Green and Violet

Oil on Wood

8" x 8"

2013

I went to the Nicolai Fechin exhibit at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle last weekend, a great show! Fechin's technique is completely different from mine, of course, but I really admire his bravura with a palette knife and his excellent draftsmanship. It was also really interesting to see his work change over the years, from a dull palette to one with much more color. It's very worthwhile to see this exhibit; the paintings look very different from any of the photos I've seen of his work online or in print. A must see!

After the show I was inspired to get out my palette knife and play around, so I did this little self-portrait study (it's 5" x 7")

Artichokes

Oil on Panel

16 x 20

October 2012

Ornaments

Ornaments

Oil on Panel

36 x 40

This piece has been accepted into the Edmonds Arts Festival, to be held in June 2012. I'll post a link when I get more information.

Progress

It has been ages since I've posted here, mainly because I'm still working on one large painting. I don't want to show the whole thing until it's done, but here are a couple of progress photos. The top photo shows the painting after an initial acrylic block-in and one coat of oils, and the bottom photo shows a second layer. I never know how many layers I have to paint each element. I'm hoping to get this done in the next couple of months so I can show it to the public.

Green and Violet

Green and Violet
Oil on Panel
8" x 8"

This painting was finished in March but I forgot to post it here. This will be my last marble painting for a while as I've started on another large piece. I'm including a WIP photo here. I have blocked in most of the background and some of the other areas.

Group Show in Seattle

A few of my paintings will be shown at the Seattle Design Center as part of a group show with the EAFA organization. I plan to be at the reception on Thursday, March 10th. Here is the information about the show:

You’re Invited:
         EAFA Gallery at Seattle Design Center
 
          Exhibit II – March 1 through April 8, 2011
 
          Please join EAFA and our participating artists
 
  Opening Reception for Exhibit II
Thursday March 10, 2011   2:00 to 4:00 pm
Light Refreshments will be served
 
and
 
Open House & Reception
Thursday March 17, 2011   3:00 to 7:00 pm
Light Refreshments will be served
 
EAFA Gallery at Seattle Design Center
5701 Sixth Avenue South, A239
Seattle, WA.  98108
Gallery Hours:  Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
No Children under 12 Please

Bunnies 2

Oil on panel

24" x 36"

Here is my latest painting. I'm also including a detail photo so you can see what the piece looks like close up. As you might be able to tell, I like these chocolate bunnies. I loved painting the intricate patterns in the crinkled foil.

This piece took several months to paint, so I'm taking a break from larger pieces after this and will be painting a couple of the small marble paintings before I do anything else.

Detail:

Still Here!

I haven't disappeared! I snapped a quick shot of my latest piece that's in progress, it's really kicking my butt. I am hoping to get it finished by the end of September. At this stage I've made one pass of color and am working on the second pass of color. The yardstick I use as a mahlstick.

Show at Angle Gallery

I will be showing my group of marble paintings in a group show with three other artists, at Angle Gallery in Pioneer Square in Seattle this Thursday, June 3rd, as part of the First Thursday Art Walk. Our works will be hanging in the hallway area. I'm including a link to the gallery for more info, and you can scroll down to the bottom to see a shot of the gallery itself.

This is a great group of artists that I'm involved with, we have very different styles and use different mediums, but we all support and admire each others work, and these women have been instrumental in helping me with advice and encouragement. If you're in the area, I encourage you to stop by!

Green Stripe

Oil on Wood
8" x 8"

This is the last in a series of marble paintings that I've been working on. I have really enjoyed playing with the different backgrounds and lighting situations of these pieces, but I'm definitely ready for something a little bigger! My next painting will be much larger, so it may be a little while before I post my next work.

Feature in Poets and Artists

I am thrilled to be featured in the June issue of the online magazine, Poets and Artists. This magazine features some of the best contemporary artists out there, including many photorealists,  and to be included in these pages is really humbling.

Orange Stripe

Oil on panel
8" x 8"

I've got one marble left to paint in this series. It's been really fun to attempt painting the different textures and lighting situations of these pieces.

Blue Black Marble

Oil on panel

8" x 8"

Yellow Stripe

Oil on panel
8" x 8"

Green Marble

Oil on panel
8" x 8"

Green Marble WIP Pt. 2

This is what it looked like after a second session of painting. I'm currently refining details and playing with the background color. Sometimes I get the background the color I want right away, but other times I have to play around with warms and cools to get it just the right hue and value. The shadow on the top of the painting is from the easel.

Marbles

I'm working on a series of small marble paintings. I'm fascinated with marbles and love staring at the differences in the surface and interior. These paintings are almost abstract to me, they're kind of an iconic circle or sphere shape against a stark background.

This is the beginning of a green marble.

This is how I start a lot of my paintings, very loose and just establishing values. For this painting I decided to do a true grisaille underpainting, and really worked up the details on the marble using just gray and white. I used raw umber and ultramarine blue for the gray.

I didn't take a picture of the finished underpainting, but here is how it looks after one glaze of color:

I normally paint more directly, only adding some glazing at the end, so this is a really different method for me. I'm not sure if I like painting this way or not. I will try to keep taking photos of this one to show it's progress.

Bunnies

 

Oil on Linen

28" x 32"

This is the large painting that I have been working on for several months. I made the purple and pink bunny slightly out of focus to let the yellow bunny pop out a little bit.

Burien Art Gallery Juried Show

 

I'm pleased to announce that three of my paintings were chosen to be exhibited in the Artists United Annual Juried Show for 2009. The painting above, "Turquoise and Green," was chosen for use on the postcards advertising the show, and I was informed that the painting "Sardines" won honorable mention in the show.

"Candy 3" is the 3rd painting that will be shown.

 

Teresa Saia and Ken Turner were jurors for the show, which includes paintings and 3D art. The show runs at the Burien Art Gallery in Burien, WA from September 3-27, 2009, with the opening reception on September 4, 7-9pm. 

I'm looking forward to a great show, there are some really wonderful artists in this group, and hope you can stop in to see the show!

Ford 9 Inch

 

Here's another car part I painted several years ago. I have always been interested in so-called "realism" and getting an accurate representation of what I'm painting, but at this point in my painting career, I was too impatient to take the time to get it completely right, so there may or may not be that many actual teeth or splines (or whatever it is they're called!) on the wheel.  I do think the slightly clumsy draftsmanship gives it some charm. I would love to paint another one of these.

Oil on Canvas

14 x 18