8"x 10" acrylic on hardboard This is the second painting of the same hibiscus flower from my mother's house. I think I can safely say that I was able to give it a longer life with paint than my daughter was ever interested in giving it.
acrylic on hardboard 8" x 10" At the end of our last visit to my parents house my daughter acquired this hibiscus. My mother always feels as if she needs to walk us outside to our car as we say our goodbyes. I looked back to see what was taking so long this time. My daughter had apparently asked my mom for her flower. She was breaking off one of the plant's few blooms. Why? I thought to myself, this beautiful flower isn't even going to make it past the thirty minute car ride home. Thankfully it did. As it lay on the kitchen counter, quickly discarded I decided to put it in water and paint this gorgeous flower.
12"x 16" acrylic on hardboard Many of you that have followed my work for a while may remember this painting painted in a smaller 6x6 version. I liked it at the time when I was concentrated on producing artwork daily. This time around I was more concerned with getting all of it to feel right. I have been trying to paint larger and now realize that is something that also has to feel right. It took me so long to complete this painting. My daughter answered the phone and I heard her tell my sister that I was "still painting that picture." That was funny because it was exactly how I felt. I love the way it turned out, but it was a long journey to the end. I didn't see that coming considering I thought I had already solved all of its big problems. This time I managed to capture the depth of the little girl both literally and figuratively. She is not fighting with the crowd in the background for importance. ...
8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard The last time I visited my mother, she surprised me with a photo saying, "I found a picture you would probably love to paint." To my amazement she reappeared from a back bedroom and presented me with this image. Wow! My mother found the picture in a file with some other documents belonging to my grandfather. What a treat it was to paint theses fashionable women. SOLD
8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard This is a painting from an unused reference. I worked on a book several years ago about a little girl and the largest earth quake in the US. I had been cleaning up some files and came across the picture. It made a great painting. I am always amazed at how my work has developed over just a few years. In this painting I am particularly excited about how the butterflies and roses on the dress turned out. I would have never even tried painting them before. Now I not only painted it but the pink pattern glows off of the dress. SOLD
8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard I had a great painting day over the weekend. I was in the zone for most of Saturday. I painted almost all of this painting that day. The portrait alone would have had me pulling my hair out. The little girl has dark skin and because she's back lit, it was hard getting just the right balance of features and shadows on her face. I find painting nature difficult. I guess I am not bad at it because I have some great comments on the way that I handle certain landscapes, but it is not a subject I feel comfortable painting. When your painting nature you have to constantly edit because you can't paint every leaf or twig. So you are constantly asking yourself what is important. Then you paint in the important stuff like it took little or no effort at all. SOLD
8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard I love the result I got from cropping the portrait so close. Sometimes simple is more effective. I learned a lot from this painting. First, there is no such thing as too close. Second, blurring the edges of the hair is far more interesting than painting in individual strands. Third, softening up the jaw line creates a much more rounded face than using sharp edges.