"Joy" (sold)

8"x8"

Oil on Board

This is a painting from my archives--one that I have loved and shown frequently.  It is of some little girls who were participating in an artcamp I was leading a couple of summers ago.  They were enjoying a break out in the early summer weather.

"Wizard"

12"x9"

Oil on Panel

sold

This painting is a commission I've been working on the past few days.  In this painting, I used a white I haven't tried before:  Gamblin's Flake White Replacement.  If I've ever used Flake White, it was years ago, so I'm not sure what it's supposed to be like, but this was a great alternative to the Titanium and Radiant Whites I've been using alot of.  It's really thick and holds the brush stroke, very easy to use a painting knife with. 

I look and see I haven't posted since Monday and am wondering what else I've been doing, because it hasn't been posting paintings!!!  Actually, illustration work and working on getting a website going has been taking up alot of time this week.  I'm looking forward to getting back to my easel very soon!

Painting in Process Day 2--Pine Ridge, Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska

Panel #1 of 3

36"x30"

Oil on Canvas

Well, I got some good painting time into this triptych today and am getting a feel for the color and the flow of the painting.  Here's a photo of the three panels together.  It gives the general idea!

Painting in Process Day 1: Pine Ridge, Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska

Triptych:  each panel measures 36"x30"

Oil on canvas

Commission, NFS

Talk about from one extreme to another!  Yesterday a 8"x6" painting to today's triptych that is 7 1/2 feet long!  Fifteen, eighteen years ago I was painting large landscapes like this.  I was approached to do this as a commission and I was really excited to revisit this way of working.  I love painting rock formations--there's something very sensuous about it.  So different from the paintings I do from day to day now, these paintings start with photos for reference, then I do rough sketches and color sketches and then base my final painting on my sketches more than the photo.  I can't begin to talk about how it feels to paint so large compared to the little ones--maybe in the days to come, as this is what I will be working on until it's finished.

"Dalmation With a Red Leash" (sold)

8"x6"

Oil on Cradled Panel (no frame needed)

I have wanted to paint this guy for quite some time, but haven't because I would get so sad looking at my photo!  I would just think how forlorn he felt to me, waiting for his person to come back.  Now of course I don't know if the dog was going through that at all!  Today, though, the image just felt right to work with.  I painted it on a 3/4 inch cradled board so it can be framed or not.  It is shown below hanging as is on a wall.  This painting was an interesting study in grays, going from mixing them with quinacridone red and pthalo green to ultramarine blue and cad yellow deep, to ultramarine blue and cad red light and then cad red medium.

 

"Cleaning Up"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

$125 plus $10 domestic s/h

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Ok, I confess!  This painting was posted in October last year.  I've been working, but don't have anything I want to share with the world, so decided that I'd bring this little one back.  She is a waitress at the J&M Cafe in Portland, OR, cleaning up after the breakfast crowd left.  Ah, brings back memories!!

Guest Artist--Gary Vincent, Untitled Abstract Drawing

Image size:  app. 19"x16"

Graphite on Paper

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Both my husband, Gary, and I did drawings today, but I like his SO much better that I asked him if I could post it instead of my own!  He said he was inspired to do it from some conversations we had this weekend about line and drawing.  I am working up an experimental drawing class to be given through the Art Station this summer--and, really, it looks to me like HE should lead it!  I have found that when I'm asked to suggest a class I might offer, it usually ends up being something that I am feeling the need to do in my own work, hence, "experimental drawing" as an antidote to the representational work I've been so absorbed in. 

Back to Gary's drawing:  he used different graphite sticks and it includes rubbings from various objects, erasures, moving graphite around with a wine cork.  It's an exciting piece of work!  The energy and evidence of the artist's hand is everywhere in this drawing.  It is amazing how difficult  it can be to be so "spontaneous and free". 

"At the Dog Park"

Image size:  approximately 4"x11"

Graphite Pencil on Bristol Board

$75 plus $10 domestic s/h

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One of the best things I do frequently is to meet a group of people who also have small dogs over at a nearby dog park.  We have a ball watching the dogs play together.  We get our laughter-therapy while they get to socialize.  Also, we get to indulge in being PPP's--Pathetic Pet People!  How many of us thought we would NEVER be those people we see in the grocery store parking lots doting on a little dog while the spouse is shopping?! 

"Waiting For Her Friend" (sold)

18"x12"

Oil on Board

This paintng is of a young woman I saw in Portland, OR standing outside of an art supply store.  I was immediately taken by her outfit and her stance.  I have tried to paint her before over a year ago, but it just didn't work.  This time it did.  It's interesting and reassuring, too, to see how I could solve a problem today that I couldn't figure out a year ago!  YES!  I've also created a drawing of her which I love.  You can go here to see it.

"Walk"

Image size:  app. 6"x20"

Graphite on Bristol Board

$225 plus $10 domestic s/h

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As I mentioned when I posted the unfinished version of this the other day, I was needing a drawing fix!  I have all these photos of people I've taken the past three years and I've been wanting to try something different besides just putting them in the context in which they "live".  I chose a group of figures that are all walking just to see what would happen.  Originally, I felt like they would be totally separate, unconnected, single figures in space.  As I drew, I couldn't resist connecting them with marks and erasures.  I think I could play with this drawing even more, diminishing some of the figures some while others stand out.  It will stay the way it is for now. . .who know what might happen?  If it changes, I'll post a new photo of it!  I like the possibilities, though, that doing this drawing has raised.  I can see exploring this idea for awhile.  Do I sense the beginning of a series?

Here are a couple of detail shots.

"The Belly Dancers' Break" #2 (sold)

8"x8"

Oil on Board

Here's the second version of the painting I posted earlier this week (scroll down a bit to see it.)   I like the first, but felt it got a little fussy with the brushstrokes and I wanted to try it again and see if I could be more direct.  This one feels much better to me!  I can't believe how hard it is to keep loose when there's a larger format.  I DO use larger brushes, but I think that part of it, too, is that I need to keep a feeling of urgency.  It's not that I want to just rush through a painting.  It's that I think it would be good to take an approach that feels like I'm on location and this scene is going to disappear any minute and I want to get the basics down NOW.  No time to noodle!

"Walk" detail of a drawing in process

Image size of detaile:  6"x8.5"

Total image size:  6"x20"

Pencil on bristol board

Unfinished

I've been needing a drawing fix lately and also have been wanting to see what might come of just using random figures from the many many photos of people I've taken.  I'm not sure where this will go!  It's interesting to be working with figures without a context.  I like how it makes me consider the individual more, think about them, wonder about their lives. . .

Here's a picture of the unfinished whole.

"A Break for the Bellydancers"

12"x12"

Oil on Board

$300 plus $10 domestic s/h

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I've been working on this painting on and off for the past week.  I really like the subject and the composition, the interaction of the figures and the way I was able to capture the moment.  I have to say, though, that it is sure a challenge to go from doing all these little 6x6 paintings to larger ones.  There's alot of things I like about this painting, but I miss the immediacy that comes with the little paintings and the focus on the shapes.  It is so easy to get caught up in details and to start "noodling" around with the larger versions!  I am sure I'll be working with this subject again to focus more on simple shapes and values.  Another thing about this and the other two bellydancing paintings I did is the light--there were yellow, red and blue lights all influencing the subject--interesting to work with that!