June 29th, 2009
A few weeks ago my daughter and I went with a friend to the Bellingham Farmers Market on Saturday. I saw these beautiful oyster mushrooms at a booth selling mushroom growing kits. The smooth texture and beautiful glowing colors made me wish I had my pastels with me. I’m really pleased with how this painting turned out. If you like it in this photo, you’ll love it even more in person!
Original painting. Soft pastels on Wallis Belgian Grey sanded paper, 8.5 x 11 inches. Completed 6-28-2009.
Available $250 (unframed). Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.
Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.
May 22nd, 2009
In my flowerbox in front of my house a couple of years ago I had an abundance of wonderful blue petunias. I’ve tried to paint them before, and found them to be a challenging subject. This time I tried using oil paints and a lot more patience. This painting took several days to complete. I hope you enjoy the results!
This was the first oil painting I’ve done since I was a teenager. It was fun to rediscover the creamy texture–and the new water-soluble oil paints now available! No smell of turpentine in the studio!
Note: I’m not used to photographing oil paintings. The photo above shows some light reflecting off the canvas texture that is not visible on the painting itself in normal indoor lighting.
Original painting. Oils on canvas board, 6 x 4 inches. Completed 5-21-2009.
SOLD–Smith Collection.
May 22nd, 2009
My daughter and I were driving on some Tuscan backroads looking for an obscure historical site during our first visit to Italy. In other words, we were lost. We were in rocky, dry hill country where not much was growing except scrub ground cover. Solitary on a hilltop far from the nearest neighbors was this ruin of an old farmhouse or small villa. The storm building up in the sky behind it exaggerated the abandoned and lonely feeling of the place.
Original painting. Acrylics on canvas board, 7 x 5 inches. Completed 5-21-2009.
Available $25 (unframed). Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.
May 11th, 2009
Monteriggioni is a classic hill village in Tuscany, Italy, near Siena. It is surrounded by beautiful agricultural land. In past centuries farmers would hurry inside the walls of the fortified “castello”, or castle, for protection when the area was threatened with attack. This old arch hangs over the “back door” through the village walls, and frames a spectacular view of the hillside and the valley below. While I was photographing the scenery, an older Italian woman stepped through the doorway for a spring “passeggiata”, or stroll.
Original painting. Acrylics on canvas board, 6 x 4 inches. Completed 5-8-2009.
Available $35 (unframed). Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.
May 6th, 2009
I used to live in the Palouse–wheat-growing country spanning northern Idaho and eastern Washington. The Palouse was all rolling hills and curving feminine shapes. In the spring at dawn, you could hear the earth beginning to thaw and the soil opening up to breathe. To me it sounded like Mother Earth waking up after a long winter sleep. Do you see her in this picture?
Original painting. Acrylics on canvas board, 4 x 6 inches. Completed 5-6-2009.
Available $25 (unframed). Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.
May 2nd, 2009
I’m starting to experiment with small paintings as a way to loosen up my work a bit. Some of these paintings will be in acrylics and some in soft pastels. All will be 5 x 7 inches or less. You’ll find these paintings in a category called “Small Wonders”. See the Category select box in the right sidebar.
December 26th, 2008
The sun is peeking through the clouds once in awhile today, after more inches of snow fell again last night. It’s amazing how the colors brighten from yesterday’s monochrome with just a little more light.
I see my friend T. has been here. She passed my house on her cross-country skis yesterday, and must have been headed here. I see her ski tracks on the trail. They’ve been covered with some snow, so I know the tracks aren’t from today.
Trees with limbs hanging low yesterday are bent to the ground today. I can hear them creak and snap with the cold and the weight of the snow. A gust of wind comes through once in awhile and helps the trees shake free some of their white burden.
It’s amazing how the delicate grasses still stand tall, waving in the breeze. They are thin, and the snow has little surface area on which to accumulate.
Judging by the sky, there’s more storm to come.
Original painting. Soft pastels on Mi Tientes paper, 5.5 x 5.5 inches. Completed 1-18-2009.
Available $25 (unframed). Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.
December 26th, 2008
It is so silent. I can hear the occasional crackle of a crystalline snow flake falling on the shoulder of my coat. There is a low unseen washing sound of the ocean on the beach a quarter mile down the hill. A bird comes to look at me, his mate joining us soon after. They make low gentle beeping sounds to each other as they watch me, and shake the snow off their feathers.
When I enter the trail, the snow makes crunching sounds beneath my feet, as if I walked on a hollow drumskin.
I’ve found the scene I want to paint. I’ll take some photos and return to my warm home to work.
Original painting. Soft pastels on Mi Tientes paper, 5.5 x 5.5 inches. Completed 1-17-2009.
SOLD–Thesen collection.
Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.
November 10th, 2008
For some months I’ve been wanting to do a painting of our ferry, the Whatcom Chief. It was a difficult subject for me. There were the usual problems of many angles of view to choose from, time of day, lighting and weather, etc. However, it was also difficult because it’s a man-made subject, not a natural one. The Chief is a work boat, and was designed that way. It was not designed for beauty, like a yacht or a sailing sloop. At the same time, I wanted to paint it as attractively as possible, because we Islanders love the Chief. It’s a crucial part of our lives, and–in heavy weather or emergencies–our lives sometimes depend on it.
For these reasons, I spent much more time than usual planning this painting. It’s also the largest pastel painting I’ve done so far. I hope you enjoy it!
Original painting. Soft pastels on Dakota pastel board, 18 x 24 inches. Completed 11-10-2008.
Available $475 (including frame). Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.
June 30th, 2008
Just after a misting rain on a chilly spring day, these delicate plum blossoms were too beautiful to pass by. I just had to spend some time appreciating their subtle colors. The tree is mostly an ornamental, though the small plums it will bear are edible.
I returned to acrylic paints instead of pastels for this postcard-size piece because I wanted crisp edges on the center flowers. Though the painting is small, I’ve found it takes nearly as much work to get it right as for a larger painting. I just use smaller brushes.
Original painting. Acrylics on canvasboard, 5 x 7 inches. Completed 6-29-2008.
Private collection.
Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.
