Egg Heads: a Mix and Mash Animation

Trying something new with illustrator art in the form of an episodic adventure loosely based on Mr.  & Mrs. Pumpkin Head.

Hydrangea Melody

It seems I've taken a lot of photos of Hydrangea over the years.  So I put them together and threw in some old family photos and oil painted butterflies to create a little fantasy.  Original music included.

In The Garden from watercolor to digital painting

 Years ago, I painted a little mini series of watercolor paintings, each about a place, and each 10 x 7 on Arches paper.  I then blew some of them up and printed them larger.  I liked this one, so I did an illustrator version continuing the "In The Garden" theme.  I thought I could turn it into some loud fabric design, but now realize I'll have to work a bit more to have the pattern repeat successfully.  

Flower Garden - new little video with original soundtrack

My sister Susan recorded some little jigs with her cello.  I wanted to use some of the music, so I put together a little video of recent flower photos with older insect drawings and computer-generated fractals to go with the music.  I added a few Cubase loops as well.

September Oil Paintings Progress Report

 Top to Bottom

1.  "Gulls at the Barn Door," 24x18x 1 1/4 oil on hand stretched Belgian Linen 66J

2.  "Bird Lovers," 28x22x 1 1/4 oil on hand stretched Belgian Linen 66J 

3.  "Daffodils and Gazania with Hidden Bird," 10x8x 3/4 on Linen

4.  "Skywalker Ranch Hills," 7x5x 3/4," oil on linen

August Oil Painting Progress Report: 3 Finished 2 Nearly Done and 1 Just Begun

 Finished Works:

1.  One Flew Over the Puffin Tryst:  Oil on Belgian Linen 18x18x1 1/4

2.  The Courtship:  Oil on canvas 20x24x1 1/2

6.  Sunflowers & Hibiscus:  Oil on canvas 8x10x 1 1/2

Nearly Done:

3.  Capped Parrot in Mendocino:  Oil on Belgian Linen 22x28x 1/1/4

4.  A Lot Going On (Cartoon style):  Oil on Linen 12x16x 5/8

In Process:  

5.  Bird Lovers:  Oil on Belgian Linen 22x28x 1 1/4

Dance of the Cymbidium Orchids to Two Bars of Handel's Passacaglia

Spring Orchids, photos & artwork set to Handel's music

Human/Nature Interface - New Oil Painting Mock-Ups

Contemplating a new series of 8x10 oil paintings that combine the human form with floral motifs.  As I age, I'm more and more aware of the evolution of the body back to nature.  
 

A Touch of Blue Video Featuring Botanicals from the UC Botanical Garden

 Photo highlights from multiple day trips to UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley, over several years, with an original soundtrack.

Salem Hibiscus

 Oil on Linen 16x20.  Old Holland Oil paint over white oil ground over Pinkish Beige Imprimatura.  Rustic appearance.  

Magnolia Portrait

 5x7 oil on linen.  1955/1944

Painting Mock-Ups

 

Working on the concept for a series of Flowery Memories of Childhood with small 5x7 oil on canvas paintings of my family (parents and siblings) set against floral backgrounds.  The original concept was to paint the humans with few facial details and in odd skin colors to blend in more artistically with the looser floral backgrounds (once painted).  There has been a suggestion, however, that it would be preferable to paint both the individuals and the flowers with more realistic details.  More opinions welcome!

Option A:  Paint both background and people in realistic colors with facial details included (example Lucy bottom pic)

Option B:  Paint backgrounds and people in bolder colors with fewer details (example Lucy 2nd to bottom pic)

These smaller paintings are companion pieces to my bigger 18x24 oil paintings in process (see below)

What to Paint?

 I have three blank canvases size 18x24.  These can be a series, or 3 different subjects.  Some subjects might work better in a larger 30x40 size.  HELP me decide:

For the three existing 18x24 canvases should I paint

A Three Taylor Twins in Marin Paintings (ie top 2 candidates above plus 1 more tbd)

B Three Ocean Gull paintings (ie 3rd photo composite above + 2 more tbd)

C Three Flower Fantasy paintings (ie 4-5 photo composites above + 1 more tbd)

D One of each:  Photo 1, 3 and 4 

E One of each:  Photo 2, 3 and 5 

 

OR should I buy two more 30x40 canvases and paint

F  Two large Taylor Twins in Marin paintings and use the 18 x 24 canvases for B or C above

G  Two Flower Fantasy paintings and use the 18 x 24 canvases for A or B above 

Please Pick A, B, C, D, E, F, or G and help me decide!!

Learning New Music Skills Combined with Color Theory

After years of playing piano, by reading the notes but not understanding any of the basics, I've gotten interested in learning about music theory and composition.  Fortunately, I located two very old music publications that my late, great, mother had in her music library (she was a superb pianist and composer) which are quite useful:  Modern Styles and Harmonic Construction for Popular Piano Playing by Marvin Kahn and The Majors and Their Relatives by Eula Ashworth Lindfors.  I'm also trying to wade through the Idiot's Guide to Music Composition and Music Theory for Dummies. 

This new music interest was generated initially by a desire to clean up the poor recordings of much of my mother's music, which led to trying to learn both Cubase and Adobe Audition software.  Playing with the new software enabled me to add musical elements to my mother's compositions (sound efx, loops, bird songs, etc.), which has led to a desire to try my hand at making my own original music.

Recently, I noticed a similarity between The Color Wheel (a circular guide to mixing color) and The Chord Wheel (a circular tool for composing one's own music).  So I associated a different color to 8 chord tracks in a very simple scale exercise, then sought to create a video using those same colors synced up with the underlying chords.  My late, great father's photography has also been accessed with an old photo of me filling in for Mary, in the tune Mary had a Little Lamb which appears towards the end of the video's soundtrack. 

This short 55 second video is perhaps a bit too mathematical, the music too elementary and the whole not very artistic.  But the new learning effort is taking my mind off of negative Corona Virus news and bad behavior societal displays.  Escaping from time to time into nature, music and art are essential for trying to maintain some form of sanity in these trying times.

At Home and Around the Neighborhood During Covid-19 Shelter in Place

Top:  Garden flowers in vase with mask
Middle:  My much younger self, the clown my aunt made about 80 years ago, a lamp, and roses in bloom in the side yard.  Photoshop has much improved photo stacking.  This is a combination of 8 images
Below:  Sam reflected in the window of Brookside, the local elementary school, closed for Corona Virus.  

Strange Journey Monoprints - Second KALA class results are in!

Top:  Offset print of the 2nd printing of my etched flower, without the concrete truck or stars (ie printed off of the original print)
Middle:  The Ghost print of the top image (ie 2nd print from the original plate)
Bottom:  Original 1st printing of my etched flower with stars (one fell off) and concrete truck.  Part of my in process 'Strange Journey' series of mixed media images.

#16 or 31 best of 2018 photos

Double exposure shot in the garden in Albion

#13 of 31 best photos of 2018

Suburbia Pink Garden Flowers

Magnolias

Latest quilted wall hanging tells the story of white and pink magnolia flowers going from bud to bloom.  Center is a patchwork of photos printed on silk surrounded by raw edge applique of various cotton and silk fabrics showing a portion of a Magnolia flower's life cycle.  It's amazing how much time these things take!  But creating art works wonders in taking the mind off the horrors of our current government. 

Art Quilts In Process

I now have so much fabric, I feel obligated to do something with it before it takes over the entire house.  So I am doing a lot of quilting these days.  One of my self imposed guidelines requires each quilt include some original art and/or photograph, which further expands the fabric library.  The top two images are for a giant quilt tentatively called "Birdmen of Marin," because it will ultimately include 80 2x2 photos that I shot in and around Marin County, combined with 4 wooden artist model photos done in an applique rose fabric + some original bird art.  The third image down is for a different quilt of funky birds in primary colors.  The one featured here is blue.  The final in process quilt depicted here is called "Magnolia from Bud to Flower" and includes magnolia photos printed on silk, then cut up, together with some applique magnolia buds and flowers in a mix of cotton and silk that is still being worked on.