Sketchbook

Anyone who knows me has seen my sketchbooks, volumes of them at this point, in which I capture the gesture of a place. Most recently working with thin marker and watercolor, I especially like the motion of an urban environment, and I use color and line to record often very busy scenes. Here in Port […]

“Art is not something apart to be learned from books of rules; it is a living thing which depends on full participation. As we grow in life, so we grow in art, each of us in our unique way.” ~ Edward Weston Waiting is not empty time. But it sure can feel like that. It is […]

  Today I was happy to be part of TEDxPortland. Along with 55 other artists, I was commissioned to make art for the show book… and painted 3 birds inspired by this year’s theme Tomorrows. So cool to be part of the TEDx energy. Ideas worth sharing. It was a day of listening, of heart […]

“Making art is a process of wonderment driven by boundless expansion.” Guillame Wolf I painted for this February show from early December until 3 days before the opening event, making enough art to fill the Stonehenge gallery walls in a satisfying profusion. After all these years of art making, I still step back with a […]

I was introduced to this fruit this holiday season — and was enchanted by their beauty. At a neighborhood Christmas Eve brunch, some California visitors arrived with a brimming basket of the small merry globes to share, picked from their yard. I always thought this fruit was only edible when mushy-ripe, which never sounded appealing… […]

I am always fascinated to see artist work in process, glimpses into studios, sketches and stages along the way, giving so much insight about the final result that hangs before me. My summer trip to London included a trip to the Matisse exhibit at the Tate (now showing at MoMA in NYC) and it was a […]

Here’s some new work that won’t see the gallery pages, since they were commissioned and have flown the coop already. The paint was practically wet when they left! I like commissions, and take the requests as an opportunity to paint a small series — at least two and sometimes more — giving the patron a […]

When I travel, I like to have a variety of mediums and papers handy… between practicality and creative expression lies a plethora of sizes, colors and forms to fit the moment. I can spend 3 minutes on a sketch on a postcard in pencil or 30 minutes on piece on 10 x 12 paper in […]

At its best, vacation is time away from routine, with wide open spaces of receiving, listening, and leaning toward new experience. It is a wonderful avenue of inspiration. With that intention, a predominant theme of my recent UK visit was Art. (other themes were family, history and gin-&-tonics). Visits to the richness of UK museums […]

When I head down to the studio in the evening, I put on my cozy long sweater — which is an artifact of painterly action. It is my rendition of the artist smock. Something I wipe my hands and brushes on. This old Good Will sweater is one of the tools of my trade… supporting […]

  In preparation for Sunday’s open studio soiree, I am busy painting a few new birds and city scenes. My process happens in a series of successive layers over time… I can only do a bit each night, working with wet on wet in some areas at first, and forming line over dry layers in […]

Picking Tomatoes Now I have taken the sketches from the previous post, and brought out my loaner antique hand press to bring line into color and form, through the medium of the monoprint. Printmaking is like Christmas… feeling the anticipation from painting on plexiglass/acrylic plates, soaking paper, waiting for hours or overnight… to bring the plate […]

  The mornings are cool, the nights crisp, the days sunny and breezy and dry. Ah, August, with your prescient glimpse of autumn. I took the opportunity of the still-light evening to sketch my friend Christine in her garden. Who knows what the sketches will seed? Last time I drew Christine, it was winter and […]

I’ve just finished up 5 new paintings commissioned by a couple of motorcycle travelers… they toured cities and roads around Europe and wanted a wall of paintings to remember their adventures by. It was fun to “put my Europe on” and bring my style to the photos they sent me. My previous city-life paintings are […]

I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest for over 30 years now, and have not adequately explored the San Juan Islands… Port Townsend has been the extent of my travels to these misty havens so close to home (and lovely it is too, I made lots of sketches and paintings from one of the last trips […]

  It is a year of The Calendar. And so, I’d like to tell of the birth and creation process of this crazy obsession I share with my daughter Lucie. It started in 2001 or 2002…. I got a Sark calendar that featured heart-warming inspirational words for every day. Lucie and I loved turning the […]

Just finished this new painting as a commission for dear Uncle Micky, a prolific and enthusiastic creator himself. He wanted a bright spot of daylily on his wall, and who can blame him? Spring rainy days need a little help from art to remind us of the spectrum of blooming ahead. I painted this piece […]

This weekend (May 12-13) you can see some new bird paintings at  Trinity Episcopal Cathedral’s 12th annual “Artists Among Us” show.  Allan Oliver, former owner of Onda Gallery, helped to expand this year’s artist roster by reaching out to those of us who had showed in his gallery in the past. Trinity is a lovely […]

  Walking in the mornings, I am loving the light, and all the bird songs. The noisy all-season crows are being out-chorused by the many small birds welcoming the day, and the spring. This little painting never made it to this site’s gallery pages  before it flew out the door onto the walls of a […]

New year. Renewed energy. Picking up the threads of creation. After I pack away the Christmas lovely clutter, my studio can once again become making-in-motion. I have three areas of activity to return to (good thing I have lots of tables!). One is what I am calling “Following the Thread” series, with collage, watercolor and […]

Just getting the studio ready for the open showing was invigorating — we cleaned and organized and cleared and made loveliness out of my ordinary creative chaos. And then having lively celebration and sharing as many people showed up, all throughout the day, was great fun. I loved telling the stories behind the pieces that […]

If you come to my studio open house (or visit another time!) you will see my current work in progress, which is a little different than what you see on the gallery pages here. I am using old family documents to provide the ground for watercolor and gouache paintings. Subject matter, so far, is from […]

Then I took out the ink and brush, right on top of the original pencil drawing. I like to use the brush almost dry for the wider strokes, so that against the texture of the paper I get the lovely ragged edge. Make a comment

Pencil is so forgiving. I use it to assess proportion and composition. But sometimes I fall in love with the loose beginnings, and have a hard time moving past the quick pencil. This sketch was captured in the sculpture garden at the de Young Museum at Golden Gate Park in SF. Joe stands in a […]