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.