that will be featured in the 2012 Ann Arbor Garden Walk next June. We braved the unusually hungry hordes of mosquitoes that were everywhere this summer, and found some beautiful sites to paint in.

It's always so interesting to paint with other people; a group of painters may all be looking at the same view but everyone will see something different.

I find that I usually start the session with a fairly detailed painting of the scene, then move to a more abstracted view as I continue working. The paintings shown here illustrate that trend: two paintings from the Greve-Fisher garden, and two from the Johnson garden. I'm looking forward to working on larger oil-on-canvas versions of the two small closeup watercolors.

My paintings and drawings usually start with small sketches made on site; I often make several sketches from the same viewpoint. Back in my studio, I create larger paintings from the sketches — condensing, revising and eliminating detail, but retaining a connection to the reality of weather, light, terrain and landscape.

More examples of oil and watercolor paintings, prints and drawings will follow.