From the West Coast

Colorado Street Bridge (detail)

I'm getting settled here on the west coast.  I stepped off the train with a horrible flu/cold, got laryngitis but my voice came back just in time for the holidays.  Aside from the 3 weeks recuperating, I'm loving California.  Beautiful weather and scenery.  

I start teaching a drawing class next week, so I'm busy getting ready for it.  I've spent so much of my last several years painting that I'm looking forward to drawing again.  Nothing like having charcoal all over my hands and occasional face smudge.  

I will share more about my new life at a later time.  In the meantime, I'm just living in the present, soaking it all up and trying to get into some sort of routine.  Until I get back on schedule for painting, I'm sharing a bit of a piece I'm currently working on.  

Hope everyone has a fabulous 2014.  I'm counting on mine to be awesome.

Is this Summer? - SOLD

"Bountiful Roses"

8x8  Oil on Linen Panel

I can't remember a summer less hot & more wet.  Summer in the south is hot, humid & sticky but not this summer.  Not complaining, like the cooler weather but a little less rain would be nice.  But the flowers seem to have benefited.  

Abstracted Again - SOLD

"Caribbean Storm"

12x12 Oil on Linen panel

$325 

I'm currently distracted painting abstracts.  For years, I've been unable to "see" a path to paint in an abstracted manner.  But evidently, my brain flipped the switch.  No worries though, I'm still going to paint my impressionistic art.  Just going to ride the abstract waves for a while.

Check out my latest post about abstracts here.

Abstracted - SOLD

"Splash of Hollyhocks"

12x12 Oil on Linen Panel

$325 

After many years of contemplating painting some abstracts, I finally took the plunge.  It was a blast!  I struggled for a starting point but found that inspiration from my last painting "Garden Shed II".  

Keeping some basic rules in my sight, I let color drive this work.  Color harmony, shape variety, calm & chaos were floating through my mind.  Stopping before I overworked was a challenge.  In the end, I was pleased.  I think it successful because I started with a sound foundation & hopefully, never lost sight of it.   Check out my Art Tip Blog post for Tuesday, it will be about what makes a good abstract & a few other thoughts.  

Carefree Days

"Carefree Days"

6x6  Oil on canvas/board

At auction on DPW, click here to bid.

Last summer I did a series of my friend, Julie Hill's daughter as play.  See the paintings here, here & here.  Painting children can be fun and I've done more than my fair share of "sweet" kids paintings.  While exploring this subject, I wanted to focus much more of the joy of the kids "at play" and keep the "sappiness" to a minimum.  For me, the color palette will dictate whether I'm successful.   Any thoughts?