Recent Work Through 2/27/09

Sunrise Poppies V
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Prairie Sky and Country Road III
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Here are two new paintings from the Sunrise Poppies and Prairie Sky series. My patrons really gravitate to these compositions, so I like to keep them happy by having new editions of these paintings available on my sales venues.

Today I'm going to be working on some new paintings to list on my sales venues, and I have some new commissions lined up that I need to get started. I'll post some of today's work later this afternoon, so stay tuned.

Quote of the day: "Artists have to show us what is not going well within the person and within the society, not try to cover it up." --Thich Nhat Hanh

Alaska Commission Update 2/26/09

Alaska in Early Fall
Original 60" x 60" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics

I think this painting is done (yay!). I sent a proof to my publisher earlier today, who said it was "superb", and has forwarded it to the client for approval. Here are some closeups:

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Quote of the day: "That stroke you are about to make on a painting is as much you as the next word you utter or the next breath you take." --Harley Brown

Alaska Commission Update - 2/25/09

Alaska in Early Fall
Original 60" x 60" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics

Here's the latest photo of my Alaska commission. I still have some work to do on it, but it's coming along nicely. My publisher is happy, so that makes me happy too. I hope to finish it up tomorrow, unless he asks for changes.

I need to get busy. I'm working on a painting to list tonight on my sales venues. I'll post an image of that later on.

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Fauve Landscape IV
Original 22" x 28" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

This is a new composition in the Fauve Landscape series. The Fauvists were noted for their use of bright colors. The most notable of the Fauvists was Henri Matisse.

Quote of the day: "To a true artist only that face is beautiful which, quite apart from its exterior, shines with the truth within the soul." --Mahatma Gandhi

Twisted Apple Tree with Pink Blossoms

Twisted Apple Tree with Pink Blossoms V
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

This painting sold today on one of my sales venues. I enjoy painting this composition because of the contrast the pink blossoms have with the blue sky. The tree trunk seems to get more twisted every time I paint it. The weather has been very spring-like the past few days, and I look forward to seeing real blossoms on the trees in a couple of months.

I made some great progress on the Alaska painting today. My publisher is anxious to see where I'm at with it, but I didn't have good enough light for a photo today. I will post an update here tomorrow.

Quote of the day: "Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen." --Leonardo da Vinci

Alaska Commission Update - 2/23/09

Alaska in Early Fall
Original 60" x 60" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics

I still have some work to do on the foreground, but my publisher is THRILLED with what I've done so far. I typically save the foreground until last in order to get the atmospheric perspective just right. I worked on this painting today and managed to crank out two others for listing on my sales venues. It feels good to paint--and I'm grateful for my ability to work for myself and be a working artist.

Tall Red Trees VI
Original 66" x 28" x 0.75" painting - Three 22" x 28" canvases
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Here is one of the other paintings I worked on today for listing on my sales venues. The Tall Red Trees composition is one that I've reproduced for many patrons over the past 5+ years. This abstract composition lends itself well to large canvases.

Quote of the day: "As thin as this sheet of paper is, it contains everything in the universe in it." --Thich Nhat Hanh

Red Trees

Red Trees VI
Original 72" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

I've had a couple of requests recently to reproduce this composition--including one from a woman in Toronto who wants this in a large format like this one. This painting is a variation of a composition I used when I started painting for a living almost six years ago.

It's been a wild ride getting started in my own business, and I think often about how far I've come in establishing myself as an artist who can make a living doing what I love to do. I have a lot of gratitude for that.

Quote of the day: "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." --John F. Kennedy

Recent Work

Prairie Sky at Sunset
Original 30" x 40" 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas


Red Poppies on Yellow VII
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas


Still Life with Daisy Bouquet and Red Vase V
Original 18" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's paintings are variations on two of my favorite compositions: the floral Red Poppies on Yellow series, and the abstract landscape Prairie Sky at Sunset. The third painting is one I painted a few days ago, and is a very popular still life in the Still Life with Daisy Bouquet and Red Vase series.

One of my patrons who owns a restaurant in Vail, CO purchased the previous iteration of the Daisy Bouquet painting along with a painting in the Flower Garden Against a Yellow Sky series, and a painting in the Fauve Farm series.

I worked on the Alaska commission more today, and should get that painting finished tomorrow. I'll be sure to share a photo of the finished painting with you.

Quote of the day: "At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough." --Toni Morrison

Alaska Commission

Alaska in Early Fall

Original 60" x 60" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics

Here's an in-progress photo of the Alaska commission I'm working on for my Atlanta-area publisher. I'm working from a patron's photos from his recent trip to Alaska (see below). Stay tuned to see the finished painting.

Here's an updated photo taken later this afternoon. I plan to get this done over the weekend, and will post another update photo when it's done.

Patron's Photo: Alaska Wilderness

Quote of the day: "Painting is so poetic, while sculpture is more logical and scientific and makes you worry about gravity." --Mark Rothko

New Commission

Autumn Sunrise Commission
Original 48" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Two 24" x 36" canvases
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

I work with an interior designer in Farmington, New Mexico who requested a commission of this painting as a diptych. My Autumn Sunrise II painting sold last week on one of the venues where I list my work, and she asked me to reproduce this composition for her condo in Durango, Colorado.

Tomorrow I'm going to get started on the large Alaska wilderness commission.

Quote of the day: "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." --Thomas Merton

Recent Works

Pear Tree V

Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Prairie Sky and Country Road II

Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

These are two paintings I've done in the past two days. My sales have really picked up this week, which makes me a happy camper. I'm going to be getting started on the large Alaska landscape commission that my Atlanta-area publisher has ordered for one of their clients.

The Pear Tree series is one of my favorite ones to paint. I recently sold a variation of this composition to a woman in Brooklyn who bought it as a wedding present. The Prairie Sky series is one I've done several different compositions for. I love painting the huge sky and clouds, and my patrons really love it.

Quote of the day: "Odd how the creative power at once brings the whole universe to order." --Virginia Woolf