A Day in Balboa

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"A Day In Balboa"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas.

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Now that I am back in town I am deeply committed to finishing the paintings for my "Headlines" show. I have all of the headlines selected (from the South Pasadena Review newspaper in the 1920's, 30's and 40's) and the inspiration photos taken so all I am doing now is painting! I will not post any of the finished paintings until the show opens ... so it will be another month before they are posted here.
I am trying to also complete a daily painting. I am doing a show in Balboa on May 16th so I am trying to complete some small pieces for that show. Be prepared to see lots of boats and coastal scenes this month. It might be a while before you see flowers again!

Waiting For Wind

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"Waiting For Wind"

6" x 6" on canvas panel.

$200 unframed.

I am finally back from our east coast college trip and although it was a wonderful week ... it is good to be home! My youngest is sick and I have so much to do I am kind of freaked out. I am in charge of a big school fund raiser in two weeks and I have a lot of paintings to finish for my upcoming "Headlines" show. So, it should be an interesting month. Back to reality!

Seeking The Sun

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"Seeking the Sun"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel.

$200 unframed.

We have completed our "whirlwind tour" of college campuses. My son really liked them all and the only part of our trip he didn't like was all of the driving! We visited Georgetown, UVA, Duke, UNC and Davidson. On two different occasions we ran into kids from his school also visiting the same colleges. We had no idea they were on a similar trip. What a small world.
Now we are in Atlanta visiting my brother and his family and enjoying some down time. It just started to rain so my wish to head outside and take some photos for paintings will not happen today. Maybe tomorrow? I am looking forward to getting home so I can get back to my studio and complete the paintings for my "Headlines" show. It is going to be a really crazy few weeks when I get back. Yikes!

Pink Power - SOLD

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"Pink Power"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel.

$200 unframed.
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Sorry I haven't been on my blog for awhile. I am on the East Coast touring colleges with my middle son and we are having a wonderful time! We have visited Georgetown, UVA and Duke. Tomorrow we visit UNC and then we visit Davidson on Wednesday. We have met all of the baseball coaches and have toured some great baseball facilities and games. We have attended all of the college information meetings and tours and wow ... these campuses are beautiful!

This is definitely a "boy week" so I thought it might make sense to post a "girl painting"! Enjoy!

He Loves Me ...

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"He Loves Me"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel

$200 unframed.

"He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" is a game of French origin, in which one person seeks to determine whether the object of their affection returns that affection or not. We played it as a kid and I don't remember if the daisy was usually right or not. What other ways have you determined if your loved one loves you?

I am heading out of town this weekend with my middle son. We are heading back east for a week to do the "college tour" and visit colleges in Virginia and North Carolina (and meet baseball coaches and watch lots of college baseball games!). It should be a wonderful time and I am really excited to spend this time with my son. I am trying to stock up on daily paintings but so far, no luck!


Check today's story about "color" at Empty Easel and you can learn about how and why I choose my colors to paint with! 

The Flower of Love

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"The Flower of Love"

Oil, 6" x 6"

$200 unframed.

I almost named this painting "The Misunderstood flower". Carnations are lovely flowers, but they just don't get any respect. Carnations are part of the "dianthus" flower family and their name is translated to "the flower of love". One of the world's oldest cultivated flowers, the carnation is appreciated for its ruffled appearance, clove-like scent, and extended blooming period.Carnations are nice flowers but somehow they just don't get the respect they deserve.

I think I know what happened. A while ago someone decided it would be really cool if you stuck a white carnation in a glass of blue food coloring because the flower would "suck up" the dye and voila ... you could have a blue carnation. Or a green one ... or even a black one.  I have to admit, when I see a green carnation I think they look "cheap". And yucky.

So, I panted this carnation to honor the true beauty of the flower ... as it was originally intended!

A Good Day

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"A Good Day"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel.

$200.00 unframed.

Today was a good day. I got a call from a friend who is in the restaurant business. She and her husband would like me to display (and sell) my art on a new wall they are building in one of their restaurants. The wall will have custom lighting and the art will look great. The art will be featured in the restaurant for a year and I will change it frequently. I expect this will be a great place for me to display my daily paintings!

Some of you have asked about my upcoming "Headlines" show and why I have been spending so much time in the library doing research for my paintings. The show will feature 20 - 25 paintings and all will be titled after headlines that I found in our local newspaper. The headlines are all from the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's.  The paintings will depict a scene from the headline, but in today's world. For example, one of the headlines I DID NOT use was "Man Pleased With Broken Legs, Neck Saved". Hmmm ... I am not kidding ... that was a front page headline in 1935! The painting would have to be something that depicts this headline but in South Pasadena today. So ... by now it should be obvious why I had to pick the headlines carefully and why this example was not picked!

The research was fun, interesting and also pretty emotional. I learned a lot about our town and was amazed that the headlines over the years are still about the same old thing ... fighting the freeway, local elections and human interest stories. Sadly, the headlines in the early 1940's frequently featured a story about a son, brother or father who was either killed or missing in WWII.  The paper is published weekly and every week there was a new story. So sad and so tragic.
So, the headlines have all been selected and I am painting away. When the show opens in the gallery, the original article (and headline) will be placed next to each painting. It has been a lot of work but I think it will be worth it! The show will be at the SouthPas Gallery from April 28 - May 29, 2010. I will keep you updated!

One Day At a Time

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"One Day At a Time"

Oil, 6" x 6" 0n canvas.

$200 unframed.

I think I am enjoying painting flowers this week because the sun is out and the air is finally warm! It has been a very cold and wet "winter" in Southern California and I know I deserve no sympathy from anyone east of here because your weather has been much worse! But there is nothing that reminds me more of spring than a single flower sprouting up in a bed of green ...

Pretty and Pink

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"Pretty and Pink"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel.

$200 unframed.

As a mother of three boys I love it when I can paint with pink. There is just not enough pink in my life (or house for that matter). When I was growing up I thought pink was a sissy color (yes, I was a bit of a tomboy) but over the years I have learned to appreciate this yummy color!

My favorite ice cream is peppermint, my favorite flowers are pink peonies and my favorite item of clothing is my cozy pink robe! Here's to perhaps ... grand daughters someday?

Sunflower

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"Sunflower"

Oil, 6" x 6"

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One of my new Stanford swim mom friends is from Kansas City, KS and we spent some time talking about their wonderful state flower when we were at the Pac-10 swimming championships last week. I told her I would try to paint a sunflower and this morning I decided to give it a try. I rarely paint flowers and I think I need to re-think my subject matter! I kept mixing all different shades of yellow and they just kept getting brighter and brighter. I had so much fun today! So Barbara - this one is painted in honor of you!

Heading Home

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"Heading Home"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel

$200 unframed.

Painting makes me happy. I love bright colors, reflections in the water and those three reasons are why I painted this painting. After a long week in the office, what better way to enjoy a Sunday afternoon than sailing in the bay? All it takes are a few hours and you will enjoy the beautiful seascape and silent peace while sailing on the water. Eventually it is time to head home ... back to reality and another week. But it is days like these that help us appreciate "free time".

Stanford From Afar

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"Stanford From Afar"

Oil, 8" x 8" on canvas panel.

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Wow, what a week. I know it has been way too long since I have posted a painting but I really did have good intentions to paint between sporting events! It just didn't work out that way.

The Pac10 swimming championships were amazing. Stanford won their 29th consecutive title. Thank heavens ... my son did not want his freshman class to be the one to break the streak! The races were amazing and we had the chance to get to know all of the parents of the swimmers. What a wonderful group of people. And yes, I have a sore throat from cheering so much!

Baseball and volleyball games went real well too. We caught a lot of those games in between the swimming prelims and finals ...

I am back in the studio and was waiting for the sun to come out to take a picture of this latest painting. I did a similar one a year ago and love the sunlight on Hoover Tower!

Serenity

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"Serenity"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel.

$200 unframed.

Serenity ... hah! I think this week is one of my busiest weeks ever ... but as a mom, this is what I live for. Today I will drive one hour to watch my youngest play in a high school volleyball game. Then I will drive another hour and a half to watch my middle son's girlfriend play in a CIF semi-finals playoff soccer game. If they win they play in the championships this weekend! I am heartbroken I can't make the high school boys CIF semi-final soccer game today. But I had to draw the straw ... if you are not related to me (or in love with one of my boys) ... then I just can't watch your game this week. Sorry!

Then ... the Pac 10 swimming championships start tomorrow in Long Beach. So we will be driving down there twice a day for four days to watch our oldest swim. This weekend there are also more volleyball and baseball games (and maybe a soccer championship) and I am just not sure how I will be able to make it work. Somewhere in the middle of this I will find time to paint. I am not sure how, but I will.

So, if you think I am complaining you are so wrong! I love weeks like this!

Second Wind

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"Second Wind"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel.

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OK, so I m back. I feel as if my little "Olympics" paintings were a nice change of pace and it forced me to paint scenes that I never would normally paint! It did require me to get out of my comfort zone and there were many great things that came from it. I found myself reading a lot more about the Vancouver Olympics and the heartfelt stories about the Canadian people and their incredible generosity. I love Canada!

So, back to boats for a while. I am working on a few commissions and my big April show so I will probably post a lot of these small fun ones. The reflections in the water make me smile so I will probably continue to paint them for a very long time.

Speaking of things that make me smile, one of the advantages of having a blog has been the wonderful people I have met. It seems odd to call someone you have never met a "dear friend" but I must say there's one woman out there in "blogspace" that I want to make sure you know about. Dreama Tolle Perry has become not only one of my favorite artists, but she is also one of my favorite people. It is funny how I can just pick up the phone and call her at any time and we can talk forever. We are having fun trying to figure out how artists should take advantage of the incredible opportunities via the internet and she has been a wonderful mentor and teacher. She has way more art experience than I do yet she is so willing to discuss my crazy marketing ideas (at any hour). If you haven't had a chance to check out her art, please do!