What a confusing weather day. It was frosty out when I loaded the car, and I was just sure I’d shiver all day long. I set up in the direct sunshine on Wendy’s porch and was just sure I’d hot to death. Notice the spacious spacing on the display panels. What do you think? It […]
Books
This weird little painting was an assignment in my short-lived oil painting class. Anyone have an idea for a title? If you are like me, when you visit a blog you like to see how many comments a post has and sometimes you even read them. My blog doesn’t have very many comments to read. […]
What If I Gave A Party. . .
. . . and EVERYONE came! The art show for my students was a HUGE success. It was elbow to elbow for almost the entire 2 hours. The work looked stunning, and if I had been any prouder of my students, lightning might have struck us all. First, HUGE THANK YOU to Michael, Robin and […]
Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 2
If you would like to see the completed piece shown in progress here, come to the student art show! Start with simple things. Get help on big things. Good tools make a job easier. Learn from others who know how. A second set of eyes is helpful. Sometimes you just have to do the work, […]
First Home
If you have been a home owner, you probably will never forget the first place on which you paid a mortgage. Our first home was built in 1913 and we were only the 3rd owners. I loved that little house too much – it just wasn’t natural to have that much affection for an inanimate […]
A Cabin Commission
Cabinart – making art of cabins, using pencil. That is my roots. Now that I oil paint, when a commission drawing for a cabin comes along, I am thrilled. Thrilled, I say! The defining characteristic of this cabin is the group of massive trees in the front yard. The truth is that I sort of […]
Love the Beach
I know, I know, “Cabinart”, Mineral King, Sequoia National Park, cabins, but I am torn! Living most of my life in the Central Valley of California has provided access to both the ocean and the mountains. I feel destined to spend my days in between so I can get to either place in fairly short […]
Random Thoughts on the real Columbus Day
1. There is a strange thing about my daily paintings of fruit. Have you noticed that all of the fruits begin with the letter “P”? This is truly peculiar. Peculiar P Paintings: pomegranate, persimmon, pumpkin, pear, pepper, plum, peach. It is true that I haven’t shown you all of these in this particular series, but […]
Let Us Spray
This is what drawing student Gerald said to me when he finished his drawing. “Spray?”, you are asking, even as you read this. (Yes, I can hear you.) Spray fixative is one method of preventing the finished drawing from smearing. Framing is another; workable fixative is a third. I’ve been told it adds “tooth” (that […]
Who Died?
Jacob Currie. Or Curry. Spelling wasn’t that important to Irish folks in 1905. All that remains is gorse, in color. “Gorse?” you ask. “Of course”, I reply. Or is that “Of corse”?