I Hear the "Click"

 

 "Red Reflection"

9 x 12 inches, oil on Arches oil paper

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If I paint until I'm 100, I'll never get tired of the little tricks light plays on the world. 

This painting exists because of that beautiful red streak bouncing onto the underside of the pomegranate from the silver dish. When I saw that, I heard the "click," that inner voice that says, "This still life is ready to be painted!"

Below is a quick color chart of my palette for this piece: Cadmium Red light and Alizarin Crimson, combined with Hansa yellow, Ultramarine blue, and a green mixed from the two. Then two rows of tints beneath. This chart was a demo for one of my private students, to show the possibilities of having  both a warm and a cool version of one of the primaries in a limited palette. 

 I'll be in the Portland, OR area this weekend, teaching "Color Mixing for Painters" at Sequoia Gallery + Studios - you can still sign up for that! More info, and online registration here. Can't attend a workshop? Check out my online art mentorship program.....

 

....And, as always - thanks for reading!

Color Phases

 "Fall Four"

12 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

$700 

Click to buy

I've been painting a lot lately, and it feels great! I am ready to move on from pumpkins, though. It actually seems that I've been in an orange phase for a couple months now. I didn't realize that I go through these cycles with color until it was pointed out to me by my 11 year old private student the other day. She was gazing at the wall where I hang my paintings to dry, and said, "You paint a lot of orange, don't you?" And I said, "Well, um, yes, I guess I do!"

Perspective: just one of the benefits of letting other humans into your studio once in a while! 

If you scroll back though my still lives from this year, you'll see that I do cycle through colors - before orange, it was purple/red, and before that, yellow (a perennial favorite), then green, then red.  I tend to be into red in the winter months - and my current orange obsession can't be explained by the prevalence of pumpkins during this time of year - I've got oranges, cantaloupe, and grapefruit under my belt as well. Literally. I ate them.

Here's my work-in-progress. This painting took about three days to complete. 

As always, thanks for looking - and for reading this far! If you'd like to see my recent orange phase paintings in person, I'll be showing most of them during November at Out on a Limb Gallery, here in Eugene. The opening reception is Friday, November 4th, from 5:30-8 pm. Hope to see you there!

Political Pumpkins

"Political Pumpkins"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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I didn't watch the debate, and only caught a few minutes of it on the radio, but when I saw this comment my painting got on Instagram, I looked up some images. Sure enough, this pair of pumpkins is evocative of our candidates - especially with Hillary in that white power suit! 

Though I feel bad for my orange pumpkin - he doesn't mean to be looming so ominously over his short, white friend. Don't worry, orange pumpkin, I won't do this to you.

From Drawing to Painting

 "Squash Game"

14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Click to buy

Another painting, mining my maybe-excessive Hillsboro pumpkin patch lode.

I brought them all home from Still Life Open Studios and threw them on the studio table, where they were very conveniently waiting when it was time for my next daily sketch. As I was drawing, I began to see that there was a painting there, somewhere.

There are lots of reasons that artists draw - and there are plenty of artists for whom drawing is the main medium of creation. As a painter, there are several things that make drawing an integral part of my studio practice.

 For one thing, it keeps me in touch with my love of line. I'm always trying to paint more tonally, with fewer outlines, so junking out on lines and hatchmarks feels really good when I sketch. 

I've got a brand new workshop coming up October 29-30, here in Eugene called "From Sketchbook to Canvas: Drawing to Improve Your Painting." Despite that maybe-excessive title, it's going to be a simple class: we're going to draw, then we're going to paint. And we're all going to learn something about ourselves as artists, and our own unique artistic process. More info and online registration here!

A Fall Shopping Spree

 "Ghost Pumpkin"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$300

Click to buy

I lucked out in more ways than one when I found this farm during the Washington County plein air event last week. Not only did they have gorgeous pear trees, they had lots of pumpkins for sale. So, with Still Life Open Studios in mind, I stocked up:

We had a fun session of SOS last night - and a colorful one! The next one will be Thursday October 20th. Join us!

"October Arrangement" still life oil painting thanksgiving decor pumpkin squash apples

 

8 x 8"

oil on canvas

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Ok. I think I may have worked through my obsession with the stripes on this funny little gourd, but no promises regarding my melange of different apples. Especially that orangey one, it's still calling out to be painted. Some people experience religious revelations as voices in their heads. I'm hearing the call of the produce aisle.

"Autumn Apples" Fall fruit pumpkin squash still life art oil painting

 

9 x 12"

oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

This unsubtle play on current seasonal decorating themes also has the honor of being daily painting number 600! According to my highly scientific folder-within-folder-on-the-desktop record keeping method, I have posted 100 non-figurative still life type works in only the last nine months. Here's no. 500, for a trip down memory lane.

 

 I got my restaurant show all framed and installed! It was a bit of a crunch at the end, as the winter rains have arrived in a big, soggy way, and I could not get the final painting to dry for the life of me. I finally slapped a frame on and dropped it off this morning, two hours before they opened for service. 

 And now for the grand experiment I promised to tell you all about in my last post! My friend (and coworker at the firm of Stay-Home-Parents & Co) Alan had the brilliant idea of putting QR codes on the wall labels for each painting. Scanning them with your phone (there are numerous free apps for that) takes you straight to my Etsy shop. You can buy art while you sit there eating dinner! Will this result in more sales? I have no idea. But I do know this: people love an excuse to play with their phones in restaurants, as socially unacceptable as it may be.

"Autumn Bounty" fall thanksgiving decor harvest vegetable fruit oil painting fine art and an announcement

 

11 x 14"

oil on canvas

Framed, price $400

available in my Etsy shop

You know I wouldn't leave my dear old blog hanging for this long without a good reason, so here's the latest: I'm busy getting ready to install a show at Noli Italian Cafe's brand new location here in Eugene. (For the locals, it's right next to Sweet Life).

 The grand opening is next Tuesday October 16th, and my work will be on display through the end of the year (in case you have plans that night, or something)!

I'm also excited to try out a new idea (the inspiration for which, if it actually ends up working out, will not go unaccredited) with this show. Here's a hint: