Teapot Ninja

I think there is a ninja behind this teapot!  I found this tiny cast iron teapot in the Japanese market and I have been waiting for the right opportunity to paint it.  Here I was experimenting with light and on different surfaces and while maintaining bright colors. I love the way the teapot came out with the deliberate strokes of tone and color.

Super Giant Flower!

Super Giant Flower with Super Giant Flower Power!  At my fabulous workshop we had an activity where we were each given a photo of a painting to duplicate with a hitch. We went around the room with brushes and painted on each other's paintings for a few minutes.  It was scary at first and then became more and more fun the further along we went on each person's painting.  I ended up with an amazing 6x6 flower, full of the energy from everyone that painted it.  I loved it so much I wondered what it would look like bigger.  Above is the 18x24 version I did this weekend.

Momiji #1

I absolutely adore Japanese toys. This is a momiji doll.  These little dolls have an opening in the bottom where you can put a note and leave the doll for a friend to find and receive the note.  These dolls originated in Japan and now other folks are manufacturing them in the United States and they are cuter than ever.  I hope you enjoy momijis as much as I do!

Cupcake - Workshop Afterglow

This is my first painting, post-workshop.  I experimented with the purples and blues and reds that I was introduced to a couple of weeks ago.  It was really fun to integrate workshop colors and techniques into my studio.  Does it look delicious?

Flowers in Jars and Pots, Oh My!

This is another painting from the workshop based on a reference from one of the instructors, artist Dreama Tolle Perry.  Here we were learning about new blues and purples with bright, transparent colors as the base.  I love how vibrant and alive these colors look.

Cupcake O'Color!

I went to an amazing workshop in Pasadena last week given by Leslie Saeta and Dreama Tolle Perry.  Four days of art and inspiration and COLOR!  This painting was done on the last day of the workshop and it is definitely the loosest and most colorful painting I have done.

Fire Goats of Laguna - FINAL

Today everything got some paint! The tree on the right finally got the palm leaves it's been needing along with some additional tones on the trunk. The house itself, along with the chimney and the windows all had some tones added as well. The tree and brush got some greens, yellow and a hint of orange and the bougainvillea is, at last, in its glory.  The hill received some light colored grass and the stones got a little grayer.

Fire Goats of Laguna is for sale and is currently on display at the University of California Irvine School of Law.

Fire Goats of Laguna - Stage 6

Major work on the house today -- the closest part of the house and the chimney are covered with stones which were added in today along with some work around the edge of the lower windows.  I also added a few tones of paint to the second story and worked on the sky.  The house is really starting to pop!

Fire Goats of Laguna - Stage 5

Apologies for so long between posts. Trips to Villas owned by the Gettys, broken toes and teen driving lessons have been in the forefront but today I was able to spend some time working on the grassy hill and some of the greenery.  The added tones of color in both areas are making things start to look more "alive" as one of my family members would say.

Fire Goats of Laguna - Stage 4

Here we are with goats, the beginnings of grass on the hill, some texture on the rocks, and some work on the trees and shrubbery in the upper left region.  I still have not returned to the house -- I guess it is just not his turn!

Fire Goats of Laguna - Stage 3

This session was pretty much all about the goats.  They are so abundant in this scene, I wanted to get as many of them in as I could in all of their color and size variations.  The next session I will go back to the house, and work on some of the landscape so that you can get a sense of where these goats are roaming.  Thank you, everyone, for the feedback which I hope to incorporate in the next go-around!

Fire Goats of Laguna - Stage 2

I started by adding some terra rosa on to the canvas and then over that I blocked in the large areas of color which you see above.  However, you will see a small area of rose color in the middle.  I love this color so much that, even though it was not a large area, I just wanted to do a light wash with the color to see how it would look.  What do you think?

Fire Goats of Laguna

It is going to be a painting of the goats that graze on the dry brush in the hills Laguna Beach. The fire department employs them to keep the growth at bay. I love them -- they are so cute! For this piece I am using a wood panel that I have sanded and gessoed. The initial sketch is done in charcoal. I hope you enjoy tracking the progress.

Manet's Peonie

     
For the past three years I have been instructed in the ways of drawing and painting via the Great Masters. This particular piece is the lower portion of a larger painting of Manet's titled Vase of Peonies on Small Pedestal.  Zeroing in on one portion of the painting allows you to get into Manet's mind and analyze the color, strokes and amount of paint that the artist used. Knowing how Manet did it put's additional tools in this artist's tool box.

The Barrister Anteater

Once upon a time, an artist who also happened to be a staff member at a new law school thought it would be fun to paint the cartoon mascot in oil paint and share it with the school.  Much to her delight, the law school thought it was grand and the Barrister Anteater or Barristeater was born!

Bot Off Boat

I am so happy to finally bring this to you!  Our friend who arrived in the earlier piece, Ro-boat,  has left the vessel and is headed onto the island and into the unknown.  Only the future can tell us what lies ahead for our robotic traveler or maybe you can?

Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid

Diego Velázquez was a genius and the way that I discovered this was by attempting to duplicate his portrait of Pablo de Valladolid.  Pablo was a jester in the court of Spanish King Philip IV in the 1600's, Velázquez the court painter.  One of the remarkable things about the actual 6 ft tall, full body portrait is the fact that there is not an ornate background which allows the man, dressed completely in black, to jump off the canvas. And, of course, there is his mastery of human expression.  The most difficult part of this painting for me was the eyes.  Would Pablo and Diego look at this and see Pablo?

M&M is King

If you're having a bad day, this little chocolate morsel can put a smile back on your face.  Folks that I know particularly love the peanut M&M - a crunchy bite of protein, wrapped in a dessert. Some students that I know, claim that this qualifies the peanut M&M as a meal. Time and time again, M&M has proved to be the KING of chocolate goodness so here I have placed him where he belongs -- in an oil painting on a throne of fudge.  LONG LIVE M&M!

Fab Hair, Awesome Face

One of the most challenging things to draw is the human form. About a year ago I went to my first life-drawing workshop to see what I could do.  All of my drawings of the models looked like they were wearing pajamas -- not a good thing when the models are actually wearing nothing -- and most of them did not have faces, I could not even think about that!  Every week I would go and draw faceless pajama people and then take my drawings to my painting instructor, the fabulous Juan, and he would go over the lines of my drawings before painting class and show me where and how I could improve the lines, the forms and the shapes.  In the Fall I began studying faces and portraits in charcoal and paint and last week I went back to the life-drawing and came home with this.  Oh what a difference a year makes!

Vintage Halloween Cat

Halloween is only 6 months away! Are you ready? He is! This creepy, ceramic tea light is waiting to greet you all year round.

Ro-boat

This is a plein air study that was done on Balboa Island.  My friend and I saw this cute little boat, or dingy as they call them on the Island, and we just had to paint it!  For some reason, my friend's study did not include the robot.  Is it fact?  Is it fiction?  Is it a glimpse of the future?  Only time and more painting studies will tell.

Big Pumpkin

Just a few miles away from where I live is an area called Old Tustin.  A few years ago, the city of Tustin started welcoming plein air painters to come and paint for a few days in October. The week ends with an art walk and judging of the plein air paintings.  I was instantly attracted to the orange and red colors when I saw them against the green house.  While this piece did not make it to the contest due to a shortage of time and bad weather and first time plein air contest anxiety, I finally finished it in the studio for you to enjoy.

Pots & Pots

One day, an art instructor suggested I enter a plein air painting contest.  Since I had never painted outside, I decided I should probably do it once or twice before the contest.  I ventured all the way to the back of my home for my first outdoor painting adventure!  And, while the majority of this painting was completed outside, all of the detailing was done in the studio.

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Shio Ramen

Mitsuwa is a wonderful Japanese market in our area.  This amazing place contains a grocery, a variety of shops where you can buy dishes, books, plane tickets to Japan and a FOOD COURT!  Inside the food court is a little place called Santouka where they make some of the best ramen in the county.  This is a still life of our favorite choice, Shio ramen. Pork, mushrooms, bamboo, green onion and fish cake, almost too pretty to eat but somehow we manage it!
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