Blessed with an art studio by the sea, I have a front row seat to an ocean view when Mother Nature brings the drama of weather right to our door. This fascinating cloud formation with it's dynamic composition and color are just mesmerizing and reminds me of two paintings I have seen at The Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA.

The strong diagonal cloud bank, the dark skies and deep shadows in the painting give an emotional punch of impending weather just like the shelf cloud over the Atlantic. Monet grew up on the Normandy coast and was familiar with the sea's appearance in different atmospheric conditions. This painting is so striking because it is in such contrast to the pastel colors in paintings by Monet we are so familiar with.

A sudden storm observed from his studio at Prouds Neck, Maine may have inspired Winslow Homer to paint Summer Squall. The sailboat in the distance, the huge waves, the rocks in the foreground all create a drama that almost makes the viewer want to run for a dramamine. 

Afternoon squalls are almost a daily occurrence in the summer months in Florida. 
Covid 19 restrictions have been lifted and Village Arts Framing and Gallery in Sawgrass Village in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida is now open again.

​I have several paintings there and hope you will have a chance to stop in and view the exhibit. Remember to support your small businesses wherever you live.

​Mary Cassatt visited the Louvre in Paris, the most famous art museum in the world,  to study and copy the masters. Renoir, Henri Matisse, Degas and countless other artists were copyists at the Louvre.
​Examining the brushwork, composition, color and lost and found edges of paintings by master painters is part of the copyist tradition.  
In the Louvre, you are allowed to bring your own small sketchbook and draw to your hearts content. 
But if you wish to paint one the masterpieces, you must apply for a copyist permit. The Louvre will supply the easel, and your seat. You supply the canvas, oil paint, determination, talent and concentration.
Just think of the concentration required. If you've ever painted in front a small group of people, imagine painting in front of several thousand museum visitors.
There are stipulations about your painting, your canvas cannot be the same size as the original work of art and you are not allowed to copy the original artist's signature.

Is there a copyist program at an art museum near you?
​Now that museums all over the world are closed think about this-if you could, what artist's work of art would you try to learn from and copy?
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