Chinese Girl

"Chinese Girl", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
I'm still experimenting with portraits and I feel like I'm on the open road--not sure where I'm going!

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Liz - NFS

"Liz", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
I can't remember when I did this painting. I've done many paintings of Liz, but I think this one is from long ago.

NFS

Red Rose - SOLD

"Red Rose", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Canvas Board"
Do I dare post this? Any notion of perfection has gone. It is raw and not trying to be anything--abstract, realistic--neither. My neighbor told me that it is actually getting lighter now earlier in the evening, though the solstice is not until the 22nd. He also said that the morning would continue to get darker until early January.

Two Red Roses

"Two Red Roses", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Canvas Panel
This is another experiment in abstraction. Doing these I am continually reminded of the George Bernard Shaw quote at the top of my blog!

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Rose with Lemons - SOLD

"Rose with Lemons", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Canvas Panel
What can I say--so much imperfection--deliberately leaving it--

White Roses - SOLD

"White Roses", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
I am still exploring roses--I could probably do this for a long time.

Turquoise Dress - NFS

"Turquoise Dress", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
So much of painting is not particularly romantic, its more like an obsession--doing it every day whatever the mood of the moment. You notice that I do have certain themes, and painting my daughters is one of them.

Girl with Green Scarf - NFS

"Girl with Green Scarf", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
The best motivator for me when painting is to think of each painting as an experiment. I was recently reading Dan McCaw's book and found the exact same advice. There is a wonderful interview with Dan on the Artist Helping Artists Network.

Recital - NFS

"Recital", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
This is a portrait of my daughter from a photo. I looked at the photo and thought, why not--just keep it simple. It was an interesting exercise.

Red Dress - NFS

"Red Dress", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
Why do I like to paint my daughters so much? This is my younger daughter. Not all the portraits look exactly like my daughters because sometimes I'm working on something other than likeness, but they are emotional for me all the same.

Girl with Blue Dress - SOLD

"Girl with Blue Dress", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
This is another portrait where I left the background the tone of the canvas--an interesting experiment for me. I guess I could always pull it into Photoshop and try it out with a background, but that never accounts for the actual color and the brushwork.

Girl with Pigtails - NFS

"Girl with Pigtails", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
With this portrait I attempted to use both warms and cools in the flesh tones of the face, something I want to experiment with more.

Girl with Pink Jacket

"Girl with Pink Jacket", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
This was another experiment with using even less white and also using thick paint, a thoroughly enjoyable exercise and kind of out there for me.

When you read this, I will be in the Aspiring National Park on the South Island of New Zealand on a four-day backpacking trip--going in by small plane and out by jet boat, along with the hiking. The guide told us this afternoon that there are many rivers to cross and that in New Zealand you just wade through them all and get wet feet, wet boots and wet socks, a prospect I am still contemplating at the moment of writing this--it goes against all my wilderness experience expectations! So I will let you know about the New Zealand way when I get back!

Purchase this unframed painting.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Girl with Green Scarf - NFS

"Girl with Green Scarf", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
This was an experiment with using light colors, such as yellows, but little white--a type of experiment that I want to continue.

More from NZ--yesterday we hiked to the mouth of the Franz Joseph Glacier on the W Coast of NZ--very strange to see such a huge glacier spilling down the mountain to nearly sea level as we are hiking through fern trees to get out to the glacier basin. Today we will hike up to the Fox Glacier and I can see blue sky this morning!

Girl with Blue Necklace - NFS

"Girl with Blue Necklace", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
This painting was about pale flesh tones and deep color of everything else.

Yesterday in W Australia while we were watching the rescued penguin feeding on Penguin Island south of Perth, an enormous black crow opened the zipper of our food bag only to be thwarted by a foot long lizard sitting on the bag when we came out--watched with great amusement by a couple of guys from the Netherlands sitting on the picnic table nearby--

Girl in Red - NFS

"Girl in Red", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is portrait where I painted in a background, but didn't worry too much about whether or not it looked like anything. That is also something I have to allow myself to do sometimes.

Girl in Gray - NFS

"Girl in Gray", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
It is interesting to do an oil portrait sketch without worrying about the background. This one just didn't seem to need a background.  I remember once in a workshop the teacher telling me I should leave a background with just the tone of the canvas, but I couldn't stop myself from filling it in with paint.  It really was a mistake, but this type of mistake you can't really confirm until you make it.

Girl with Purple Scarf - NFS

"Girl in Purple Scarf", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
Painting portrait straight on is interesting and if I can say anything about this painting, I like the kind of flatness of it and the decorative feeling.

Liz - NFS

"Liz", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is a portrait of my daughter, Liz, from a Christmas event.

Reds and Greens

"Reds and Greens", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
Happy Holidays to all! I hope the visual world provided you with great bounty over the past year and will continue to do so in the next! It is always there for us--

Purchase this unframed painting.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.