Lightening up...

Winter sketching kit…

The winter painting kit is much smaller and easier to carry than the warmer weather “haul the whole studio if you can fit it all in the back of a Mini with the back seats down” effort. At the top is a water cartridge paintbrush and Pitt indelible marker. I usually pick one paint kit - the smaller Altoids box of gouache primaries or the watercolor kit with more colors. The cut-off sock cuff slips onto the paint container and fastens down with the rubber band. On site, I pull the sock onto the wrist to serve as a “paint rag.” Completing the winter kit a 3.5x8.25” Handbook. An even more compact choice is a 4.25x3” Pentalic Travelers book, or for real winter luxury, a Handbook 7x10.25.” Everything fits in the secret phone compartment everyone has in a coat or a hip pocket. Add a headband to warm the ears, fingerless foldaway mittens and you’re all set.

Still sifting through...

Aeons ago. 17 x 14 inches. Pencil and charcoal on paper.

Still sifting through layers of work from forever ago. Actually, was looking for sketch paper this particular size for a new experiment and found a few clear pages in the back of the book. Of course, spent several minutes side-tracking through the older drawings. I liked this one. People have asked me how I manage the “unusual” technique I use. Simply comes out the end of the pencil.

Siuslaw River Bridge...

Siuslaw River Bridge. Florence, Oregon. Acrylic. 40x30"

Wandering around Florence stumbled on this bascule bridge across the Siuslaw River. I was captivated. The camera was not and jammed after one shot. Several sketches later, I used this image for a black and white drawing, a transfer in the Living Their Memories series and this painting. The symbolism of the classic arch endures.

Happy making...

Working The River. Pier 14, Pilot House. Astoria, Oregon. Acrylic. 24 x 24"

Everything about making this painting is happiness. Every single brushstroke, glaze, wipeout. I was born on the water and have a house close to the beach. Grew up on the working docks and played underneath them when the tide was out. The colors bring joy. The geometry soothed. E.T and Me. 

Silence is worth gold...

Close up from Siuslaw River Bridge.

Exquisitely content when it's so quiet I can hear the paint drop into the interstices of the canvas. Pure heaven. Closeup from a new painting, Siuslaw River Bridge, Florence Oregon. 

Get. A. Job.

Crown Water Tower, Portland, Oregon.  Acrylic. 40x30"

Does anyone else ever have a painting that won't grow up and leave home? This one came close to a dose of gesso. Why is totally curious to me. Could be the figure this one is painted over wasn't happy about her outcome. I was happily rambling and when I saw this quaint water tower, I was totally charmed. Then the painting became so high maintenance, I finally told it if it wanted to survive, it needed to go find a home of it's own.