Soldier/Dogs

Soldier/Dogs

11"x 14"

Acrylic on canvas

SOLD

I finished a commission for a client who has a lot of veterans come work for him. He offers them jobs because they have a hard time finding them elsewhere. My client shared some amazing stories with me, and I was surprised and touched to learn about the importance of the relationship between dog and soldier:
   "One of the key themes my guys tell me coming home is that dogs helped get them through the war. These guys credit the dogs with saving their lives. I never would have guessed that to be the case, but it was. I never realized it until someone came into my office and commented that there were dogs with all of my boys in the pictures I had on my desk." 

Listening to while I paint:

Audio-books: "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. Read by the author.

Podcasts:
              "Wait, Wait.... Don't Tell Me!" hosted by Peter Sagal
               Here's The Thing, hosted by Alec Baldwin
               Social Media Examiner, by Michael Stelzner
               The Splendid Table by Lynne Rosetto Kasper
               Artist Helping Artist by Leslie Saeta
Music: my iPod

                 

Stroke Update - "Not Leaving"

Rose Bush
11"x 14"
acrylic on gessoboard
$375
Click here to purchase

"The Book Thief", an audio book by Markus Zusak, takes place in the fictional town of Molching, Germany between 1939 and 1943. Often, a little girl in that town had nightmares and her Poppa, would come to her in the middle of the night and "not leave" her alone.....

A quote from the book:

                "A definition not found in the dictionary, 'not leaving'; an act of trust and love often deciphered by children."

I cried when I first heard this because, ever since my stroke, I've had to depend on people "not leaving" me. Everything I do, driving, walking and especially my one armed reverse double flip hand springs (just kidding!), requires having them near me.   

There have been many people in my life who are "not leaving": acquaintances, friends, 

but most of all my family. :)

Listening to while I paint:

Audiobook: The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, read by the author

Podcasts: The Nerdist, by Chris Hardwick

                 Social Media Examiner, by Michael Stelzner

              Artist Helping Artist, by Leslie Saeta

                 Oh So Pinteresting, hosted by Cynthia Sanchez

Music: my iPod

NY City

NY City

12"x 12"

acrylic on gessoboard

$375

Click here to purchase

This was a challenge for Daily Paintworks. 

I haven't been to New York since I was 11? ... I remember this one thing... my family and I were sitting at this cafe and this homeless man walked up to us and asked us for change. I smiled at him, with my mouth full of braces and he smiled back, removed his teeth, and said, 

"take care of them"! :)

Listening to while I paint:

Audio books:  "Someday, Someday, Maybe", by Lauren Graham read by the author

Podcasts: The Nerdist, by Chris Hardwick

                Social Media Examiner, by Michael Stelzner

                     The Splendid Table by Lynne Rosetto Kasper

                    Artist Helping Artist by Leslie Saeta

Music: my iPod

Hawaiian Turtle

Hawaiian Turtle

30"x 40"

acrylic on canvas

SOLD

This was for clients whose favorite vacation spot is Hawaii:

"We go to Hawaii as often as we can- We fell in love with the islands when we took a Hawaiian cruise in 2006. 

Each Island is so unique.  Our favorites are Maui and the big Island of Hawaii.  We've gone back 5 times since that cruise. We've been lucky enough to discover turtles in the water or on the beach each visit.  I'm always fascinated with how slow and agile they glide through the water. The photos we shared with you for this painting were from a visit 3 years ago to the Kona side of Hawaii.
The beach was very quiet that day, and we discovered several turtles resting on the beach near the black rocks.
We couldn't stop looking at them and comparing their shells and unique characteristics. This guy in particular seemed very tired and happy to just nap on the beach and soak up the sun! We sat down near him and did the same ; )"

Here is the process:

I drew out the image with vine charcoal so I could erase it (if necessary!), then I'd fix it or secure it with a workable fixative.

Thank goodness for Brian Buckrell! 

He is a wonderful painter. He introduced me to acrylic pens. I have only begun using them, but they helped me draw out the lines on the turtle. 

Listening to while I paint:

Audiobook: "Someday, Someday, Maybe", by Lauren Graham read by the author

Podcast: Social Media Examiner, by Michael Stelzner

                 The Nerdist, by Chris Hardwick

              Here's The Thing, hosted by Alec Baldwin

              The Alton Browncast, hosted by Alton Brown
               Oh So Pinteresting, hosted by Cynthia Sanchez

Music: my ipod

A link that I found that will help me with my grammer!

 

After The Beach

After The Beach

8"x 10"

acrylic

SOLD

A recent commission painting I did for a client and quote from her:

           "Julep is my brown-eyed rescue, age 1-ish. Julep's little bestie and partner in naughtiness is Chance Jones, whose guardian is my best friend Suzy Jones. He is 2-ish.

Both dogs are the happiest dogs in the world. They love playing in all the beautiful trails and beaches of the San Francisco and Marin County and their very favorite is wrestling 'til someone yelps. Julep has brought me more joy than I can measure. I'm looking for a new house with a big fat yard so I can go back to SPCA and get her a friend to play with every day!"

Listening to while I paint:

Audio Books: "Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy" , by John Le Carre', narrated by                                  Michael Jayston

Podcasts: The Alton Browncast hosted by Alton Brown 

                 Social Media Marketing hosted by Michael Stelzner

                 Off Camera With Sam Jones , hosted by Sam Jones

Music: my iPod

Paris - 17 years ago....

Paris

8"x 10"

acrylic on gessoboard

SOLD

My client is going this weekend to her sister's house to wish her happy birthday and I got the privilege of doing a painting of her seventeen years ago....

       "Geez 17 yrs ago I barely remember 17 mins ago haha!! It was actually my sister, my mom, my aunt and myself in Paris for her 35 bday. When I took that pic it was just the 2 of us walking around the city taking pics and I just had her sit down at a outdoor cafe with a vogue magazine   I think we were in Paris for a few weeks on that trip. We stayed at this great lil hotel that was so charming and had wonderful art and every morning the butler brought us this beautiful silver platter with coffees, the best hot chocolate EVER and lil French croissants and baguettes with homemade jellies. It was fabulous! 
We spent the days walking around the city taking pics, going to these great flea markets and antique stores, boutiques and art museums. The had wonderful flower markets where I bought her 35 of the biggest most fragrant pink roses on her bday. My aunt could not eat enough French cheese, onion soup or French chocolates! We went in the Spring and even though it was chilly it never rained the whole time we where there. It was a wonderful trip!!"

It sounds wonderful!!!!!

Listening to while I paint:

Podcasts: The Alton Browncast hosted by Alton Brown 

          The Nerdist, by Chris Hardwick

                    The Splendid Table by Lynne Rosetto Kasper

Audio Books: Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy , by John Le Carre' , narrated by Michael Jayston

                                                                              (recommended by my mom :) )                                                                                                    

Music: New find! Daryl's House on YouTube.

Almost Spring....

Clouds

6"x 6"

acrylic on gessoboard

$100

Click on here to purchase

It's almost spring here in Portland, OR., and the clouds are gorgeous! 

Listening to while I paint:

Audiobooks: Harry Potter Book #5, AGAIN! Read by Jim Dale. He is one of my very                                          FAVORITE narrators! This is a Youtube video of him reading .

Podcasts: The Alton Browncast, hosted by Alton Brown 

                     Oh So Pinteresting, hosted by Cynthia Sanchez  

Music: my iPod

Beijing Hutong

Beijing Hutong

8"x 10"

acrylic on gessoboard
SOLD

Buy a print here

My friend and her family moved to China due to a job transfer. Out of the many pictures she took, there was one of a Beijing alley, or hutong, that I wanted to paint.

Wikipedia:

"In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences.^[1] Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.

Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history."

There are many images available on hutongs through Google. 

Listening to while I paint:

Podcasts: Here's The Thing, hosted by Alec Baldwin
                  The Alton Browncast, hosted by Alton Brown
                  Oh So Pinteresting, hosted by Cynthia Sanchez

Music: my iPod

Daffodil

Daffodil 

7"x 5"

acrylic on gessoboard
SOLD

Buy a print here!

A little painting of springtime as we are snowed in here in Portland, OR!

Listening to while I paint:

Podcast: Off Camera With Sam Jones , hosted by Sam Jones

                 Alton Browncast, hosted by Alton Brown

Music: my iPod

Miles

Miles

10"x 8"

acrylic on gessoboard

This was a commissioned Christmas present. 

         "When Miles, a majestic dachshund-beagle mix, was first adopted in January of 2006, he had no idea he would grow to love playing ball so much. In fact, he didn’t even know how to play! Thankfully for Miles, that didn’t last long. His human got down on all fours and played with dog toys to show him how it’s done, and in no time playing became Miles’s favorite activity. Miles loves all toys, especially those that squeak, have stuffing to pull out, or resemble small creatures. Out of all of the choices, however, the ball is his favorite and, to this day, Miles and the ball are inseparable. Miles is well-loved and lives comfortably in Portland, Oregon, where his human pays his rent, takes him on long walks, and throws the ball for him tirelessly!"

Listening to while I paint:

Podcast: Oh, So Pinteresting, hosted by Cynthia Sanchez
                   American's Test Kitchen, hosted by Christopher Kimball 

                  Here's The Thing, hosted by Alec Baldwin

Music: my iPod