When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

Art for sale

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Bigleaf Maple watercolors

Sunday, November 4th, 2012


 

Big Leaf Maple 12H x 16W inches watercolors on 140 lb 100% cotton paper

 Big Leaf Maple near Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island, BC Canada, 12H x 16W inches watercolors on 140 lb 100% cotton paper. Framed size 22H x 26W inches.

Transplanting Daisies

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012


 

Transplanting Daisies, 12H x 36W inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, trim frame

Transplanting Daisies, 36W x 12L x 3D inches graphite and acrylics on canvas, narrow trim. Details of work in progress:

Transplanting Daisies, detail image of 36W x 12L inches graphite and acrylics on canvas, work in progress

Transplanting Daisies, stage 1 priming basics over yellow background, work in progress  ransplanting Daisies, stage 3, work in progress  ransplanting Daisies, stage 4 toning things down, work in progress

Missing routine

Thursday, October 11th, 2012


 
The Campsite, watercolors, total size 24 x 30 inches professionally framed The Campsite, 24 x 30 inches watercolors on 140 lb cold pressed premium
I finally brought my watercolor paints back from my son’s place in Canada, where I left them so they wouldn’t freeze on the 5-day drive back west last November. Driving again, I’ve just returned from this year’s visit, when I gave my grandson a one-of-a-kind fabric book hand-made for his first birthday, Colors for Cameron. I plan to make him something special every year.

So, with a couple of new brushes and 12 x 16″ paper block, and now with the rainy season upon us back in Oregon, I look forward to establishing a routine of painting again. Invigorated by a summer full of gardening and flowers, the stunning scenery across America this time of year, plus reviewing archives of work I haven’t seen for ages, I’m all set to splash out some new watercolors. Our Portland house is a renovator’s dream/nightmare!, and we’re not out of the woods yet. Attempting to focus more on art than house, smaller paintings are more manageable and less of a production than my typically large canvas paintings…however, I’m curious to experiment and see how watercolors behave on primed canvas at some point!

Chrysanthemums

Tuesday, June 26th, 2012


 

Chrysanthemums, 85L x 45W x 3D inches, graphite, charcoal and dry pastels and primer on 100% cotton, fixative

Chrysanthemums, 85W x 45H 3D inches graphite, charcoal, soft pastels, fixative with primer used as paint on white 100% cotton. Grey narrow frame. This is a beautiful painting, impressive because of its size and the expressionistic style of the flowers. The small photo doesn’t do it justice, so some detail images are provided below. It’s hanging in our family room on a grey wall beside the Chrysanthemums Chair. They do look great together!

Detail images: Chrysanthemums, central right detail   Chrysanthemums, central left detail   Chrysanthemums, upper right detail
  Chrysanthemums, central detail   Chrysanthemums, left detail   Chrysanthemums, right detail

Practical design

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010


 

Oak Leaf End Tables, set of two 24H x 12W inches with a 20 inch glass top  Oak Leaf End Tables, set of two 24H x 12W inches with a 20 inch glass top

“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Aesop’s Fables

Oak Leaf bedside tables, 24H x 12W inches with a 20-inch glass top. Large, crinkled paper mâché leaf-shapes are creased, folded and arranged over the top of heavy cardboard tubes. The tubes are available in a variety of dimensions, sold in hardware stores as use for cement foundations.
I’ve had this idea to make bedside tables for a few years now, and selling the house, prepping it in a minimalist way for viewing has motivated me to finally make them. Faux suede effects were the intention here, and I’m pleased with the results. it really does look like suede. A brown circular woven mat covers the glass and hides the space looking into the tube.

Zen Garden #10 almost finished

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010


 

Zen Garden 10, 40 x 60 x 3 inches mixed media on canvas

Zen Garden 10, 40 x 60 x 3 inches mixed media on canvas.

The final stages of this paintings will be finished as it hangs on a wall. As seen in a realistic room setting, it will be easier to spot whatever might make the composition more interesting. Some colors may need to be re-enhanced to add more depth and definition, but I also like the overall faded look, so we’ll see. The texture continues around all 3D edges. This painting is extremely heavy, as it is on a home-built canvas stretcher, so it will be transferred onto a lighter-weight stretcher if it sells. It will still be stable, but practical. All paintings in the Zen Garden series are wired to hang in any of 4 orientations: vertically or horizontally. Below: details of left central portion as seen in the above.

Zen Garden 10 details

Wine, Art and Dine at Carino’s

Monday, September 20th, 2010


 

Carino's flyer

Wine, Art ‘n’ Dine at Carino’s Italian Restaurant in Denton, TX Sept. 28th, 2010

On exhibit

Friday, July 9th, 2010


 

Milkweed Melody, 27H x 33W inches Oil Pastels on 140 lb cold pressed premium watercolor paper, brassy-gold frame
Lilacs, 36H x 24W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, narrow frame. Can be displayed vertically or horizontally.Bonsai Garden, Chinese and Japanese Gardens, Singapore 12H x 15W inches graphite on paperOn exhibit at Oxide Gallery, Denton, TX are: Milkweed Melody, 27H x 33W inches framed Oil Pastels on WC paper, has brassy-gold frame painted with an extension of the drawing. Bonsai Garden, 12 x 15 inches graphite on paper, and Lilacs, 36 x 24 x 2 inches acrylics on canvas, gallery wrapped sides painted, narrow frame, which can be displayed horizontally or vertically.

Treasures 03: Time

Saturday, June 5th, 2010


 

  Treasures 03: Time, 9 x 12 inches graphite on paper

Treasures 03: Time, 9 x 12 inches graphite on paper

I returned to that store a few times, mesmerized and taking stock of all the interesting objects in the window display and beyond. Just for fun, find the clocks and watches set to these times 10:40, 8:05, 7:10, 8:20, 9:00, 2:25, 1:25, and 7:50.

Treasures 02

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010


 

  Treasures 02, 9 x 12 inches graphite on paper

Treasures 02, 9H x 12W inches graphite on paper

…and where does one begin such a drawing? With Aladdin’s lamp of course. Listed in no particular order, here are the treasures in the above illustration: 1. Spiral-Horned Antelope statue, 2. monkey statue, 3. Woman golfing trophy, 4. Water Buffalo statue, 5. outdated video camera or equipment – three of, 6. horse head statues – heads only – there are two, 7. what I fondly refer to as “Aladdin’s lamp”, 8. log-stemmed pipe, 9. duck head statue, 10. Coca Cola alarm clock , 11. statue of three elephants, 12. case of watches, 13. Fish statue, 14. Chinese lantern, 15. ship in a bottle, 16. three vases displayed together, 17. large horse statue, 18. smaller (glass) horse on a glass ball statue, 19. hour glass, 20. outdated camera

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