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....)

Tables and Chairs

                                       6x8 $60 Click to Buy
This is a study for a larger painting. I liked the the disparity in the chair styles and the black reflective wall in the foreground. I hope it works well in a larger size-maybe 18x24. It still needs to feel somewhat intimate, I think. Right now I'm working on a 36x48" canvas. I think that's the largest I've ever done. Man, does it eat up the paint!

Lunch Counter

                                      30x24 oil on canvas
This was a fun one to paint. I tried to concentrate on the abstract shapes, trusting that the total effect would look convincing. So often I think I'm abstracting, only to end up with more realism than I wanted.
This is the first year we will be spending Christmas here in Arizona, away from family. We do have plans with extended family here though- some of my husband's cousins. After Christmas we will have house guests for much of the time until we leave in mid January. I have been spending time at the fabulous clay studio here rather than painting, as anything I make there will need time to dry and then to fire and glaze and fire again. Painting may have to wait until I return to my studio in Seattle.

Indecision

                                 6x6

The DPW Challenge this week is another of my favorite type; "find the painting" in the photograph. Although the photo depicted a lively cafe scene, I was drawn to the girl with the hand raised to her hair. I also liked the way the backs of the chairs "framed" her in the space.
I joined the "Santa Rita Art League" so that I would have a place to paint. Today was the first day I took advantage of it, and I think I'll like it. My frames arrived today too, so I'll be shipping off my little paintings to the Edward Montgomery Fine Art gallery in Carmel. I hope they sell quickly and the demand will be there for larger paintings. Cross your fingers for me! Also, this weekend is the 11/11/11 event at the Seattle Design Center. Ticket Sales are looking good and I hear the exhibition looks awesome. Heavy art week for me!

Lunch Date

                                                  8x6 Bid on this Painting
Painting #2 of the DPW Challenge. It's been a delightful experience seeing all the paintings that evolved form the reference photo. I look forward to more this week.

A Little Something

                                           SOLD
I really like to paint figurative, but I have a hard time creating strong compositions. I'm trying to use what I've learned from setting up still life compositions to apply to other subject matter. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. With this one, I think it worked. I tried to group my values and I also tried to mix nice neutrals. I also wanted to keep the painting as abstract as possible while maintaining the narrative.