Saturday, September 16, 2023

Save the Date and Gas up the Car!

 I am happy to be participating in my second Placer Tour this year and will be showing my work and doing some painting on site at the Art League of Lincoln both weekends. I love being inspired by all the amazing artists here in Placer County.

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Craft Fair at Sun City

Every year for the past, oh, I don't know, several years at least, Sun City residents here in Lincoln have gathered in the Fall to view their friends' and neighbors' arts and crafts offerings at the Orchard Lodge. This year I am participating for the first time and will be offering my paintings on wood trays as a kind of hybrid fine art/crafty thing. I became interested in seeing how paint would look on raw pine wood when I was gifted some catering trays from the Nugget Market. I first covered the surface with acrylic gesso, leaving the outside frame untouched. Then, with one color, I sketched in my subjects, wiping out the lighter areas and adding thicker paint for the darker values. I felt that because of the rustic nature of the wood trays, a barnyard or cowboy theme would be appropriate. I first started with the Rooster you see below, which was originally one color. I then decided he seemed kind of plain, so I washed in some reds, blues and whites in a thin coating so as not to cover up the wood underneath. Other scenes I left in one hue, usually raw umber or transparent oxide red on the theory that it would give off an antique/vintage vibe. Kind of like it had been sitting outside for years. I then painted the outside and inside frames of the trays and finished with a couple of coats of varnish. These paintings might look cool in someone's Tahoe cabin or rustic beach house. 








 

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Does Framing Make the Painting?

 Framing is such a personal choice, I hate to be all judgmental about the topic. I’ve always preferred simple floater frames for most of my work on panels, since I am all about painting to the very edges and hate to see anything covered up. I also like the simplicity (and economy!) of gallery wrapped canvas or cradled hardboard and will paint the sides with a coordinating color or even continue the painting around the sides. I recently learned that many of the Impressionist painters mounted their works in plain white frames, the idea being that the colors of the paintings wouldn’t be upstaged by gaudy gilt frames favored during the Renaissance. Isn’t it ironic that most all Impressionist and Post Impressionist works are now being displayed in Renaissance style gilt frames? 


Which brings me to the topic of todays post, sorry it’s been so long in coming. I’ve just come from Berkeley where I’ve visited Tim Holton’s framing studio and gallery on Fifth and Addison. You can visit his website at https://www.holtonframes.com/ . Tim makes handcrafted frames from exquisite hardwoods that really take your breath away. The gallery also displays a host of renowned contemporary California landscape painters framed by the studio. My favorites are Terry Miura and Paul Kratter. I am lucky enough to own one of each with the Kratter framed in quartersawn white oak that was weather stained and edged with gold made by Tim. I have also framed two of my paintings from his studio and I have to say, the frame really does make the painting. If I could, I’d have all my work framed like this. Here is a recent Longhorn in his frame. I hope you agree that this beautiful frame enhances the work. Maybe a little gold is a good thing, haha! 

Here is another painting of mine, titled Carmel Monastery, framed in a Tim Holton. 




Friday, January 3, 2020


On My Easel, continued  




   I never get tired telling the story of these longhorn cows that I’ve been painting over and over. A few years ago, Jeff and I took a few days off and drove up to visit the wild Sonoma coast. Our usual inn was booked up, so we decided to stay at a funky little place called Sonoma Coast Villa in the town of Bodega (where the Hitchcock movie The Birds was filmed). 

   Anyway, I was painting by a pond on the property when a herd of these amazing longhorn cows came wandering down the hillside. I dropped my paintbrush,  picked up my camera and clamored over to the barbed wire fence to meet them. They were gentle and curious but their horns suggested that I keep my distance. Despite my sincere pleas, they refused to stand still long enough to paint their portrait, so I’ve relied on photographs and memories to capture the essence of these lovely creatures. 
   I’ve never seen longhorns quite like this, usually they are more curly, but these seemed to point straight out or only slightly curved. Maybe they were a new breed, found only in California! 





Tuesday, December 31, 2019


On my easel today, another cow. 

Here you see my underpainting that is a mixture of Transparent Oxide Red and Liquin. I slosh it on, then wipe it around until it looks like something. After it dries, I will start laying in the color.

I might title this one, “Get Serious in 2020”

He is quite stern compared to my last cow. 



Stay tuned for phase two

Sunday, December 29, 2019

Looking Back on the Year, continued


One of my favorite workshops this year was with Terry Miura in Arcata, CA. Yeah, we did cityscapes in July, in the middle of a gorgeous redwood forest. 

The road up to the workshop/studio. Wish we had a four wheel drive for this one!

What a fabulous studio/workshop to have for any kind of art. Thank you, Claudia Lima!

Terry demonstrating the value of doing a value sketch before starting a painting.
Valuable information!

We all agreed that the one on the right was more pleasing even though the ground plane is a little darker than the reference photo. Don't be a slave to your photo, Terry sez. 

Second day of workshop, Terry did another value demo, this time using secret brown, yellow ochre and white
The finished painting was scooped up by one of the artists at the workshop--lucky duck!

Fun times, good memories, learned a lot!

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Learning about Still Life painting with Philippe Gandiol

I was lucky enough to score the last opening in Philippe's workshop a few weeks ago and loved every crazy minute of it! His teaching technique was straightforward and inspiring. We started by watching him paint a demo, which he did masterfully but took the time to explain everything he did step-by-step. Next, we were able to choose a still life set up and were given some time to work, but not too much time. I appreciate having a deadline, which keeps me from overthinking and overpainting.

If you get the chance, go see his show at the John Natsoulas gallery in Davis. His cityscapes are breathtaking.



Philippe Gandiol painting a skull still life demo at his recent workshop, held at the fabulous Terry Miura Studio.
Here is the set up on the second day of the workshop. It was very challenging to decide on a focal point and eliminate any distracting elements. Simplify!

My finished painting, titled Sunflower Morning. I am proud that I was able to render the clear vase, not easy to do, I found. Notice how the persimmon has morphed into an apricot!