"Lunching With Friends at Le Pain Quotidian" (sold)

10"x8"

Oil on Panel

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted the watercolor study for this!!  Busy times, lots of traveling, teaching and illustration work!  Too, after three and a half years, it has been time for a break from attempting to paint or draw for the blog on a nearly daily basis (and feeling guilty when I can't get to it).   I hope to get back to posting on a more regular basis soon!

One of the trips I took earlier this summer was to the east coast.  This painting is from the restaurant Le Pain Quotidian in New Canaan, CT.  I have so many paintings I want to do from that trip, which also included NYC!!  I can't wait to get to them!

"Lunch at Le Pain Quotidien, New Canaan" watercolor study

Watercolor on 140# Arches

16"x12" sheet size

$100 includes domestic s/h

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I just returned a few days ago from a trip to the east coast.  I'd hoped to do some watercolor sketches on the trip, but just didn't get to it--lots of photographs, though, and lots of ink sketches of people in the airports!  As the title says, this study is from Le Pain Quotidien in New Canaan.  I loved the light in there and am looking forward to doing an oil painting of this subject.  I had to look up "quotidian" (qotidiEn in French) and it means "daily". . ."our daily bread". . .how nice!

Painting in Process--"At the Riverside Market"

16"x20"

Oil on Panel

$1350 framed, plus shipping

Available after May 6th

This painting (which is almost finished!) is for a specific juried show sponsored by the Arts Beauty and Culture Commission here in Bend, Oregon.  The process of preparing to do it and the actual painting of it has really been great.  The theme of the show (Place 12:  City Walls at City Hall) was to explore how the past in our town influences the present and future.  I was asked to create a painting that would also tie in with our town's Vision 2030 of what a "strong community" means.  At first I was feeling like this might end up being like doing an illustration job, but after a great conversation with the representatives of Vision 2030, the word "community" took on a much more personal meaning for me--a gathering place where people feel comfortable, get to know each other, where lives intersect in a meaningful way. 

One person suggested the Riverside Market as a place that fit that description for them.  It's a little neighborhood market/cafe that has served a part of Bend since 1935, beginning as a gas station.  I visited it and found it to be a perfect subject.  It is definitely the kind of place that has a homey feel--the people that own it and that I've met there are so welcoming.  It is a place where people from the neighborhood hang out, getting coffee in the morning and/or enjoying happy hour later in the day and it's definitely kid and pet friendly.  The words from the "Cheers" song "where everybody knows your name" kept coming to mind as I'd sit and sketch and take my reference photos.  They are really active in doing things that encourage improvements in the neighborhood and Bend--like fundraising for the development of a new park close by.   The setting of the little painting with Amber that I posted a few days ago is also here.  I loved painting this and I know a big part of the reason was the interactions I've had with the people in the painting. 

"Amber Clearing Tables at the Riverside Market"

6"x6"

Oil on panel

$140 plus $10 domestic s/h

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The Riverside Market is a great little spot here that I've been spending alot of time at lately.  I was one of 13 artists selected to create a painting for a show that celebrates this town we live in, Bend, OR.  To keep it short, my task was to find a way to interpret the idea of a strong community and I chose the Riverside Market for a number of reasons.  It's old, it's been a neighborhood staple since 1935 whether in the form of a gas station or a market or a coffee shop or all three.  I'll be doing a larger painting about the place, but this was a little warm-up for me of Amber working--she is also an artist and her watercolors fill the walls. 

"Breakfast Conversation"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

contact River Bend Fine Art Gallery for purchase information

I wish I could have overheard the conversation going on here!  They were so involved on a Saturday morning--makes me wonder what went on Friday night!

"Cleaning Up"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

contact Tumalo Art Company for purchase information

Anyone who waits tables (or has, like me!) knows this moment when all of a sudden the customers have left as fast as they rushed in earlier and you are faced with the daunting task of cleaning up everything and getting it ready for the next rush. This painting shows a waitress at the J&M Cafe in Portland, OR who is setting up the tables for lunch after the breakfast crowd has left. I have painted this image before a few years ago and have wanted to do so again, just to see if it would be different. This painting is a little looser than those that came before, the paintings in the background softer. I think it reads better.

"Happy Hour at 900 Wall"

16"x12"

Oil on Board

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A local restaurant, 900 Wall, is the setting of this painting. I enjoyed painting from the perspective of the loft and I was attracted by the late afternoon light.

"Waiting for Breakfast at the Cadillac Cafe"

8"x6"

Oil on Board

$150 includes domestic s/h

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OR

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This little painting is a "rerun"! Just so much happening the past few days that I haven't been able to have enough concentrated time to finish up a painting, so I decided to bring out one of my favorites that I painted over a year ago. That's the upside of busy right now--revisiting a painting that really brought me alot of joy in the doing of it. I loved catching her in mid-step. . .

"At the Zenon Cafe"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

contact River Bend Fine Art Gallery for purchase information

Early morning, foggy, in Eugene, Oregon. . .people starting their day.

"After the Rush" (sold)

8"x8"

Oil on Board

This brings back many memories of my years of waitressing--getting the room back in order, the tables reset, everything ready for the next rush of customers. I was attracted to this scene from a restaurant in Portland, OR, though, by the beautiful and subtle natural light that filled the room.