Thursday, January 30, 2014

Thursday

It's a little harder to teach and paint than one would imagine. I love all the activity in the studio. No kidding. It's a real gift but I've gone some days without doing any work of my own. I worked in the plein air class on Sunday but today there was a little break so I went out on the deck. It was gray and soupy and cold. But we have the  possibility of rain - no complaints from me!


Several opportunities  have come up to show my work. The Long Beach Library has an exhibit of about 20 paintings that were studies for the signal control cabinets I did over the past several years. I think they stand on their own.
And Saturday night I have 10 paintings in the fresh stArt art show and sale in Santa Monica.  The last time I did this event I sold 11 pieces and it's a fun party. 
Here's a link.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

The First Plein Air Sunday


On the last Sunday of every month a nunber of studio students, and friends are joining me to go out painting at various sites around Los Angeles. We went out for the first time today and it was fantastic!
Everyone got something. The weather was a little weird. Sun and warm temperatures were forecast but it actually rained for about one minute- a great reminder to bring along extra clothes.
My batteries died and I didn't get good photos of everyone's work but Elizbeth took a photo of mine. I'll get as many images of the others as I can.

Jennifer did three charming paintings. She tarted out with small canvases to get started. The third image is a painted on a 'toned canvas' which means it was painted with a mid-tone venetian red. This is really a good choice because the red is a contrast to the greens of the trees and hills.  





And here is Shana's painting.  Really good attention to the perspective in the foreground buildings and a good representation of the view she had.

Teresa ( Boying)  painted this in acrylic and it has a modern impressionist style.







Our next meeting will be on February 23 at 1pm. I'll let you know the location by mid month.
If you are not on the mailing list just let me know and I'm happy to add you .



Wednesday, January 15, 2014

signal control boxes

If you go way back in this blog you can see some of the signal control cabinet murals that I have done over the past several years. I was really terrible at cataloguing the images on my website but since I would like to do more murals and it would help if one has a coherent way of seeing them.... I'm working on my website. Does that count as daily painting? I taught today too. Here's a link to the page that I started today. It will have links to each box and maybe a google map.


This is a photo from the corner of Wilshire and Western with my security detail and docents, 
Officers Rudy and Freddie. 
And here  is a video of \ the finished product.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Night Painting


I've always loved paintings of the night. Charles Rollo Peters is a favorite and also the western night scenes of  Frederick Remington. I use variations of raw umber to get started. Raw umber and blue in the background coming to raw umber and turquoise, green and yellow ochre in the foreground. Then touches of city lights. This is a study I did last summer and there is one larger unfinished painting in the studio. Will get on it this week!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

I was invited by my friend Linda Keeler to Palm Springs right before New Years. We went to see the Richard Diebenkorn show at the Palm Springs Museum of Art which was fabulous. The next day we both went out to paint in the neighborhood. I love the mid century houses. We just had a few hours so I did two paintings of the same thing.




Here's another small painting from the same area that I did in 2007.


Friday, January 10, 2014

A little more from Echo Park

I'm finishing up posts on recent Echo Park paintings. This is from November at the corner of Sunset and Maltman, a place I've painted many times with my friend Sarah Arnold.

Someone suggested that I photograph the paintings as they progress so I gave it a try.










 12" x 16"

And here are the last two from the park


11" x 14"

6" x 6"

Maybe I should add that I went back to Echo Park this week and started on a painting of a house in the hills. When I got back to the studio I realized the composition was really wrong, so I scrapped it down. I'm glad but will have something new that works soon!

Thursday, January 9, 2014

from Echo Park again


It was a huge surprise and relief to discover that the lake at Echo Park was restored and the lotus were blooming again this summer.