Painting Pansy Tea for Two

June 23, 2014

I couldn’t resist painting another Pansy Teacup and Lesser Goldfinch combo. I decided to keep with the ring theme too. I think it adds to the symbolism of the pansy – “Think of me”.

There will still be pattern in the background but I painted in the base first, after my outline sketch. Notice how the hue is warmer closer to the light source then gets progressively cooler and darker further away.

I painted in in the male Lesser Goldfinch right away – I like to make sure I get my main focal point right before I go too far.

The female Lesser Goldfinch is my secondary focal point. Having more that one focus helps to move the eye around the painting.

Roughing in the flowers and teacup and ring. Throwing caution to the wind with my use of whimsey!

The trick from here on out is to balance refinement with freshness. I had to call it a day here and hope that I don’t wreck it tomorrow!

Painting of Rose Tea

June 17, 2014

It all starts with the teacup. I like a vintage piece with a fabulous form, a little iridescence or gilt (for the light to play on) and, most importantly, a flower or fruit that I have either in my garden or someone else’s!

Then I like to to a bird that compliments the still life. Here I thought an Anna’s Hummingbird would be the right scale and it’s plumage echoes the golds and greens and roses of the cup.

I took many shots of this teacup and rose and while there were aspects about each photo that I liked, in the end I chose this one because of the dramatic side lighting and the fact that there was a space the made sense compositionally for the humming bird to land on the rim.

My initial loose oil sketch tells me if my composition is working or not – I was concerned with this big rose off to one side, but the bird and handle should balance it out well.

I really liked the gold outline of a rosebud and leaves on the saucer and since it doesn’t really show up in the painting, I thought I’d use it as the background pattern.

Building up my darks in the hummingbird and teacup.

Building up the mid-tones.

Working the volume with highlights and shadows.

Filling in the background, hoping the dark color and flat pattern won’t overwhelm everything.

Pulling up more highlights to make sure everything pops against the busy background.

As I continue to work the painting, I try to balance realistic polish with a sense of painterly spontaneity. There are hits and misses along the way as I work on.

I decided to loose the big white rose painted in the background, it was too confusing and distracting. I also decided to put in gradient lighting that would make sense with the light source. I also worked a lot on the teacup and hummingbird, my goal is to really make them glow.

Hey, that saucer’s looking great now! There are elements that I miss from the previous version though, the pink glint on the back feathers and the more dynamic posture of the bird. I kind of like the darkness left in the gold leaf pattern in the background too – It’s less realistic but more interesting. How “real” do I need to be with a hummingbird on a teacup anyway?

Making Pansy Tea

June 3, 2014

Those wild birds simply refuse to join me in the studio but through the miracle that is Photoshop I am able to integrate my birding photos with my still-life set ups. I can use my magic lasso and drag them about with my mouse, scale them up or down and even flip them if so required until they find their place in the composition. So immediate, so satisfying! Here’s a tip though, make sure your light sources are coming from the same direction of you’re going to have to make it up on the painting side.

Now which one to choose?

Female Lesser Goldfinch

The overlapping of the pansies in the foreground help to anchor the bird in the space. I’m going to look at more reference photos for standing feet but this is enough to get me started.

Male and Female Lesser Goldfinch.

Cropping of the subject is a nice modern device and can balance out the male’s tail in the composition.

I love how this one is all stretched out and peering beyond the image but will need some legs though as there is no longer a perch available.

Forget-me-not Tea and Feathers WIP

May 28, 2014

A little birdie told me to get out my tea cups again! This time it’s a bluebird of happiness alighting upon the forget-me-nots plucked from my garden and an art deco teacup I found at a local antique shop.

I began sketching with my brush and thinned oils directly on the 12 x 12″ canvas.

Sadly, my sweet little drawing was off center and it’s important to me that the tea cup remains dead center in this series of little square paintings, so I wiped it out with a cloth and began again – this time measuring out my center point with a little dot.

Happy that I had my tea cup centered, I began to develop its volume using warm and cool hues and light and dark values.

Next I wanted to make sure my bird was going in a good direction, and blocked the blues. I started to work in bits of the background and flowers, working the composition and color story.

Not forgetting the forget-me-nots, I began layering them in behind and over he bird and draped over the edge of the saucer. This helps to develop the illusion of a depth of space. It’s pretty and light with bits of white showing through.

But I want to sculpt the image with shadows, anchoring the objects with a sense of gravity, so I layered in some darks. Tomorrow, more highlights!

Oh I’ll be thinking of a title too – I have the working title of Forget-me not Tea and Feathers, but maybe I’m also thinking along the lines of Souvenir of Happiness, or Remember me Blue….

OK, I didn’t see this coming yesterday! Today I woke up and wondered what my bluebird would look like with the rust breast of the male. It was a brave decision to make as I was pretty in love with the very simple color palette going on, but I thought this color break in a sea of blue might add a focal point and help the bird pop. Maybe I’m not so brave – it’s only paint after all!

All Work and No Play…

May 12, 2014

Yes, all work and no play makes my eyes fall out of my head. An antidote to obsessive detail work is the great outdoors! So while my abalone painting may not be conforming to my dreamed up schedule, my body and soul is much happier with a well deserved break!

All of that enthusiasm for life goes unseen into a painting like this but it’s what carries you through it!

Luster Lust

May 7, 2014

Here I am driving myself crazy! Each shell is shifting universe of light, changing every second. Much too subtle, much too elusive. It’s easy to get lost chasing the detail and miss the magic. Hoping to catch a rainbow…

Spring Awakening

April 3, 2014

Isn’t she lovely? This is the Pacific Art League‘s card for this month’s exhibit, Spring Awakening featuring Hesperia by Skye Becker-Yamakawa The show was juried by two great local artists Maralyn Miller and Ed Lucey and I’m delighted to have two pieces in the show!

The first is Lily of the Valley with Cows, an oil painting which certainly feels like spring to me.

The second is Dancing on Yellow – A digital photograph that I took this year – springy in more ways than one!

The show runs from April 4-24, with a reception this Friday, April 4 from 5:30 – 8:00pm.

Painting Point Alones Abalone

March 31, 2014

Ah Abalone!

I’ve been wanting to attempt a large scale painting of abalone for some time now. I’m stunned by how this once plentiful mollusk, so vital to an equally struggling sea otter population, had become so severely depleted in less than a century. I don’t want to simply paint the masses of shells that use to litter the beaches but I also want to introduce other elements that would symbolize a bits of the history of this decline. I was stumped for a while, but the more I looked into it, the more possibilities arose. In researching the topic, I learned that while the native Ohlone people always harvested abalone, it was the Chinese who first began to fish it commercially. As early as 1853, a Chinisese fishing community started up at Point Alones in Monterey, next to where the Monterey Aquarium stands today. They recognized the abalone as a delicacy and shipped it live to San Francisco and smoked to China. Once their success was apparent, they were pushed into harvesting squid which was also sent to China to be used as fertilizer. Wide sweeping racism seemed to coincide with the burning of many coastal Chinese communities at the turn of the century and when fire broke out at Alones Point in 1906, the Chinese who had been leasing the land were not allowed to rebuild. Actual artifacts from this community have been dug up at this site including pieces of period pottery, shards of which I will paint into my this, my first work, little fragments of a mostly buried history.

Articles I’m using for reference include:

Graduate Student Uncovers Hopkins’ Immigrant History, Stanford Report, August 17, 2010

Monterey Excavation Reveals Chinese Fishing Village, SF Gate, November 5, 2010

History of Abalone Fisheries: Indian Fisheries, Calishpere, University of California

Chinese Fisherman, Explore Monterey County California

Edible History: Abalone, Edible Monterey Bay

My perfect circle of pottery shards is all but lost in this clutter of abalone shells as I play around with the textures and colors. It should resurface as I build up my highlights, luster and sheen.

I’ve decided to fill it all in and go back for the detail. One more day should do it and then the real work begins!

The Perfect Stretcher

March 27, 2014

I think what separates the art student from the professional artist is the quality of their stretcher. (OK, so maybe that’s the least of it ), but it certainly feels that way sometimes.

As a student it was all about experimenting with materials, with the image. These paintings were often ephemeral – try something and maybe paint over it and try something else. You didn’t really worry if someone was going to buy something. You didn’t loose any sleep over stretcher that might torque out of shape eventually or maybe didn’t have that great a shape to begin with.

Now it’s different, now quality is an issue and you want your work to stand the test of time. It needs to be square enough to fit into frames if required. It needs to be solid. You want your clients to feel confident that it won’t twist out of shape on their wall.

While there’s a certain amount of pride to be had in making your own perfect stretchers, I’m all for buying pre-assembled canvasses so I don’t waste time in construction but can get straight down to painting! However there are still those custom pieces where I need to dust off my carpentry skills (such as they are), haul out the miter saw and get busy.

Such is the case now that I am returning to my favorite 64″ x 64″scale for some “shell field” paintings. I must say that in the time it took me to prepare this perfect beauty I could have done a stack of paintings! I’M ALL FOR OUTSOURCING! Bring it!

Blackberry Tea I

March 14, 2014

Silk Threads

March 14, 2014

Painting Orchard I

February 13, 2014

I don’t care what the calendar says – once the trees start blooming it’s spring! I just have to set aside whatever it is that I’m trying to will myself to do in honor the season. This week I was inspired by both a trip to a stormy orchard in Saratoga and a landscape painting demonstration given by Karen White at the Los Gatos Art Association. She has a stylized approach to landscapes, not a slave to local color, simplifying forms and rearranging elements at will and using large, flat brushes foe bold gestural strokes.

Well, inspiration is just that – you may start with all kind of big intentions and in the end lead your self down quite a different path, most likely one that’s very familiar. My brushes were not as big and flat as Karen’s but I was thinking in terms of texture and gesture. That is, until my love of the image overcame my desire for spontaneity.

And that’s what makes each artist unique – even when you are curious about someone else’s path you will inevitably follow you’re own!

New Work at the Gallery

February 4, 2014

New work was just hung at the Los Gatos Museums Gallery and it looks great! I’ll take you for a quick spin with my camera, but you really must go in to see it in person as my photos do not do any of the work justice!

We’re located at 24 N. Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos, California we’re open Tuesday through Friday: 10-5:30, Saturday: 10-5 and Sunday: 11- 3. The next art exchange will take place at the end of April.

Dahlia Days

January 15, 2014

Dahlia Days may be half a year away but today I was able apply the finishing touches to a portrait whose lovely expression remained elusive for so long!

Dahlia Days

January 15, 2014

Sweet Dreams Zinky

December 29, 2013

You know a painting has truly become part of a new home when all the members of the family come to appreciate it. Well, the horses, dogs and birds may not have an opinion about my Bed of Ghosts as of yet but Zinky clearly has good taste. Thanks for sharing Audrey!

Reception at the Triton

December 16, 2013

Yes, it feels every bit as good as I thought it might to have a painting hanging in the Triton! It’s such well regarded museum with a beautiful exhibition space and to have Feathers hanging alongside the works of so many of my piers made me feel truly at home! Thanks to friends and family who came out to share this evening with me – you’re the best!

First place was awarded to two artists this year (I know both of them!) Cuong Nguyen (who also won the painting competition last time ’round and is so good they might just devote a wing to him) and Holly Van Hart (who just joined the Los Gatos Museums Gallery). They each get a solo show!

In fact, the Gallery was very well represented with nine member artists in the show. In addition to Holly and me, there was David Stonesifer (with two pieces), Donna Orme, Will Maller, Ed Lucey, Ellen Howard, Linda Smythe, and Joan Harvey.

Artists I know and love, Jaya King (two pieces), Mei-Ying Dell’Aquila, Teresa Ruzzo and Brigitte Curt were also included. So much really interesting work – I need to go back for a better look!

Proud to be hanging on this wall as you enter with with Jaya King and Cuong Nguyen!

Talking with Chief Curator Preston Metcalf about my project plans for 2014.

Cuong with his first place winning Portrait of Paul as Leonardo.

Holly Van Hart in front of her painting Possibilities Abound.

Jaya King with her moving paintings in the upper left and lower right (see below)

Jaya’s Little Silver Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun.

Joan Harvey with her painting Endless Summer.

I met the artist, Vincent Liu who painted Kung Pao Chicken hanging in the upper left and chatted with Linda Smythe who painted Pretty in Pink.

With the boys.

With the girls

I first met Pam Prentice, a Bay Area blogger at one of my Open Studios.

Hybrid Tea Rose I

September 19, 2013

Here’s the newest little rose out of studio and how it came together.

This little rose reminds me of one of the ones made from frosting!

Painting Lily of the Valley with Cows

August 12, 2013

Day 1

It’s so good to be back in the studio! Summer vacation is drawing to a close and all that intense holiday travel is still fresh in my mind. It seems only appropriate to work on something that’s loaded with nostalgia for the Annapolis Valley from which I’ve just returned.

This great image it based on yet another fabulous photograph by my dear friend (and novelist) Christy Ann Conlin, Sparkle Face. Her son called the flowers “deadly of the valley”after their poisonous reputation, all the warnings have paid off!

I love the band of cows running around the deco pitcher in which she placed great handfuls of lily of the valley. I thought it would be fun to paint cows in the pasture beyond the pitcher as well, so I went out to Santa Cruz and snapped a bunch of pictures of cows (same kind as Nova Scotian cows) and placed them in the composition.

And here I’ve used photoshop to plan my preferred placement of the cows, it’s fun to move my herd around the field.

One thing to be careful of when you are working from multiple sources (Christy Ann’s photo of the vase and my photos of cows in the pasture) is that your light source remains unified. I realized that my sources did not match up at all and it seemed easier to modify the lighting on the pitcher and flowers that on the cows. I’ll have to work on that some more tomorrow and try to figure out what I want to do in the foreground. Perhaps I’ll give the suggestion of lace for texture, although part of me wants to put in a big wet nose or furry ear. Suggestions?

Day 2

I decided to work on the star of the show today, those lovely lily of the valley. They symbolize purity and a return to happiness in the Victorian floriography, which I think is perfect for the spirit of this painting. Humbling though, when you’re working with a small brush, you can see the whole day dissolve away without a lot to show for it! Here I’m trying to capture the specific look and character of these little cheerful little flowers but struggling to keep it painterly – I don’t want it to end up looking like a tole painting!

Day 3

Okay, so I’m not blowing myself away with my progress on this painting but I’ve been shuttling kids to and from camp and practicing yoga and then there was that day at the beach….. ah well, school starts next week and my excuses will come to an end. Today I worked on building up the bouquet, refining the cow border and the volume of the pitcher. Maybe this time next week I’ll be shopping for a frame!

Day 4

Today I worked on the foreground. I was excited to use the beautiful vintage pinwheel lace that I had picked up at an auction in Nova Scotia years ago as inspiration. It not only complements the lacy feel of the flowers and adds a soft pattern to move the eye around the composition but it is a human web of sorts.

I knew that my foreground object should bare some direct relationship to either the cows or the flowers and after much thought I decided to go with some kind of scissors or knife to add a sharp contrast to the sweetness of the pastoral and domestic scene without seeming out of context. I thought it also symbolized cutting life short (the darker side of picking flowers and raising cattle) in a very subtle way. So after looking at a lot of old clippers and pruners and horn handled knives, I chose a great beat up pair of grass shears and painted them into the lower right hand corner where their open blades would lead your eye back to the pitcher and leave a gentle sense of menace.

Unfortunately, after I painted them in, I realized that they were actually over a foot long and would look more like this Photoshopped image in relation to the little bouquet. It’s a pity because I really fell in love them, the rust, the flaking enamel, the perfect colors, so much so that I was willing to overlook that they’re overkill for picking the delicate lily of the valley that slip away with a gentle tug. Didn’t bother me. However, I do draw the line when it comes to scale.

There are a lot of exquisite Victorian gardening scissors I could consider, but I think there’s enough sweetness in this painting already. I might try out these wrapped Japanese ones tomorrow, they’re worn and their not too big or too small. Could they be just right?

Many Days Later

The daily progress was so imperceptible, I gave up on shooting it until I’d finished. It’s so hard keep up the spirit and flow of a piece when your working time is broken up with other commitments and obligations! Finally, I reached a point where I felt there was a consistency to the brushwork and lighting, More of the cows actually show on the right but the photo crops them out. Time to MOOve on!