I am often asked if I do commissions, and my answer is absolutely. I did these two for a dear friend who is also a collector of my art. They are both about her family and hold a special sentimental value to her. It was an honor for me to capture those moments in time for her.
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Every now and then someone special enters your life and miracles happen. I met a wonderful woman (who wishes to stay anonymous) that has helped me to trap and vet my feral cats. And so it is with extreme gratitude that I gifted her these two paintings. She is such an ambassador for the health and well being of these wayward babies. Building Friendships There is a side benefit to taking a workshop. Besides experiencing a weeks' worth of brush time, there is a special bonding of the group. Connecting, sharing, learning, laughing and sometimes even crying, we all grow in friendship and expertise. I am so grateful to be part of this group of very talented and caring artists. We all bring to the table our own individual spin and insight not to just every painting, but also to each other. I always enjoy Mary Carole's workshop family of friends.  Cats have always been near and dear to my heart. Within the last couple of years, strays have been showing up. Some call them free range cats, others call them feral. I live in a wooded area and the only way these guys could be showing up are one, people who live in the area let them roam and they don't return and/or two, people dump them. There is such an abundance of cats that no one seems to want. The shelters don't want or can't take more and the recue groups are overwhelmed too. So now I have a small cat population. Thankfully a wonderful woman (who has asked to be anonymous) has volunteered her time and energy to help me trap and vet these lost babies. And to help me with the veterinary costs I have been financing this with art sales.  I want to thank a long time friend, Deborah Curtis Vercammen, fellow animal lover and now also a collector of my artwork for purchasing these two plein air paintings. The proceeds of which have gone towards vetting my feral family. Thank you Deborah. You are the best!
Often times I feel like I have fallen into a black hole. Time marches on whether I am ready for it or not. The Airport show has come and gone. It was a lot of work, but I am happy I did it. Originally, I was asked to produce 25 larger paintings. When the time came to hang, there was only room for 19. It was all good. I believe it is important to be flexible, especially in the world of art. And as that show came to an end, I had to make some important life discissions. I choose to give up my little part time job, which I loved dearly to pursue a full-time life as an artist, so now here I am pondering what my new life looks like. Somedays I struggle with finding the time to paint because life gets in the way. Other times I'm happy to get in the zone and let my creative energies flow. Here is a sneak peek at my new life. I started painting florals. I plan on doing maybe nine of these. They are just fun little paintings 12 x 12 on box canvases. We will see how it goes. And then there are these. I usually don't do wildlife, but since I live in the woods, this may be a new genre for me. After mama feral..... A whole other part of my life.... was taken by a mountain lion, I painted the emotion of that, plus mule deer abound on my hillside (probably what drew the mountain lion to us.) Now I am also painting mule deer. It is a start in another direction. I have a second Mountain Lion Painting started and while the image is in my head. It is still a work in progress. And just because... I discovered a virtual Wildlife Juried Art exhibit and entered these. It is so out of my comfort zone, but hey all they ca say is yes or no, so I went for it. Ah the life of a full-time professional artist. And then there is the joy of painting waterfalls, because I do love them. After a hike to Faery Falls, I started painting it. After a quick block in and some actual brush time, I came up with this. It is still in the rough stages, but I do love painting nature. I should have it done in another sitting or two.  And then of course there is plein air. Being in nature connects me to my happy place. Since retiring in July, I have had the opportunity to take a couple of trips to Hat Creek which is a favorite fishing location not too far from me. While most visitors are casting their rods, I am busy capturing the moment in paint. No, I haven't escaped to the land of OZ, but getting ready for an art show sometimes feels like it. Actually I'm saying, "Painting and Framing and Titles... Oh My
"Lists and Pricing and Photos ... Oh My "Phone calls and Emails and Contracts ... Oh My "Labels and Placards and Bio ... Oh My And this is just the prep work, then there is the transporting, delivery and hanging. I am somewhat anxious about this showing. It has been in the works for about a year now. Time is getting closer, so I am working on finalizing details on my end. I have already been put on the back burner twice, so I am hoping 3rd time is a charm. Details to follow. The art of Procrastination is alive and well... time to check in with myself. HAPPY PAINTING9/16/2024 Time, time, time... The seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years go by in a flash. There is always so much going on. Work, home, projects, and life sometimes take over and energies get depleted. Through it all, I am still painting and doing art shows and living my life the best way I know how... Obviously, this site has been neglected. So today I am working on trying to play catch up with time.... and so, my ramblings begin.  Organized Chaos... The new shelving unit helps me get organized.... although right now it doesn't look like it. Two shows ago, this was empty. Space is a precious commodity. So now my paintings are back... but I have another chance at showing some of my larger paintings. So I am back at the easel seeing what else I can produce. Here is what I have been working on. One piece is done. The second a work in progress. It is kind of common to work on more than one piece at a time.... my brain is already thinking about starting a third one.... just a little smaller. A Creek Runs Through It.... Castle Craig Wilderness 20" x 30" The Sundial Bridge... a work in progress 30" x 40"  I love spending time in the studio, but I know it is also good for me to get my art out there. As a mostly introverted person, this can be a bit of a challenge.... not to mention what goes on behind the scenes of having an art show. My first step is to prepare myself to bare my soul.... it is kind of what I do when I paint. But then the battle inside my head begins. There is contacting a gallery. Sometimes they contact me. Yay, at least that limits the changes of rejection. Then usually there is some waiting time... yay again... time for more paintings. But then there are lots of emails, contracts to sign, more emails. planning, working on themes, or just collecting artwork, working on titles, framing and prices. There are labels that need to be made, business cards gathered ... oh and I usually always need to work on my website. Did I mention deadlines to meet? And then of course there is that sweet moment when it all comes together. The artwork gets delivered and hopefully well received. The mad scramble in my head calms down.... and even though I still feel like I have bared my soul, I know this is who I am. Every brushstroke is a part of me, and my energy being transferred onto a two-dimensional image. It is such a personal experience, and it always brings me joy.
I recently signed up for a workshop with Mary Carole Larson. It was put together by my dear friend Mollie Flack. For some reason, I thought it was a plein-air workshop. Being basically a landscape artist, I thought it would be nice to connect with nature and paint. It has been around 2 years since I have ventured out into the wilderness to paint plein-air. To my surprise (and later) to my delight, I discovered I had signed up for a portrait seminar. Oh boy. So even though I felt hugely uncomfortable and very much unprepared for my weeklong workshop, I showed up toting canvases, paints and a lot of anxiety. It was probably one of the best workshops I have ever attended. When I finally got out of my own head, and out of my own way (with the help of Mary Carole's encouragement, guidance, and maybe a little push to trust myself) I found great growth. I did 3 paintings in the course of 5 days. They are all in varying stages of completion, but I am more than happy with the progress I made. And no matter how much I think I know, there is always something more to learn. Also, I discovered a new process in my approach to art and becoming a better artist myself. As they say, variety is the spice of life. And so it is. Here are my paintings:  This is the Grape Picker after Bougereau. Almost the entire class started with this piece. It taught me the process of painting portraits. We did it in 2 days. Mine is not quite finished, but it is close. I now have a new passion to paint and learn from the old masters.  This was my 2nd painting. It is my pride and joy. And how could it not be. My reference photo was Christopher's graduation photo into the USMC. Notice the signature at the bottom. It is a finished piece. I am extremely happy to how it turned out. Working from a modern photo has pro and cons. Again, Mary Carole taught me about the subtle changes that moved it to just coping a photo to bringing Christopher's image to life. She is an amazing teacher.  Painting #3. Even though this one is far from done, it does have a title. This is "The Three Faces of Misty". Misty is our old lady dog. She will be 14 at the end of this month (October). She is not doing great physically, so I wanted to paint a homage painting of her. From left to right.... her puppy image, center is pretty much her today, and the far right is her young girl image. She is part golden retriever, and she has that smile they all seem to have. Because Christopher's painting was so tight, I wanted to paint her looser and more playful. Again. Mary Carole to the recure. She encouraged the playfulness while at the same giving me pointers on making these images work together. I worked on these the last 2 days of the workshop as I was giving Christopher's portrait time to tack up. Yes, these are oil paintings. For more information on Mary Carole Larson, you can go to her web page: [email protected]
  I started these two paintings a while back. I was scheduled for cataract surgery. I was very excited when my doctor told me with new special lenses, I would see better than ever in my life. But when that 1st lens was put in, I was blind. Well, not totally blind but I needed to be inches away from something to see it. Now being an artist and painter, this has always been my worse fear. I had already started the waterfall painting but could not see my reference photo let alone what I was putting on my canvas. So, I started the still life. I set it up and blocked it in and then realized I was seeing double of everything in front of me. To say I was freaking out is an understatement. Three surgeries later on that eye and my vision was restored. Unfortunately for me those special lenses would not work with my extreme stigmatism. But the standard ones worked, even though I don't have the miracle vision, I am happy to see. It has been over a year now since that ordeal. I wasn't sure I could even paint again. But I knew I had to try. The waterfall came easy, the still life not so much. I just have to practice painting what I see. It has been well over a year now, I am back to painting, and I am very grateful that I can indeed see.
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