Art Access - new Video

Trying for a new way to showcase some of my latest oil painting.

Blue Tanager in the Candelabra

 Oil on Linen 8x10.  Latest edition to my bird/flower series.  The Candelabra flower is from a photo shot at the UC Berkeley Botanic Gardens.

Capped Parrot in Mendocino Now Finished

 I added grass and touched up the parrot's red cape.  Oil on Belgian Linen 22 x 28 now done.

Finch with Bird of Paradise Oil Paining

 Latest oil on linen 8x10.  

Bird on a Bough

 8 x 10 x 1 1/4" oil on stretched canvas.  The bird might be wondering what in the world is happening to us right now between fire, poor air quality, running out of water, poor governance, viruses run amok and a general state of dystopia.

California Sunshine Quilt

Finally finished my mega quilt!  80 individual photographs printed on fabric and woven into the quilt using an original plaid design.  Photos of my artist wooden models were used as templates for the four characters, which were then appliqued onto silk swatches using some cool Martha Negley designed fabric.  They looked a bit naked, even after adding the birds, so I later added bathing suits with a fabric I designed and printed.  The quilt is so big (74 1/4" h x 66 3/4" w) I had to do it in three sections then sew the sections together at the end.  What's going on in this quilt, you ask?  Well, I love California, I love the sun, I love taking photos in my neighborhood on sunny days, and I love birds. 

Bluebird of Happiness Mixed Media Artwork

I thought I'd create some interesting art with grandsons Wilson and Cole Taylor when they were visiting, but Wilson only drew a few items on this sheet of 24" w x 18" h watercolor paper.  The twins were too busy playing in the creek to do much art.  Now that I've finally finished the latest quilt (with eighty separate 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" photos appliqued into it) - more on that later, I thought I'd follow whatever quirky thing manifested itself and do some more work on paper.  I ended up with this mixed media piece which includes pencil, graphite, ink, watercolor, gouache, acrylic and various papers, including some old printed photos.  It represents a lifetime of seeking the Bluebird of Happiness.

Bird Art for MOS (Part 1 of 3)

Cold and Hot Wax art on Board - top to bottom:
1.  Rainbow Crow:  An original crow drawing, printed and transferred to paper with gum arabic, then combined with R&F oil sticks, cold wax and other media.
2.  Avoiding Danger:  Cold wax and oil sticks plus stencils on cradled encausticbord.
3.  Irritated Crow:  Photo on paper on board with hot wax.  The board was outside for years developing a lovely natural patina of mold.
4.  Two Blue Birds:  Hot wax over paper on board.  I initially embroidered the birds into nylon mesh, but they melted when I heated the wax, forming waxy bird impressions which were then painted over with oil paints.

These will be on exhibit at my Marin Open Studios (MOS) the first two weekends in May.  https://marinopenstudios.org/artist/631/

Evolution of an Bird Inspired Idea

I seem to flit from media to media, as evidenced by the evolution of the above bird art.
From the bottom to the top:
1.  A 100% digital painting done in 2005, with an old painter software program.
2.  An oil painting done in 2006, recreating (kind of) the digital painting but adding a Vincent van Gogh sky.
3.  Another oil painting, this time in 2006, with a different bird and a pink cloud in the sky.  Sold to a friend.
4.  Fabric applique of a crow drawing in 2016, on a T shirt.
5.  The same applique crow, under a pink cloud and starry night sky, now done by cutting up photos and adding various bits of ripped Mulberry papers, all glued onto 100% arches cotton watercolor paper - just finished yesterday.

Bird at the Beach

Obsessed with 3D?  Yes.  Another wool-punched fabric bird made whole in the computer, combined with layer after layer on top of a photo taken at Muir beach.

3D Fabric Bird in Photo Composited Bucket

I'm newly enamored with the 3D feature in Photoshop CC.  Hence this 3D bird with cast shadow rendering of a previously created fabric wool punched and embroidered bird, which I then added to a photo of a bucket taken in Mendocino, already combined with another picture of the algae in Abbotts Lagoon.  Digital manipulation provides hours and hours of fun!  Especially since 3D rendering seems to take 1 1/2 hours at minimum.

Painting Gift Bags for Owsley Benefit

A sampling of some of the gift bags I painted yesterday with friend Marcia Meyers.  Photographed with my mobile phone so pictures are not that sharp.  Marcia is coordinating a big bag painting project for the Owsley Stanley Foundation benefit this coming November 7th at the Great American Music Hall in SF.  More info here:  http://www.owsleystanleyfoundation.org/

Spoonbill Applique

Rough, not yet quilted, block for a new Spoonbill Windows of India quilt I'm working on.  I love working with raw applique (ie the fabric edges are not turned under first.)  The lazy person's way to sew!

Cold Wax and Oil Paint Plus Gum Arabic Transfer

Top to Bottom:
"Crow Remembering His Childhood" (background painting by grandson Wilson Taylor) Paper on cradled board 9x12
"Dancing On Top Of A Cauldron" paper on cradled board 9x12
"Yellow Flower" Arches oil paper on cradled board 6x6
"Bottle Waiting for Bugs" Arches oil paper on cradled board 9x12 (needs more work).

Something Old, Something New

Some tweaking of an earlier painting (Middle painting "Over the Sea") and two completely do overs of previous paintings:  Top, "Balancing Act" (painted over "Bird on a Wire") and "Bird On A Ball" (painted over "Bugs in a Bottle")  Fun day in my outdoors studio making a mess with cold wax, oil paint and R&F pigment sticks

New Bird Paintings

Two new cold wax and oil paintings on 12x16 panels:  "Avoiding Danger" and "Over the Sea." These are painted over two prior works "Rainbow Bird" and "Big Bird" (see prior post).

Taking a Break From Nursing To do Some Art

Playing with hot wax!  Top to Bottom:
Three 11 1/4 x 15 mixed media monoprints with hot wax, ink, gouache and pastel
Bottom two 6x8 clayboard encaustic map art with ink

Variations on a Blackbird theme

I believe I prefer my digital images to my monotypes, but both techniques are fun.

Variations on a Crane Theme

Expanding on my "Crane in Carmel" print effort (see earlier blog entry), I thought I'd try some digital variations including a print (above) and a new fabric design (below).

Art is the Best Therapy - New Prints

Prints from the San Anselmo Printmakers 3rd press run.  Top to Bottom:
1.  Strange Journey #1 collagraph
2.  Crane ghost monotype with ink and gouache
3.  Blackbird ghost monotype with ink and gouache
4.  Surfer monotype with gouache and watercolor
5.  Blackbird in Marin monotype chine colle with gouache
6.  Crane in Carmel monotype chine colle with pastel and gouache