Wendy Brayton

2012-01-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

This was a painting I did during the semester trying to work on incorporating more figures into my scenes. This piece went through several transitions and finally found its balance when I added the green figure in last which allowed the viewer's gaze to move beyond the cyclist.

2012-01-08T13:45:00.001-08:00

This is a commission I just completed for one of my collectors. This is of his family's Ford tractor purchased new back in the forties. It sits on his family's ranch out in Northern Colorado. I found myself painting much softer after a semester of figure painting. Skin has so many more subtle transitions that it made me see so much more when painting other subjects.

2012-01-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

My blogs have dwindled since my enrollment at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Between teaching art three days a week, taking two classes in the city and trying to keep up with my homework on the weekends, I have lost almost all contact with the outside world. Now I am between semesters and have a moment to reacquaint myself with old friends and my blog.

Last semester I took figure painting and have never worked so hard in a class. It is funny remembering how when I first started painting and developed "painter's vision". By "painter's vision" I mean I suddenly saw the world as a painting. Colors of fields and old twisted fence posts took on a whole new interpretation. This vision was limited to my subject matter which consisted of landscapes, old tractors and cityscapes. Now with figure painting, I get a whole new vision of people. Their faces now morph into interesting shadow patterns, color notes and cast and form shadows. Above is a painting I did for my final last semester.

2011-09-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

This painting I started during the "The Great Petaluma Paint Out" and finished on Monday for a homework assignment. The Petaluma Mill has always been one of my favorite painting subjects.

2011-09-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

This painting was done of Petaluma two weeks ago of my favorite French Bistro.

2011-09-25T18:15:00.001-07:00

This fall I started my third year of grad school. I made the mistake of taking two summer classes and have to admit I got a little burned out. After submitting my midpoint review last semester, I also discovered I wanted to change my concept I submitted from rural to urban. This semester I am taking three classes including cityscape with Dean Larson, figure in painting with Randy Sexton and figure painting with Zhoa Ming Wu. The painting above is a local Penngrove scene done for my cityscape class. I started yesterday and after about an hour of sunshine they day clouded over.

2011-03-27T17:25:00.001-07:00

I finished this in time for my class tomorrow. I really had fun painting this way. Much more sculptural.

2011-03-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

Even the cows were on strike today. This morning driving to the studio it rained the umpteenth time. The cows had given up and were sitting in huddled groups in the wet fields. Though the day started wet and cold, my studio time flew by. I am working on an assignment due Monday for grad school and picked a cityscape. In this painting, I am experimenting with a palette knife and am working super thick. The results are exciting but defiantly a longer process. This is the first stage from last week. Tomorrow I will post the finished piece.

2011-03-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

I just finished adding the last touches to this tractor painting after receiving some critiquing from my professors.

2011-01-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

I was starting to wonder if I was still a "plein air" painter. Between the uncooperative weather and my homework from the academy, I have not painted outside in months. Then there is the winter intersession between semesters and somehow my painting slowed to a halt. This is a scary place to be in since when I stop, I start fearing that everything I know will slip away and disappear.

Today the sun rose and the sky was clear. There were no more excuses so I set off to my favorite stomping grounds, Bill's collection of tractors. I have to admit it was a rocky start. My studio is about a twelve minute drive from my home. I went there, gathered my supplies and headed off forgetting several tubes of important colors.

When setting up, I almost used the missing colors as an excuse to escape back to my studio but told myself to hang in there. I definitely felt awkward in the beginning. One rule about painting "plein air" is that the canvas and palette need to be in shade so the colors remain rich when mixing. Before painting at the academy, I would turn my easel any which way to claim that shade, sometimes painting by looking at subjects over my shoulder. Now, with three semesters of painting looking straight on, I could no longer paint the old way. Time to buy an umbrella.

Once I accepted I had to paint in light and I was missing red, the rest of the day was great. I was reminded that "yes" I am a plein air painter! When I am out I get to see and experience so many amazing moments. Today it was the thousands of singing Starlings that were adorning the sparse winter branches. They would sing so loud and then there would be silence. I finally stopped to watch them and discovered the silent periods were them flying into the blue sky in a huge synchronized black clouds, then swooping over the fields to return to the bare trees to sing again.

2011-01-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

Another portrait from this last semester of one of my teachers.

2011-01-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an amazing day! After two weeks of winter break, I finally managed to get myself back into the studio. This painting was the last homework assignment I did for my portrait class. We had a class critique and I was given several suggestions for improvement. Yesterday I managed to make those changes and feel like the painting is almost complete. Sometimes it is so hard to make myself drive out to the studio.But when I drive out there I am transformed. The spring is my favorite time of year with the emerald fields. My drive out there includes rolling hills full of grazing Holsteins and sheep. Once I get to the studio it is almost impossible to leave. I kept telling myself "only ten more minutes" but the hours slide by. When I finally walked out the door, I was met by the most beautiful sunset. My studio sits on a hill overlooking a valley towards the Sonoma Mountains. There were low rain clouds sitting on the hillsides glowing pink from the rays of the setting sun. The air was cold and clean.

2010-12-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

It's winter break and I have so much time on my hands I do not know what to do with myself! I just completed my third semester of grad school along with teaching and Artrails. I am so used to the crazy nonstop every second filled schedule that when vacation comes, I am at a loss. Grad School continues to be the most amazing experience. I did not have any expectations about it and have learned more in the last year then all my art years combined. This growth is both painful and exciting as I try to undo some of my old habits and replace them with better skills. This last semester I was introduced to portrait painting. A skill that I never knew I would posses and enjoyed learning.

I also painted one of my most favorite landscape/cow paintings this semester. It was done in a much more subtle color scheme then I usually paint and I tried to focus on atmosphere.

2010-08-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I went to the de Young Museum with my mother to see the Birth of Impressionism Exhibit. This was my third time to see these works of art. My first experience spans back to when I was seventeen and had traveled to France to stay with cousins.

At that time, my own passion for art was just emerging and I had not been introduced to any art history. It was a cold winter day when I entered through the doors of Musee d'Orsay and fell instantly and passionately in love with impressionism. I remember standing in awe in front of a Degas pastel of dancers. It glowed and was magical.

Five years ago, I traveled back and found it fascinating that after so many years of being an artist, how I viewed art differently. I no longer reacted just with an emotion but found myself searching the works for understanding of how the artists created that emotion. I now looked at composition, colors, hues and balance.

Last year I began Grad School and wondered how all this new information I was learning was going to change my perspective once again.

That first room with Bouguereau's "Birth of Venus" was breathtaking. That room alone brought back that same sense of wonder and awe that I first felt at seventeen. I found that I was more fascinated by the pre-impressionism work where draftsmanship and subtle paint application was impeccable.

2010-07-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am heading off to a fundraiser for Sonoma County Farm Bureau called "Love of the Land". It is located at Richard's Grove and Saralee Vineyards. There will be twenty five artists, live music and great food. So I am bringing my tractor paintings which seem like a perfect fit for such an event.

2010-07-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

It is official. The "Great Petaluma Paint Out" is returning. After a few dozen phone calls, emails... I have a date for the event, September 11, 2010.

In 2008, I launched the first one and ended up with 42 artists signing up to participate. It turned out to be a great event where all the artists gathered in the Petaluma Theater District Courtyard to display their masterpieces. There was judging by both artists and the public along with live music by Dgiin (a French Gypsy Funk Band) and awards.

This year we are combining forces with Art in the Park and the Artwalk to create a larger fun art event.

2010-06-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

It is Friday and I am still trying to catch my breath as I hurdle through the end of May into June. I have lots of new paintings thanks to my last semester at grad school where I painted nonstop. Last weekend was the first of two weekends of Art at the Source. I am happy to report a positive shift in sales.

2010-05-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday and I am celebrating the completion of my first year of grad school by still wearing my pajamas, drinking Earl Grey tea and allowing myself the luxury of a lazy day off.What a roller coaster last week was! I spent over 40 hours in my studio not counting teaching and attending school in SF twice. How did I do it? Very little sleep. It was a very good year. I am so glad I am attending the Academy. Much of my work was self taught since I graduated with a degree in sculpture then turned to painting. I felt that I had reached a level where it was important to build a stronger foundation in my understanding of painting and drawing methods. It is very exciting to be learning so much more. I do have to say I am a little scared. It is a strange place to be in where my concepts of art is changing and I do not know how my own style will be affected.

2010-05-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

I spent a glorious day painting at the Petaluma River in front of the Greek restaurant Papa Taverna . I finished up last weekend in my studio.

2010-05-05T21:35:00.001-07:00

This church sits on the corner of a street near my son's school. I am in love with the shadow pattern of the palm trees on the church in the early morning light. For the last year I would exclaim "how beautiful it was!" to the annoyance of my teenage son. Finally I took a photo and painted it.

2010-05-05T21:31:00.001-07:00

2010-03-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

I started this painting outside my school in SF and worked for a couple of hours at a time over a three day period. There are so many tourists that I ended up with at least fifty photos taken of me while painting.

2010-03-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

2010-03-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

2010-02-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

My cityscape class has officially started. I arrive in the city before seven and get to watch the sunrise and early cable cars begin their routes. I have not rode one since I was a kid and keep thinking I should catch one before my class.

2010-02-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

I have started my second semester of grad school. The above painting was done for my online landscape painting class. The assignment was to create atmosphere so I had to pale down and soften the background behind the cow. I realize that I tend to keep my backgrounds just as strong as the foreground which results in less depth. I found this to be a very mushy way to paint.

2009-12-29T09:30:00.000-08:00

I can not believe there are only two more days until 2010. 2009 has been an a very full and amazing year. Some of the highlights for me this year included: finally getting a Democratic President after two way too long terms of Bush, starting grad school at the San Francisco Academy of Art, my son turning sixteen (how did that happen?), participating in the San Luis Obispo Plein Air competition, and teaching. I am looking forward to a wonderful 2010. These were my favorite three works from this last semester.

2009-10-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

It's 7:30 on Monday morning and I am already in San Francisco at the Academy of Art. I car pool in and arrive almost two hours before my class. Grad school has been very challenging.

After painting on my own and selling work for the past five years, I felt pretty confident in my abilities. Now that I am in grad school, I find that I have so much more to learn. I spent about ten hours yesterday doing homework. My house is a mess and the cupboard is bare because I have not scheduled time to go grocery shopping.

I am hoping that now with Artrails and the paint out being over, I can find a routine with my schedule so I will not feel like I am treading water but actually swimming.

Why grad school? I have been asked this by several of my painting buddies. Because I want to improve. I would like to earn my masters and have other teaching opportunities. A few years down the road I could be teaching overseas fulfilling my dream of both teaching and traveling.

2009-10-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday. The last day of the "Paint Out". Today I got to sleep in and relax. We have until 4:00 before we can pick up our artwork and head home. I have about a five hour drive but can not wait to sleep in my own bed. This week has been very inspiring and I feel rejuvenated.

2009-10-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

This week was an amazing one! I had a great time painting all the beautiful scenes around San Luis Obispo. I was hoping to do daily post of my progress but did not have Internet at my host home and had to make special trips to a coffee shop in a nearby town. I am very happy with the week and very tired. I did receive a great compliment from another fellow artist. He is one of my favorites and both he and his wife came over to tell me how much they admired one of my paintings. This artist is an amazing artist and I was honored to be given a compliment from him. I am posting the two paintings I sold on Friday.

2009-10-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I found a fellow artist. I had searched out good painting locations on day one and found a pier known as Old Port Inn. A huge pier with several buildings and lots of seagulls. I had decided to return early in the morning, for better light. At these events, you spend a lot of time alone waking at sunrise and painting till dark. I arrived to find another artist had beat me. There was also a television news van. I did not know that there had been a tsunami warning the night before. The wave turned out to be one foot tall. I had a great morning painting.

2009-10-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Its is day four of the San Luis Paint Out. I just finished the sixth required painting this morning. Beautiful day! The fog left yesterday and there has been nothing but blue skies. Being in a plein air competition, you get to spend a lot of time by yourself. You also see the landscape not as a landscape but as a composition full of light, shadow, warm and cool tones. The other day, my art student was laughing at me. I had been connecting her mood with her artwork. It is easy to get so immersed in the artwork that the world beyond ceases to exist.

San Luis Obispo

2009-09-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

Day One-

I drove straight to San Luis on Sunday. One tank of gas later, I arrived at the art center to get my canvasses stamped. Then it was time to pull out the map once again and find my host family. It turns out they live high on a hill in a beautiful castle. Well maybe not a castle, but a beautiful home. I was exhausted upon arrival. I had a two page list to help me pack for this event. There is no way I could remember all the parts that include, tools, painting gear, framing gear, food, clothes, maps, camera, computer, homework, etc.

Monday morning I awoke early to a very foggy day. I decided to go to a spot I was familiar with from a previous trip. I spent about four hours painting at the first location. Then I spent the rest of the day driving around scoping out new spots. There is not Internet access at my host home so I found a coffee shop for this entry. It is Tuesday and guess what? Its foggy again. So I am off to paint another lavender and grey painting. Send some sunshine my way.

2009-09-13T18:24:00.001-07:00

I have returned to grad school. This is my second week so the time I normally spend painting landscapes is now full of assignments. Though I am currently painting tedious exercises, I am happy. I know in a short time I will be doing much more complicated pieces and that the school is going to push my limits. I am taking two online classes and one in the city. Tomorrow will be my first class in SF and I will be catching the 5:30 bus to get there. Below is my assignment # 2 which required us to do a value study only using black and white. Of coarse a little color did sneak in. Above is an ocean studio I did last week.

2009-09-13T18:13:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I taught a workshop in my Petaluma studio to a wonderful group of artists. During the week I teach art at a private school to 3rd through 8th grade students. On Fridays I teach painting lessons to adults in my studio. One of my students told her friends in Walnut Creek about my class and a group arranged to come last Friday. It was lots of fun. I was nervous about teaching a larger group of adults but everything went so well that we are planning another workshop next month.

2009-08-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

Summer has whizzed by. I spent today teaching in my ranch studio and finishing up number eight of my small studies for the Tiburon Art Festival. My original goal was to paint twelve new ones but I think I will have to stop at ten to give a few days to be completely dry. I am going back to grad school in two weeks and am very excited/nervous. I am looking forward to being challenged and I am hoping to add portraiture to my abilities.

2009-08-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

Two weeks until the Tiburon Art Festival. I am only allowing myself to paint small 8" x 10" paintings this week in hopes to increase sales with more affordable work. The above picture is of pelicans on a boat in Quimixto. Since no televisions, phones, or computers were available in Quimixto, I found my favorite past time to be watching the pelicans. They are quite entertaining with their bulky awkward bodies. It was amazing they could fly! In the afternoons they would fish by gliding low over the water then dive bombing making large splashes as they entered. Maybe they were stunning the fish instead of being sneaky.

2009-07-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

I apologize for being remiss about posting this summer. I am back. I began my summer with having Art at the Source open studios followed by two weeks in Mexico with my mother and son. We stayed in a small fishing village North of Puerto Vallarta on the edge of the jungle. Very beautiful and inspirational! I returned to take off for another week to Alameda where I was in a plein air painting competition. It was a great week and I was able to paint twelve plus hours a day with no interruptions. The prior month between working shows and travel I had began to feel I was not an artist. I always feel that way when two many days pass without painting. The above painting was done in Alameda during the paint out.

2009-05-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

One week away from Art at the Source! The above tractor painting is one of two paintings I started last week. I was hoping to go out to the tractor place today to finish them. The weather did not cooperate, remaining cold and foggy all day so I had to work from a photos in my studio.

Lots happened last week. Saturday I found out I was accepted to the San Luis Obispo Paint Out, Tuesday I was accepted into Tiburon's Art Festival and Wednesday was my birthday. During all this I am also finishing up my school year where I teach 3rd through 8th grade art at a private school.

My 3rd and 4th grade students are finishing up an "Art Chair" for the Marin fair. The chair is a "Godzilla" theme since we have two very educated "Godzilla" experts in my third grade class. Their passion for Godzilla is contagious. This is the third year I have done an art chair with my students. We start with a chair, add form using chicken wire, paper mache it and each student creates a small piece to add. Thursday was the last day to paper mache and I am so relieved. Now all we have left is painting and adding the buildings underneath.

2009-05-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Only two weeks left until Art at the Source at my Sebastopol Studio! Time is flying! Yesterday I blocked in the above painting. It is a view leading up to my country studio. The building in the background with the triangle light pattern is my studio. This painting was done from a winter photo. Now the creek has dried up and the grass has turned brown. I find I am so much more inspired to paint in the winter and early spring.

Today was a teaching day. Afterwards I delivered a painting to Tiburon to be judged for an art festival in August. I am also waiting to find out if I got into San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival and will find out early next week.

2009-05-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

A 60 minute tractor study.

2009-05-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

I spent another glorious day at the studio. It started with teaching in the morning, working on a quick study, finishing the above painting and teaching in the afternoon. My new postcards arrived today. They are an early birthday gift from my husband. This time, I ordered from a new company. Usually I use Modern Postcard and this time I used Overnight Prints which saved about forty dollars. I got a matte finish and would recommend using glossy in the future. Otherwise I am very happy with the new cards.

2009-05-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

Todays 30 minute quick study of a picture from Los Osos.

New Class Times, Travel and More

2009-05-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday teaching in my Pepper Road studio. One of my wonderful students bought me a box of natural light florescent tubes. He installed them and what a difference! I have been avoiding turning on the lights in the studio since they would cast a yellow glow. The new lights are awesome!

I am now teaching on Fridays instead of Saturdays. Saturdays seemed to have too many conflicting events. Now, I offer a morning class from 9:30-12:00.

This summer is going to be a busy one with Art at the Source just around the corner and travel. Come check out the show. It runs June 6th-7th and 13th-14th from 10:00 to 5:00. It is at my Sebastopol studio at 7245 Wilton Ave. I have been busy painting and there will be lots of new work to see.

After Art at the Source, I will be traveling to Mexico for two weeks with my son and my mother. I am looking forward to painting the tropics and taking lots of pictures. My husband and I are working on a trip to Hawaii at the end of summer. Both of us have never been and it will be our first real vacation with just the two of us.

2009-05-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

I did this study today taking some extra time since it is a donation for Sebastopol's Art Center's annual fundraiser. This years theme is motorcycles and the center is going to have custom built ones being displayed.

2009-05-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

This was a very fast quick study of my husband practicing and our dog.

2009-05-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

I had this lofty goal of painting everyday a quick study in less than 60 minutes. I have discovered that on the days I teach in Sonoma it's too much to get one in. I did manage to start this one last Monday and realized that this subject matter was too complicated to finish in one sitting. Too many small lines.

May Study #3

2009-05-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Here was my quick study for day three. Another view of the happy red truck from San Luis Obispo. I was trying to say under 60 minutes but went to 90.

2009-05-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

It's Day #2 of a painting a day under 60 minutes. This is from a photo I took last year in Santa Cruz.

2009-05-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Today, I silently gave thanks to my grandparents. Both sets of my grandparents chose to settle and raise families in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, Sonoma County. It rained all day and I was quite content to be working in my studio on top of the hill. I had empathy for the soggy sheep huddled outside at the fence.

For the month of May, I decided to commit myself to a daily small painting before working on one of my larger works. I am allowing myself 60 minutes for the warm up. The painting above is a figure study over an abstract background. Below is my red truck warm up from a photo I took down in San Luis Obispo.

I had two good art happenings this week. One was I was chosen to be Blick's Facebook Artist of the month and the other was I was selected to participate in Alameda's Plein Air Competition in July. These daily warm ups will get me in shape for the "quick draw". At the end of a competition, all the artists gather in one area and only have a couple of hours to complete a piece of work to be auctioned.

2009-04-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

Though this is a painting I did last spring, I wanted to post it because on Friday it was selected to be in the Napa Art Museum's Plein Air Show. It will be displayed there for two months and also will be a page in the museum's 2010 calender. I had a wonderful day painting on Friday with my painting partner Sterling. We spent the day in one of my favorite spots, the tractor yard. This property is owned by a man named Bill who collects hundreds of tractors. I am in love with the old rusted 1950 models of Farmalls and Olivers. I love their rusted colors, flat tires,curves and boot/tin can capped exhaust pipes.
For those people who have tried to post a comment, I have now opened up the comment link to make it more accessible. I appreciate all your feedback.

Painting Classes

2009-04-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

In February, I began offering small group painting classes. I have to admit, I was nervous about teaching adults. I have been teaching children for over ten years and felt I had the kid lingo down. It has surprised me how much I enjoy teaching adults painting. My Petaluma studio is in a great location. It sits on a hill on my late grandparents ranch overlooking great views and the Sonoma Mountains. I have sentimental feeling towards my ranch studio. My grandparents built the ranch back in the fifties and the studio which is part basement was worked on by both my uncle and father when they were young. When I was four, my parents bought and built a log cabin kit on another hill adjacent to my studio. I have memories of sleeping in the cabin as my parents built it. The roof was not on and we would lay in our sleeping bags staring up at the stars. The above painting was painted plein air from my studio in December.

2009-04-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

Today I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. My country studio sits on a hill and the wind was like a tornado. From the windows I could see birds whizzing through the air and an inflated plastic green bag dancing across the sky. I am a little late this week on my blog. Last week was insanely busy with no time to paint and yesterday I ended up at the doctors with a case of bronchitis. Today I was able to finish this painting of another view from my studio. I also started a small painting of jazz musicians over an abstract. If the wind dies down this week, I planning to spend the rest of my Easter vacation painting outside.

2009-04-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished the Santa Cruz painting and I am happy how it turned out. I really enjoyed painting the small abstract window reflections and working in the abstract under painting into the road. Last week I received an email asking if I would like to show at a Wine Tasting Room in Healdsburg called Rosenblum Cellars. It turned out to be a great place and tomorrow I am setting up a show. I am so inspired by the Santa Cruz painting that it makes me want to take a break from landscapes and focus on urban. Too much to paint and so little time.

2009-03-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

This week I saw a great movie called "Who does she think she is?". It was a documentary about five women artists juggling family and their passion for creating art. The statistics on the percentage of women artists being recognized by art institutions was sobering. I spent the afternoon in my studio working on my urban scape of Santa Cruz. Here it is in progress.

2009-03-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

Another week has flown by. This week I did not get to paint nearly enough between errands, work and meetings. I did manage to start two new paintings; another view from my studio and a urban scape from a picture I took in Santa Cruz last year. I am excited about this summer. I am getting a chance to travel to Mexico. Its been over five years since my last visit. My mother lived there for nine years so I used to visit regularly. I am looking forward to exploring the area with artist eyes, taking lots of pictures and hopefully painting.
The painting I posted was one I just brought back from Stanford.

2009-03-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday driving to Palo Alto to pick up my Standford show. My mother kept me company and we had a great day. We went to Chinatown afterwards. It seems so magical to turn a corner and suddenly find myself immersed in another culture. It made me want to spend a couple of weeks painting on location there. We went out to lunch at Samwo's and then later delivered a Tractor Painting purchased by a very nice woman in San Francisco. Now that I have my paintings back, I was able to take photos of some of the new ones. This is Winter Series #2 .

2009-03-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

I remembered my camera today when I drove out to my studio. It's Thursday and I managed to waste most of the morning. Thursdays follow very busy Wednesdays where I teach seven art classes which always seems to use up more then one days worth of energy.
I love the end of winter. The hills and mustard flowers are breathtaking. I found myself pulling off to the side of the road to take multiple pictures of complacent cows in their emerald fields. None of my pictures did any of this justice. I realized after peering into my small camera screen that the experience was much more then visual. Its the experience of being surrounded by an orchestra of singing birds along with the smell of fresh growing grass after a winter shower and the feel of the cool winter breeze whispering " spring is almost upon us". If only I could paint that.

Inspiring Clouds

2009-03-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

I just finished this painting which is view of Pepper Road around the corner from my studio. I like the drama of the shadows on the mustard fields and the winter sky.

New Painting from Sonoma County Winter Series

2009-03-06T17:00:00.000-08:00

The above picture is #5 of "Sonoma County Winter Series" which I just completed. I have been loving the emerald fields and crazy cloud formations.

Lots has happened since I last wrote.

2009-03-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

Mustard View from my Petaluma Studio

I hung my show at Stanford, started taking some painting classes from another artist and also started teaching painting classes in my studio. The show at Stanford went well. It was a great motivation to paint. I completed over six large new works for the show. Four of which are a series of Sonoma County barns titled "Sonoma County Winter Series". I used a new technique I have been learning about where you paint an abstract then paint over it trying to encompass elements of it. I like the depth I have been able to get from it.
Mid February I began to teach in my Studio. Even though I have been teaching art to children for years, I was nervous about teaching adults. It turns out to be very rewarding and I am enjoying every minute of it. I offer two sessions on Saturdays; a morning class from 10-12:30 and an afternoon class from 1:30-4:00.

January Flies By

2009-02-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

I have not been keeping up on current blogging. On January 9th I delivered 20 paintings to Standford University. I spent every spare second of December painting then dragging my wet paintings from my cold studio to home at night to be placed around heater vents. I managed to finish five large new paintings for the show. Four of them are from a new series of Sonoma County barns in various stages of retirement. Then I spent the rest of January cleaning up my country studio, getting ready to start teaching small classes. Yesterday I celebrated the last day of the month by inviting painters out to the studio to paint the views. The weather was amazing! About fifteen painters showed up, brought potluck dishes and painted the the emerald fields sprinkled in Mustard Flowers.

Bodega Bay

2008-11-22T07:41:00.001-08:00

We had great weather last weekend and I was able to go paint at the ocean. I just finished the last touches of this painting yesterday at the studio.

Painting in Progress

2008-11-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful day at the studio yesterday. I did a warm up painting of the view from my studio and started a large tractor painting for my series. Usually I carefully sketch large paintings before then grid and transfer. I feel sometimes the composition looses some of its magic as it gets overworked. Lately I have been sketching onto the black canvas then rearranging lines on it until it feels right. Here is the one I started yesterday. I am trying to capture some of the great clouds I have been seeing.

More Amazing Sunsets

2008-11-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

There was another amazing sunset this evening. I spent six hours painting at the studio working on the edges of the commission piece. It rained off and on. The clouds would occasionally break to reveal golden edges and glimpses of blue beyond. Just like magic the hills have already began to turn green. I have the best view from my studio doorway. My studio sits on a hill and looks across smaller hills towards the Sonoma Mountains.

Purple Cow

2008-11-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of finishing a commission I earned over the summer. It was a large painting divided into four canvases. I am going to finish the last details today and spend the rest of the day organizing my much neglected studio. This month I will start offering classes to small groups in my rural Petaluma Studio. I am also preparing for a show at Stanford University this January. I am hoping to create one very large piece to include in that show.

Amazing Sunsets

2008-11-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

The last few rainy days have brought the most inspiring sunsets. There is something magical about this time of year. The air feels so clean after the rain and I wait with anticipation for the brown Sonoma Hills to become green.

2008-09-18T09:58:00.002-07:00

This painting was recently completed for a commission I am working on. It was one of four local country scenes.

Nothing But Blue Skies

2008-09-18T09:58:00.001-07:00

This painting was donated to the Art for Life Fundraiser for Face to Face. This organization helps get services to those who are suffering from HIV.

The Great Petaluma Paint Out 2008

2008-09-16T11:29:00.001-07:00

For the past two months I have been working on putting together a paint out in Petaluma. This Saturday, September 20th, will be the first "Great Petaluma Paint Out 2008". This will be a day for the public to come celebrate art in the downtown area. There will be dozens of plein air painters participating in the painting competition throughout the day around the Turning Basin. At 4:00 PM, the paint out competitors will gather in the Theater District Courtyard (located across from the Boulevard Cinemas on 2nd Street). There they will be celebrating and sharing their creations. At 5:00 judging and music will begin and at 5:30 awards will be announced. There will be live music by “Dgiin” whose danceable music is best described as French-Gypsy-Funk. This is the perfect music to complement a “plein air” event. “Plein Air” is a French term meaning in “open air”. This public celebration of art will include prizes for artists and great company. The public will have the opportunity to participate in the judging of the People’s Choice Award.