Serenity

"Serenity"

10 x 16 inches, oil on panel

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Flowering Quince

"Flowering Quince"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas on panel

$400

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February is one of my favorite months to be in Oregon - which I still marvel at, since it was the WORST month of winter where I grew up in the midwest. Things are beginning to bloom everywhere - including this Quince, or Chaenomeles, if you want to get technical about it. ;)

First Camellias

"First Camellias"

10 x 10 inches

oil on canvas on panel

$400

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It's pseudo-spring in Oregon, and things are starting to bloom. I spotted this bush breaking out in blooms on my running route, and went back later in the day with scissors!

August Hydrangeas

"August Hydrangeas"

16 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

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The colors in these "white" hydrangeas are so subtle and varied - I saw a lot of greens reflecting from the ground and the leaves. And where there's green, there's usually purple! Lucky me, my favorite color combo. 

I've got a few more workshops in 2019 - the next one is portrait painting in Eugene, Oregon. It's going to be a small, intimate group (8 max) at one of my favorite local studios, Whiteaker Printmakers. We'll be using the Zorn palette. What is it and how does it work? Come find out! Three spots still open. Click here to view and share.

Thanks!  

Blue Hawaii

"Blue Hawaii"

14 x 14 inches, oil on canvas

$700

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I like this one so much, I put it on a business card!

 

For more random updates like the above, follow me on Instagram! It's mayhem. :)

White Hydrangeas

 

  "White Hydrangeas"

16 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$700

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In this one, I really wanted to play up the darkness inside the glass vase against the light fluffiness of the blossoms. 

Here is my color study - made on the ipad! Which means I've got a time-lapse video of it coming together. Click here to watch!

 

Seeking Sunlight

"Seeking Sunlight"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$400

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This is the season for Black-Eyed-Susans - they are everywhere! So, it's no surprise that a dive into my painting archive turns up several paintings of this lovely flower, from this week in history.

Here is my first one, from August 2008:

 "Black-Eyed-Susan" 5x7" oil on canvas panel, 2008

I am still fond of this painting! I lost the vase in a wax-spilling accident a couple of years ago. It's quite remarkable, the relationships I develop with my still life objects, living with them and painting them over and over for years. I could show you half a dozen paintings of that vase, and now there won't be any more.

This green beauty is a recent gift from a friend. I wonder how many times I'll paint it in years to come?

Clarity in Black and White

"Clarity (Black and White)"

11 x 14 inches, oil on canvas
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Many of my black-and-white paintings are done on Arches oil paper, but this one is on stretched canvas - one that was toned with a sepia base layer, giving the resulting painting a warm glow.

Four Tulips

"Four Tulips"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

Available through Tvedten Fine Art

I love the white bottoms of tulips. These were a particularly satisfying color to mix. I used a combination of Alizarin Crimson and Pyrrol Red. Luscious!

Opening to the Light

"Opening to the Light"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

On Hold

When I walked into the studio yesterday morning, I was immediately captivated by these daffodils - the way the blooms move from almost closed to completely open. I knew that was not going to last long once I turned the spotlight on them! So I painted the flowers first, and by the time I'd finished the rest of the painting, quite a bit later in the day, they were all wide open.

Thirsty

"Thirsty"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

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These flowers were only thirsty for a little while - I popped them into the glass once I finished this painting, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

Hope

"Hope"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$350

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I thought I would counter yesterday's sorrow with some of the antidote. A quietly sunny spring painting. 

The Tarot card in this piece is also a hopeful one - the Ten of Cups, symbolizing emotional fulfillment. Not sure how it works when it's sideways - I'll leave that to the experts! :)

Sorrow

 "Sorrow (Three of Swords)" 

14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

$600

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I'm loving learning about Tarot by researching each card as I use them in my paintings. This one, the Three of Swords, when it's in the upright position, is kind of a bummer - but not entirely without sunshine. Yes, the card represents a painful episode in life, but pain can be seen as an opportunity to grow stronger, to change the direction of your life. While the pain may cloud your vision for a certain period, it will eventually allow you to see clearly and to put the past behind you. 

If you let them, the Swords cards can rid you of your denial and teach you valuable lessons.

...And if you paint them, they can teach you valuable lessons about color mixing and edges!

As always with a piece this large, I began with a black and white study. This one has already gone to a collector who saw it on Instagram, but you can see a lot more of these oil studies in my Etsy shop.

Black and white studies really help me plan my paintings - specifically, the way my big value shapes will affect the composition. What shape and gesture do the darkest darks make on the canvas? How dark are my cast shadows, really? And where is my area of strongest contrast? I keep the study close to me while I'm painting the color version, to remind myself of my intentions.

Emerald Orb - and Workshop Announcements!

"Emerald Orb"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Available via Brackenwood Gallery, click to inquire

My strange little offering from Still Life Open Studio last week. It's always such an adventure - I never know what I will come home with, even though I bring all the objects and set up the still life! 

This painting may be strange, but I love it. It just lingers in my eye.

I want to give you all a last-minute heads up about two still life workshops I'll be teaching soon - one in Park City, Utah later this month, and the other in Oklahoma City in October.  Spaces are still available in both, and I'd love to have you join me!

The Green Teapot, and a chance to watch me paint it - live!

 "The Green Teapot"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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As an artist, I don't often feel that I'm in a "helping" profession. Yes, the arts benefit society hugely, and I'm proud to be a part of that. And yes, when I'm teaching painting, it's incredibly rewarding to be able to pass on my experience to my students. Donating my work to charitable organizations is a different kind of difference-making. I'll never be a social worker, but I truly know how important social work is to my community. So! This Thursday, I'll be participating in a great benefit for Sheltercare, here in Eugene.

I say it's a great benefit, because it really is - it's at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the U of O campus, there's live music, great food, a silent auction of local art, and this year, my talented friend Heather and I will be making art, live, during the event. AND our paintings will be part of the raffle - along with our subject, this lovely green teapot.

So, today's painting was just a warmup, you could say!

Click on the image above for more info about the event - and click here to read an interview with yours truly, on the Sheltercare blog!

Rogue Valley Honey

 "Rogue Valley Honey"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas
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I went South last weekend to spend a couple of days hanging out by a large, beautiful river. It rained the entire time, which kept me from even attempting to paint plein air. To be honest, that was more than OK with me, since there was a Camellia bush in full bloom right outside our front door - and this gorgeous, glowing jar of honey, calling out to be painted from the moment I spied it on the kitchen shelf. So this still life is the product of true serendipity; my artistic journey is like a never-ending scavenger hunt with so many precious treasures hidden along the path, absolutely guaranteed to be found by me if I just keep looking. It's still exciting every time I find one.

 

When I did eventually brave the rainy outdoors, I was rewarded with visual treasures of another sort:

Oregon is amazing! After ten years of living here, I'm still in awe.

Go Green... and Yellow!

 "A Dish of Green Olives"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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Interrupting my stream of residency paintings to post a piece from one of March's Still Life Open Studio sessions. Is it a coincidence that I'm posting this very green-and-yellow painting on the eve of the big Oregon Ducks final four basketball game (green and yellow being the U of O's school colors)? 

 Yes, it is. 😉

These two daffodils took a turn as daily sketch subjects the next morning, looking fresh and rested, even after their rigorous evening modeling session. The lemons, too. Troopers!

Painting a Dead Horse

 

 "Dark Horse"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$300

Available Here

My new project, Still Life Open Studio, is rolling along! It's a gathering where I set up a still life, and you come and paint it! Well, I paint it. You work in any medium you choose. 

This month's session was inspired by Georgia O'Keefe - skulls and flowers. I had the whole gang assembled - Bambi, Bessie, and Mr. Ed. Yorick was on an artist's residency and could not attend.

I'll be hosting two sessions in August: the 11th and the 25th. Come see what I concoct theme-wise! It's still a mystery to me.

Demonstrating A Still Life

 "Poppies in a Blue Vase"

9 x 12" oil on canvas

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I spent last weekend in Edmond, Oklahoma, teaching at The Conservatory for Classical Art. Although I was there for a portrait painting workshop, I started the weekend with a still life demo for a group of young students.

It was also an opportunity for the kids to pick my brain about art school - since several of them are thinking of going. I suppose I'm a good person to ask! I loved art school (I went to MICA), and will use the the things I learned there for the rest of my life.

With the urge to paint still lives - which always overtakes me the minute I set foot inside the CCA (this is my third time teaching there) - temporarily sated, I was ready to move on to the weekend's workshop!

 

A Painting of Flowering Quince

"Quince"

14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

I passed this strange, woody, leafless, flowering bush several times on my jogging route without taking too much notice. Then, I saw a small vase of these blooms on a random desk, and stopped in my tracks. So many of my paintings start with my just noticing some small thing and thinking, "That."

Back to the jogging route I drove, with my trusty glove compartment scissors!

 I've got a still life painting workshop coming up, March 19-20th, in Eugene. It's going to be two intense and informative days - oils and acrylics welcome. More info and online registration here!