Prague in miniature

Winter has quite descended on Europe now. I spent a few weeks in Germany and the Czech Republic, where everything was properly cold and snowy, and I thought I was leaving it all behind by going to Ireland only to find Ireland quite snowed in as well. Painting snow was something which I was rather excited to try, inspired as I am by the Russian schools. I, however, rather brilliantly forgot that painting outside in the snow would be a dreadfully cold endeavor. So in favor of expediency, I've painted snowy Prague landscapes in miniature, 5x5cm. Here are five itty-bitty paintings:







It was quite fun to do tiny paintings. Now I'm eager to get on to some larger pieces.

And after some time...

So there are supposed to be three more images, but the computer or the internet or something is being difficult...I expect it can tell I don't really speak German. So, you'll have to imagine some trees, my makeshift studio, and my kitchen. Sorry. I also appologize for the wretched quality of the photographs, and the fact that many of the paintings are photographed with masking tape about the edges still, but I imagine you get the general idea of what I've been up to.


Le vieux pont, Albi
(I'm quite fond of the bridge, the buildings could use some practice in the painting though...)

Pont SNCF

Aren't light-up mushrooms marvelous?

Let's just imagine they have lightbulbs inside.

Ruins of the Roman Cathedrale Cloister, I think... I may have mailed my notes on these things back to the States, conveniently, this morning.

Mushroom resting?

These are just in chronological order, as I completed them. I did them all in Albi, France. The landscapes, other than the city/river scene, are quick grisaille studies because I needed a refresher course in simplity. I still do. I'm in Germany now, Leipzig, and am soon on to Dresden and then Prague. I'm having a marvelous time, collecting toys, playing in the snow, learning to dance the mazurka. Although, I admit, I'm starting to ache to get back to a proper studio. So I'll get on that, as soon as I figure out where I'm going to live next.

Albi

I have made it to Albi, where it is very beautiful. Yesterday it rained, though, so I painted my kitchen. I haven't found a place to upload photos yet, though. So you'll just have to imagine the painting is marvelous.

Puppet and a frog

Is "Kiss me" too ridiculous of a title for this painting? It might win out for that very reason.

I'm leaving tomorrow for France; although, even if everything goes according to plan, I won't get to Albi, my destination, until Friday. And it rather seems the country's on strike. I may get stuck in Iceland. This promises to be a grand adventure.

something old, something new

I've been busy working on a commission for a figure painting and try as I might, so far, I've failed to channel this guy. So I'm posting an old photograph which I've always kind of loved. It's a block-in for a painting from a couple of years ago.

This is, obviously, the finished painting.

Western Art Show

Just a reminder about The Gallery's Western Art Show opening Friday, October 15th. There will be lots of paintings of Alaska!

Alaskan Triptych, 2010

Some works in progress

Here are a couple works in progress:

A very quick study of a barn in Kentucky, which I'd like to develop into a finished painting.

And the still life I started a while back getting closer to finished.

Walls Gallery, OPA Exhibition

Walls Gallery is preparing for the upcoming Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition, opening October 15th. Check out their website for sneak peaks, and scroll down to see their video.

Road Trip

I just got back from a road trip to Chattanooga to drop off some paintings at The Gallery for a show opening October 15th, featuring, among others, paintings from my trip to Alaska. On the way, there were some beautiful landscapes. Here is a study of a cornfield in Indiana:

Oil on panel, the first time I've painted on panel in several years, as I usually paint on canvas. I had great fun experimenting with the surface of the panel instead of canvas.

Starting over, again.

I have been studio-less for about three weeks now, although, frankly, it seems much longer. And while it was my decision to give up my old studio, after a year filled with more loss, illness and trauma than I thought possible to survive seemingly all at once, I can't say it felt like I had much of a choice. Not to say the year didn't also include exciting adventures, a fair amount of joy, and wonderful people whom I now miss dearly, but I'd hazard a guess that those had little to do with the exhaustion I felt to the very core. I couldn't imagine staying where I was any longer and, it seems, things that cannot be imagined cease to be possibilities.

So now I am living with my parents, and not having a studio poses its own problems, as I function only slightly better without painting than I would without breathing. And painting Sebbie almost always makes me happy. My lack of studio is also complicated by a lack of easel and lack of decent palette, both of which I had had on loan while I remained at my old studio. Luckily, though, I am very stubborn, and today I finally contrived a way to set up a still life without the proper anything. Here is my set up:

I have clamped a box to the side of a bookcase to hold my canvas, and moved the books aside to make room for a box with a set up. Not a proper studio, as such, but enough to keep me happy for the moment.

Here is day one's block in. I also got the added pleasure of painting over the start of a painting I'd wiped out about a year ago and haven't had the heart to go back to. To new beginnings indeed.

National Small Oil Painting Exhibition

This weekend was the opening of the National Small Oil Painting Exhibition at the Wichita Center for the Arts.

Dinner Plate Dahlias

After what seemed like far too long, I finally unpacked my paints today. My mother has beautiful gardens around her house, so today I planted myself in front of some amazing dinner plate dahlias and had a go at painting them in the sun.

Sketch of dinner plate dahlias

It would undoubtably be easier if I brought them inside and controlled the light and the wind, but it was too lovely a day not to sit in the garden.

Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition

The Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition, 2010, will be at Walls Fine Art Gallery, in Wilmington, NC. Show opens October 15th, for more info click here. You should go, this guy will be there:

Alaskan Triptych

The Alaskan triptych I've been working on is almost done. It's been interesting to work on three paintings that go together, wanting each painting to work on its own while working with the group as a whole.

The pieces together as they are now. I'm going to frame them separately with the intention that they be hung together.

The lefthand side.

Center.

Righthand side.

New Gallery

You can now find my paintings at Old Pueblo Gallery in Tucson, Arizona. You can even buy them off their website.

odds and ends

I've been finishing up some last few paintings before I'm out of my studio at the end of the month, but the actual moving has become more pressing than the painting. I'm busy packing and framing and varnishing and doing lots of other rather mundane tasks. As I'm simultaneously moving out of my apartment, time spent enjoyably painting has been rather limited. So, instead of new updates, here are some details of old paintings:

flower.

cabbage.

garlic and bowl.

bug.

flying Sebbie.

Updates

August is proving to be a complicated month. I'm moving at the end of it and haven't quite worked out the details of where I'm going. I am, however, packing up my studio, so there's a bit of a mad dash to the finish to get all the paintings done. Plus there's preparing for two shows and sending things off to various galleries, which means logistics are getting tricky.

So, anyway, here are the updates of paintings:

The right side of the triptych from Alaska.

And Sebbie, of course.

Reasons why people without cars should only make small paintings:

I have this frame:

which I assembled at my house, and which weighs a terrible lot for something that's technically empty. And I have this painting:

which is at my studio across town.

Somehow they need to meet at the same location and from there get themselves to a gallery. How? It's a mystery.

Works in Progress and an Exhibition

The last few days in the studio have been spent working on pieces I've already posted. I painted the goldfish in the bowl of my juggler, as well as working on the rest of the painting. It's getting closer to being finished. Here's its in progress image:

I also worked on my new Sebbie painting, although it's barely beyond block in stage. Here's that one:

Today I also found out two of my paintings have been accepted into the National Small Oil Painting Exhibition 2010, held at the Wichita Center for the Arts. The exhibition opens September 10th, you should go! The following paintings will be there:

"Sebbie and the Small Horse"

"The Magnifying Glass"

Fish studies

I finally adopted a goldfish! I imagine most goldfish won't hold still for portraits, but I seem to have adopted a particularly hyper one. I've named him Ruthie. Here are studies I've done of him so far:

And some close ups:

My juggler will finally get fish in his bowl!

Getting there

I got in some work on my portrait today. The likeness is getting better. But I'm still short a goldfish.

Keeping busy

Today I started a new Sebbie painting. It's a small one, but I've wanted to do it for a while. Hopefully it will go quickly so I can start on the boat. Here's my set up and block in:

Goldfish portraits

Yesterday I went to the fish store to adopt a fantailed goldfish. There must have been a run on goldfish right before I got there, though, because they only had gray ones left. And while the gray ones were very pretty, they wouldn't do for my painting. I am really excited about the fish because it should be really hard to paint, seeing as it won't hold still. The gold fish is for a portrait I'm working on which I seem determined to make as hard as possible on myself. Here is the in progress image:

There is, obviously, one of the many reference photos I have for this painting taped to the canvas. The goldfish, perhaps also obviously, go in the bowl on his head. I still have a very long way to go with this painting, not the least because the portrait doesn't quite look like the model yet. I'm hoping that by posting this in progress image, my perfectionist self will be goaded into working more diligently on the painting, so I can post a much better image soon.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Today I tried to finish my current Sebbie painting. Here it is:

I'll have one more look at it tomorrow, and then I have to move on! I already have the next painting planned, and to add to the hurry, I now have the one after that in the wings. My dear friends, and fellow painters, Matt and Magda Almy, gave me this beautiful wooden boat for my birthday:

Seems an ocean voyage is in order for Sebbie.