side of a building

Well it's been a few years...

No, I'm not referring to when I last posted on this blog, even if it may be close to being true...

Today, Thanksgiving actually, I will share a project from more than a dozen years ago. When I was living in San Francisco. I had the opportunity of painting a mural on the side of a building on the bottom of Potrero Hill. It had the unique placement of being at the corner of 8th street and 16th street.

At the time this building was the showroom of Alexander Baughn. Housing beautiful furniture designed by Peter Alexander and David Baughn.

I painted this over a holiday weekend, Memorial Day I think. It actually took me 4 days, a day longer than I had originally predicted, due to a little misfortune caused by the need of the sissor-lift to be recharged over night. I left half of a chicken sandwich in the refrigerator of David's studio overnight not knowing that he unplugged the fridge to charge the lift. After the consumption of the sandwich it was much more difficult to focus on painting, actually the movement of the lift was the worst part. It was fortunate that the top of the building was completed before the effects of food poisoning set in.

The architecture of the building as well as the preexisting signage influenced the layout of my painting. The division of space allowed me to juxtapose the springtime California landscape with it's hills of poppies and lupins a more dramatic close up of the flowers. I like a change of perspective in a painting and this building gave me the opportunity to zoom in on the foreground. The chaos if the adjacent lot where building supplies were stored also influenced the choice of the larger scale for the bottom.

This 9"x12" oil painting of the building after the mural was done is my keepsake of that time. I may have wanted to savor the memory of Peter's old Mercedes as much of as the painting on the side of the building.

The building has new tenants and the painting is no longer there.

small paintings

Posting images of my paintings is never as much fun as painting them. I has been a while since I posted anything so I am offering up these paintings for your perusal. The persimmons must have been painted last fall, so maybe these are not as current as I thought. They are off my tree, my whole crop for the year. I like the look of the fruit on the tree after the leaves are gone, so I don't think about harvesting them. But the birds seem to like the fruit too.

8" x8" oil on board

The navel orange from a neighbors tree, where the hard to reach fruit still dots the trees I see from my window. I still have some oranges in the house but this is the only one that made it to be a subject of a painting. The interaction of the shapes; the pattern of the painted table top, along with the shadow and reflections set off the orange as they divide the space.

10" x8" oil on board

Again the same table top with it's bisecting spirals is the backdrop for a couple of mid-century candle holders. They are the ones that use those skinny candles, a little fatter than a birthday candle. I don't think I ever had candles in them, I just like the shapes. In painting one is perched on top of a stylized silver bell, enhancing the space-age feeling.

8" x8" oil on board

Here again the tabletop is in view. My favorite teapot, the one I would only use for company because I've seen how quickly I can get chip on the spout or crack the lid. It is glazed a deep cobalt blue with creamy white maple leaves, the handle, spout and rim are glazed in silver.

8" x8" oil on board

The last image in the post is of the mannequin on the mantel. Half of a child sized figure sits above the fireplace with a pair of wing paintings hanging behind it. One of the wings can be seen from this perspective. This vintage mannequin (I think of him more of a boy-a-quin) bring up some childhood memories that I have not totally identified. Maybe it goes back to my elementary primer; "Fun with Dick and Jane". I named him Randy.

10.25" x9.25" oil on board

three foot squares

Two recent paintings that I completed in the past couple of weeks. The biggest thing they have in common is there size. Though both canvases are 36" squares and are both representational still lives, the execution and paint are different.

A kaleidoscope of color, these pincushions are painted with oils. Knowledge of my oil paint pallet allowed me to capture the color jewel tone satins of these kitschy little pincushions. Working with warm and cool hues of the primary colors; red - blue - yellow, I am able to represent the color relationships of the objects set up in front of me. The intensity of the colors in this painting catch me by surprise when I see it in daylight.

The painting above is not an oil painting. Painted with water based mediums, I integrated a combination of different materials and techniques to get the effects I was trying for. A still life with a toy car and the ceramic items in front of it seemed to be about the space around the objects as much as the objects them selves. Painted with a limited pallet of about 6 random colors, focused more on the value and color temperature than a particular hue.

reflections on the new year

It seems that the calendar page has turned again, actually the calendar it self has changed. At this time of transition I try to reflect on where I have been and where I'm going. Looking for insight to guide me through the upcoming year. All this introspection doesn't come easy to me. Maybe I'm to literal, but when it came time to reflect – I looked into a mirror.

All this rumination and this is what I came up with:

It seems that I can no longer paint a self portrait with out wearing glasses.

each 8"x8" oil on board

Christmas Paintings

It's that time of year, again. I tend to use Christmas decorations as subjects for my paintings when the days are shorter and the holiday season begins. Alas, I don't see myself dragging out the abundance of holiday ornamentation that I have stuffed away. I don't venture into that storage area unless I have to. So the subjects this year are items that surfaced since I last ventured into the black hole that holds the artifacts of Christmases past. Pickings are slim this year, In September, I thoughtlessly tucked away the seasonal embellishments that accumulated though the first part of the year.

I will be showing a collection of these holiday paintings later this month at Crow Trading Company in Modesto, CA during the Third Thursday Art Walk.

Bowl Full of Jolly

8"x8" oil on board

A small ceramic santa placed in a bowl of glass marbles with a few colorful ornaments

Plastic Poinsettias

8"x8" oil on board

Shiny Bright

8"x8" oil on board

A box of Christmas Balls, I almost called this one; "Hiny Bright"

current show, II

On display currently at Pursley's in Turlock are many of my smaller paintings. I paint a lot on 8"x8" and 8"x10" boards. A wide variety of subjects are found among these paintings. Many of these paintings were hung in grouping on the walls of this showroom, and many more lined up on shelves and this showcase. This may not be the best way of viewing each image. But it was a fun and easy way to 'showcase' the pieces as well as a few of the objects that found there way into my work. I enjoy the juxtaposition of the subjects and images. Maybe arranged in a certain way they tell a story, I'm sure it must be a mystery.

I like the way the painted images interact with one another. Often there is a common thread between paintings, a subject, the perspective, color pallet... The list could be endless. It was nice having the abundance of similar sized paintings on hand. I was able to edit a grouping to meet a perspective customer's particular needs.

The painting of goldfish in the photo above was used as the study for a larger painting . This 8"x5" oil on board became the subject on a 4'x9' sheet of glass. I had to paint on the reverse side of the glass with transparent color. The glass was supported on heavy duty saw horses so I could climb beneath it to see the progress of the work. The photo below shows my goldfish in an early stage. Kristi Hughes was painting a similar sheet of glass along side of me that evening. It took all of our strength for us to flip the glass to see the paint from it's front side. I am grateful I never had to move this piece of art or worse yet have to store it.

Kristi and I always have fun being creative together.

current show

I currently have paintings on display in Turlock CA at Pursley's Interiors, 206 N. First Street. It is a show I share with Kristi Hughes who's paintings are also seen here. Our is work distinctly different but we work well together, I feel they show well together. Most of my work is painted in oils but I have included a few mixed medium pieces in this show. The two panel painting of pods in the photo below is one of example of the departure from oil paint. The four bug paintings on the floor and the painting on the left with the calligraphy are Kristi's work.

The photo below shows the corner of the room, better for seeing the placement of the work than the quality. The paintings under the window are mine, a pair of mixed medium wings. I incorporated some of Kristi's techniques in this work, as well as returning some of the materials I used prior to my near exclusive use of oil paint for the last 15+ years.

The view of across the room shows more of the art. Much of my recent work has been 8"x8" squares, oil on board. In this show many of the small paintings were grouped together and hung as a column. It was refreshing for me to see them hung this way, I am more used to seeing them arranged horizontally, lined up on a shelf in my studio. Kristi's work shown in this photo include the two large pieces on the far wall, the bugs below them and the tall narrow piece seen to the right of the cabinet.

I will post more of this shown soon.

Platers and Pomegranates

Red pomegranates and white platters upon a white table cloth. The limited color pallet of these paintings allowed me to focus on the space around the subject. Representing the environmental space within a painting does not need to include vast vistas. The relationship between objects needs to be seen within the space around it.

both 8" x 10" oil on board

Shadows from window mullions create the background for this painting. Dried pods from a flowering tree join the pomegranates on the platter.

Valley Sun Catcher Show

I have three paintings in a show at the Mislin Gallery in Modesto, CA. This show is showing work from members of the Valley Sun Catchers, a group of plein air painters that strive to capture the essence of the world around us by painting out of doors. Also in this show is three dimensional work from members of the San Joaquin Pottery Guild.

10" x 8" oil on board

This painting of a friends front yard captured my interest because of the red crape myrtle that grew along her driveway. It was such a deep blood red, darker than any I've seen before, I wanted to try to capture it's likeness in paint. The other two paintings I have in the show are of Half Dome in Yosemite.

10" x 8" oil on board

8" x 8" oil on board