bowl of pomegranates

I saw a little film on how to remove the juicy seeds from a pomegranate. I haven't tried it yet but I bought a big giant one and am looking forward to the new method. Though I have to admit, half the fun is wrestling the seeds out of them.

little guy

The winter light has moved so that we see the birds shadows so sharply against our fence. The quality of winter light is extraordinary.

Screamer

I've been feeling a little like this lately.

Mink Stole Chicken

Clearly, I have rekindled my obsession with chickens.

Appenzeller Spitzhauben

Some of you have commented that you have been unable to leave comments on my blog. I must have inadvertently turned off that feature. It's fixed now and I welcome those comments.

Susie's Chicken

Trish and I went to see some of the artist's studios for weekend four Open Studios yesterday. We fell in love with a few. Sarah Newton, Alice Gibbons, had extraordinary work. We also liked Marti Mckee who put her prints under resin which created a very cool affect. It was a crisp fall day and we had such a great time being art viewers.

Leghorn Portrait

I did more chicken portraits for Open Studios and found my love for painting chickens has not waned.

debate

Like the presidential debates I found this piece rather forgettable. I painted over it.

Another look at that Ox

I painted this ox a couple of months ago before my house revealed it's crumbling corner. I've been preoccupied with repairs but the work is almost complete. Open Studios is this weekend and I've been in my studio all week and loving it. Thanks for your inquiries.

A Portrait

It's a bird...It's a bird...

What can I say? I'm lovin' my new outdoor animal companions!

Birds birds

I am struggling to create something worthy of a post. It's funny. When I was posting daily I hardly cared. Now that a lot more time is elapsing between posts, I think I have to produce something brilliant. And I'm having a little artist block. Trish thinks that means something great is brewing...I sure hope so. In the meantime, we have many families of finches and doves feeding from our little urban bird feeder. So sweet.

Returning

We watched "The Breakfast Club" in Dolores Park last night. If you've had a chance to experience Film Night in the Park, you know what fun it is. Last night we were surrounded by fog but for a patch of star filled skies directly above the park. I love this City!

bird

We're off to New York to celebrate Vin and Noelle's nuptials. Hopefully a little break in the big City will inspire me to come home and paint again. Stay tuned.

little figure

I'm working on a series of figures placed in different seasons. This was a little practice piece that I did because sometimes it's easier to play than it is to put down paint and take myself seriously.

Two Minute Gesture

This from class last Saturday. Joe and Seely in one of ten fabulous two minute gestures. So fun to work with these two!

front facing

We set up bird feeders in our back yard and have attracted some un-birds that we are choosing to call squirrels. Tonight we set traps. In the morning we'll see how well we did in our urban big game hunt. This piece has nothing to do with any of that, however.

Cheeky Peach

I took a little vacation from painting and posting but I am back. I still haven't eaten that perfect summer peach yet, though the strawberries and cherries have been doing a good job of taking up the slack. Year after year I am filled with amazement at the quality and abundance of fresh local produce available in California. I feel so lucky.

Aerial Peach

Another one for the good doctor who already has the pear and the orange. I ate a white peach for breakfast and it was amazing. Sweet, juicy, and perfectly ripe. I love summer fruit.

Pasta Con Sarde

Fennel, onions, sardines, anchovies, tomato paste, saffron, pine nuts, olive oil, salt and pepper and buccatini pasta. My friend Vinny grew up eating this dish and one time while in Manhattan it was on the menu at a little neighborhood Italian place in the East Village. We were all blown away by the flavor and I have been making it ever since. The Italians don't mix cheese and fish, but I do grate a little parmigiana on top. Yum

Happy June "gay bride month"

I seem to be in a re-do phase. I nearly threw this guy away because I hated the background so much but instead of tossing him, I worked on it today and now I'm happy. Trish squirms every time I paint over a painting or toss an image because I no longer can bear to look at it. I guess I'm not much of an archivist.

Aerial Orange

A little something for Dr. Julie, the chiropractor extraordinaire who has fixed the pesky little problems I was having before seeing her. It seems my painting studio is not exactly the most ergonomically correct work space so I'm in the process of raising my easel and making it more functional.

Sewing Circle

I took an encaustic painting class last weekend and learned a lot of cool new things. I did this painting in the class. The images of the sewing machine and scissors are quick sketches on tracing paper. I've always wondered how to do that!

Summer

Joe and Isabelle posed over the course of a couple of Saturday afternoons for us. It must have been 110 degrees in the studio yesterday and each one of us made really nice drawings. I only have two more classes left and then my drawing class is over for good. I'm starting to feel sad.

First pass at the lemons

Californians are celebrating the historical decision passed
down by the State Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. Well,
maybe not all Californians. Did you hear, Ellen and Portia have
announced their engagement?

Shadow Pear

My pal Ellen picked up a beautiful pear last fall. I took
a bunch of pictures and recently ran across them. The
pear and the shadows are so dramatic I couldn't resist
another go around.

Belgian Chicken

I can't remember the name of this chicken, but it's been on my easel for months.
Not the actual chicken, that would be really messy.

Art for AIDS

I made this painting last fall and it remains one of my favorites.
Now you can have it by going to annual Art for AIDS benefit in October.
Each year they have a silent auction as well as a very exciting live auction.
Hope to see you there.

Meyer Lemons

Sweet, juicy, and just a little tart. Yum.

Reclined

Fear is a door that has to be opened....

I found a little inspiration poking around on the web last weekend.

Cruella

Spent the week systematically preparing for open studios as to
conserve energy. Not much painting got done, but Cruella has been
waiting for her debut!

Blue and Red

Trish and I are getting ready for Spring Open Studios next weekend.
She has a studio at 1890 Byant Street so I'll be joining her for the weekend.
We'll be in Studio 311.

Sea Ness

Fooling around in my studio today with more wood scraps.
My truck is now in the hands of a new family. Bye bye little truck. We are
now a one car family. Woo Hoo!

Who said that?

My computer is back, yeah! Though I am now scrounging around in search of software. I should be so lucky, were it not for that extended warranty I could be researching a new laptop.

Safeway Tomatoes

Birdie

High Noon

The "greeen" show at City Art Gallery has inspired me to continue painting on
found wood. This is the lid to a cigar box where I once stored my keys. Trish gave
me the pear with a directive, "paint this!"

Waiting

I'm working on a little project for my drawing class and ran across this from a couple of weeks ago. I think this drawing has the potential to be worked into a completed drawing.

I love the finches

We brought a bird feeder closer to our house and now we can watch the doves and finches
while we're sitting at out little table in the rear parlor. They are really sweet.

City Spring

I didn't have much time in my studio today but this showed up and it made me happy.
Spring makes me happy.

Stitch

I've been having some dramatic technology problems.
The good news is that I bought that extended warranty and
will be shipping my laptop off to be restored. In the mean time ,
I'm posting on an old dinosaur of Trish's, which I am grateful
to have.

Pattern 5566

I have a bunch of wood in my studio that I am having a great time painting on. Much of it is redwood scraps left over from a fence that Trish and her dad built in our yard. Here's a little piece done with those dress patterns.

Bird Pattern

I found some old dress patterns in a box on the street recently and have been experimenting ripping them up and covering them in bleached wax. I generally use unbleached, but was given a container of the bleached variety and decided to play.

2 Birds

The California Supreme Court heard the same-sex marriage case today. Trish was there as the photogragher for NCLR. Look for her pictures on their web site soon. The justices have ninety days to rule. I won't be holding my breath. But maybe I'm just preparing myself in advance for the disappointment.

Sunny Rain

Yesterday it poured and then quite suddenly stopped. And then poured again, sideways.
Today it was gorgeous. I was thrilled to see the sun all day.

Rain

I haven't been in the mood to paint lately. Perhaps it's the light, or lack of it. Encaustic paint requires a lot of ventilation and I obtain that through opening a window and adjacent door in my studio. Perhaps I've been avoiding the chill.

HIlary's Rooster

Happy Accident:
hap·py
1: favored by luck or fortune : fortunate happy coincidence>2: notably fitting, effective, or well adapted : felicitous happy choice>3 a: enjoying or characterized by well-being and contentment happiest person I know> happy childhood>
ac·ci·dent:
1 a: an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance b: lack of intention or necessity : chance accident rather than by design>

197 posts in year ONE

I'm not sure if I'll be able to maintain my fervor of 2007 but I'm not going away either. Trish and I just returned from a family visit to Long Island. It was so good to be back in the studio painting today.

Look what the bird feeder brought...

We first saw the doves the Sunday after we were married. Doves and a humming bird. Jane said it was good luck since doves mate for life. I took this from my kitchen window a few weeks back. It was sunny for a little while on Friday, but mostly we've been pretty soggy here in the Bay Area.