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The Beach Hat
The Beach Hat, 12" x 12" Oil on Birch Board. $1200
A hot summer day under the pier in Huntington Beach, CA. I was trying to capture a photo of the beautiful shadows, when this young woman stepped right in front of me. A bit hurried, she grabbed her hat, and then dashed of to her destination. I shot the photo and said to myself, “I can’t wait to paint this scene.” So, here it is.
It was hung tonight at the Galleria, in the Hillcrest Center for the Arts, in Thousand Oaks, CA for the exhibit “New Works, ACCV Board and Friends.” Some of the paint is still wet, so I guess it qualifies for “New Work.” It is joined by 5 other paintings of mine, plus works from a dozen others. Join us for a free Artists’ Reception Saturday, June 12th, from 4-6 pm.
Central Coastal Colors
So, I had a very nice week to paint in and around San Luis Obispo with a few artists from the California Art Club. The weather was nice, but scattered showers caused the fair weather artists to stay indoors. I did a total of 5 plein air studies and a still life. I stayed with Mom for the week. When I called her a few weeks ago to see if she was going to be around during this week, she asked me if I could come up there because she had a one week vacation scheduled. Perfect timing. I love it when that happens… synchronicity. So, I got some painting in, did some chores around the house for her, and visited with family. All in all, it was a very wonderfully relaxing week for me. I pushed off a lot of business until this coming week, so I will be working full-bore to catch up, but it was def worth it.
So, what I got here now, is the still life I did for my sister. She has been asking to paint her a “flower painting” for many years. Well, I don’t do flowers, but her birthday is next week, and outdoor painting was rainy, so… I did this for her. I added a cup and saucer that was painted by great-grandma Dee around 1900. Click HERE for a large close-up of the tea cup.
I think I might be on to something new for me. Still life paintings from heirlooms. I brought home some trinkets from around Mom’s house that I will be painting in the weeks and months ahead. I have not done many still lifes. This intrigues me. So, since I did a lot of duck hunting with my Dad growing up, I have some things that will do nicely as a memento to this; A set of duck calls, shot gun shells, his favorite hunting hat which still has some tail feathers from a drake mallard, and a wooden duck decoy. I also from my mom, I have an old candy dish from her grandmother, a small metal metal bank in the shape of an elephant and some old marbles. Then there is an old deep-sea fishing reel, some old fishing lures and a fillet knife. Some great raw-material for summer studies in the studio.
Painting “Beach Hat”
Today was a perfectly beautiful day in Camarillo, CA, my hometown. I joined about 15 other artists who shared their works of art in many downtown merchants who were hosting wine tastings. Lots of people came to join us drink wine and enjoy art. I also enjoyed getting started on a new painting “Beach Hat” on a freshly gessoed 12″ x 12″ birch panel. I still have a ways to go, as I was quite distracted today with the crowds asking questions along the way. {Note to self: get new iPod}
Although it was a challenge, I enjoyed the outdoors, painting with the northern light of the sky on my painting. It makes me think about keeping this in mind when I build my studio in the future… to make sure that there is a north facing wall that can have large windows to slurp in the natural light during our long Southern California sunny days.
Tomorrow morning I am off to a special paint-out for a week with the California Art Club. In a special arrangement with the Land Conservancy of SLO County, we have been given access to some private land that includes the Dana Adobe in Nipomo, Black Lake Ecological Area & Filipponi Wetland Preserve. It will be nice to finally paint along the Central Coast. I will post photos on my return next weekend.
Painting Demo and WINE!!!
On Saturday, April 17, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, in kahoots with the Camarillo Old Town Association, the Chamber and the Camarillo Fiesta Association to bring some fun to Ventura Blvd, in Old Town Camarillo. Many Old Town merchants will be hosting wine tasting and art exhibits from local artists. I will be one of the artists participating. My location will be at Lumar Jewelry with wine samples provided by Custom Crush. I will be doing a panting demo on the streets for anyone to see. Come on by anytime from 1-4 on Saturday for a wine and art walk. If you have a blank spot on a wall, lots of art will be for sale as well. 
Hope to see you there…
Beach Colors Redeaux
So, I took an old plein air painting I did at Leo Carillo a couple years ago, and redid it. I was not happy the first time anyway, so it was a good opportunity to try some new paint out. You can see the change from the first go, to the new version below.
Some Crazy Color :D
So, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to do an experiment today. An experiment in pure color. No black and only a small bit of white. Lots of cleaning and wiping the brush. No purple tainted with cad yellow. Bright pure color. I went to a government owned overlook near Point Mugu, with this nice meandering waterway in the midst of the slough. I started painting the scene with about 70 minutes of sunlight left. So, away I went. Here is what I came up with in that short time.
Pondering with Paint
I have been painting again. This weekend I was with a fantastic colorist and impressionistic painter David Gallup. It was a wonderful time of conversation, philosophy and most of all COLOR. It was a real eye opener for me about using paint that I have never had on my palate. He is really one of the modern masters of color. More on that to come…
Below is a small closeup that shows the interesting color that can happen with wet sand. The first image is the closeup of a plein air study that I did using close to actual color of wet sand. (full original) Below that, is a close-up of a second painting, using all of the same colors, but separated out. With a few steps back, the colors blend, but the overall “color” is mixed and becomes the same as the original study. Dave tells me “Why paint gray wet sand color when you can have FUN painting sand with color?” {Things that make you say “hmmmm”…. }
I left knowing that I had taken a first big step into an unknown journey up the mountain. We have to take bold steps and make intentional brush strokes with color… with confidence… with intention, but none of it can happen without first taking a step. I am reminded of an old Goethe quote that I have used before on my BLOG about starting a thing and moving forward… He says “What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” Paint your future with boldness. Make the first steps and start the journey.
I will work out the painting for a few weeks (or longer) and will eventually post the final painting, but know this… some new things are on the horizon. I have started to climb the mountain. 
… Tell me, which looks more fun!?!
I love my job
So, now that I am back, I can post some photos of my last three days of painting with Ryan Wurmser and a few new friends. Each day Ryan started with his demo as we watched, learned and took notes… mental or otherwise. Then after lunch we would be off on our own to apply what we gleaned. Our first day was Malibu Creek State Park. Beautiful and sunny. Secondly we went to my favorite beach to paint at, Leo Carrillo. There is PLENTY to paint. The same scene changes so quickly throughout the day. To watch the changes in the water is fascinating. Then the third day we were off to Peter Strauss Ranch.
Each location had its challenges to overcome. Wonderful light that moved across the sky on one day turned into a sun that played peek-a-boo behind the clouds another. I have never posted any location photos, but I do so here to share some things. First, look at the photos of the knoll in the first set. Notice how much the light has changed in the three hours from the beginning and end of my painting time. Its impossible to paint so quickly in such a complicated scene. So, you must pick out parts to highlight and hold on to the values in your head… which I had a problem with.
For me, the take-away to this weekend was a stronger sense of composition. Ryan showed us many sketches of various compositional possibilities in the same scene. He would ask “What’s the story here” and then show how each sketch had something different to say about the scene. Good work Ryan!! So, here are my sketches.
Click the first image to start the slide show…
Life is Beautiful
Here is a collection of some more photos of the beautiful California that I live in. It is truly a wonderful part of the world to live in. Most people only get to visit.
The New Studio Easel
Today I got a new studio easel. It is by “BEST” and its the “O’Connell” model. I took a nice drive out to Continental Art Supplies on Reseda Blvd. in the VW Beetle. I was only planning on getting a couple of new brushes and some of new tubes of paint that is missing on my palate. I ended up with this beauty. The only problem was that it would NO WAY fit in my little car. Steve Aufhäuser, the owner, was giving me a tour of the store, and showing me this easel, when he discovered that it would not fit. Hmmm… I said “Do you deliver?” he smiled and said… “I’ll do anything for a beer” we laughed and I told him that I had a couple of bottles in the fridge waiting for him. So, he said he could stop and deliver it to my home in Camarillo on his “way home.” I can’t suggest that he would do it again to anyone that asked, but I was sure grateful that I got to start working on it tonight.
He ended up staying around for about an hour while we talked about brushes, gesso and what is best to use to clean out your oil brush… his suggestion… boiled linseed oil that you can get at any hardware store. Just make sure to rag out as much of it as you can when its all cleaned out. Solvents are much too harsh.
I also picked up a couple of new smallish filberts from a brand I never even heard of… Escoda, from Spain. They have been around for 75 years. Steve says that they are one of his favorites. I got a couple #8′s and #2′s of the no-frills model “Natural” a non nickel-plated brass ferrule.
I will be testing them out this week. {smiling} I will be in a three-day plein air workshop with Ryan Wurmser. I am so looking forward to this. We will be talking about composing light and natural form outdoors. Looks like we have three beautiful days in a row, all sun and about 70 degrees. I hope to come home with a few new paintings from Malibu Creek Canyon, El Matador State Beach, and one other location.