New Conceptual Bird Portrait - Brown Pelican

Rough mock-up for the first in a new series of planned 36" x 36" oil on canvas portraits of birds with patterned backgrounds.

Paintings for Kids

Two 12x12 oil on canvas paintings created for my twin grandsons' 4th birthdays.  May all their wishes come true:  to be as powerful as Darth Vader (but not use that power for evil); as adventurous as an astronaut, as strong and brave as a lion, and as athletic as a mountain biker

For Father's Day

Thinking of my father, younger, on his bicycle in the early 1970's, and the recent trip to Rochester, Indiana with him, now nearly 93 years old.  The sun in Indiana was hot and muggy, there were beautiful red cardinals in the backyard, where our rental car was parked, behind the fence with the irises and the neighbor's shed.  Today my dad is in the hospital.  Not the best way to spend the day but, hopefully, he'll ride out of there and go one for awhile longer enjoying the sunshine.

Scissors and Knives

Artist Aunt Reva Autrey Lane has an enviable collection of old scissors in her farm house in Rochester, Indiana.  She generously gave me a few of them.  After photographing her collection, I was driven to find more at various antique stores in Indiana, for the pen & ink and watercolor painting above, and as inspiration for future studies.

Portraits of my Father in Indiana

The Future Includes the Past

Digital photo art collage created for the new Illustration Friday, combining photos from the early 1970s with a more recent pen & ink and watercolor still life

My Military Experience

On the streets of Madrid, May, 1970, during the military parade for the anniversary of the victory of Franco.  One of the only benefits of living under a dictatorship was that, with so many Guardia Civil around, it was pretty safe to walk the streets without a guardian.

Pig Ballet Version #3

Poster print version #3 of the Pig Ballet.

Pig Ballet

Two new versions of a large format digital poster print titled "Pig Ballet."  The new digital paintings are intended to be companions to the pig depicted in my earlier "Exploded Balloon" digital painting.

Remembering Camp Lorr in Santa Barbara in the 1960s

I was lucky to be a LIT (leader in training) at Camp Lorr in Montecito for a few years in the 1960s, while I was in Junior High and High School in Santa Barbara.  Somehow my older sister Laura Autrey had gotten involved and opened a path there for me.  Unfortunately, the last year I was at Camp Lorr, I scared my tribe of kids by pretending a witch lived in the woods.  They all ran screaming through the trees and I was not  invited back the following year.  The camp was fabulous.  It was in a beautiful part of Montecito.  There were loads of great activities and on Fridays real American Indians joined the camp for a pow wow with chanting, songs, dancing and a campfire lit by magic.

On the back of the middle photo (I think this is in 1965)  I jotted down the names of some of the staff and campers:
Back row:  Linda, Lydia Weintraub and me (Lucy Autrey)
Middle row:  Daniel Green, Ann Smotheron and Lori x and Eva Hestal
Front row:  Kelly Jackson (Jones), Julie x, Debby x, Lynn x and Debby Monson.
Also in the tribe but not pictured was Celeste Weidman

In the bottom photo, taken in 1964,  I only remember my fellow LIT and friends Nancy Manzetti (far right back row) and Lynn Howard (left of Nancy).  I'm on the left in back, with an unfortunate flip hairstyle.

Twin Photos - Film vs Digital

No matter what they are shot with (SLR camera with B/W film or digital camera with color converted to B/W in Photoshop), twins Cole and Wilson Taylor always look great!  Photo above shot by Susan in San Anselmo, March 2013 with her old film camera.  Photo below shot by me in color in Seattle, February 2013 with my Nikon digital camera.

Autrey Family Goes to the Beach, 1960

B&W photo by E.A. Autrey, taken in December, 1960.  Photo colorized by Lucy Autrey Wilson in February, 2013.

Seattle Art

Art created in Seattle on my latest visit to see twin grandsons Cole and Wilson Taylor.

From top to bottom:

Face, mixed media painting by Wilson Taylor, age 3 1/2
Color Gradation, finger painting by Cole Taylor, age 3 1/2
Farmer's Market, pencil sketch by Lucy Autrey Wilson (age withheld)
Cow, finger painting  and ink by Lucy Autrey Wilson