The Beginning...

From The Studio...

I don't know exactly why, but all of my newest Chadettes are wearing fuzzy robes.
The group below, Untitled No. 70, 71 and 72. 2 are 8 x 24 inches and the other is 12 x 36 inches. It's also the first time I have ever painted more than one girl at a time. Their skin tones, lips, eyes and back ground are all similar.

The painting on the left is the first Chadette with black hair. It's been a week of firsts.

This photo has nothing to do with art or my painting but it was pretty cool. I shot this from the window in my studio. It seemed much brighter in person.


As of yet Untitled No. 69, 13 x 21 inches. I painted this one for this frame we had. I think it worked out well. I have been trying to use this frame for about three years. Ta Da.

Untitled No. 68, 8 x 24 inches. In this photo her body looks much darker than it really is.

The gallery submissions are grinding along. I have a few galleries that are some what interested but not willing to commit at this time. Many flat out rejections, for numerous reasons. So far I have one gallery that wants to give them a shot. O'Bernier Gallery in La Jolla, California. So woo hoo!

Preparation Has Begun...

As mentioned earlier this week. This is the first practice work for the upcoming "Quick Draw".
Each panel is 12 x 36 inches. Oil on canvas. It took about 45 minutes. I'm guessing.

I had started to listen to "This American Life" with Ira Glass. One of the best PBS radio shows ever. Anywho...Each program is about 58 minutes or so. I started listening, ran upstairs to make myself a Vodka redbull, came back down and began painting. I was finished aboout ten minutes before it was over. Ira made me cry too. A story about the bond of love between parents and children. I have become such a softy.

This was the result...

As of yet Untitled...

On The Easel...

Trying to show the beautiful sky's. All the wonderful colors.
"Red Dawn"12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas


This painting has been painted over more than a dozen times now.
I think this time may be it. I have it in a frame and in the gallery. We'll see.
"Passing Rain" 24 x 30 inch oil on canvas


Going for more of an abstract feel. Getting a good photo is very difficult. This works has some violets and greens in the sky that I really like. I thought about putting a small boat in the lower left corner. No.
"Untitled" 41 x 57 inch oil on canvas

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I decided to do the "Quick Draw" event again. A glutton for punishment. This year I will be doing one of the seascapes. This week I painted a three piece panel, each being 12 x 36 inches, in 45 minutes. Photo to be posted soon. It is still drying and needs to be glazed first.

We should be finalizing our move today or tomorrow. We are looking forward to the new space. Change is good.

Studio Sessions...

Three for one. This is all I have managed to paint for the last week. Each one is 8 x 24 inches. I started two others but they are going no where. Last night I gessoed over 7 paintings. I had been looking at them for weeks and finally decided they were not up to snuff. (gesso is a white primer used to prime a canvas before painting)

The gallery has been sucking the life out of me lately. Huge crowds of people and not a one of them interested in art. I like to refer to it as a cattle call. Mooooo!

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For the last couple of days David and Donny have been over working in my studio. It has some great natural light. The view isn't bad either. You can't see it here but it is.

David is working on a commission seen here. Donny is conceptualizing a large mural project for a coffee shop in Portland. He has been working on it for almost a year now.

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This is the first time in years I have had other artists to work with and share ideas. It helps so much to bounce ideas off one another.

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Mr. Man caught me saying "Butt head" this week. Now he is running around, "Hey Butt head"
Aren't kids a hoot?

Happy Day...It's Dry...

We woke today to find mostly blue sky. No rain, no snow, no hail. Mr. Man and I went for a long ride in the morning. Hit golf balls in the back yard and chased the dog around the neighborhood about a hundred times. By the time we came inside the child and dog were both exhausted. It took them no time be asleep for the afternoon nappy. This left me with several hours to myself.

To the studio!

This is "Chadette No. 46" 8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas board.

This is the finished version of "Chadette No 45". I have named her, "Victoria".
I was able to finish two of my "Daisy" paintings. This one is 8 x 24 inches, oil on canvas.

This is the second of the "Daisies", 10 x 30 inches, oil on canvas.

I have been working on the two of these Daisies for about a week off and on. The red I used in the background took forever to dry. I had a fan and heat lamp on it for the last three days. It will be a few more days before I can glaze either of them.

This is still a work in progress. About an hour so far. 11 x 14 inches. I put down the drawing and the first layer of color. She will take a lot of time. I want her to be much more realistic than I normally paint. We'll see how she goes.

Painting...

I have spent the last five days working on this. "Chadette No 45, Victoria". She is 12 x 36 inches, oil on canvas. I was pleased with her. She has more of the quality I am trying to achieve. She still needs a little more work to be finished. A better photo will help also.

Today is the first day it hasn't rained in almost two weeks. The sun was even out. I have been in some kind of strange funk for...well...the last four months. Would it be too soon for another vacation? I thought not. I need Marseille.

Georgia On My Mind...

My mind and creative output have been all over the place this week. Still something strange in the air. Anyone know where my moon is? Maybe it's in retrograde.

The New York Art Expo is in three weeks. We don't get to go. Phooey.

This is one of three works. High contrast figures. Still working on the color ranges.
These are 11 x 14 inch. Oil on textured canvas board.

Have been reading about the Georgia O"Keeffe estate this week. Home work. She did some amazing work. This is one of two so far in my attempts at florals.
This is 20 x 24 inches. Oil on canvas.

There has been absolutely no one coming through the gallery for the last couple of weeks. It is like living in a ghost town. The streets are empty. The shops are empty. The only people I see are the other store owners. I have sent cards,emailed and phoned everyone who has ever been in the gallery about 3 times each this month. I am driving them nuts.

This is what I have been doing in the extra time. Pastels on paper. 8 x 8 to 8 x 11 inches.
I am working on a series of mixed media works that have poetry on them. This was the first. They still need some work.

Last and First...

Chadette No. 41
The last painting of 2006



The first painting of 2007
Chadette No 42


Wow, these photos really blow.

Inventory...

A New Year means it is time to reflect. Look back at what happened. What you did that's worth doing again. Things you never need to do again.

It is a time to organize. Much like the famed "Spring Cleaning". Which I happen to prefer because of the seasonal thing. This time it's more for the IRS which is a huge pain in the back side among other places.

Inventory in the gallery has to be done. Make sure we have everything we should. Figure out what we need and what we don't. Inventory has to be done in the studio as well. Time to figure out what was there at the beginning of last year. What was created last year. The studio doesn't really need to have this done. I'm a neat freak. It's for me.

I'm not sure how it happened, but I seem to get more chaotic every year. Some where along I lost control. In addition to being a neat freak, I am also a bit of a pack rat. Not a good combo.

This year I am going to make a huge effort to rid my life of things I no longer need or remember. Art included. I will be giving away a large group of works that were not right for the gallery. I will post them here. If you want them, it's first email, first choice.(wait for the photos to post first)

More time will be spent on the family and our lives. I have little need for popular culture and things that go with it. To start things off right we will be going to Jamaica the last two weeks of January. I need to work on my tan. It is important for us to travel. Learn new things. Meet new people. Take more photos.

2006 was filled with change. Most of it was very good to us. We've been blessed. Now we are looking forward to more adventures. There is still an endless amount of things to see and do. E-Ticket baby!

Good luck to all of you this coming year. May you get everything that you deserve.

More "Wine"ing...

This is the Wine painting I had mentioned in the last post. "Abstract Wine No. 2".
It's 8 x 24 inches, oil on canvas. I spent about two hours, over three days on this one. It could have used a little more time with the back ground.

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I have decided to start painting in the gallery. This time of year(from Nov to April) is AMAZINGLY slow in this little town. This month we have had, maybe, two dozen visitors. None of which have the slightest interest in actually buying art.

So I might as well put my free time to good use. I am going to set up a mini studio area in the front side window. It will allow me paint. People who are walking past can see what I'm doing and I will still be able to see if anyone happens to come inside.

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We are searching for new, undiscovered artists to show in our gallery. The amount of people who "paint" and think they should have gallery space, makes my mind wobble.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that you all want to paint. Keep going. But don't think that just because you paint, that you are an artist. The two are very different and do not always go hand in hand.

We need quality, consistency, craft, motivation, vision, originality, personality and blah blah blah.

Any medium, photography, sculpture, you name it as long as it's good.

Anyway. Pass it around. Any of you out there knows an aspiring artist(s) or knows someone who knows someone. Let me know. Good work is getting very hard to find. I am sure that one of you knows someone.

Falling Behind...

Somehow I have managed to get about three months behind in everything that I have been working on. Not sure how.

My studio is a complete mess. There are things scattered from end to end, floor to ceiling. I am a bit of a neat freak too so it is beginning to disturb me. I haven't painted since the "Quick Draw" either. Which means, it has been a mess for a few weeks now..

I have not touched my Appraisal Studies in two months. I should have a month to go and be done. Instead I still have three months to go.

The cataloging of my photographs started six months ago(alright, two years ago) and I swear it looks as if I have not touched any of them. They are still mostly in boxes, scattered across three rooms of the house. The negs are here, there, and who knows where.

Every surface in my studio is covered with multiple layers of...stuff.
With each stack I move or sort I manage to create three more stacks.
Where is all coming from? This cannot all belong to me.

I feel like a trailer park after a tornado.

It is time for a major overhaul of the place and a trip, or twelve to the Goodwill.

A flame thrower would be a very big help right now.

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For my three reader who have been curious. This is what my studio looked like three years ago. (Hufflelump Blue)


This is what it looked like 16 months ago after I moved it so we could redo our floors. (Sunflower Yellow)


And this is what it looks like as of five months ago when we moved back to the Northwest. (Buttugly White)


Ok there are more to each of them that what you see, but who the hell knows where those photos are.