New Year-long Project

I was coming home from a trip to Toronto a month or so ago and got to thinking about ways that I might have better success achieving my personal goals. Specifically I want to exercise and paint more consistently. I seem to be very good at doing one or the other with some intensity, but it never quite lasts. I guess I'm a bit of a binger by nature. So, the idea came to me that I should find a way to combine them and focus my energy. A few friends thought that setting up an easel on a treadmill was the way to go. However, I can only imagine the mess and not the success. Instead I will be embarking on a new project. For the next 52 weeks, I will exercise and otherwise maintain healthy eating habits. At the end of each week, I'll complete a painting reflecting my thoughts and feelings from that week. So on Monday Oct 26th I'll be getting started. Come back every week, if you want to keep up on my activities.

more painting updates

I have been mostly absorbed with painting and getting ready for open studios. Since it's only a few weeks away, I'm happy to say that I have 4 pieces finished, one halfway there, and another still in the starting blocks. I'm feeling good about having some smaller (and cheaper) work to show. I'm still enjoying my San Francisco Close Up series. To see the work I did for last Spring, you'll have to go to my website. Here are some sneak peeks that I will post to the website next weekend or so. First up is the completed Askew painting. 127 lightbulbs in that A, I'll have you know. Next to it is the just started, yet almost done A Grey day, still missing some lightbulb detailing.

Under that are two smaller clock detail paintings. First is Almost Eleven and next is Half Past Six. The two clocks are my first completed acrylic paintings.

Work in Progress

This is just an update of some work in progress. I've got to finish one for the Artspan Gallery as part of this year's Fall Open Studios. The last time I was able to show here I sold the painting. That one was also a last minute paint and hang piece and I don't even have a photo of it. This year I am doing some smaller pieces based on my San Francisco Close Up series. The first one is an abstract Sutro tower, which may be just about done. It's interesting how looking at the painting through a photograph helps to see what isn't quite done or when it's finished.

The second one is an A from the Ghiradelli sign. This particular one is called Askew. Not only is the perspective a little askew (I even got a little dizzy taking my reference photos from this odd angle) but the frame I used to wrap the paper is also not square. I don't know if anyone will notice, but I'll be sure to tell whoever buys it, since it can't be framed in a normal squared frame. I still need to do a lot of work on the Askew painting. I'm definitely putting off the painting of the light bulbs. I liked the idea of them, but the actual painting of 50+ bulbs is less exciting.



Both of these paintings are done in a wrap-around style. The painting extends around the edges. I saw a painting in the CCSF gallery done this way and I was intrigued. Doing these painting was also fun, so if it's well received, you can be sure to see a lot more of these. Both are still in regular watercolor and will be spray varnished so that no additional glass is needed. I intend to do some smaller acrylic paintings with a watercolor technique. I've already prepped the wood panels, so all that's left is the painting.

stretching paper

I am branching out, so to speak, and trying something new. I was at a art material expo and was chatting with an artist who had these wonderful watercolor paintings of crystal and glass. She stretches her paintings over wooden stretcher bars and I was inspired to do the same. I boughts some big beefy bars so that there would be some substance to it and perhaps it would look so good I wouldn't have to frame it.

First I started with a big sheet of watercolor paper. I wet it in the tub and after the first couple of times I managed to stop spraying myself. I let it hang a bit so that I wouldn't slop too much on my way to the kitchen table.

I cut the paper about 3 inches over the frame and trimmed it again once I set the stretcher bars over the paper. I tried a bunch of different corner techniques and settled on one that gave me a neat square edge. I was a little worried about the bubbles, but after I stapled the frame using a standard canvas stretching pattern and set it to dry. They came out looking pretty good. I'll be doing some small and some very large paintings on it. I took a varnishing class as well so there are bound to be at least one or two good varnishing stories after I finish up the paintings.