Amber

As an assignment in Chester Arnold's painting class at the College of Marin, I chose to paint a portrait in the style of Alice Neel.  The original image (see below) was a B&W photo of Amber taken in 1984 before a ballet recital put on by Virginia Stapleton's ballet school.  The photo was taken by the very wonderful Art Kaye who sadly passed away this year.

Poppies in Ceramic Pots

The final version of this painting is now live with some other new oils at Redcrow Artworks.  I repainted this background three times! 

Missing You

I painted this picture titled "Fred and Myrtle" in Greece in June of this year.  I must have known subliminally that Amber, Matt and the twins were going to move away and Lucy (Myrtle) and Sam (Fred) would soon be pining for them.  I guess Myrtle is just going to have to fly north to visit.

Longbow Soda Anyone?

I did it!  I managed to replace my old video card with a new one by myself (with some help from the incomparable Paul Matwiy) and now, finally, my new CS5 Photoshop software works.  So, the first thing I learned how to do was make 3D soda cans out of photos taken at Longbow.  What to do with them?  Well, who loves food more than anything else but the infamous, fabulous Newfe.  So, here he is pointing for a hamburger with 4 cans of Longbow soda pop at his heel.  Perhaps not a great image, but testament that my new HD3650 ATI Radeon AGP 8x video card works.

Longbow Camp

New pen & ink & watercolor done at Longbow Forest Camp in Willamette Valley, Oregon on a recent camping trip.  It was hot the first few days so swimming in the freezing water was wonderful.  It got cold after that but stayed beautiful. 

Detail from Tree House on Lake Painting

Sometimes I like my under paintings as much, if not more, than my finished paintings so when Illustration Friday announced this week's topic "Atmosphere" I thought I'd submit a detail from a new 36" x 36" oil painting in process that seems to fit the theme. 

Finch on Exhibit at Falkirk Cultural Center in San Rafael

My 10" x 10" oil on canvas "Finch" painting will be in Falkirk's 2010 Bi-Annual Juried Exhibition from 9/10/10 through 11/13/10.  Opening reception is Friday, September 10th from 5:30 to 7:30PM.  More on the show can be found here: