The Night Shift

24x18

The was derived from a reference photo taken at Toulouse Petit Restaurant on the south slope of Queen Anne Avenue North.

Light a Candle

12x12

I have started a new series featuring Seattle restaurants and bars. This was based on a photo I took at "The Whale Wins" on Stone Way. It was late afternoon and the waitress was lighting the table candles for the dinner crowd to come. I like the ambience of the restaurant; an appealing mix of cottage, contemporary and industrial in mostly wood and white.

Young Wine

6x8

This was painted in response to the DPW Challenge- to paint a vineyard. I opted to stop the vineyard at the foreground, which I can see now make s it rather ambiguous. It could be an orchard as easily as a vineyard. Hmmm...the easiest way to solve that would be with a name change.

White Camisole

6x6

I was so drawn to this young woman's stance. I will probably use her somewhere in a larger painting, but I felt compelled to do a little painting featuring her alone.

Contemplation

This is the painting I created last year  from the same reference photo that I used for "Me Time". It was much smaller- I think 12x9. I have to say,  I like the vertical format. I bet I could paint this same figure many more times and come up with different versions. Maybe I'll do one every year. That could be interesting (to me, anyway).

Me Time

20x24

I have used this photo reference before for a small painting, and I really like the contemplative mood. My previous painting was pretty neutral. This time I had fun with color. 

As Anybody Can See

                                                                         

18x24

Here's another bocci painting. These guys are so expressive. I just love that! So fun to paint....

Close Call

 18x24

Just started painting on oil primed linen panels. Boy, do I like them! They're a bit on the expensive side, but I decided to give it a go anyway. I'm thinking they're worth it. I like he fine texture combined with the firm surface.

Dining in Style

Dining in Style 24x24

Still on the theme of waiters and restaurants. I love the gesture; that's my favorite thing to paint. I now have an idea that I will visit Seattle restaurants soon after they open- before they're too busy, and ask if I can photograph wait staff and bartenders for a series I want to paint. I think it could be a fun project- and, what the heck, may as well stay for happy hour...

Order Up

                                                                      18x14 oil

This is not a (very) little painting, and neither will be the next few I post. I have been painting almost daily, though. This painting and 2 others will be shipped to Edward Montgomery Fine Arts in Carmel, CA as soon as I get them framed.

I have made it my summer project to work hard on strengthening my compositions. To that end I'm spending a lot more time in the planning stages thinking "link values", "create just a few interesting shapes" think in terms of "most", "some" and a "little"(shapes, colors, values), decide whether the painting is to be mostly warm or cool...I try to work all that out before I begin.  It's kind of like a puzzle to make the "picture" work well literally as well as abstractly.

If I were to describe my desired goal in my paintings it would be to express the gesture of the human form loosely and correctly, with the rest of the painting dissolving into abstraction that supports the figure(s). Within all that I want the brushstrokes to be varied and loose, and the rightness of the paint itself to shine. Is that asking too much?

Step it Up

6x6 oil on gesso board

This was painted in response to Daily Paintworks weekly challenge, which was to center a painting around Pantone's color of the year "Radiant Orchid". It's not a color I often use, so I really enjoyed giving it a try. I love how it sets off the lime green.

Basking in the Glow

6x6 oil on gesso board

I had a commission for a painting similar to one I did a year or so ago, so I painted 3 versions of this still life setup. It was an interesting exercise, as I considered possible ways to crop and light the picture.  Below is the painting the client selected. And below that is the third view (with a different bowl).

At Your Service

6x6 oil on Gessoboard

I'm preparing to paint some larger canvases, and this is a study for one of them. My goal is to create lively scenes with lots of movement, and plenty of abstraction to accompany the least amount of realism required to suggest the scene. Can she pull it off? We'll see....

Encounter

6x6 oil on Gessoboard

                                                               
This week's Daily Paintworks Challenge was to use a photo reference, but to quickly isolate the basic shapes from memory. I was intrigued with the heavy lady and wanted to capture her essence, using the other figure only as a supporting element.

I'm Back with "Splat"!

"Splat" 6x6

I'm finally back in my studio and happy to be painting again! I've been in Arizona since mid October, where I have access to a fabulous clay studio. Since I don't have that opportunity when I'm here in Seattle, I take advantage of it down there- and I don't paint. I love both ceramics and painting, so it's a win/win.  I look forward to re-establishing communication with my Daily Paintworks friends!

Below is one example of my ceramics. I will post some more of these in the next few days. I haven't yet figured out how to properly photograph them; they're trickier than paintings! This one is entitled "Just say Om"

I'll Tell You No Lies

30x48

So here's the big one I sent off today. I started it months ago, and then sat on it for a while. It just wasn't working for me, yet there were things I liked about it. You artists out there know how that works! I like it now. It has that blend of realism and painterly abstraction that is my current direction. I'm finding restaurants, cafes, and musical venues to have that ambiguous lighting that allows you to experiment freely with shapes and color, yet maintain some level of believability. 

And So Begins the Day

                                        24x20

I haven't posted in the longest time! We have been busy with a remodel on an apartment building we bought- and other stuff. When I've had a chance to paint, I've been working on bigger paintings. The daily painting regimen seems to have gone by the wayside. I will have to change the name of my blog. My paintings have all of a sudden started "flying off the shelves" at Edward Montgomery Fine Arts in Carmel. Fluke or trend? I don't know, but he needs replacements. This is one I painted last week. I also finished a 30x48 one that I started months ago but couldn't seem to complete to my satisfaction. I think I like it now. I'll post it soon.

Sunset

6x6

I have always said that I wouldn't paint sunsets because photographs can capture their beauty and  paintings can look so trite. However, I began to look at sunsets differently- especially the more raucous ones with clouds and lots of movement. I saw where lively brushwork could create an interpretation that would not be trite and perhaps would capture the sensation of nature's fireworks in the sky. This is the first of what may become a series.

I will be out of town for the coming week, so will not be posting. I hope to have lots of ideas and time to paint when I return!

What a Marvelous Night for a Moondance

6x6

A couple nights ago the moon was marvelously orange and reflected in the water. I did not see a crow there at the time, but thought that he would complete the scene. I also liked the "tie-in" of the little yellow orb of his eye with the big orb of the moon.
         

Coming In for the Day

6x6

This week;s DPW Challenge was to paint water. This took longer than I expected,as I strove to make the water interesting and varied, so there wed a lot of brush strokes and many colors.
 

Lee

6x6

Lee was a semi-distant relative, but close friend of my husband's (I loved him too). He was a quiet and unassuming man who had an interesting background as a cowboy and steel worker. He succumbed to cancer recently, leaving his devoted wife behind. I painted this for her.

Stepping Out

20x20

This is a companion piece I painted to go with the "Waiting and Waiting" I posted last week. I was attracted to the way the waiter's apron moved as he walked, and I made up the rest of the scene around him.

Blue Hills

30x40

This is another of my Santa Rita mountain series. For those of you who may be interested in some of my older work at bargain prices, I have recently started posting some larger (16x20 for now) paintings on Daily Paintworks auction site with ridiculously low starting bids. I have been painting a lot lately, and changed out some of my work at the galleries, leaving me with a storage problem. I'd love to see some of these pieces go to good homes instead of my basement storage rack.

Carrot Flowers

6x6

Do you know what happens when you leave the carrots in the ground WAY past their pull date? The stalks get tall and you get these really lovely puffy flowers. Who knew? Not this city girl! The carrots are really tough....

Tell Me Your Secrets

30x24

This painting has been through many renditions. The crow is the latest addition. Before that, the woman was just posing for no apparent reason. I like it much better now. 

My background was inspired by a Nicolai Fechin exhibit I saw at the Frye in Seattle. His loosely painted backgrounds were a celebration of color, texture and pattern. If I can achieve only a fraction of his skill, I will be thrilled.

Between Jobs

36x36

Seattle Harbor; one can nearly always see tugboats there and whatever ship happens to be idle at the time. The downtown buildings make an interesting backdrop.

6x6

This is another entry to to DPW Composition Challenge. It is essentially a black and white composition with a spot of color. The "weight" of the colored section is balanced by the black cup and the detail on the handle of the cup combined with the sharp contrast draws the eye into the picture One thing I thought was interesting was how the color from the green and red squares bounced onto the underside of the white dish and then back down onto its shadow. It's funny how you don't even see these things until you study them for a a painting.

Waiting and Waiting

20x20

Sure am glad that DPW hosted a "Hand Challenge" last week! It gave me the confidence to tackle this waiter's hands! I've had the reference photo for a while, but only recently decided to crop it this tightly to focus on the interaction between the waiters.
                                                     

Ready Or Not

6x6

This was painted for this week's DPW Challenge, which was to concentrate on composition. In addition I challenged myself to paint fuji apples. The multiple colors make it more difficult to see the values and thus create the form. I'm fond of this oval bowl. It's medium grey on the outside and yellow on the inside. I think it creates some interesting shapes when linked to the background colors.

Santa Rita Spring

30x40

I've been trying to come up with a composition that depicts the pecan orchards in Green Valley, and the part that throws me is that the orchards are rectangular and even- in other words, boring. I opted to place them at an angle for more interest.

Snuggle; version 2

6x6

Last night I reworked a number of paintings. After a bit of time passes, I think I am able to see ways I can improve them. Occasionally I ruin them, but usually I think they're better for having been through the experience. With this one, I decided that the background value should be closer to the values in the objects (it was too light) and the flower needed a bit more of the red-orange hue.

6x6

This week's DPW Challenge: paint these hands on a 6x6 panel. I plan to do it at least one more time. I really admire well painted hands and i hope to be able to do it effortlessly someday!

6x6 Bid on this painting

This is probably my favorite of my recent daily paintings. I love the colors, and I think this knife is pretty cool.

Standup Guy

6x6

I decided that as long as I had the limes out, I'd do another painting....

6x6

For months now, I have been working on larger paintings and doing no little daily paintings other than the weekly DPW Challenges. All of a sudden, I had the urge to paint a little still life. I wanted it to be colorful and light, so this is what I came up with. I was attracted to the light blue on the white cloth as seen through the blue glass bowl. I also love the shadows that start at the red glass and work their way up on the left side of the stacked cups. The expanse of pale yellow background gives the eye a place to rest from the otherwise busy composition.

6x6

This painting is based on an image from Google Street View. I love Google Street View; you can cruise through cities all over the world, up one street and down the other. looking for things to paint. I was captivated by these 3 pedestrians and all the shadows playing on the adjacent wall.

"You Are Here"

                                                               

36x48

     

A new painting on display at Alki Arts. I have taken many photos of the market, but never from this perspective. This painting was based on a Google Street View image. I had a hard time coming up with a title, but and "You Are Here" is perhaps a bit obscure. The colorful rectangle under the umbrella is actually a map, and I think everybody recognizes the "You Are Here" logo that tourists and others use to find their way.

Cockycock

6x6

How's this for color? The DPW Challenge this week is entitled "Pop the Cock"  and I figured the best way to pop the blue would be with orange. However, I started the painting with no ideas beyond that. I think it's kind of a fun little piece. In any case, I had fun painting it.

     

Pecan Season

30x40

This is painting #2 of my larger Southwest mountain series. I really like working larger, as I can get some arm movement into the brushstrokes and really get loose. The shapes in the mountain shadows are starting to reming me of jigsaw pieces. You will see that even more on painting #3.
                   

How Green is my Valley

30x40

Having produced 5 smallish paintings of the Santa Rita mountains, I believe I'm getting enough of a feeling for them to paint larger and with more impressionistic freedom. This is my first large painting. It's a pretty much mythical depiction of Green Valley and the Santa Ritas on a late spring afternoon.

Produce Market

Produce Market 24x30

Two of my paintings have been accepted into the juried show at the Edmonds Art Festival, which occurs on fathers day weekend. "Produce Market" is one of them. I like the Edmonds Festival. They usually have a pretty interesting selection of art in the juried show, and the booths outdoors offer a variety of arts and crafts not seen everywhere else.

"Snuggle" and "Gesture"

These are my two entries for this week's "Different Ways" Challenge. I started with the top composition (which still is my favorite) and then rearranged the objects and painted them from a different perspective. Perhaps I should have experimented with a different color ground as well. Maybe I still will....

6x6

                                                   

"A Moment in Time"

8x24

This is a view of Seattle that was taken from the new ferris wheel on the waterfront. Since the viaduct is soon to be replaced by a tunnel, this view (which has only been possible to see since the ferris wheel was installed a year or so ago) will disappear. That's why this view is truly "a moment in time".

Not Too Cool

                                6x6 Bid on this painting

This week's DPW Challenge: Create a painting where either the cool colors or warm colors dominate. One of the "rules" of painting-well, not just painting- is that variety is more interesting than sameness. In general, cool colors "pop" against a background of warm and warm colors "pop" against cool.

Tubac Santa Ritas 15.5x24  oil on canvas unframed $700

I've been working on some paintings of the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson, Arizona. I find landscapes difficult, as I like them best when they are not too removed from reality, yet i'm not at all inclined to produce photorealist paintings. I'm trying to land on a style that suits me and conveys my impression of the landscape. So far, the best inspiration I've found for the Southwest landscape is Maynard Dixon- and Georgia O'Keefe has some interesting takes on it as well. 

The Fitting

The Fitting 6x6

This is a little painting I did based on a photo I took of Jed when we were in Hoi An, Vietnam a few years ago. Hoi An is known for its many tailors and dressmakers and we had to avail ourselves of the experience. We visited the shop in the late morning, had a fitting in the afternoon and the items were complete by the same evening. Amazing!