A Bouquet for Today

                                     24x30

Another market painting....I was drawn to, yet intimidated by, all the flowers. I wasn't sure how to use them in the composition to enhance yet not overwhelm the picture. I also wanted to have the focus on the man's activity rather than his face. I think the glove helps to do that.

Lunch Break

                                     20x24

Another of my Pike Place Market paintings. I was attracted to the warm dark colors of they interior as they contrasted to the brightness outside.

Custom Set

  

(4) 6x6 paintings

I'm having a blast painting some larger pieces based on photos i took at the Pike Place Market. Meanwhile, however, I got a commission to paint 4 coordinated pieces to hang in a dining room with new iris colored carpet! Doesn't that sound luscious? I toned the panels with what I deemed to be "iris" and went to town. The customer had some paintings in mind, and also requested citrus and glass. I sure hope she likes them!!!!

Pike Place Produce

                                    24x30

I'm having so much fun with these market paintings. It's a huge challenge in simplification and controlling values. With this one, I was intrigued by the way the produce and the shop seemed to frame a bright little window of activity. And I loved the guy's striped shirt.
I took about 50 photos at the market a few weeks ago, and only 4 or 5 seem to be suitable for paintings. I think it may be time to go snap another 50.

Fruit Concentrate

                                       6x6

I have a commission to paint 4 little pieces for somebody. She selected 3 existing images but for the 4th she wanted citrus fruits and glass. I love the way the glass makes the colors bounce around- the lemon is doused in green and orange, the lime's shadow gets a hint of red, and the orange is touched with green. Because her carpet is "iris" and in order to unify the colors, I started with a purple blue background on all 4 paintings.

Balancing Act

This is the 2nd of the two 30x40 paintings that are going to Carmel. I really love the feel of the outdoor cafe scenes.

I haven't been doing daily paintings for some time. It sees that recently my painting is broken up into spurts of furious, obsessive painting- and then no painting at all. Tomorrow we are leaving for a 4 day camping trip with friends, and then 4 days after we get back buy husband will leave for a week. I smell a furious painting session coming on....

We are in the process of exchanging an apartment building we own for one that has an owners unit atop 4 1 bedroom units (close to downtown Seattle- yeah!). Our plan is to completely remodel the building, starting with the exterior and our unit. One of the bedrooms will become my studio. I am concerned about lighting as I am not happy with the lighting in my current studio. I welcome any suggestions, regarding lighting and anything else. I want the most awesome studio I can get within the limitations of the space!

Cafe Troubadour

                                   30x40

This was a composite of several photos. I have painted the violinist several times, but the weirdest thing happened. I was perusing the original photo (taken by a friend) and I thought I saw whiskers, so I enlarged that section and sure enough, my girl is a guy! Who knew???? Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. I was attracted to his/her body language and that's pretty "non-gender" (in this case, anyway....)

The Lady Can Sing

                          16x20

More jazz....I gathered these figures from 3 separate sources. It seems that in most actual "gatherings" one or more of the figures aren't animated enough for me. I want "gesture"- especially when there's movement involved.