After the time requirements of my last painting, I thought I would reward myself this week with some smaller pieces for a while. Halloween came early to our house in the form of a nasty virus that has rendered us all coughing, sneezing zombies (the littlest of which apparently doesn't sleep much at night with a cold). Needless to say,  I am really dragging this week. Nevertheless, I've managed a little studio time, and here is my painting in progress ( a 16x20" canvas)  of the beautiful gardens of Villa Balbianello.

I did a painting of the villa itself a while ago, (which you can see here) but this view is from the edge of its magnificent gardens, looking beyond the statuary towards the distant village across the lake .

This is one session worth of work (about 3 hours). I will probably need another session of a couple of hours to finish. The punkin' seems to be dropping her naps more and more these days (say it ain't so!) but if I can squeeze another nap out of her today, I might actually be able to complete it.

Still no plein air painting this fall, though we are fast approaching the height of color here in Richmond. :( I could give myself lots of excuses for this, but bottom line is,  I  guess I haven't been able to get myself organized enough to have enough time for field work . Mornings are so chaotic, and  I'd really need to be out of the door when it's still dark outside, and have my location planned out in advance, in order to be back at my daughter's preschool for pick-up at noon. It's frustrating, but  I'll tell you one thing... I have never been happier to have my studio right in the back yard instead of halfway across town like it used to be!