Lenten Rose

Lenten Rose, 9x12, oil on linen panel

Here is a painting I started this past spring. The other name for these perennials is Hellebore. They reside in my garden and they are a great flower for low light areas. These are on the north side of my house next to the sidewalk. They have great leaves that grow larger as the flowers fade. But as you can see, they do get some sun in the middle of the day. I did this painting for a friend of mine for her birthday. I will be celebrating it with her for the first time in too many decades to count. We went to Jr HS together in Munich, Germany and have been in contact all these years as we live in different parts of the US. I know she likes flowers and I do hope this will fit in the new house she just moved in to after selling the family home.

Lenten Rose in the beginning

She reads my blog so I am scheduling this post on her birthday.

Duckling and the Ripple Effect

Ripple Effect, 8x8, oil on panel

A friend of mine in Washington state likes to take lots of photos. I saw the image for this painting in one of her last uploads to Facebook. I felt compelled to do a small painting of this little guy, all alone in his bed of ripples. Interestingly enough, just this morning, a friend came over in distress. In our time together we talked about how our actions, even done when no one is around, still impact not only us but those in our circle, and ultimately in each of those individuals' circle as well. As she whispered, barely audible, "like the wind created by a butterfly's wing!" And that is why I was intrigued by this image.

Here is the block in. I took a painting I wasn't particularly delighted with and painted the duck on top of it. The painting was of three oranges in a deep blue bowl. You can see where I followed some of the bowls outline in the ripples. It was a fun little diversion for me.

Pet Portrait: Petunia

Petunia, 8x8, oil on board

I just finished this portrait of Petunia, the calico cat belonging to two sisters who own and operate a pet store on South Pearl Street here in Denver, The Whole Cat...and dogs too. For many years now they have kept dog biscuits out for all the dogs who walk the neighborhood and then also give out extra special treats at the Farmer's Market every Sunday during the season. In fact, they downright spoil my dog! He is shameless when it comes to Nancy in particular. Petunia was a fixture at the store and often seen sleeping in the window at their prior location. Last year I offered to do one of their pets portrait because I wanted to give back to them. Petunia just died so it was Petunia whom I was asked to do.

Here is my initial block in on top of a plein air piece I did a few a years ago that was not worth keeping. I have so much fun at this stage. Just thinking of big shapes. This came together really fast and was just flat out fun to paint!

Post Pop-up Art Invitational

Admirers looking at my wall, 4-26-19

My wall after I was done hanging it, 4-26-19

I wanted to show those of you who were unable to come to the one night art invitational what it looked like. We had to be there to hang between 9-11 the morning of, and the art had to be taken down either after the show or the next morning starting at 8 a.m. I had a plan for hanging my wall and though I didn't follow it, because I had a pretty good idea, it went pretty fast. I wish I had thought to take photos of how the different artists did theirs, as just like when there are a group of artists painting the same subject and each one is so different, how to hang a wall of art follows pretty much the same pattern.

My friend, Jeannie Paty, hanging her wall

It was my first experience with this kind of a venue. It may well be the wave of the future as yet another well established art gallery closes this month in Denver. I thought it was very successful overall. There was a continual stream of people in attendance with the busiest time starting around 7:30. I believe I had the first sale of the evening, the little hollyhock study on my wall above. For an artist, our loyal supporters are always very close to our hearts, and without them where would we be? When a total stranger likes your work enough to buy it, that is a different kind of validation. It is an entry into a new relationship. The man who bought the little piece below the hollyhocks, "Along the Arno," wrote on the subject line of his check "Keep up the great work!" This is particularly poignant for me as I have been struggling with whether I should stop painting altogether. My shoulder has been reconstructed twice and it has been causing me enough trouble that giving up painting was definitely on my radar as a possibility. I received so much validation to keep on keeping on during this show. I will share one more experience: I was standing in the vicinity of my wall during a quiet time where I was not engaged with anyone else. A man and his wife approached and stopped next to me looking at my wall. He said to his wife "Now these paintings tell a story." He proceeded to go through each painting telling the story he saw. I cannot tell you how gratifying that was to hear. I want my work to draw people in to tell a story or open up a dialogue.

I know I was happy with how many people stopped at my wall and really looked and enjoyed. A great big thank you to Cherry Creek Art Gallery for organizing this event.

Paris Rains

Paris Rain, 30x20, oil on linen

Here is a painting I did about 5-6 years ago. I was so very pleased with it at the time and proudly hung it in my home. It was done in the master painting class I took with Kevin Weckbach and it was the piece I did for the month we studied Dark/light pattern. In my quest to make improvements on existing 'finished' art works, I started to study this piece. Why had it never sold? Was it the subject? Or the way it was handled? Composition seems good to me. There were a few small things that I thought could be improved upon but overall I was still pleased. BUT. Once I got started working on it so much started to pop out. Drawing being premier. Just some subtle things but which I think make a difference.

The bus at a wrong angle on the backend; a few angles here and there on the umbrella's; I added some  tiny features to the figures faces. I don't like faceless humans and though there was a hint at features in the faces, I put a bit more character into them; a bit more shape was added to the clothing: The woman's raincoat was lightened and given more form, the man in the middle now has a pocket on his jacket with his left hand now in a pocket; and the man in the red umbrella lost a little weight and has a brighter blue jacket on, which brings him out from the woman behind him. I darkened the pavement (although in the image it doesn't quite show up as the paint is still wet) and made the crosswalk a bit more distinct. My daughter's comment was "It looks so much lighter." And yet I had darkened more down than added more light. An interesting paradox.

I had pulled this painting out to update it prior to Notre Dame burning but the spire is in this painting. So weird to contemplate that it is now gone. Let us pray that when the repairs and rebuilding are done that they have enough common sense to rebuild as it was and not some horrific idea of 'improving' upon it. Our culture seems to have a huge ego and superiority complex, especially when it comes to history.

A Rainy Day in Paris, 30x20, oil on canvas, circa 2014 or 15

Easter Sunday - He has Risen!

Sunset block in, 18x36

I wanted to paint this sunset the other day. I did not have a 'clean' canvas on hand for the size I wanted it to be. BUT I did have a painting that I decided I did not want to repaint and that whatever it was that attracted me to it (yes, I remember what that was) that moment has passed. So I picked up "Rolling Tundra-Guanella Pass" to be the victim:

Rolling Tundra-Guanella Pass has passed on, 2017, oil on board

I thought I would get the old painting covered and then  go back in and refine it. As I have mentioned many times before the block in process is my favorite thing about painting, especially over an existing painting. Repurposing, recycling, whatever. Or making what came before, new. As the new covenant is fulfilled this week.

For now, I am not able to go back in and 'refine' this painting as I like the energy so much (oops, an attachment! we cannot get attached!). My one friend whom I have shared the image with said if I do go in 'only work on the right side. Do not  touch the colors on the left!' The dark colors coming in behind the white clouds I thought would definitely need to be addressed, but right now I am not so sure. It has grown on me. Stay tuned to see where this one goes. As I write this I am getting some ideas on direction. Blessings to All. God is Good.

Tom Cat revisted

Tom Cat, 2019, 20x20, oil on canvas

Here is an update of a painting from last summer. I was never really satisfied with it yet I could not figure out why. Everyone who saw it remarked how they liked it. Finally, I figured out what was bugging me.  So that you can see the difference, I will post the painting from last summer.

Feral Cat, 2018

I liked the colors in the walls but somehow I felt it still wasn't quite right. Almost felt dirty rather than in shade. The other big thing for me was the cat's face. I don't know why it was so hard for me to get that right.

Going back to it I saw a number of things right off the bat that had escaped me previously. First thing I noticed was the cat's back. The cat was a bit to thin on top which was one of the reasons the face didn't look right to me. That was easy. Then the ears. The ear on the left was too small and the space between the ears was too broad. That was easy to fix too. Next I realized I was a bit off on the nose so got that done.  This is on an island. I felt that even though it is 'said' cool light, warm shadows; warm light, cool shadows, there would be a lot of reflected light and and I wanted the warmth to come through of the ambient air. So I changed the overall color of the whitish walls in shadow. As so happens whenever you redo a painting you have to sometimes lose something you are attached to to make it work better overall. So I kept some of the rosiness of the front wall coming through but not as much as there was. I also decided to add the clouds. I think they help make it more interesting. And a few more holes in the plant to give it more dimension.

Your comments are always welcome. If you have a more creative name than Tom Cat, let me know!