Dreaming Lotus Studios

Heartfelt Thanks

2011-12-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

I'd like to extend a truly heartfelt thank you to everyone who followed me through the 30 Works Challenge!
Though I finished 7 days later than I planned, I did finish all 30 pieces. The experience was just as challenging as the past 3 years, and I have again learned a lot about my process.
Thank you to all my supporters and fellow art patrons who bought one or more paintings, and thank you to all of you who "liked" a piece or two on my FaceBook Fan Page, Dreaming Lotus Studios.

Happy Holidays to all and may we all be happily creative in 2012!!

Warmly, Dana

#30 of 30 - Persimmon and Impression of Old Lace

2011-12-16T17:08:00.000-08:00

Persimmon & Old Lace

Oil on Canvasboard, 10"x8"

SOLD

#28 & #29 - On the Road & In the Garden

2011-12-15T20:49:00.000-08:00

The Way to Uniontown

Oil on Canvasboard 10"x8"

$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To purchase contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

Stone Lantern

Oil on Canvasboard 8"x10"

$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To purchase contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

#26 & #27 -The New World & Moonrise

2011-12-14T20:38:00.001-08:00

The Edge of the New World

Oil on Canvasboard, 10"x8"

SOLD

Moonrise

Oil on Canvasboard, 10"x8"

SOLD

#24 & #25 - Clouds & Clementines

2011-12-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

Remembering the Ancestors

Oil on Canvasboard, 10"x8"

$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To purchase contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

Gold Lotus & Leaf

Oil on Canvasboard, 10"x 8"

SOLD

#22 & #23 of 30 - Fruit & Flowers

2011-12-05T06:55:00.000-08:00

A Pair of Apples

Oil on Cavasboard, 10"x8"

$40 plus $5 Shipping (US)

To purchase contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

Sunflower Crush

Oil on Canvasboard, 10"x8"

SOLD

#19, 20 & 21 of 30 - Of Land and Sea and Wood

2011-12-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

Shorline with Cedars

Oil on Canvasboard, 10"x8"

SOLD

Japanese Garden Path

Oil on Canvasboard 8"x10"

SOLD

The Old Door

Oil on Canvasboard 8"x10"

SOLD

11/27/11 -15, 16, 17 & 18 of 30 - Flowers & Landscapes

2011-11-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

Pink Cylcamen

Oil on Canvasboard, 10"x8"

$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To purchase contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

Irises

Oil on CanvasBoard, 10"x8"

$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To purchase, contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

Meridian Park

Oil on CanvasBoard, 10"x8"

$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To purchase, contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

The Distant Shore

Oil on Canvas Board, 10"x8"

11/23/11 - 14 of 30 - Two Pears

2011-11-23T19:09:00.000-08:00

Two Pears

Oil on Found Paper and Canvas Board, 10"x8"

SOLD

11/22/11 - 13 of 30 - Antique Chair & Long Life

2011-11-22T20:06:00.000-08:00

Antique Chair & Long Life

Oil on Found Paper and Canvas Board, 8"x10"

$40 plus $5 Shipping (US)

To purchase, contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

11/21/11 - 11 & 12 of 30 - Pomegranates & Persimmon, Three Figs

2011-11-21T18:48:00.000-08:00

Pomegranates & Persimmon

Oil on Found Paper and Canvas Board, 8"x10"

$40 plus $5 Shipping (US)

To purchase contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

Three Figs

Oil on Found paper and Canvas Board, 8"x10"

SOLD

11/20/11 - 9 & 10 of 30, Fuschias and Glitter, Forest Funghi

2011-11-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

Fuschias & Glitter

Oil on Found Paper and Canvasboard, 8"x10"/$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To purchase contact me -aldisdl@hotmail.com

Forest Funghi

Oil on Found paper and Canvas Board, 8"x10"/$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To purchase contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

11/17/11 - 8 of 30 - Luna Moth on Money Pouch

2011-11-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

Luna Moth & Money Pouch

Oil on Found Paper and Canvas Board, 8"x10"

SOLD

11/16/11 - 6 & 7 of 30 - Man with Jug of Wine, Little Musician

2011-11-16T19:40:00.000-08:00

Man with Jug of Wine

Oil on Canvas Board and Found Paper, 8"x10"/$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To purchase contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

Little Musician

Oil on Canvas Board and Found Paper, 8"x10"/$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

To Purchase contact me - aldisdl@hotmail.com

11/14/11 - 5 of 30 - Memory of Garlic Sprouts

2011-11-14T20:31:00.000-08:00

Oil on Canvas Board, 10"x8"

SOLD

11/13/11 - 4 of 30 - Man in the Money Box

2011-11-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

Oil on Canvas Board, 10"x8"/SOLD

11/12/11 - 3 of 30 - Turquoise Watermelon

2011-11-12T16:39:00.001-08:00

Oil on Canvas Board, 10"x8"/$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

11/11/11 - 2 of 30 - Red Floral Still Life

2011-11-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

Oil on Canvas Board, 8"x10"/$40 plus $5 shipping (US)

11/10/11 - 1 of 30 - Morning Landscape

2011-11-10T16:25:00.001-08:00

Oil on Canvas Board, 8"x10"/$40 plus $5 Shipping

SOLD

Dahlia - A Close Up

2011-11-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Intimate Dahlia close up. Original Oil painting by Dana Aldis, Signed on the back.

$75.00 ($10 shipping plus 6% Idaho Sales Tax)

30 Paintings in 30 Days, A personal Challenge

2011-11-10T09:38:00.001-08:00

For three years while I lived in Seattle I had the opportunity to participate in The Forgotten Works Challenge, where up to 50 Artists created 30 pieces of art on 8"x10" canvasboard panels, in a limited time frame of 30 days. The event is still going on, and now I hear they have up to 100 artists!

Alas, I cannot participate in the Seattle event, as I am now living in Moscow, ID. However, I love the idea of the 30 day Challenge, so in honor of the event in Seattle, I will post one 8"x10" painting a day, from today (November 10th, 2011) and end on December 9th, 2011.

Each painting is available for sale at $40. Unframed, though I will include a gummed eyelet to hang the piece as is. $5 Shipping. Just click the Paypal button under the artwork image to purchase.

Each piece will be signed and dated on the back, carefully wrapped and shipped to you as soon as the paint dries (two days, approx).

For updates please follow my blog, or "like" my Facebook Page - Dreaming Lotus Studios, or follow me on Twitter - aldisdl.

I will post the first painting at 4:30pm Pacific Time. Stay Posted!

50 Artists and Hot One Inch Action!

2011-11-07T13:21:00.000-08:00

Hot One Inch Action is a show of tiny art - 50 artists were selected, and their work printed onto 1" Button badges. My friend Kathy Fuerst and I were two of the 50 for Seattle! And then the fun began... I wish I could have been there, Sure looked like fun. Kathy said it was quite the event. Check out some of the previous years buttons. Hope they will have this year's up soon!

www.hotoneinchaction.com

Conceived by Jim Hoehnle and Chris Bentzen in 2004, Hot One Inch Action is the original, one-night only show of button art and social interaction in Vancouver, BC. The tiny art of fifty different artists is reproduced on one inch buttons. These one inch buttons are displayed on the gallery wall and the audience is offered the opportunity to buy randomly selected buttons in mixed bags of five for $5. Didn’t get the button you want? Trade with the people around you… how bad do you want that button?! That’s when the hot action starts. In 2010, the show expanded to include Seattle, WA and Portland, OR.

Artist & blogger Patrick Lennox Wright took some great pictures at the Seattle event, which was this past Saturday, November 5th. I'm including one of his pictures, because my "duckie" button in on the second button down on the left. And his expression... priceless. Check out Patrick's other pics on his site: http://plwp.blogspot.com/2011/11/hot-one-inch-action-piranha-shop_7017.html

See if you can spot the Duckies on other people too! A bonus is that they made each artist 20 pins of their design. Pretty cool, eh?

Palouse Plein Air 2011 - My forays into painting in the great outdoors

2011-09-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

8x8 Oil on Wood Panel

The Last Titan

4.5"x6.5" Oil on ArtBoard

Palouse Impressions

5"x7" Oil on Ampersand Panel

Palouse Impressions 2

10"x8" Oil on Masonite Panel

The Far Hill

10"x8" Oil on Masonite Panel

The Path Home

Friendly Visitor

A big THANK YOU to my plein air buddies for all their great advice. I am participating in the the Second Annual Palouse Plein Air (2011) - http://www.moscow.id.us/art/pleinair.aspx - the show opens tomorrow evening (Saturday) at Moscow City Hall. It's juried, so fingers crossed, one piece gets in.

Please come by - the reception is from 5-7pm.

I'd never participated in a Plein Air event before. I had the luck to attend one day of a painting workshop with Jim Lamb (www.jimlambstudio.com)while I was still in Seattle, and that gave me a first taste of painting outdoors. So this time, it was, well - "for real".

My first day, I stopped by City Hall for Kathleen Burns to stamp the backs of my (blank) panels. Though I am only entering 3 paintings, I can have as many panels stamped as I want. I guess it's just in case the muse hits and you have enough supply ready...

Each of us received a "goodie bag" - with maps of the suggested locations, a laminated "Artist Working" sign (great idea!) some snacks. Of course I got completely lost, but ended up finding the first location I picked - A nice lady's farm out near Viola, ID. As you can see, I had company.

Day Two (today)This morning I painted up near Iverson Loop, a couple miles out of Moscow. This place is gorgeous. I can't do it justice. I hope to eventually. I am constantly amazed by this landscape, of the Palouse. In the afternoon, I painted across the street from my house, wedged against a fire hydrant. My subject - the *huge* grain elevator directly across the street.

As the weather stays dry and sunny, I plan to keep painting in the mornings. Armed with my maps and my laminated sign (and portable easel, paints, sunhat... ) At the moment my attention span is about an hour and a half per painting, I need to learn patience. Practice, Practice, Practice, and don't waste time, Antonio.

My Own Private Idaho

2011-09-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

On August 18th, 2011 we loaded (stuffed) the final boxes and remnants from our life in Seattle into a 17 foot U-Haul truck. Packed up our Corolla Station Wagon, herded one dog (Dan & Darcy, Dana & Pete) into each vehicle. At about 7:30 am we started the 5.5 hour drive across Washington State to our new home in Moscow, ID.

It was a hot, dry trip across the state, it was also a welcome change from the coolness of the Pacific Northwest. We arrived early afternoon, it took about two days to unload, unpack, and settle down. We were delighted to discover we are within walking distance of the "downtown" area, small local shops and restaurants, and access to most of what we need without having to get in a car. The University of Idaho campus is also within walking/biking distance.

Our new place is roomier with a nice large yard for the doggies. It's been very exciting for them, and they are taking it in stride. Mostly basking in the hot sun in the yard. Pete likes to spend most of his time in his bed in the bedroom (when not outside). The dogs have also discovered any toys the previous owners' dog abandoned in the yard - found toys are the best!

Dan started his job as part of the Nez Perce Legal Team on Monday, August 22nd. I'm still getting my bearings, but am optimistic about the opportunities a town like Moscow can offer an artist. I will maintain my art sites on Etsy etc.. so of course, my work is still available for purchase!

We don't miss Seattle per se, but I do miss my friends. Thankfully they are only a commuter flight away. ;)

Direct Painting, Sessions 6, 7 & 8

2011-06-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

Each painting took approximately 2.5 hours. I'll probably re-visit a couple in the future. What a great class. I recommend anyone who wants to improve their painting (or drawing) to take Barbara Fugate's classes, either at Gage Academy (www.gageacademy.org) in Seattle or in West Seattle. (www.fromlife.blogs.com)

Emotive Color - 24"x24" Oil on canvas

Bright Color - 24"x24" Oil on Canvas

Neutral Color - 24"x 30", Oil on Canvas

Direct Painting - Sessions 4 & 5

2011-05-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Session 4 - Oil on Stretched Canvas - 22"x22"
2 hours

Our goal in Session 4 was the concept of deep space - foreground, middle ground, background. Manipulating paint - thinly in the background, thicker in the foreground. We were encouraged to use a toned canvas in a bright color - I chose an intense, hot pink, allowing it to show through in spots.

Session 4 - Detail

Session 5 - Oil on Stretched Canvas -21"x30"
2 hours

Our Challenge in Session 5 was shallow or flat space. Looking at various artists, we used a toned ground (this time, blue) and tried to maintain similar value throughout the painting. A way to think about it would be - If I took a black and white picture, there would be little to no contrast, mostly greys in a similar range. Another way to flatten space is the use of a consistent pattern.

Session 5 - Detail

Direct Painting #3 - The Gestural Line Painting

2011-04-29T10:52:00.001-07:00

Session 3 - Oil on Canvas, 24"x18"
Approx 2 hours

This weeks' challenge was to build up our painting using gestural line/markmaking -"The Painted Gesture" - Gesture is about HOW things are, about movement, energy, life!" Could pick a monochromatic, analogous or complementary palette. I chose a Complementary Palette of Orange/Blue. Artists we looked at: Oskar Kokoshka, Susan Rothenberg, Toulouse Lautrec, Berthe Morisot, Zacher and Auerbach.

Painting Detail

My palette - 18"x 24"piece of 1/4" plexi with a piece of cardboard taped underneath. I also use a dry erase marker to mark the name of the hues. It helps me remember the color mixes.

Direct Painting Class with Barbara Fugate, Session 1 & 2

2011-04-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

Session 2 - Oil on Canvas 28"x20"
Approx 2.5 hours

The Challenge in this painting was to work with line/contour line. We initially stained the canvas using paint, dipping our rags in mineral spirits. The focus was to get the big shapes of light & dark, positive and negative down first. We each chose a color scheme - I picked a Secondary Triadic of Green/Orange/Violet. The next step was to use line, of varying weight, color (intensity, value) to emphasize and activate the forms. Barbara showed us artwork by Matisse, Max Beckmann, Gauguin, Oskar Kokoshka, Alice Neel and others.

Session 2, Detail 1

Session 2, Detail 2

Session 1 - Oil on Canvas, 24"x24"
Approx 2h

In our first Direct Painting class we were challenged to simplify the forms we saw into simple, big shapes of light and shadow. We each picked a complementary color scheme - mine was Red/Green. We also had to try to find a Figure-Ground relationship - by adding greens into the figure I incorporated colors from the background into the main figure. We looked at the San Francisco Bay Area Painters (Joan Brown, Terry St. John, Paul Wonner), Leland Bell & Elmer Bishoff.

Session 1, Detail

Single Fare 2: Please Swipe Again. And Again.

2011-03-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

My three entries to the Single Fare 2 show. I am so out of my league. Wonderful, wonderful works in this show - great artists like my friends, Debra Goertz, Suzanne Lago Arthur, Charis Carmichael Braun and Christian Johnson, as well as big names like Alyssa Monks (ridiculously amazing), Jacob Jacobsmeyer.. .
I had fun, and I know that counts somewhat. But some days, you just feel mediocre in the presence of such greatness. Which makes me more determined to keep learning.

10 Minute Espresso (Cups)

2011-02-09T13:40:00.000-08:00

hehe. Wonky little cups.
This is my entry for the 10 Minute Challenge hosted by Carol Marine, of Daily Paintworks -
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Challenge

It was definitely an eye-opening experience. Great warm up exercise to get your painting juices flowing. I highly recommend giving it a try. And please check out all the different entries! Wow!

(2) 4"x12" oil on (3/4") stretched canvas

Sunday Morning Sun Art 2011

2011-01-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

My Submission to the Artist Challenge #43, the CBS Sun Challenge. Check out all the cool pieces and maybe, just maybe, see the work on CBS.

Original painting, oil paints on stretched canvas. 19"x25"

Prints (8x10 or larger) are available. Please email me.

http://www.theartistchallenge.com/2011-01-08/art-challenge-43-sunday-morning-sun-art-2011/

Happy Holidays - Ella, Lucy & Linus

2010-12-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

Here are four pieces that my parents commissioned. All are 8x10, oil on canvasboard. My niece, Ella, at one month and one year, and the other two, are Lucy and Linus, my sisters' french bulldogs.
The piece of Linus is a copy of one I did of him for my first Forgotten Works Challenge, in 2008. My friend, Himanee, purchased that piece, much to my sisters' dismay.

So now my parents have asked me to paint the two dogs as a Christmas gift to my sister. I'm including the two paintings of my niece as well. I hope they like them.

The portraits of Ella were a challenge. I want to do more portraits of children, and I have to chalk these up as practice. And remember to get better reference photos in the future.

Forgotten Works Challenge - the Highlights

2010-11-17T09:09:00.000-08:00

Above: 8"x10", oil or acrylics on CanvasBoard

I finished the Challenge. Not as well as I would like - I painted 16 pieces, and in the end, only 8 I feel, are decent. The rest are collaged paper and some stamping - we had to turn in 30 regardless of state of finish. But it was a good experience, as always, a learning experience as well. The advantage is, at the end, I feel that I have a starting point for new work - of all things, with the collage/paper work. They are getting me to think of what I want to paint on them once I get them back.

So, if you are in the Seattle area, I strongly encourage you to come see the show, if only to come to the Sneak Peek Preview Party - just to see the sheer volume of work - 1500 pieces of art for sale. The variety is staggering. I always enjoy it. Need more information? Email me.

WHEN: Preview Party (no sales) Wednesday, December 1st - 5-8pm
Big Sale Day: Thursday, December 2nd, 5 - 9pm
Open Sale Days: Saturday, December 4th & 11th, 12noon - 5pm

WHERE: Community Room, Tashiro Kaplan Building, 115 Prefontaine Place, Pioneer Square, Seattle.

The Forgotten Works Challenge #10 Starts

2010-10-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I picked up my 30 (8x10) panels for the Forgotten Works Challenge. This is the 10th year that Charles Holzey has done it, and my third year participating. The premise - you have exactly 30 days to finish 30 pieces of art - painting, drawing, printmaking, collage... whatever your muse. The Challenge is to finish and to hand in 30 pieces at the end of the 30 days.

The show will be held during the First Thursday Art Walk on Pioneer Square at the Tashiro Kaplan building in downtown Seattle. All pieces sell for $40, for an original piece of art!

The cool part of this is to see the final display. 52 artists entered this year, each will submit 30 pieces... that's 1560 pieces! And it's all at random - so we are not grouped in anyway, which is very democratic.

Stay tuned for upcoming work... Maybe I'll complete the 30 this year. I always turn in 30, but not all are up to par.

Animals, Animals, Animals

2010-09-20T12:56:00.001-07:00

From the Top:
Roxie, 9x12, oil on wood panel
Aina, 8x10, oil on canvas
Woodsie, 8x10, oil on canvas
Aina (again), 8x10, oil on canvas

All are portrait commissions. If you would like me to paint a portrait of your pet, please, contact me. I am really enjoying the different characters.

Barong Mask - The Artist Challenge #38

2010-09-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

12"x12" oil on gallery wrap canvas. $250 including shipping.
The Artist Challenge for September was "Where The Wild Things Are". I picked this mask from my parents collection of Indonesian antiques. I've spent most of my childhood with this mask. It has managed to scare most of my babysitters. The mask is of a spirit called a Barong. It is a good spirit, meant to fight off evil forces. With a face like that, I don't doubt it. He's worse for wear due to age - lost a couple of his tusks. Still, remarkably fun to paint.

One Day (3hour) Underpainting/study

2010-08-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

9"x12" oil on panel.

Our model that was originally scheduled had a family emergency and could not make it, so we practiced doing an underpainting study with James. An excellent model.
Panel was double primed - first layer of gesso primer in a light grey with a little yellow ochre. Second layer was created by making a neutral mix of three primary colors (red, yellow and blue) into a thinned out "sauce". I brushed that over the grey gesso ground. I then drew with the brush for the darker areas and wiped out with a cloth rag to create lighter areas. The instructor said this is a similar ground to what Rubens used for his paintings. That was kinda cool to think about. I'm considering doing the next step - which would be adding the next painting layers (with color). But what I'd do would be make a copy of this piece (Kinkos or somewhere like that) and then put a layer of GAC on it, and happily paint right over the copy...

Dahlia Close Up

2010-08-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

12"x12" Oil on Stretched Canvas
I was late to enter the rookie painters challenge, one of these days I'll make the deadline. I learned a lot. Flowers are tough. So kudos to all the flower/floral artists out there.

Mirror, Mirror - Revisiting old work

2010-07-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

18"x 24" Oil paint on Stretched Canvas
So again, I re-visited one of my older paintings. I had a lot of fun re-working this one. I darkened the ledge the apple sits on, so that it would anchor the piece. I added a pattern to the wall behind the mask. That was one crazy pattern to do! But it was worth it in the end.

The mask is a Chinese Mask I got when I lived in Beijing. I thought it was symetrical, but it's a little quirky - he or is it she? - has a crooked grin. And one of the lower eyelids was knocked off at some point. I have no idea what he represents, I like to believe that it's some type of buddha or bottisatva. Who knows.

And the apple brings me back to Snow White. I can't tell you why - I liked how the mask was looking down at the apple. As if it knew, that one bite of the apple, you'd fall asleep. And who would then be the Fairest of them All?

A Color Pencil Drawing & some Watercolors

2010-07-18T19:21:00.001-07:00

The Color Pencil drawing is approx. 8"x8.5" (artwork dimensions) Framed.
Three Watercolors, all 8"x10", (artwork dimensions) framed.

All for sale!

Warm Up 2x3s, part Deux

2010-07-10T19:01:00.001-07:00

From the top - Dogwood Flower, Apricots, Old Man in the Ball.
2"x3" Oil on cardstock.

Warm up 2x3s

2010-07-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I started a series of 2"x3" paintings on cardstock - I think they would qualify as ATC size pieces. Just for fun. They are quick pieces - under an hour each. Interested? Email me. More tomorrow.

Lavender Bench - Monthly Painting Challenge

2010-06-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm trying something new. The Monthly Painting Challenge posts a photo reference image once a month, and we do our thing and create a painting from the image. Though I've been following the blog since, well, January, this is the first posting I will make, and hopefully not the last.
8x8 oil on canvas.

MetroCard Painting

2010-04-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it's last minute, the paint is dry, I'll mail it out tomorrow. I just couldn't resist trying my hand at painting ATC size - rather, NYC MetroCard size. It's for a show in NYC - opens next week. Check out the website. And they have an event page on FaceBook.
www.singlefare.blogspot.com

Lana & Pheny

2010-01-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

This is a double portrait painting of my mom, Pheny, and her best friend, Lana. My husband asked me to do a painting of them. Lana now owns the painting. 24"x30", oil on stretched canvas.

The Amazon & the Satyr

2010-01-05T16:22:00.000-08:00

This is the second (long) painting I completed in Barbara Fugate's Expressive Painting Class. 38"x38", oils on stretched canvas. It was a challenging and rewarding class. Hopefully I get to work with her again in the future.

Expressive Figure Painting - 1st "Long" Painting

2009-10-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

I am taking a class at Gage with Barbara Fugate - (again) - Expressive Figure Painting. It's nice to have a class because it's more in depth than the workshop. I feel that I have learned a lot about color, and that there is still much more to learn! Thankfully we have another 5 sessions left in the class. Enough time for one more large painting and some quick studies. Yay!

This painting took four (three hour) sessions - though we spent some of the time in lecture and demos. 30x36 inches, oil paints on stretched cotton canvas.

The goals of this painting were: Use a unified color harmony - I chose a Secondary Triadic color scheme - orange, violet, green - with Oranges as my dominant color. I also chose to neutralize my colors as my primary "mixer", though I also tinted (added white) and shaded (added black). And finally, compositionally - I used multiple diagonals to lead the eye, cropped the figure on at least 2 edges of the canvas - and also used elements of the negative space surrounding the figure to engage the viewer and support the figure/subject.

Sweet Tooth

2009-09-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

12x16 Oils on canvas. Again, a mask painting. I just love my masks. I can paint them over and over again. This time I put a Javanese Batik in the background. In retrospect, it was more of a challenge than I expected. But the overall result is alright. I still have to work over the mask and the fortune cookies.
This piece now has me thinking that I would like to do eleven more - same format - and publish a calendar. Now all I have to do is paint, paint, paint.

Whitney - Gamblin Torrit Grey Competition

2009-08-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for the Gamblin Torrit Grey Competition. Gamblin creates the Torrit Grey Pigment from waste pigments throughout the year. The rules are you are only allowed to use White, Black and Torrit Grey. The Torrit Grey pigment shifts every year, and it is not sold in stores, but given complimentary when you purchase Gamblin paints or mediums. I got my tube at the art store at the Lyme Academy in Connecticut.

This painting is a portrait of Whitney - I just loved her unique hairstyle - 12x16 oil on panel.

Gamblin Torrit Grey Competition

2009-08-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

Five Words - Five Visual Interpretations - Art House Coop Canvas Project

2009-07-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Top to Bottom: Order, Density, Snowman, TopStar, Reverence.
My five interpretations to the words - Acrylic on 3"x3" canvas. Art House Co-Op Canvas Project - they sure do have fun projects. It was more of a challenge than I anticipated, the canvases are really small compared to what I was working on this past weekend, when the smallest size was 16"x20"!

Painting Workshop at Gage Academy

2009-06-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

This is the final painting of a weekend painting workshop, taught by artist Barbara Fugate, I took at Gage Academy. The piece is 24"x36", oils on stretched canvas. It took approximately 7 hours. This painting is done in a Orange/Blue color scheme, shallow spatial depth, with strong diagonals and underlying ellipses that help unify the composition. It was a lot of space to cover. It would have been nice to have another day or two to work on it - but I am happy with what I did. Great class.

Tres Amigos -1st Pass

2009-02-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

This painting is approximately 6"x 8" on MDF panel. The subject are three animal vases I found in Bali, Indonesia. I really wanted to do a grouping of them together! It was a challenging subject because the greens are very close in color, and not an easy color to re-create! It feels a little unfinished up close, so a second (or even third) pass is still an option.

Portrait Commissions - Gone to the Dogs!

2009-01-22T15:51:00.001-08:00

Here are two paintings I made for my friend Curtis. Both paintings are on 8x10 wood panel, in oil paints. One more to come! The subject is his adorable little girl - Brandi - a minpin.