Wake-up Call

8 x 8" oil on panel

Another duplicate post from my Paintworks blog. I wasn't sure about this one, so it's gratifying that on Mother's Day they chose it as another DPW "pick of the day" for Facebook. Smile. 

I've been painting a lot of flowers lately, which was never my intent. I'm actually trying to come up with an idea for a series--something interesting enough to hold my attention for 8-10 paintings.

Clivia

18 x 14" oil on canvas

Walking through the financial district, from a city bus to the Amtrak pick-up in San Francisco, a mass planting of orange clivia caught my eye. Only had my iPad for photos, but it does pretty well. My productivity for the past year has been pathetic (at least in terms of painting), so I wanted to finish one more new piece in time for the Art Trek tomorrow. Time to give the studio a lick an a promise, then get into high gear for three shows this fall.

Spring Smorgasbord

14 x 12" oil on canvas

Purple and orange, my favorite complementary colors. Hard to capture the intensity of the original subject.

Moment of Pink

8 x 10" oil on canvas

Camellias--so pretty, so fleeting. Nice to finally complete a new one while making another sale on Daily Paintworks. Really liking that little venue for the encouragement it provides. I hafta say I'm fairly happy with this one, at least for now. Even though it's not as loose as many of the paintings I admire (a goal I may never reach) it has elements of both realism and impressionism--a combination that's pretty much me.

Product or Promotion?

On a whim, I spent a few days making these 2x2-in. medallions of various "framed" paintings. They're basically varnished paper mache, so they'll be very inexpensive. It was fun, but have no idea whether it was worth the time or if  anyone will want them. If not, I guess I'll wear and/or give them away as self-promotion. Time to get back to my real job now: Trying to Figure Out What To Paint.

Organizing a Display

Although I am still relatively inexperienced at doing shows, one thing I have learned is the value of arranging my display in advance. Set-up time is limited, so with each new or different group of paintings, a photo of the lay-out makes the process faster and less nerve-wracking on the morning of the event. 

So here on my living room floor is how I will hang my 5 x 6 ft. panel at Ironstone Vineyards this weekend. A table in front will have books, business cards, and maybe a couple of more small paintings.  Having less space than last year forced me to do more editing--always a good thing. 

Because I still lack a consistent theme or look (working on that) I am never terribly happy with displays of all of my paintings en masse, art-mart style, rather than individually or more spaced out on my walls. For now, grouping by color and size is about the best I can do. But I think the smaller arrangement of mostly new work is a bit of an improvement over last year's hodge-podge. 

Ironstone Vineyards, 2012

"First Camellia" and "The Bathing Woman"

8 x 8" oil on panel

Here are my two latest Daily Paintworks submissions. In the interest of not discouraging an occasional sale, I'm keeping remarks on my dedicated "Paintworks" blog short and sweet--and I'm trying to do that here, too. But sometimes I gotta put the real dish somewhere. So even though some of my DPW traffic seems to visit this blog as well, here's what I really think. 

I desperately want to get back to a more "Hatfield-esque" approach in general and sort of knew where I wanted to go with the camellia. But after I planned, shot and drew it, I took for-freaking-ever to start slapping on paint. Hence the little procrastinating diversion of the DPW Bathing Woman Challenge. Even though the camellia may still not be all I had hoped (come on, you know nothing ever is) it is so completely worth the enormous (for me) effort to loosen up. People seem to like the one below, but I wish I had taken more of the same approach. 

I'm off to pluck a pink one now. Have decided I need more flowers to show at Ironstone Vineyards next weekend and at the Carmel Valley Garden Show in May, where my sweet and wicked funny friend Kathy Klawans Smith has generously invited me to hang a few things in her booth. She is brilliant landscape architect and also makes gorgeous jewelry, which you can see at Venice in the Valley. 

14 x 14" oil on canvas - SOLD

Six Dollar Pitcher

SOLD

10 in. x 10 in. oil on canvas

I can't believe I have not posted for over a month. There were a couple of false starts that went nowhere before I finally made myself finish one. Thanks to those who persist in checking in--so sorry for the lengthy gap. I am still swimming upstream against mighty forces. Only when and if I am able to paint regularly again will I have any chance of regaining the fearlessness I was beginning to develop after working with Hatfield.

Uncontained

SOLD

8 x 8" oil on panel

Another duplicate post from my Paintworks blog. This is for last week's Daily Paintworks challenge, "The Paint Some Cloth Challenge"--a good motivator for those of us who like an "assignment." I love the way stripes describe a form, so this challenge was a perfect opportunity to paint my favorite fabric again. I also like how the black and tan stripes seem to take on other colors--probably could push that more in the blacks.

Greenland Trio

16 x 16" oil on canvas
The flowers were shot at Stanford Med Center with my iPad while waiting for an appointment. Google tells me they are "Greenland" or "watermelon" tulips.

This painting and Spring Flare are my theme entries (daffodils or tulips) for this year's "Spring Obsession" show at Ironstone Vineyards. After decades of illustrating, one would think photographing the art, making a CD, filling out the form, writing a check and mailing would be less of an exercise in OCD. But I still fret about getting it all right, including the file, which is a photo rather than a scan, because I barely finished in time for tomorrow's deadline, and the painting's still wet--all of which ended up feeling rather assignment-like. So I'm ready to return to some more "leisurely painting." (An oxymoron--decent painting is always work.)

I can't believe I have not posted anything new for a month. Blame an up-tick in my other occupations--volunteer nurse and taxi service--during my son's Dec 5 trip to the ER (at midnight, of course), 7 days in the hospital and six weeks of twice daily IV antibiotics at home.

Eurekas

SOLD

8 in. x 8 in. oil on canvas panel

We get fruit almost year round from a little Eureka lemon that grows in a partially protected pot on the patio--the only place we have been able to grow citrus. Everywhere else in the yard, trees either roast in the summer or freeze in the winter.

Pink Flare

8 x 8" oil on panel

This is a warm-up for a painting I am planning for a theme entry in this year's Spring Obsession show at Ironstone Vineyards. The winery, located in a gorgeous setting in Murphys, CA, has stunning gardens, with literally acres of daffodils and tulips that bloom in March. I photographed the flower with my iPad at Stanford University Med Center last spring, while waiting for a post-op appointment for my son (art in the spaces).

Having two art blogs is odd, but I created my Paintworks blog specifically to work with the DPW website. Some posts of small paintings will be duplicates, but I will post larger works only on this one, which currently functions as my default website.

Lilies and Grapes

8x8" Oil on canvas panel

Interesting--neither the scanner nor the camera could properly balance the colors and values in this. I adjusted and blended portions from each and got the colors a little closer, but i'ts still not a perfect reproduction of the painting.

Last of Summer

SOLD

8x8" oil on canvas panel

This one works better for me than anything I've painted for awhile, undoubtedly because it's a bit looser. Other than that, I think the reason a lot of painters have difficulty writing about their work is that painting is, by definition, non-verbal. If I wanted to talk about it, I'd be a writer.

Two-toned Produce

8x8" oil on canvas panel