Seattle Under Attack! Toss Me A Fish!

I came up with the idea to paint Seattle with a variety of sea creatures in the middle of the city. It started with the peaceful scene of downtown I painted early last summer. Then, last fall, I painted the Space Needle. Now, this:

Poor guy just wanted a fish! 

I started painting this at the end of 2013 and finally finished in March, right in time for the last Bemis Building Art Show. Before I started this piece, I had no idea that rendering architecture would be so challenging.  I literally spent hours painting the same line and angles over and over again, and I was extremely happy when that was finished.  

I told myself that I would not paint anymore architecture after that, but I've already got a few new pieces in the works... 

Sunflowers

Sunflowers are probably my favorite flowers. I love the way their colors contrast against the blue sky, the way the seeds swirl in a Fibonacci sequence, and their ability to thrive in a variety of places. 

Fabulous Tentacle Glassware

Back at Christmas time, I was trying to think of gifts to make for friends and family. A friend and I spent an afternoon at Goodwill, combing through the glassware on sale, and the idea of glass painting was born. I found some good glass paints (Vitrea 160) at my favorite art supply store, and started painting. The great thing about these glass paints is that the paint sets after cooking for 45 minutes in a regular oven at 325 degrees. After that, the glass is dishwasher safe.

Samo loves her tentacle glass! 

I made a set of martini glasses and a set of wine glasses.

For your rum

So many octopuses! So many tentacles!

The flower glasses are coming out great also. 

I'm gearing up for Punk Rock Flea Market, June 4th, where I'll have a table. I'll be selling these glasses, some prints and cards of my paintings, and my Dinos and Gatos de los Muertos. And Samo's going to be selling some flower pots and jewelry made from old computer parts. It's always a fun time. Stop by and say hi! It's only $1 to get in, and all the proceeds from door sales go to the Low Income Housing Initiative. 

These were commissioned upon request. 

Seattle Under Attack! The Space Needle

Don't be afraid, it's only Cthulhu saying hello to the Space Needle. He loves Seattle so much, he wants to give us a big hug. 

See? 

It's OK, really... Just another rainy day in Seattle. Nothing special...


16" x 20"
Acrylic on Canvas
$275

Watercolors: Camping at Wild Sky Wilderness

I went camping with a couple good friends last weekend and decided to bring my watercolors out as an experiment. I first taught myself to paint with watercolors sometime back when I was in high school. It was inexpensive and I had some watercolors at my disposal. And, my mom and grandfather were both watercolor painters, so it's in the blood. In about 2003, I started painting with acrylics and never thought I would go back. 

"Watercolors are hard!" I told myself, "You don't have that skill," I could hear my inner voice telling me. I put the paints away and concentrated on other mediums. But I pulled out the watercolors again last weekend because they would be easier to clean while out camping. I bought myself a new pad of watercolor paper and brought it all out on the camping trip. I painted with the river water. It felt like rediscovering an old friend. I was comforted by the sound of the river, and the paints spread more easily than I remembered. There is still a lot to learn, but I like the way that these paints feel. I'll be doing more of this soon.

Morning in the Forest

I find inspiration in many different places. National Geographic Magazine is a tremendous source of images that I use to spur creativity. I found this photo online and fell in love:

I used that as an impetus to create this painting:

This piece took a total of about 12 hours to complete. I spent about 4 hours working on blending the colors for the sky in the background, then I spent about another 4 hours on the trees and leaves. Yesterday, I set up my easel on the back porch for about 4 hours to work in the sunlight, and completed the deer and plant life in the foreground.

At 30" x 36", this is the largest canvas I have worked on yet.

Art Panels for Burning Man

I can't go to Burning Man this year, but I'm sending some art out to the desert. My friend Christina asked me to spend the day with her a couple weeks ago, working on some art panels that will become part of a maze that they are installing as their project, the Seattle CORE Project.

Each panel in the maze is 2' x 8', and we painted both sides of one panel, which took most of the day. It was great to spend the day out, collaborating together. I think that our styles and ideas meshed pretty well, too.

We came up with the idea to have a fire theme on one side and a water theme on the other side:

I love that I can't even tell where her art began and mine ended. We were able to mesh it together very nicely, which is not a super easy task, if you have ever worked on a project with other people. But this worked out quite nicely, and even though I cannot attend the actual event, I am happy that a small part of me will be there and be enjoyed by other attendees. 

I love the idea of temporary art. That is one of the main things that drew me to Burning Man initially; the idea that everything is temporary, and we must make the most of the precious time that we have here on this temporal plane. As an artist, I want to create beautiful things, and I crave the company of other creative humans. I often get very attached to my work, but I am learning one of the labors in life is letting go of that which you are attached to and moving forward to new discoveries, new creations, and new realizations, whilst holding on to that which makes you a vital, essential human... Every day is a new experience, and we build upon what we feel is important while leaving behind what we deem of lesser value. And that is different for every human, so we are constantly striving to balance our needs and values, both with and against other humans' needs and values.

These wood panels will be installed for the week of the event at the end of August, then everything will be burned in a huge effigy, as is tradition. The desert is slowly transformed from a barren ancient lakebed, to a beautiful thriving city, to a lakebed again, with no trace of the event that took place there. It is an annual reminder of the temporal, momentary nature of our lives. I love the poetry in that.