A Lazy Sunday Afternoon - SOLD

"Lazy Sunday Afternoon"

Oil, 36" x 36" 

Sold.

I shipped this painting off today. It was one of my "Larger Painting" specials. It's a pretty big size ... 36" square. I love to paint larger paintings but I am a bit amazed by the quantity of paint needed for these bigger palette knife paintings. That reminds me ... in my workshop in Atlanta a few weeks ago one of my students commented that I wiped off almost as much paint as I put on my canvas. As a palette knife painter, I do not use any terps ... just my knife and a paper towel. I usually wipe my blade after every stroke. Maybe I need to re-think this and find a way to save my paint! Kidding ...

A Boat Load of Boats

"A Boat Load of Boats"

A collection of boat paintings ...

Yep. I thought it mght be fun to put together a collage of some of my recent boat paintings. All of them are for sale and you can find them here. I might even paint a few more this week ... so check back soon!

I have been busy these past few months with my One on One Marketing Consultations. I absolutely love providing this service and helping artists sell their art. Each session lasts 90 minutes and usualy involves a pretty comprehensive discussion about an artists' blog and website.

The last two sessions acheived some pretty remarkable results. With one artist I spent some time examining the pricing structure for her art. Within a few weeks she sold two paintings each valued over $500 as a result of our session. Another artist changed the process in which visitors to her blog could purchase art. In the first week she sold two paintings totaling $500. Both artists told me they would not have made these sales without the marketing consultation. Of course there is no guarantee, but I am absolutely thrilled!! Follow the link for more information about my One on One Marketing Consultations.

A Warm Day - SOLD

"A Warm Day"

Oil, 6" x 6" 

Sold.

Ok ... so a warm day it is not! But wishing and dreaming for a warm day is always a good thing!
This has been a really busy week and now we are headed up to Stanford for the biggest dual meet of the year. The weather forecast is not good but we are hoping for a Cardinal victory. Somehow I managed to fit this one in today. I love the colors!

Good Things Come in Threes - SOLD

"Good Things Come in Threes"

Oil, 6" x 6" .

$200.00 with display easel.

It's true. Especially for me. I have three wonderful boys.  My workshop with Dreama lasted three incredible days in Atlanta last week. And I love creating paintings with three boats! (I could go on and on but I will spare you ...  promise ...)
You may notice the colors in this painting are a bit different from my normal palette. Last week Dreama and I stayed at my brothers house and I was inspired by the color palette in their house. So I decided to switch it up a bit in this one. Next one will be much larger!

More Workshop News

Here I am starting my demo with the palette knife! 

These are the amazing paintings completed by the workshop artists with palette knives!

I remember the conversation I had with Dreama many months ago about ways in which we could make our workshop "different". We talked a lot about many of the workshops we had attended and about how we thought we could enhance the "workshop experience".
One of the decisions we made was to add two evenings with all of the artists. Because I love to cook, I thought it would be wonderful if we could cook dinner for the artists. By inviting them in to our home (or my brother's house ... as was the case this week) we could provide an environment where we could share even more about ourselves.
This past Friday night each artist had the chance to share their personal feelings about their art. We all shared from the heart and laughed ... and even cried. The experience of that amazing evening will be with me forever. As artists we know we are unique and yet we found how we all shared so many common traits, stories and funny "crazy crafting" stories from our childhood.  This was the opportunity to share and talk  ... and to reinforce that we are definitely on the right path.

Atlanta Workshop - Day Two

"Hanging With Friends

Oil, 12" x 12"

Sold.

Day Two of the workshop was my day to "demo". With such an amazing group of artists in attendance, it I knew the chance to discuss limited palettes, color mixing and palette knife paint application would be fun. But I had no idea that this day would be such a personal and rewarding experience for me.
The day was packed ... the paintings from Dreama's demo yesterday were photographedfirst thing and they are displayed below. When you look at this incredible group of paintings, don't forget we had some artists in this group that had painted for only 9 months and others who were attending their first workshop. Dreama's demo was wonderful and our painting method allows the artists the chance to understand not only the "process" but also enjoy the final result!
Here are the paintings from Day One:

After a full day of palette knife painting, we had the group over for another home cooked meal. The food was good (and yes Dreama ... you are a better cook than you think ...). But, the intimate conversation (or fireside chat) was incredible. It's too late to write about it now. I am both fulfilled (and emotionally drained) and so thankful for the opportunity to share tonight with these 24 artists. It's funny though ... as one of the artists commented tonight "Did this workshop start last week ... or was it really only yesterday?".

Atlanta Workshop - Day One

We just completed the first day of our Atlanta workshop and it was wonderful! We have 24 amazing students, all with different backgrounds and levels of painting experience. It is an incredibly fun group and the creative energy in the room today was powerful. There is an incredible feeling of camaraderie and it really does feel as I have known everyone in this workshop for a very long time!

Dreama was "on stage" today and she did an amazing demonstration using her transparent oils technique. Her colors are luscious and I think her demo painting is divine. I am really impressed with all of the paintings that were completed in the class today. I promise to post photos of them tomorrow ... we just ran short of time ...

After class Dreama and I raced back to my brothers house and cooked dinner for everyone. The dinner was good (if I do say so myself) and while enjoying fresh berry cobbler we discussed workshop expectations, experiences, color mixing and selection and selling your art. It was great to just sit around and chat and listen to all of the wonderful comments shared by everyone in the class.

Tomorrow I am the "demo-er" so I better try to get some shut eye. We have another dinner to cook tomorrow night!

A Big Week

"A Good Day"

Oil, 6" x 6"

$300 with display easel.

I just arrived in Atlanta thiw evening as I am getting ready to teach a three day workshp with Dreama. The class starts on Thursday and we will sepnd the next two days getting the classroom ready and cooking (we are offering home cooked meals!).  It takes a lot of work to plan a workshop out of town and I am very thankful to my brother and his wife who have helped out so much in the planning. Plus, they are hosting Dreama and me for an entire week!
I will post lots about the workshop daily. So stay tuned for lots of great updates. Hopefully I can sneak some painting in before then ...

Orange Reflections - SOLD

"Orange Reflections"

Oil, 6" x 6" on museum quality canvas panel.

$200 with display easel.

Sold.

This week has been insane. We are heading up to Stanford this weekend for Swim Parent's Weekend. We get back on Sunday and I leave on Monday for Atlanta for a three day workshop with Dreama! I have a list with 37 things on it that need to be completed before Monday. The good news is that about half of them are crossed off. The bad news is that half of them ARE NOT crossed off.
I underestimated the preparation required for an out of town workshop, especially when it comes to logistics for securing a location, hotels, dinners, etc. I will forever be indebted to my brother and his wife as they have been very helpful with the arrangements. They are also opening up their house for the "After Workshop Dinners" and that is simply incredible!
Somehow in all of my craziness, and in-between finishing commissions, I was able to paint this small, bright and happy painting. Of course this wasn't one of the 37 items on my list. But because I love the feeling of "crossing things off my list" ... I added it to the list and promptly crossed it off!  So ... in truth, there are 38 items on my list.