Cezanne said....

"Don't be an art critic. Paint. There lies salvation."
---Paul Cezanne

Sketchbook Skyscapes

Work and chores have left no real time for painting lately. However, I have been noticing the beautiful sky as I drive home each day. I decided that even when I don't have time to work on a canvas at my easel, I still have time to do some quick watercolors of the dramatic Sonoma County skies in my sketchbook. 

Pablo Picasso said...

"If only we could pull out our brain & use only our eyes."

Lola paints!

My friend Lola, who lives in Madrid, came to spend the week of Thanksgiving with me. We hadn't seen each other in 20 years! I gave her a travel watercolor box, not knowing if she would be excited or would have no interest. She was excited. We spent two days that week in San Francisco, and while there decided to take a boat tour of the bay. Before the tour, we stopped at a bar near Pier 45 that had an amazing view of the bay. We had a beer, and Lola completed her first painting. 

Matisse said....

"I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me."
                                                               -- Henri Matisse

Sketchbook practice

This is a small, practice painting (in my sketchbook) for a larger painting I'm planning. It is still very rough, but that is okay---I just wanted to get an idea of composition & color. Color needs altering, as well as value differences. This image is from a photo taken by my good friend Lola, who lives in Madrid. She sometimes travels to Lanzarote (one of the Canary Islands). This year she went there again, and this was the view from her room. Lola is coming to visit me the week of Thanksgiving and I am beside myself with joy over this. We haven't seen each other in around 17 years, and she was one of my closest friends when I lived in Madrid. I want to paint this image for her as a Thanksgiving gift.

Joyce Carol Oates said....

"We inhabit ourselves without valuing ourselves, unable to see that here, now, this very moment is sacred; but once it's gone----its value is incontestable."
----Joyce Carol Oates

Finished

I lightened up some areas to increase contrast, darkened some of the yellow in front of the vines in the foreground, and played with the sky some more. I believe I've done all I can for this image, so on to the next!

David Bales & Ted Orland said...

"...if making art gives substance to your sense of self, the corresponding fear is that you're not up to the task---that you can't do it, or can't do it well, or can't do it again; or that you're not a real artist, or not a good artist, or have no talent, or have nothing to say. The line between an artist and his/her work is a fine one at best...making art can feel dangerous & revealing. Making art precipitates self-doubt, stirring deep waters that lay between what you know you should be, and what you fear you might be."
---from Art & Fear

Golden light

Started this painting yesterday & worked on it a bit more today. I don't think it's finished, but I'm not sure what else to do or to modify so I will take a break from it for awhile and look at it with fresh eyes later this week. I painted it from a photograph I took in the late afternoon at Williams Selyem Winery's new tasting room on Westside Road. The sky was kind of foreboding, but the late afternoon sun was shining on the top of one hill of golden vines. 

Sophocles said....

"Look and you will find---what is unsought will go undetected." --Sophocles

Finally, a day to paint

Yesterday, I set aside time to paint. I completed this canvas, a study of a work by Santa Rosa artist Brooks Anderson entitled "Terra Lumina no.3." His work can be seen on the cover of the latest Art Trails catalogue. I've been to his studio in Santa Rosa; it's a lovely space and I love his landscapes. My version of his composition has brighter colors than his. I was excited to do this study because I have taken photos around the Russian River Valley in the fall that have these same colors and I have been wanting to paint them. Yesterday, rather than spend time digging through my photos to find one, I decided to just use his composition as a practice. It was blissful to be painting again!

Georgia O'Keefe said.....

"To see takes time." ---Georgia O'Keefe


...yes, and to paint takes time too. I haven't had any time lately. I'm hoping to paint again soon. 

Picasso said....

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."
-Pablo Picasso

When there's no time to paint....

....sketch in a Moleskin calendar.

William James said....

"Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit."   ----William James

Buddha said....

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change."   ----Buddha

From Art and Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland

"Making art means working in the face of uncertainty; it means living with doubt & contradiction, doing something no one much cares whether you do, and for which there may be neither audience nor reward. Making the work you want to make means setting aside these doubts so that you may see clearly what you have done, and thereby see where to go next. Making the work you want to make means finding nourishment within the work itself."

Sweet Sheila

My friend Steve adopted Sheila, who is a total sweetheart. Her coat is like gray velvet, and I really struggled to try to capture that in paint. I think this is the best I can get it.

Lillian Hellman said....

"Old paint on a canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent. When that happens it is possible, in some pictures, to see the original lines: a tree will show through a woman's dress, a child makes way for a dog, a large boat is no longer on an open sea. That is called 'pentimento' because the painter 'repented,' changed his mind. Perhaps it would be as well to say that the old conception, replaced by a later choice, is a way of seeing and then seeing again."
                        -from the introduction to Lillian Hellman's Pentimento

Watercolor sketch

Two days ago, I experimented with painting in watercolor in my sketchbook after first putting down a layer of white gesso. I did this in order to smooth out the surface of the handmade paper a bit. I used my small travel watercolor kit while at the library to paint this picture of Armstrong Woods Park. I had been there with my wife the previous evening to watch the sunset. As we drove away, we saw the moon in the distance.

New medium

I went to the art supply store (FLAX) in San Francisco the other day and bought myself this watercolor sketchbook with beautiful handmade paper. I also bought some watercolor pencils. I like the idea of them for having painting materials while traveling. The concept seems simple enough---draw with them, then add water and presto! What looked like drawing with colored pencil now turns into watercolor! I'm finding, however, that they need to be used in layers, just like watercolors. Of course they don't work in quite the same way as regular watercolors, so I'm struggling with them at the moment. Much more practice ahead of me!

Dinner!

Tonight's dinner will include freshly harvested turnips from Foggy River Farm in Healdsburg. They are so beautiful that I decided to paint them before they are gone!

Rizzo

Even though it's gorgeous outside, I'm stuck at home waiting for the plumber. Therefore, I decided to paint my friend Dar's dog, Rizzo. Not sure if it's done or not; have to look at it for a while....

Fern Kagan said....

"The hardest thing about art is letting it be easy."

Finally....a cow painting!

I've been wanting to paint some cows for awhile but just haven't gotten around to it. These sweeties are Miss Betsey Bigelow & Mr. Asa Bigelow. They live on my friend Paul's farm (www.beltanefarm.com) in Connecticut. I'm going to visit them in July!

Finished!

I did end up making several small changes. Can you spot them? 

Vincent Van Gogh said....

"How difficult it is to be simple."

Today's work in progress

Yesterday on the coast, I took a photo of a marshy area on the way to Doran Beach. Today I decided to do a painting based on that photo. I just started it a few hours ago. I don't think I'll get to finish it today, but will post the finished version when it's done. I am trying to avoid getting too fussy with it, but the sky and water obviously have more layers to go.

D.H. Lawrence said....

"One's action ought to come out of an achieved stillness; not to be mere rushing on."

My muse

Also known as "Wilson," "Mr. Wilson," "Willie Boy," "Shredder," or "Spawn of Satan," depending on whom you ask, he is a 3-legged Chihuahua Terrier mix. He is not an easy dog, but he is definitely memorable. In this photo, I was painting on Blind Beach, and Mr. Wilson was resting under his umbrella. He's old now, and the direct sun is too much for him.

Thomas Berger said....

"What is art but a way of seeing?"

Stein Collection

Went to SF this past weekend to see the art collection of Gertrude Stein & her two brothers, Leo & Michael, and Michael's wife, Sarah. Impressive, what a cutting-edge family they were. The art was amazing. I love the distinctive, Spanish eyes of Picasso's figures, though I was most drawn to the work of Cezanne overall. I've always liked his color palette. To see the paintings in person is so inspiring.

Working in my studio

Yesterday, I painted on the coast. It was completely overcast until, just as I was leaving, the fog started to break up. I couldn't finish the painting on location because I had to get home to get ready to go to a concert. Today, I worked some more on the painting in my little studio.

R.D. Lang said....

"The range of what we think & do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts & deeds."

Finally...painting outside!

With my trusty paintbrush stand, a relatively small number of acrylic tubes of paint, a bit of glazing medium, my travel watercolors (and travel watercolor pad), I'm packing up the dog and heading to the coast today! What isn't pictured is the small canvas boards I'll carry for acrylic paintings. They are stored in a new 9" x 12" canvas carrier I got on sale at Riley Street art supply. I've been waiting for a non-rainy day to get out and paint!

Finished

The only part I might work on a tad bit more in this study is the blue of the sky behind the trees to the left. Otherwise, I'm moving on!

Leonardo Da Vinci said....

"The average human looks without seeing,
listens without hearing,
touches without feeling,
eats without tasting,
moves without physical awareness,
inhales without awareness of odor or fragrance,
and talks without thinking."

Favorite new studio find

Went to many fabulous local art studios in Guerneville, Graton, and Santa Rosa for the Art at the Source open studios event this past weekend. Met many very gracious, very talented, very interesting artists. Favorite find: The Barracks Artists in Santa Rosa, a group of 12 artists with studios in a big, old military barracks that has been converted into artists' studios. So much fun to walk from one studio to the next, seeing such a variety of creative work in one building. They are located at: 3840 Finley Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA.

William Dobell said....

"A sincere artist is not one who makes a faithful attempt to put on to canvas what is in front of him, but one who tries to create something which is, in itself, a living thing."

On the easel today....

Just started this one yesterday, so it has a way to go. It's a study of part of a painting by Angel Fabela. Once again, the photo makes the colors look washed out. I've been taking the photos with my iPhone; I think it's time to start using my "real" camera to get better photos. Today, I'm going to visit local artists' studios open for Sonoma County's Art Trails. Love how inspirational it is!

First painting of my summer vacation!

Painted from a photo taken by a friend on a trip to Oregon. It has been raining every day since my summer vacation began, so I've been painting indoors. Hoping to be able to get outside soon!

Georgia O'Keefe said.....

"When I teach, my main point is not to teach them to paint pictures but to show them a way of seeing....there is art in the line of a jacket and in the shape of the collar as well as in the way one addresses a letter, combs one's hair or puts a window in a house."

Andre Gide said....

"Let the important thing be how you look at things and not what you are looking at."

Onions from Middleton Farm

We bought these onions at the Healdsburg Farmer's Market last year. Nancy, who owns and operates Middleton Farm, grows some of the most beautiful produce around. I plan to paint a lot of it this summer!

to see this clearly

....Here is a road sign, a notebook, photographs of those I have loved.
    Here is a slice of bright blue sky, a hummingbird
    thrashing her wings around an apricot tree.
    To see this clearly
    is enough.
             
         -From "to see this clearly" by Maya Stein

From my sketchbook

Island off the coast of Sicily at sunset. Painted 2 years ago, from a photo in a travel magazine. This is my first day of summer vacation---a glorious day! Should have more recent paintings to post soon, as I'm planning many painting excursions this summer.

Saul Bellow said....

"I think that art has something to do with an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction."

From my sketchbook

Tomorrow is the last day of school! I hope to paint a lot this summer. Apart from painting in acrylic on canvas, I want to get back in the habit of doing frequent, quick, watercolor "sketches." 

Oliver Wendell Holmes said....

"Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside us."

Ananda Coomaraswamy said....

"The man incapable of contemplation cannot be an artist, but only a skillful workman."

Still working on this one....

Adjusting colors. It's not done yet....

Spanish castle

When I took the watercolor class at the junior college, I brought in a photo from a calendar I had of images of Spain. I was trying to practice painting "wet-on-wet," where a brush laden with paint is brushed over an already wet paint surface. It was a lot of fun to just see what the paint would do. It is WATERcolor, after all!

Joseph Campbell said....

"One looks, looks long, and the world comes in."

Work in progress....

My favorite beach to walk, and such a happy thing since it is only a 20-minute drive from my house! Once school is out in two weeks, I hope to come here often to paint...

Philip Kennicott said....

"If you know your limits, and dwell on the fact, the canvas will remain blank."

Sonoma County, California

Painted two years ago, when I had just started the watercolor class I took at the local junior college. From a photo I took somewhere in Sonoma County (I don't remember where). Am planning to paint another version of it, in acrylic on canvas. I'd like to see if I can create a better feeling of depth.

Arthur Koestler said...

"Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher & the pupil are located in the same individual."

More fruit....

Painted for the watercolor class I took last fall.

Joseph Chilton Pearce said....

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong."

Spanish village

This was painted as part of an exercise to experiment with layering different colored washes, one over the other, letting each wash completely dry before adding another.

Osho said.....

When I say be creative,

I don't mean

you should all go 

and become great painters

and great poets.

I simply mean

let your life

be a painting,

let your life

be a poem.

-Osho 

Fava beans

Painted last summer, of fava beans from Middleton Farm bought at the Sebastopol Farmer's Market.

Watercolor pears

The photo of this painting is not great; it's hard to tell the background is white! Pears are my very favorite fruit to paint because I like their lumpiness and all the color variation.

Bright limes

Watercolor value study

This is a value study from the watercolor class I took at our local junior college. I need to do more of these in order to learn to see clearly the value differences in a composition. I get impatient doing the top portion, but when I finish I always like seeing the two versions next to each other. 

Watercolor apple

I took a watercolor class in the fall of 2010. It was very helpful for many reasons, one of which is that it got me in the habit of painting regularly. My favorite still life subject is fruit because of the color variations and the irregular shapes.

Robert Rauschenberg said....

"You begin with the possibilities of the material and then you see what they can do; so the artist is almost a by-stander while he's working."

Massachusetts Seascape

This one's for my sister-in-law Stacy, for her birthday. She grew up in Massachusetts and went to Plum Island (seen in the painting) with her family on many weekends. Today, she lives in Greenwich, England. She just purchased a flat in Ramsgate, a coastal town. I thought she might like a seascape for her new vacation home.

Albert Camus said....

"I know with certainty that a man's work is nothing but a long journey to recover, through the detours of art, the two or three simple and great images which first gained access to his heart."  

Current work in progress....

From a photo I took standing at Crane's Beach, MA, looking out at Plum Island.

Sonoma County, California

Painted from a photo; once again, I was drawn to the dramatic sky.

Practice with stormy skies

I might add a light glaze of gray over this sky to make the variations blend a bit more. Haven't decided yet because the photo that inspired this painting showed a vary dramatic sky with distinct differences between the grays & whites....

Painting on the beach

Painting with a small, travel watercolor kit is great because it is impossible to get too fussy about anything. 

Carl Jung said.....

"Your vision becomes clear only when you can look into your own heart."

River painting

I am not responsible for this composition; I looked at a book of paintings of California landscapes and used one part of a painting as inspiration for this painting. I think I need to do this sort of exercise more often in order to learn about successful color and compositon.

Pear and tangerines

The photo of this painting somehow doesn't get the colors right; I think they are deeper in real life. Originally, this painting just featured one green pear on the plate. The composition didn't work, so I repainted it, changing the color of the pear and adding the two tangerines.