Autumn's Wake (process) 30x40"

"Autumn's Wake" 30x40" Oil

So much painting has been going on in my studio, but not much time to post about it all as I'm prepping for two shows in a matter of days. This one piece in particular I felt was worth sharing as I took care to take process pictures along the way. It was inspired by a plein air piece I painted last October on a beautiful day on Sauvie Island, OR. (my favorite place to paint). The geese were everywhere and the colors were soft and dreamy.

Starting out with an underpainting of transparent earth red, I work the values into the underpainting.

I tend to work the farthest distance areas first so that they are

layered behind all the subsequent brushstrokes. The sky takes shape.

Working in the trees and some of the foreground grasses.

I can't wait to work the water in this piece. One of my favorite parts is the 

reflections and relationships water has with the sky and shore.

All done!  This piece will be unveiled at Caswell Gallery in Troutdale on Friday, February 7th.

Opening at Attic Gallery, Feb 5 and 6th

The past month I have painted A LOT for some upcoming shows!  I will be having 2 openings of this month and am thrilled to present my newest gallery, Attic Gallery, to my growing list of venues. Here is the flyer for the Attic Gallery on Feb 5 and 6th.

I am so proud to formally unveil twelve of my urban inspired plein air works in oil at Attic Gallery for the month of February. These pieces were all completed on location as I observed the city in it's parts as the urban landscape continues to draw my attention. I will also be including 5 larger studio pieces in pastel to make this show complete.

This Preview or "soft opening" will be held on Wednesday, February 5th. Unfortunately, Portland's First Thursday Gallery Walk coincides with the opening of the Winter Olympics on February 6th. Attic Gallery will continue to hold it's formal opening date on "First Thursday" February 6th.  I will be at both openings from 6:00 to 8:30 pm.

Wednesday Feb 5th

Thursday Feb 6th

6:00-8:30 pm

So come on out to help me celebrate my hard work at the Preview night at Attic Gallery on Wednesday, February 5th, --- OR--- First Thursday February 6th.  Located at 206 SW 1st Ave, Portland, OR. 

Attic Gallery is conveniently located along the MAX line.

Carol's Cup & Alorro Gold, 6x6 & 36x36"

"Carol's Cup" 6x6" Oil (Sold)

Tea cups continue to grab my attention for subject matter for my small 6x6 series because they fit so well in a square format. I hope to have "Carol's Cup" varnished in time for Caswell Gallery's First Friday opening on Feb 7th. They have also asked me to produce a few larger pieces for them and I have worked and worked on this piece (below) and boy did it have it's challenges, but I think I'm finally done with it...

"Alloro Gold" 36x36" Oil

Because I normally work on a smaller scale, the size difference was certainly new and challenging.  Have you ever sized up and things just didn't go so well?  Yeah, I feel your pain! Figuring out brushstrokes, composition, mixing much larger piles of color were all changed up. Furthermore, I went through the painting without sketching out a composition, and that was the biggest challenge of all. Asking upon my fellow artist friends to help me see through the fog, it became apparent that it was composition. From that, I certainly realized my hard lesson to make a few compositional sketches before I put any paint down. Painted predominantly with a palette knife.

Here is a slide show of it's process by "FlipoGram", an app I found that makes a fun slide show. It was easy to use and fun to see how the painting evolved. Have a peek HERE.

"Nearly Home" 12x16" and Pastel Workshop news

"Nearly Home" 12x16" Pastel

This past weekend I headed out to Eugene, OR to do a demonstration at the Emerald Arts Center in pastels. In an effort to encourage artists to attend my upcoming workshop in March, I chose a colorful palette of purples and blues.  I'm not sure just why I gravitate to certain colors, but the cooler hues of purple and blue seem to be in nearly all of my pieces. Why is it that one will choose to pick a certain color scheme or rage of hues? I for one, think I tend to pick cooler colors because of one silly observation about my personality: I am highly enthusiastic! Perhaps it's because I have a fiery personality and need to "cool" it down a tad? Heck, I don't know what it is about the cooler colors, but I love how soothing they are.  Calming to my eyes and peaceful.  What colors to you prefer?

What:  Explore pastels with my "Pastel Punch!" workshop
When:  March 21-23rd, 2014
Where:  Emerald Arts Center
500 Main Street, Springfield, OR
Cost:  $325

PFAFF, 6x6

"PFAFF" 6x6" Oil

After a long two weeks with family and festivities, I finally got back to painting for an entire day. Having stored up a lot of creative energy, I got super focused and dove into the "illustrative" mode. Much like meditation, I figure it a great way to solve all the worlds problems when I go deep into painting. What do you think of when you create? There is no real answer for me, but perhaps it's just solving what's before me;  shapes, color, value, depth, space, and perhaps the all the  emotional stuff going on in one's head too. As for this one above, it was an escape back to painting I so enjoyed.  The little PFAFF sewing machine oil can was found at an antique store in Klamath Falls, OR., and the wooden spool and clothes pin are my dear neighbors. The buttons are from her endless collection too.  Perhaps not centered accurately, it could stand to have some air above the can's spigot and less "base" at the bottom.