CLOUDS & WATER

This is the small quick painting I did after 'MAUVE CLOUDS'. The fog was rolling in over the horizon by then.

Oil on hardboard

5" X 7"

'MAUVE CLOUDS'
Asilomar Seascape

Another painting day at the beach. The fog bank hung over the horizon, making the colors all purply.

9" X 12"

Oil on hardboard

WAVES CRASHING

Seascape at Asilomar beach 

This was the small study I dashed off after OCEAN WAVES. It was one of those overcast summer mornings, so the colors appeared intense without the very deep shadows of a sunny day.  I believe that is because the pupils widen to let in more light when the sky is darker. 

Oil on hardboard    

5" X 7" 

'OCEAN WAVES'
The waves rolling in to the shore at Asilomar, California

I observed the waves rolling in for a long while before beginning to paint. They are moving so fast that you really have to paint from memory when on location at the beach. I like the way the blue-green intensifies in saturation just under the curl of foam. Paintings is always about edges, color, brushstrokes and relationships.

Oil on linen mounted on hardboard

9" X 12"

'PACIFIC GROVE'

I painted this small one quickly after a longer study. Its nice to have all the colors mixed, ready and just get it down. A foreign tourist watched me for a while and then exclaimed, "Isn't it wonderful, you just stand there and paint!!"...  sounds so easy.

Oil on hardboard

5" X 7"

Model in a Red Dress

This was painted from a live model in two long sessions. We all thought the dress and shoes reflected her bold personality. I was going for a color statement based on the red chemise.

11" X 14"

Oil on Canvas board

RIVER ROCKS II

This was done quickly with the palette paint remaining after a concentrated effort on the first version. I think the expressionistic paint strokes and color came together well in the smaller, faster version. 

Oil on hardboard

5" X 7"

'RIVER ROCKS MARIPOSA'  

Painting the rock formations along the Agua Fria river, Mariposa, California this spring was an exciting challenge for me.  With the sounds and events of natural life unfolding, I set up my easel and gear in the cold. I set to painting nature's rock sculpture in fast changing light; trying to make water fluid, rocks solid, the land dewy and warming in the early morning.

Oil on Canvas board

9" X 12"

"FIGURE 35" 

Nude with Blues and Greens

Oil painting

11" X 14"

Oil on Canvas

DOOR OF DAWN
The sun rose over the hill and as it broke through the trees it resembled a radiant key-hole.

Oil on hardboard
5" X 7"

AGUA FRIA AT DAWN

I rose at the barest hint of daylight to set up for painting en plein air by the Agua Fria. The California wildflowers were profuse in April- varieties that grow in the higher elevation of the Sierra foothills were not familiar to me. The sun rose just behind the hill and lit up the cold blue rocks and water with warm light. I was working with a value filter.. basically a small sheet of red film in a mat. Looking through this filter helped me to see the patterns of light and dark as abstract shapes first. Some painters teach that the values of these areas should remain clearly delineated.

Oil on canvas board

9" X 12"

ROCKY

I dashed off this little painting after laboring long on another rock painting by a creek in the Sierra foothills near Yosemite valley. This little guy popped up on the rock and posed for awhile. 


Oil on hardwood
6" X 6"

REFLECTION IN COMPUTER SCREEN

I turned off the computer and painted my reflection. When the nest is empty a woman has time to reflect on herself. Thinking about issues of beauty, fading beauty, and the beauty in the little details of a silver hair or a wrinkle.

Oil on maple

6"X 6"

FIGURE 33
The fun thing about developing a level of comfort with our models, is that sometimes they will try out some fantasy/costumes. This familiarity makes for interesting paintings.

14" X 18"

Oil on canvas board

'TOMATOES IN STRIPED BOWL'

Something caught my painter's eye, and so I seized the moment. My thoughts went to a recent e-letter from Robert Genn's list called the painter keys, about 'kissing'. Should objects touch? How much overlap is enough in a composition? I also thought about something I heard Wayne Thiebaud say in an interview on 'Spark' (pbs.org), he spoke about articulating the variations of light in a painting as glint, gleam and glow.

Oil on canvas

5" X 7"

"ALL CRACKED UP"

OK, I haven't lost it just yet. This is my response to the Daily Painters Website challenge! The first week of the month there is a group theme.
I haven't been posting lately, but I have been painting..

6"X 8"

Oil on maple hard wood panel

CLOUDS

The cloud formations have been magnificent lately- so I started this from a window view. I was thinking about composition ideas I've been reading about, like dominance and subordination or notan, light/dark shape relationships. Since this was small I decided to paint more thickly than I usually do, pushing the paint around.

Oil on hardboard

5" X 7"

PACKING PAPER ON SILL

This crumpled packing paper caught my eye as it looked like sculpture. I was really challenged to paint it in a cool blue room, with the warm western late afternoon light.

Oil on canvas
14" X 18"

FIGURE 32

This was done in two sittings from a live model. I tried to finish it in one sitting, but I decided to leave behind my goal and do what the painting needed. It was fun to paint her warm reflective skin and red hair. I have shifted my approach to a more 'a la prima' painterly style.

Oil on canvas board

12" X 16"

BOX OF HEART CANDY

I bought this at The Pasta Shop on 4th St. in Berkeley- They are a foodies paradise.

Oil on maple

6" X 6"

PERSIMMONS AND POMEGRANATE

This was done more from invention than life. It made me think about painting in a more theoretical way, painting what I think would happen with light and color reflection.

Oil on maple

6" X 6"

sold

'POMEGRANATE'
I've been hearing a lot about the pomegranate's health benefits lately. That's good news to me because I like eating them and painting them. I was looking at the edges and at how even the deep red color is really a red-grey except in some spots where light makes a pure bright note.

6"X6"

Oil on maple

sold

FIGURE 30

I challenged myself to paint this in one sitting rather than the usual two, working more freely with color than I usually do.

Oil on canvas

12" X 16"

FIGURE 29

Another painting of a studio model. I decided not to take the finish of this painting too far from the under-painting of the first session. I'm still sorting out how much to work these the second sitting.

12 X 16

Oil on canvas board

FIGURE 28

Oil on canvas

14 X 18

FIGURE 27


Oil on canvas-board

16" X 20"

FIGURE 26

This is a recent figure study. I was taken with the reflections and shadows surrounding her dramatic pose. She is also an artist and writes mystical poetry.

Oil on canvas board

14" X 18"

'FIGURE 25'

The figure studies are done in two sessions. I keep modifying the technique, as I am always evolving 'how' I do these paintings. Most recently I've been starting by toning the canvas with a yellow earth (ochre)and wiping out the lights, then adding a red earth (sienna) to model the shadows in the underpainting. The following week, I have to decide how much of the underpainting should show through. In this case I kept it fairly transparent. I like to see the brush strokes in a painting.

Oil on canvas board

14" X 18"

'SASHA'

I have been painting mostly from life for a few years, so it was interesting to apply what I have learned about color, light and form to painting from a photographic source.
She has such a sassy personality!

Oil on canvas panel

12" X 16"

Sold

'GOOSE POOP PARK'

This was done on location at an estuary in Monterey, CA. The water was very green and the surrounding land was ripe with goose droppings.

Oil on masonite panel

9" X 12"

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON

This is a bird sanctuary where the lagoon runs through sand dunes to the sea. This was done quickly, with high wind and a large flock of seagulls practicing take-offs and landings. I put this in the opening show of Fingado Art Gallery, which opens tonight, for the gallery walk on Stockton St, in El Cerrito- 7-10 p.m.


Oil on canvas

9" X 12"

MONTEREY PINE

I painted this amazing tree on the grounds of Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California. This was my second trip there to be part of 'the artists round table'. A very affable group of artists share a lodge, and have evening critiques there for a week in June, and its been going for about 30 years.
The numbers of these particular pine trees seem to be dwindling. I haven't learned if it is just the normal end of their life cycle, or a result of climate change.

11" X 14"

Oil on panel

'LEMON BOWL'

These were unusually large Meyer lemons given to us by a friend. They are somewhat sweet and best picked from local trees, and they make wonderful lemon curd. I like the deep yellow color with this blue bowl.

Oil on board

6" X 6"

Sold

Figure 21'

The model created an interesting headdress out of a diaphanous pink fabric, so I focussed on painting her head and upper body.


Oil on board
9" X 12"

'PAIR OF CHERRIES'

I found this little frame a long time ago and finally painted a painting to fit it.

Overall 5" X 7"

Oil on doorskin (Wood)

FIGURE STUDY 20
I have painted this model many times now. We asked for a pose with prominent hands and feet, a nice challenge.

Oil on hardboard

9" X 12"

'RED POPPIES'

These volunteers were growing in the garden, so I put a few in an old Chinese bottle. This is an alla prima painting- done quickly, in one session.

Oil on maple

5" X 7"

Sold

'FIGURE 19'

I enjoyed this model, a young dancer. She had wonderful musculature, coloring and intensity.

Oil on maple

6" X 8"

Not available

'CAT & KITTEN'

I noticed these little porcelain cats on my shelf and thought it would be nice to paint them in honor of mothers day. Happy Mother's Day!

Oil on maple

5" X 7"

CITRUS BOWL

I liked the quirky way my husband balanced the oranges in this glass bowl and the way the morning light played on the surfaces.

Oil on maple

6" X 8"

BUTTERFLY ON GINKO LEAF

This butterfly was found on a morning walk up Moeser hill. I carried it in my palm and on the way down I picked a fresh green ginko leaf. When I got home I set the butterfly on the leaf and because of the ginko's surface it sat right up as if it had sprung back to life.

Oil on maple

5" X 7"

Sold

FIGURE 17

I had been longing to try a back pose and this model had such lovely coloring.

Oil on wood panel

6"X 8"

FIGURE 16

I started this two session painting with a layer of burnt sienna over a gray prime, then used a wipe out technique and went back into it with more lights and darks. I liked it too well to add more color, so during the second session I just made refinements. Yoshio is such a great model.

Oil on canvas

'TWO BUTTERFLIES'

I found a dead Monarch butterfly on the pavement of a parking lot, so I took it home to paint. Later that week, when gardening, I dug up a rusty butterfly hinge. Synchronicity! I find it interesting to paint two objects in small still lives. It invites comparisons. Is there as much beauty in a rusty hinge as a butterfly?



Oil on Maple

5" X 7"

FIGURE STUDY 13

Oil on Canvas

11" X 14"

'FIGURE STUDY 12'

This study was done in two sessions with the model. She enjoyed the opulent purple sari surrounding her.

Oil on canvas

12" X 18"

FIGURE STUDY 11

Just completed this figure study last week. The young artist/model has an affinity for Mucha and Art Nouveau which she embodies in her poses.

Oil on masonite

11" X 14"