Vinyard Light, 30 x 40 inches, oil on canvas.

I worked yesterday's posting up to a large painting, but essentially using the same methods. At this size the painting seems over the top--large and busy. I will go back into it and work on it some more--this will mean solidifying and unifying some of the shapes, and perhaps toning town the oranges a bit. This might be difficult, because the painting is done a la prima, with soupy paint--adding new paint to dry paint will give a painting a very different look.

Fall Vinyard

Fall Vinyard, 10 x 10 inches, palette knife oil.

I recently completed this study in my studio in preparation for a larger work that I hope to take to the COPIA show in Napa at the end of May. Pallete knife work is somehow viscerally satisfying. Colors are cleaner and brighter, and an element of surprise, and a lack of perfect control can lead to a strong, whimsical paint expression. I have completed (almost) the larger work of this one, and will post it tomorrow--it is still a little rough, but maybe that is the nature of the approach.

Open Studios this weekend, and two Gardens

Iris Garden, 8 x 10 inches, palette knife oil.

Sunflowers, 6x6 inches, palette knife oil.

My son napped through the painting of these two paintings. I painted them in the order displayed--as is often the case, the second is a distillation of the first. I find that this phenomenon often occurs...it is a good reason to paint more than one painting at a time of a single motif.

A reminder: Open Studio this weekend at Cubberley Studios, there will be about 16 artists there with their doors open.

Open Studio
May 3 & 4
11- 5 pm
Cubberley Studios
E-6
4000 Middlefield Road, right next to Piazza's and Peet's

Cottonwoods, 21 x 23 inches, pastel, on display at Anita Siepp Gallery at Castilleja School.

This painting has been posted before, but it recently appeared on the cover of the Palo Alto Weekly. The show is a collection of artworks by alumni of Castilleja School. I was very pleased to be interviewed on the decision I made to be a professional artist. It is a short article and in a local newspaper, but it still made me think about some of the choice I have made over the years. The show is interesting in that it allows me to display pieces like the one above, very traditional, as well as some of my modern work, like Torch Song.
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Red Barns, 6 x 6 inches, oil on canvas.

The spring is sprung, and I packed up my 8 week old son and went painting with the POPS group (who have a new web site!). I did this painting while he was napping, just to see how it might work out. I love these buttery, bright colors--I often feel as if I am icing a cake. Painting in close color harmony gives me practice in bending a color just a bit to make a big difference. My palette always looks lovely afterwards as well.

Escape Shoes, 14 x 14 inches, oil on canvas.
I just completed this portrait of my skates, which turned out to be a surprisingly difficult drawing task. It was hard to get the perspective of the wheels and trucks correct. I am still not sure that I have done so. This is one of the first paintings that I have completed in my new studio--it is such a pleasure to work there. The new space has windows with natural light!

I know that a few of you are waiting to see more paintings or drawings of my cutie pie here...oddly this painting has a lot to do with him. His dad was watching him, so that I was able to both paint, and and go for an evening skate--my first skating since getting pregnant 10 months ago.

Crazy Garden, 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas.

I finally had a little time away from my sweet son to work in the studio. This weird piece is done exclusively with my fingers, or rather the tips of my much to large rubber gloves. This appoach makes an interesting and delicate mark--I may do some more of it, but with a stronger subject matter. I am not the first to come up with painting with gloved hands..one of my favorite painters, Ken Auster, has been doing this lately.

As an pictoral explanation of the total silence on my blog for the last month, here is a (quick, and not excellent) sketch of my latest project, sleeping....

Red Skein, 6 x 6 inches, oil with palette knife, available.

I recently attended a knitting party put on by a friend of mine, and learned a bit about knitting. It turns out to be a fun thing to do, kind of like Sudoku, but in 3-d. Here is a small still-life of some vibrant red yarn to commemorate the acquisition of a new time-sink!

Baylands I, 6 x6 inches, oil with palette knife, available.

Baylands II, 6 x 6 inches, oil with palette knife, available.

Yesterday afternoon, after a day of dense cold winter fog, the sun shone for a few hours and I took myself down to the marsh for some much needed plein air painting. These are two sketches that I completed before the winter light left and my fingers became to cold to paint.

These paintings are both done very quickly, but with close attention to the actual light harmony and quality at that very moment.