I'm a recent graduate of Georgetown Atelier in Seattle, Washington and have just started to compile a new body of work. Much of what you see here prior to 2022 is older work and hopefully you'll note an improvement. Because I paint both in Contemporary Alla Prima (fast small and larger works) and polished realism, both categories are listed as tabs beneath this section. Stay tuned. I'm a work in progress.
Well, the title of this painting might confuse you a bit. It's rather difficult to see here in the photo but there are two figures fishing with a bunch of Seagulls swooping around them as a storm approaches. I had a different title for this piece originally but once I placed the figures, it became apparent that the title had to change.
This is the last painting I had to complete for my show at Gallery 9 in Port Townsend. My show as Featured Artist will be on display for the month of August and will have 11 new original skyscapes, so if you have a chance to drop by, please do. I'll be there, of course, on August 6th at 5:00 for Gallery Walk so if you can, come on by and share a glass of wine with me. I'll also be at the gallery all day on the 9th and the 14th and would love to chat with you about art in general or, even better, my art!
I have recently started teaching through Skype. Of course Skype is a great tool but it makes it difficult for my students to see what I'm doing when I paint because I can't direct the camera on my computer. Sooooo...the obvious answer is video! Now I'm no veteran video artist so this requires a learning curve. I pulled out my video camera - which was brand new about three years ago and which I only used once. I know. Bad, right? But better late than never. So as a practice exercise, I decided to do a tour of my studio which one of my Skype students thought would be nice to see. I must warn you, however, that I failed to do any house cleaning when I shot this and it's pretty raw. But it will give you a very good idea of the space I work and create in. So, welcome to my studio. Hope you enjoy the stay. I wanted to offer wine, however, there just wasn't an option for that on YouTube.
I just finished number seven in a series of skyscapes for a show in August when I'll be featured artist at Gallery 9 in Port Townsend, WA. I usually show a variety of work but with the advent of spring and now summer, my eyes have been cast heavenward at the spectacular show of clouds we've been enjoying over our waters and mountains here.
I've also been trying to master the technique of glazing the difficult colors that emerge in sunsets. Pigment, unlike light, is a gross substance. It doesn't do what light does and although nature can get away with very intense color, when an artist does it, it can come out positively garish. Also, in order to get the ethereal effects of rim light on a cloud, I'm forced to change the colors that nature displays. For instance, I have to add small amounts of yellow to my whites in order to make them brighter and cast violet into the areas around the cloud so that when I glaze them later, the blue areas around the clouds don't turn green. It's a tricky thing. But very satisfying when it comes out right.
I now have about nine paintings for this show and I'm fairly satisfied with the results. Still have one on the easel I'm toying with but I should work out the problems fairly soon and then be done with the piece. Frames ordered. Now to move on to other things.
