Looking up from one of the back rows of the Basilica of St. Mary's in Minneapolis, I watched the silhouette of David Cherwin as he directed the National Lutheran Choir in the loft. I caught sight of him from a unique angle over the rail of the choir loft, backlit by the rose window. This is one of a very few paintings I have done that features an individual, and also one of just a small grouping of church interiors.

The House of Seven Gables http://www.7gables.org/ inspired this painting.

The way one is "supposed" to paint with watercolor is to create a wash in the background as the sky. A wash is a thin veil of paint, mostly water and just a touch of paint pushed around on the paper. I did something entirely different- and maybe to an art teacher it might be called wrong. What I did was to build layer upon layer of paint to make the sky. I mostly used blues, and then ended with white paint to do the clouds. I feel kind of guilty when I know what the accepted technique is and I just do not do it that way... but this is just the way I paint sometimes. Don't get me wrong. I make the sky using a wash sometimes. I guess I just do not want to be limited by certain techniques and rules.

The Wortham Center http://www.houstontx.gov/worthamcenter/ in Houston, Texas. I have happy memories of seeing the ballet with Mom and Dad here. It is a lovely facility.

This lovely orchid at Longwood Gardens (www.longwoodgardens.org) in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania captivated me. I do not normally paint flowers, but this one seemed almost architectural, so I gave it a try.

Gamla Stan (Old Town), Stockholm, Sweden

Gamla Stan (Old Town), Stockholm, Sweden

This is the grand staircase at Winterthur http://www.winterthur.org/about/period_tours.asp?part=7. I broke the rules of watercolor technique to make these. I used the paint to build up, which is different from how most artists use watercolor. I mixed the paint with just a little water, keeping it thick like a gauche.

These took a long time to paint. I worked on the three paintings simultaneously. I took the source photos using my Canon EOS Digital Rebel SLR. The source photos are shown here. What do you think?