During the month of December, the Kuhr-Norris Studio & Gallery is hosting a guest artist: Marilyn Livingston. Her works in fused glass are a vibrant showcase of light and color.
Had some days off from school this week, so I spent some time painting signs for the studio/gallery. In addition to the sign pictured here, I painted one to hang out the window to hopefully attract the attention of people walking around town.
There is a gorgeous road in Sonoma County called Coleman Valley. It runs from the town of Occidental to the coast, and there are many stretches which have sweeping views. Several days ago I had the opportunity to paint there. I did these two 5"x7" studies which I will use as inspiration for a larger studio piece. Staring at this view was a beautiful way to spend a morning!
This studio painting is based on a photo I took this summer while walking along the bluffs in the town of Mendicino. The blues of the sea were breath-taking.
This painting was completed in my studio. I used a reference photo that I took at Eastside Regional Park in Healdsburg, CA. The fall colors are spectacular there!
The Kuhr-Norris Studio & Gallery is located on the 2nd floor of a building on Main Street in Guerneville, CA. I have been surprised at how difficult it is to get visitors to the town to notice that we are here. This is disappointing, and we are trying to come up with creative solutions to this. One thing I do on weekends is put one of my paintings and one of Suzy's photos in the windows and illuminate both.
This is a plein air painting, done on a beautiful, hot day in Dry Creek Valley. My wife, Kimberly, painted with me that day, which made it extra fun.
This painting sold to Patte, who owns a massage business in Guerneville, CA. She has bought a cabin with land that goes down to the river and she is moving her business there. This painting will go live in that cabin. So nice that a painting of the Russian River will now go to a cabin by the river!
The Kuhr-Norris Studio & Gallery opened on July 4, 2014, and it has been a grand adventure so far. Suzy Kuhr and I have both sold pieces each month. This does not make me feel sure of anything in the long winter months ahead, but I am very grateful for the success we have had thus far. Since we both work full time, we don't have to panic about selling a lot. If we sell enough to pay the rent, we are happy!
"Still Waters" sold today! My friends, Marty and Z, who live in San Francisco, purchased it. I confess to being happy that people I know bought it as it is one of my favorites.
This painting was inspired by a plein air painting I did the last time my friend Lola was visiting from Madrid. We love to paint at the mouth of the Russian River! That day was so sandy that my painting was covered in sand!
For this painting, I tried something different: instead of painting the sides my usual orange-red color, I painted them black. The painting is based of the landscapes I have seen in Willamette Valley, Oregon, and also Dry Creek Valley, California.
The Kuhr-Norris Studio & Gallery participated in the 1st Friday Art Walk in Guerneville in August and it was a blast! Lots of people came to check out the place and art was sold!
This painting is special because it is of one of my very favorite places in the world, a place that feels sacred to me: the mouth of the Russian River, where it empties into the Pacific.
I was inspired to paint this by walking along the bluffs in the town of Mendocino this summer. The blues and greens of the water are profoundly beautiful. It has sold and is going to live in the offices of SAY (Social Advocates for Youth).
This small landscape sold on the 1st Friday Art Walk in August!
Inspired by landscapes seen in Dry Creek Valley and in Oregon, this is a small painting, 6" x 6" on stretched canvas.
Michele was the secretary at the middle school where I teach. She retired, and now she looks 10 years younger! Anyway, her sister Susan lives near Olivet Road, a beautiful area. Susan said that Lola and I could paint there this summer, so one day last month we went and painted this barn in her backyard. That day the colors of summer were perfect! This picture makes the colors look extra saturated; they are not so bright in the painting.
It is such a pleasure to have a spacious, light-filled studio in which to paint! I often dreamed of this, but did not think I would ever have it. I am working on several paintings--3 small ones, and one 24" x 36" painting of a vineyard which you see in the photo. This is a commission, and it has been such a fun painting to work on! The women who commissioned it live in town, so they often pass by the studio and say hello. Their enthusiasm for the painting is a wonderful motivation. It should be done soon!
In a wonderful and amazing turn of events, there is a new gallery in Guerneville, CA.....mine! My friend Suzy Kuhr, a phenomenal photographer who specializes in hand-developed, black & white photography, is sharing the space with me. We opened on July 4th, and will now be able to participate in all of the festive 1st Friday Art Walks! Our location is 16216 Main Street, Suite B (above the Lifvendahl Gallery). Although we each run our space individually, in town people know us as the "Kuhr-Norris Studio & Gallery."
I am very excited to be showing my paintings at Lifvendahl Gallery next month (opening reception is Friday, May 2nd, as part of Guerneville's 1st Friday Art Walk). All the paintings I will hang there have never been shown before. This painting is of a view from Duncan's Landing.
This is a barn I pass on my way home from school each day. One afternoon as I was driving home, I noticed that the colors of spring were particularly bright around this barn, so I stopped and took a photo.
I love this spot in Armstrong Woods Park. It is breathtaking. I went there to paint one morning over my spring break. It is one of the most challenging vistas I try to capture because there must be 95 different shades of green. I think I will keep trying to paint it for the rest of my life....
This was painted over my Spring Break. It's a barn in Dry Creek. The colors in the spring are truly amazing!
This was painted in the fall. I sat on the beach in Monte Rio. Painting has made me appreciate the colors of all the seasons more fully, as I pay attention more.
This is my painting area. It is tiny, and the lighting is not ideal since it is a basement space. However, I feel so fortunate to have a space dedicated to painting!
Over my Spring Break vacation, I painted most every day. My goal was to create lots of new paintings to show at Lifvendahl Gallery (Guerneville, CA) in May. One day I painted at the Regional Park on Eastside Road in Healdsburg. There is a lake there that always has great reflections. I'm finishing this painting in my studio.
The springtime means beautiful color everywhere, including along the Sonoma Coast. This was painted at Duncan's Landing on a spectacularly bright spring morning.
"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present."
---Sir Francis Bacon
I started this painting on Steelhead Beach in Forestville, then finished it in my studio. I can't get the photograph to represent well the red, which has much more burnt sienna tones rather than the bright red as it appears.
This painting is based on a small chapel in Guerneville which is now a private residence. The big tree behind the chapel is really there, and so is the red tree. The grass is not really there, but I liked it better than painting the street and cars which are really in front of the chapel. I am going to enter this painting in a juried show at The Russian River Art Gallery for the month of February. The theme of the show is: "Love is in the Air."
This is Junior, who belongs to my friends Angie & Nancy. He always has a droll expression on his face. This was painted from a photo; Angie is a knitter.
My friends, Larry & Erica, adopted Motown awhile ago. He isn't an easy dog to have because he has a lot of anxiety. He is, however, very handsome and extremely sweet!
I've been trying to do a small watercolor sketch on days when I don't have time or energy to work on larger paintings. This is a watercolor based on a photo my wife took of the moon rising over Alexander Valley. I am using some new paints that I love---Schminke Horadam Aquarells, made in Germany. My small Moleskin watercolor sketchbook, started around Thanksgiving, is almost full!
I was commissioned to paint my neighbor Bob's house. Bob has a big heart and has welcomed lots of cats into his home. The cat in the picture is Maggie; she was discovered as a kitten in a flower pot on Bob's deck. She LOVES Bob!
