September 27, 2012 - Third Time's a Charm

This is the third time I've worked with this image hence the title.  It's a photograph I took while
visiting my parents in Shelter Cove.  I've always loved this image.  I did a painting of this the
first time for a solo exhibition I had called "Treescapes".  It was one of the first paintings I did in
the series that ended up selling.  While I was glad to have found a home for it, I admittedly kind
of missed it.  So I did a small drawing of it during my daily drawing project which looks really
similar to this.  Then I decided I wanted a painting of it to hang in my house so I did another
version than the one I sold and here it is.  I've worked with the shape of this tree so much that I almost have it memorized.  I really like this painting- I think it's magical.  I was going to work
with collage this week but I just wasn't in the mood.  Maybe next time.  For now, this will have to
suffice. 

Painting #18
16" x 20"
Mixed Media on board

September 13, 2012 - Incarnation II

This is the second part of the piece I did a couple weeks ago.  It's a
mixed media collage piece similar to the last post.   It's made out
of old wallpaper samples from the seventies and mounted on a canvas
I painted.  I think 2 is enough of this style, but I'd like to work more with
collage and mixed media.  I've always loved collage and have done it
since I was a kid.  Sometimes I get stuck on whether it's a valid art form
but that's ridiculous- of course it is.  Some of my favorite artists worked
in this way.  I don't know why I apply self-imposed rules to my art at all-
I think if I loosened up it would probably get better.  The daily drawing
project I did last year while honing my skill has now made me confused
about what my style is.  In that project I learned how to draw what I saw.
But each piece was so small and technically precise that now I'm not sure
how to translate this into larger work.  This painting project has made
me realize I'm in a transition phase artwise.  I need to loosen up.
I have no idea what I'm going to do for my next piece.  It really will be a
surprise.

Painting #17
12" x 16"
Mixed Media on canvas

August 30, 2012 - Incarnation

The first image is the way I intended this experimental incarnation.  Then
I flipped it around and thought it looked interesting that way as well.  So,
I decided to show both.  This is a mixed media collage piece and I really
enjoyed working on it.  I've been talking about wanting to do something
different for awhile and I'm glad I did.  It's made out of old wallpaper
samples from the seventies and mounted on a canvas I painted.  It was
a thoughtful way to work - cutting out shapes, deciding which ones use
and moving them around the canvas until I felt they could be secured
onto the surface.  I'm pretty happy with it and think I'll do another.

Painting #16
18" x 24"
Mixed Media on canvas

August 16, 2012 - Raccoon

This week I did something a little different.  I did this one as a drawing on a
piece of raw birch.  I had planned on painting into it, but decided I liked the
way it looked on plain, unfinished wood.  I thought of doing a raccoon because
I dreamt of them a couple weeks ago.  It wasn't the most pleasant dream
actually- they were nipping at me to get at some food I was trying to give them
but when I woke up I the first thing I thought of were raccoons.  I know they
can be somewhat aggressive at times but I still think they're cute.  I think
they're most appealing when a family of them climbs down a tree at night
to forage for food.  I've seen this a couple times and they'll be climbing down-
usually one mother and four or five kids, and when they realize they've been
seen they'll freeze.  This is when you can really check them out because you
can see the wheels in their heads turning and probably thinking "go back up
or continue going down?"  In both cases, they stopped, then decided that going
down was their best option so they started moving again towards their mission.

Painting #15
12" x 16"
graphite on birch

August 2, 2012 - Flamingo

I'm just back from being out of town and can't believe it's August already.
I've barely gone swimming this year yet and once more, the days are
getting shorter and the end of summer looms on the not so distant horizon.
How can this be again?  I'm constantly surprised at how rapidly time passes.
I try really hard to stay in the moment, but yet find myself flashing into the
future.  I can't help it.  At my job, I'm scheduling things that are taking
place in March 2013 and my head is already in the fall.  Our school starts in
3 weeks in fact.  I used to talk about this a lot during my daily drawing
project but it's still a subject that resurfaces constantly.  I guess it's a question
of balance:  Enjoy every moment of each day and keep the future in mind.

Painting #14
16" x 20"
mixed media

July 19, 2012 - Crane at Dusk

As I'm writing this post, I'm watching a little temperature icon located at the top of my toolbar drop
slowly as the afternoon passes.  It's hot today in downtown Los Angeles.  At noon it was 91 degrees,
now it says its only 85.  I know this is nothing compared to what's been going on back east but when
you spend your days in an air conditioned office in a sweater and then step outside for lunch- it can
take you by surprise.  It feels nice though to go out in the heat after sitting at a desk.  It's like a
warm embrace.  The hottest I ever saw it get here was 115 degrees.  It was so hot on campus that
day that when you'd step out, it was hard to breathe.  Even the birds looked parched that day so we
put out a saucer of water for them on the windowsill.

This nothing to do with this painting except for the fact that as I sat staring at this post, thinking
about what to write I realized I've noticed that temperature icon more today than I usually do.  I'm
Not sure why that is- maybe because it's reading higher than usual.  In any case, I like this painting.
I like the magic dots and it's dusky quality.   This one was a good example of picturing
something in my mind's eye before painting it.  Sometimes one visualizes a painting prior to
beginning, sometimes one has an idea that changes or sometimes one goes to the surface without
a clue what to do.  This one turned out just as I envisioned it which was nice.

Painting #13
12" x 16"
mixed media

July 5, 2012 - Ostrich

Happy Day after the 4th of July!  I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Painting #12
11" x 14"
mixed media