Florence From a Bike

Click Here to Bid (8x8in. - starts at $100)

Here's one from my trip to Florence last year. I've been sort of avoiding painting anything from that trip, only because I know they will soon run out of reference photos and then I will be bereft. This happens every year, but I will be especially sad, one, because that trip was especially awesome, and two, I won't be able to photograph more people scenes for a while yet, probably. Not until all this crazy-virus-ness is done. But aside from that, what do I miss the MOST? Hugs.

Where's the Hotel

Click Here to Bid (8x8in. - starts at $150)

Hello again and happy new year!! We are home again from our holiday vacation, and slowly getting back into the swing of things. I wish I could say I've painted already, but I spent the whole day catching up with more menial tasks. I have this and one more painting to show you from before I left. Meanwhile, I will get the really terrible (rusty) paintings out of the way, and hopefully post something new in a few days. : )

Two Dudes and a Puddle

Click Here to Bid (8x8in. - starts at $150)

I went back through my files of a Seattle wander for this one. These dudes were just too cool for words - that and the sky reflected in the puddle made it absolutely impossible not to paint.

As for the cold wax and oil workshop I took earlier this week, I want to show you just a few examples of the absolutely yummy texture I was able to achieve. This was really just SO much fun! Especially since I was able to share the experience with some art buddies. Eventually I want to use cold wax in my regular, realistic work. For now I need to experiment more, and overhaul my studio so I have more room to put stuff!

Sun-kissed

sold. (7x5in.)

I spotted this gal in Germany last time I was there and snapped a quick picture. The back-light was just too perfect. I had fun making some things sketchy and some more solid.

Messenging

sold. (8x8in.)

This is a scene from downtown Seattle. I lived there for a year when I was about 16, and spent many weekends downtown, exploring. It was lovely returning for a photo shoot last summer.

In other news, I've got to let you know about an upcoming trip, because it means I won't be able to ship paintings for a while. We are projected to leave this Sunday, heading south. We will be visiting a number of state and national parks, making a big circle of CA, AZ, UT, NV, and back to OR. This is primarily a family (worldschool) trip, but I am (again) hoping to fit some painting in. I am also hoping to blog about our trip on this other blog, as we go. We will be gone 2 - 4 weeks, depending on the weather and how much fun we're having. I apologize for any inconvenience!

After Sunday, the latest I will start shipping again is Monday, March 7th.

Colorful Lanes

Click Here to Bid (6x6in.)

The reference for this (taken in NYC) was a bit dull, color-wise, but I loved the composition. So I opened it in Photoshop and tried increasing the saturation. Normally I don't like to do this, because it blows the colors out TOO much. But for this it was perfect, and totally inspired me to paint it. I especially love the little pop of greens in the far background.

Escape Door

sold

One of the reasons I decided to take this year off from teaching, is so I can experiment with my work. I haven't posted everything I've done, because some of it has gone down in flames of ... bad. But one thing I've decided to do is paint from photos I've passed over before, but are in my files nonetheless. This is one of those, from an excursion to Santa Cruz, CA. A simple alley in town, complete with matching bike. It's subdued, but I like this one.