Studio Tour - a peak inside

Easel in front of North facing windows

Today we take a studio tour since nothing in process do I want to post yet. Here is my easel area. It looks cramped but actually works well for me. I know a chair in front of the easel is not the ideal image of a painter at work, but I forgot to remove it from the scene. OOPS. I have had sore hips (bursitis?) which has made standing for any length of time hard, so I only stand when I really must and then I switch back to sitting when it gets to be too much. And yes, I use color charts. Sometimes I just need help if it is color I may not use in my everyday arsenal.

moving to the right of the easel

Fritz the Wonder Dog was hounding me for a walk or he would never have lowered himself to come into the studio. I think he must be sensitive to the smells as he has never liked to hang out with me here. He will lay in the hallway at the door. In this area of the room is where things are stored. The teak china cabinet I inherited  is full of art supplies. The dresser holds my CD's, extra oil paint and other mediums. The doorway connects to the second studio. The paintings stacked around the room are awaiting attention.

moving to the right again is my desk area

There is a doorway to the hall between the chest of drawers and the desk area. Here is where I do my blog, develop and upload my photos, correspond, and all other computer related tasks. Nothing is level in this old house so the drawers never stay shut...yes, I know I could level the desk...but the desk is solid walnut and it is heavy. I never think of it when I have brawn available to assist. The old radio cabinet to the right is not very useful but I love it. It stores books I am referencing and other things I want close at hand but it does make the area a bit tight. It should have probably stayed with its original finish (and yes, it did have the fabric front on it when we found it but the inner radio parts were gone) according to Antiques Roadshow, but I stripped it to show the beautiful burl wood veneers.

opposite the desk and behind the easel is where I store small panels and found objects

This fits nicely behind the closet door, an otherwise useless space. It has objects I found of interest that may find their way into a still life and small panels for plein air painting. Does anyone know what the metal object is in the upper left hand top shelf?

2nd studio where I gesso, varnish, frame, etc

Moving into the next room is where I do the nuts and bolts associated with my work. I think this room was once a nursery as it is small and has no closet. It was also used as a kitchen when our house had been divided into two units during the Great Depression. While in use as a kitchen, it had a fire! This is one room that now has drywall as opposed to lathe and plaster.

opposite wall in 2nd studio. Trunk and suitcase stores old paintings and frames

We end here with the packed trunk and suitcase. I can't help myself. I would rather have interesting furniture than more space efficient studio furniture. In the trunk are old paintings and smaller frames. In the suitcase are plein air paintings on canvas that never made the grade to be mounted and displayed, but I somehow can't throw away yet. To the left and behind the trunk are various sizes of canvas. I store only one of each size here to keep them close at hand and the bulk of blank canvases live in the basement.


Thanks for coming along on the tour. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my world.

Texture and Paint Quality - painting without a brush

Anyway you turn it...it looks interesting...and reads well

oil on linen panel, 11x14, Abstraction

Here is an exercise in paint quality. What is meant by that is the texture of the paint applied. I have had a tendency to paint fairly thin over the years. I have been working on a more painterly approach the past year or so but this exercise was helpful as it took me out of my comfort zone in not using a brush. One does get attached to painting with a brush! The tools used to apply paint to canvas were: a credit card, a putty knife, oil sticks and a plastic tool used in printmaking. I had some old paint on my palette that was not quite dry but had started to dry and I used that in places (notice the "white block toward the center) with those flat edges to get some interesting textures.

Painting a "non-subject" does not come easily to me but I did find this freeing in a way. It is also harder in that there is no subject to rely on. I had to think of varying the shapes, the colors and the values to make something pleasing and interesting. I was quite stunned when my husband asked to see it and then said he liked it and liked it whichever way I turned it. Now that is high praise! My daughter also likes it and the two images above are her preferred directions.

In case you are curious, the original way this was painted is below...my husband wants me to frame it but I can't decide which direction. I am open to suggestions. Let's go with 1, 2 or 3 in the order they are posted.Thanks!

Day on the Delta

Locke, CA, 20x16, oil on canvas

I heard about the "town" of Locke, CA through a plein air workshop a friend of mine went to called Delta Funk. It is put on through a local gallery in the area. On a visit to family I was able to take a day trip to some of the towns that are included to explore the funk around the Delta towns of Sacramento. Locke is a small China Town, built by and for the local Chinese of the time (early 20th century). It contains only a few blocks but it did fit the bill for a funky little town. I took quite a few photos for reference, this being the first view I have chosen to paint. I have another view of this covered walkway from the other end of it that I want to do as a companion piece.
The day we were there it was dead as you can see, but I was told it was packed on the weekends.

I started this painting two years ago and finally brought it out again this summer, determined as I was to not start anything new before trying to finish up some of those I had left hanging out there. It technically is a light and shadow painting but I painted it as flat local tone because most of it is in shadow with reflected light bouncing in.

Study in the Garden

Garden Study-Black-eyed Susans, 12x9, oil on panel

This painting was started on a recent gray overcast day, which gives you a lot of flat light. I did not have to fight with light and shadow everywhere although there was lots of ambient light. I painted right through the rain shower but then the sun came out and that changed everything. I finished this little piece in the studio. I was trying to capture the happy buoyancy of black-eyed Susans in the garden. The red Maltese crosses were on their way out but I thought they added a nice spark of color and the purple salvia tied in with the reflected blue light on the leaves. I don't paint outside near enough anymore. It does feel good.

Roof Line Jumble - Semur, France

Zigzag of Roof lines, 24x30, oil on panel, Day One

Day 2 photo taken on my easel (blue tone)

Day 3

Here is the other painting I started the day I blocked in Jersey Shore. This painting has been on my "to do" list for years. Every time I think I want to start on it, I would talk myself out of it. Full  of conflicting ideas of how I wanted to paint it. This is not normal for me. I had painted another smaller painting from this town which I think is the root of this discord. After all these years I still had not settled these questions in my mind. The problem is a made up problem, as so many problems are. So for this particular painting, on this particular day, after doing a couple of drawings I decided to go with my normal style of painting. BUT I do want to do another version of it after I finish this painting and try to do it totally different. I won't say "have fun with it" as truly, I am having fun with it going in the direction I chose to go with.

This is the town of Semur en Auxois in the Burgundy region of France. It is a medieval walled town built on a hill, of course!

Jersey Shore Fellowship

Fellowship, 24x24, oil on board

Since I have spent the summer working on older paintings to bring them new life, I decided a few weeks ago it was time to start something new. I began two new paintings in one day. I am always excited by the prospect of a new start! This one was the easier of the two although sometimes it is harder to be successful with a simple subject than when there is more going on in the scene. The reference photo was taken when I went to the Jersey Shore the year after Hurricane Sandy (last year). It is the first painting I have done from that trip back East; hopefully one of many. I spent two days in NYC; one day exploring the city on my own, and the other at the Brooklyn Museum of Art to see the amazing John Singer Sargent show and then the Botanic Gardens next door. I was there in April and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. And then I had one day walking the beach and eating seafood! Being landlocked now and having spent my very early years going to the Jersey Shore, I think adds to my love of beaches. I seem to be doing my share of around the world beach scenes lately. Walking the beach just begs contemplation and washing troubles away. Even looking at this painting helps me remember to let the wind take my cares away.

No need to spell it out, but this painting is using light and shadow as the visual approach. Any title suggestions are always welcome.

Interesting Interlude

I knew I had been gone awhile but had not realized it was a month already. Not to make excuses, but first I damaged my rotator cuff, then shingles developed on the same arm and this 10 days before my son arrived from Japan for an 8 day visit. In other words, life just took over. I will get back into mode here shortly, but for now I wanted to share the fact that I met a young man today whom I think will go far. He contacted me via my website just about the time all the aforementioned was going on. He introduced himself as being of Indian descent but growing up in Dubai and studying art at Cornell University in NYC. He would be in Denver visiting relatives for two weeks, arriving the day my son left. He wanted to talk to me about life as an artist if I would be willing to meet up with him for coffee. Truthfully, I did not need one more thing to do this week still not fully recovered from a compromised immune system and out of town visitors. But my curiosity got the best of me so I agreed to meet him. He was such a nice young man, I am glad I did. He is not afraid to ask questions, has already been to the arts district on Santa Fe and RiNo talking to artists and gallery owners. He says he is looking for the side of art that the schools do not address. He wants to be a famous artist, and with his personality, he just might succeed! I certainly could not give him any words of wisdom on that one! When I looked him up online, I found he had done a TED talk at the age of 16 on Pluralism. Not the average topic for a 16 year old.