Painting of Hanging Copper Pots

"Hanging Pots"
24" x 36"
Oil on Linen Panel

I like to sit in the mornings in a chair in my living room, cat on my lap and coffee in hand, stealing myself for the day ahead.  About a month ago, my gaze fell on my copper collection which hangs above my kitchen island. Diffused, early morning light mixed with some sun coming through the skylight lit them up and I found myself studying the composition that they made.  I usually paint from life, however, I wasn't about to put hooks in my studio ceiling and move this collection within sight of my easel.  So I took several pictures and chose the best of them for this.

This painting will be shown in River Gallery in Mt. Vernon, WA starting on September 18, 2021 for the fall show. Stop by if you have a chance.  

Cloudscape

"Distant Storm"

20" x 10"
Oil on Panel

I recently finished this piece for an upcoming show at Gallery 9 in Port Townsend when I will be the featured artist. The show will be called "The Sky's no Limit".  Actually, that might change but for the moment it seems to fit.  I've completed a number of cloudscapes over the past year and I'd like to present them together in one show.

Like most folks, I'm always looking up at the sky.  I find clouds fascinating and a touch spiritual. They're always changing and so ephemeral.  I've recently adopted a few new techniques for capturing them.  The best is to work in glazes from the very first but I find this frustrating as it means only working a painting for an hour or so before having to put it aside to dry.  And I'm not one to work on several paintings at a time.  Maybe two or so but rarely more than that. So I've adopted a technique that once I'm through with the initial first pass, I can start working in combinations of opaque and glaze.  It generally takes about four or five passes before the work is finished.  A fully glazed painting could have as many as 20 or more - many more, passes.  This technique seems to work best for me although I'm always looking to improve or innovate.

Stop by Gallery 9 on first Saturday in July.  I'll be there about 5:30 and am always happy to talk about my technique.  

Painting of a Jade Plant

Journal Entry, Thursday, March 26th.  Done. I've been on a mission to finish this piece so that I could get started on a landscape commission. I brought the piece to a finish over the last three studio days and let it rest between to see what it needed. Overall, I'm happy with the painting although my vision for it was a bit different, the end result was satisfying. I'm pleased with the fabric and the vase design came out well. The last change I made was to the vase where I darkened it with a glaze a bit on the right side.

So, off to the gallery and onward and upward.  

Painting of a Jade Plant

Journal Entry: March 6, 2015

Today was a teaching day but the class was small so I was able to do some work on the piece.  The cloth is starting to come together and I'm finding great satisfaction in the way it's evolving. I can see where it will take on more dimension and feel once I start to add some compliments and some blue as well to the lights and shadows. I've been experimenting with this as I go along. I'm not an impressionist but I do love the way color can enliven a traditional painting when added in the right place. One of my favorite painters is Howard Terpning. His use of color is pure magic and I'd like to add some of that to my work. The metallic threads in the cloth are fun to do as well. The use of tiny pieces of white along with yellow ochre and cad yellow in certain places really work to bring these out. One of my students accused me of using metallic paint! Ha! Overall, very satisfied with the progress today. 

Painting of a Jade Plant

Journal Entry, March 2, 2015

I spent the better part of the morning contemplating this possible disaster and trying to decide where to go next. The plant itself didn't take long to get a first pass in a few days ago but I can see that the fabric will be more of a challenge. The light in the studio is best now around 2:00 PM. It wafts softly onto the setup and the shadows are deeper and warmer at that hour. But the light soon fades after that and I'm back to artificial light. I can't wait half a day for one hour's easel time. I can see that I'll have to work on this problem before my next piece. It's never been this much of an issue before. Why am I so focused on it now?                                                           

  
In tackling the tapestry, I considered painting it alla prima or working flatly and then describing the lights and shadows with glazes and scumbles. I decided on a combination of the latter. It's a challenge because the shadows are rather shallow and poorly described in the morning hours. By working it in glazes, I have the option of darkening and brightening selective passages when the light is right. (An apology to my readers about the easel light which blows out the plant.) I worked the darks and lights on the areas of cloth that didn't have design on them and left the design relatively flat. Much of that will have to be described later.

My container looks sick and lopsided. I can hardly stand to look at it. Definitely a lesson in getting the drawing right before starting work. I covered a lot of canvas today, but the real meat of the work still lies ahead. 

Oil Painting of Crystalline Glaze Tea Pot and Eggs

"Two for Tea"
Oil on Board, 9" x 12"

Hot off the easel. I just finished this little piece. Usually I paint by the north light that comes in from the large arched window in the studio. I started this under north light, however, here in Washington in the winter, the light fades fast and with so many overcast or rainy days, the light fades even faster in my studio. I like to paint in all day sessions but the fact that by 2:00, it's too dark, put a damper on my work day. So I added some artificial light to supplement. It did warm things up a bit and made it possible to work through the day, but I'm not entirely happy with the cast the light put on my set up. The shadows turned rather cool in response to the warmer light and the work just didn't have the same feel. I'm thinking that in the future, I'll either paint entirely in warm artificial light or just wait out the weather. Your comments are always welcome.

Oil Painting of the Virgin Mary

Madonna in Moonlight
16" x 20", Oil on Linen

A commission for the virgin was my Christmas project. She's kept me busy for some time but was worth the fun and challenge. The composition is a traditional triangle which also represents the Holy Trinity and lends stability to the painting. Mary is painted in moonlight and has a soft halo around her head. The background is stark and rather simplified to bring attention to Mary and represents the world before Christ came into it. Unlike more traditional paintings of the Virgin, Mary is depicted alone, engaged with her unborn child. Her expression has a slightly sad but sweet smile prompting the viewer to wonder at her thoughts.

This piece was very difficult to do as the subject is in moonlight. Under normal conditions at night, the cones in the eye shut down leaving the rods, which depict light and only the colors of blue and green, to do the work. This generally renders the landscape in tones of blue and green. Reds show up as black. Obviously, one can't paint a figure in all blues, greens and black. She'd look like the daughter of Dracula. So I needed to take a lesson from the masters on this and used mostly cool variations of skin tones with cool reds to warm the features. Depending on your monitor, she will either appear a bit cool or a bit too warm. In person, she looks neither. On my monitor the painting appears a bit bright, but she is resting in a dim environment.

I have prints and cards available of this painting. Email me to inquire.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all!

Oil Painting of Sea Shell

"Sea Gift"
Oil on Linen, 6" x 8"

A class mate at Georgetown Atelier, created a very large beautiful still life of a huge conch shell the year we graduated. Of course, I've never forgotten that shell and the work that Holly put into it.  This can't hold a candle and it's quite small to boot. But I'm still happy with it.  I framed it in a beautiful arched frame that looks spectacular with it and will be hanging it at Gallery 9 this September. I plan to do a series of these small paintings in arched frames. Eventually, I should have enough to do a whole show of them. Fun!

Floral Oil Still Life

"Summer Medley"Oil on Linen, 24 1/2" x 20"

It's been a beautiful summer up here in the great Northwest. And though I haven't posted (my bad), I've been busy. Although I'm noted among my friends for having a black thumb and I have trouble growing them, I still love to paint flowers.This one took a while between family visits and other things - among them plumbing woes.

I'm proud to announce that I am a new artist at Gallery 9 in Port Townsend, WA. I showed for the first time this past Saturday for the Port Townsend Gallery Walk. If you get out that way, come and visit. It's a beautiful gallery with a great stable of fine artists. 

Female Nude

"What Dreams May Come"
Oil on Linen Panel, 8" x 6"

The figure is my favorite subject. I never tire of painting the nudes or even costumed models. Once a week I sponsor a figure drawing group at my studio and together we pay for 2 1/2 hours of a model's time. This model in particular is a dream to work with. I knocked out this little study the other day. She's for sale. To view the auction or bid, click here.