Category: Oil Paintings

Complaining and Painting

Because this post is full of complaints, I will intersperse the verbal bummerations with nice photos.

We had a week when the internet went out 2 or 3 times a day on 4 days, and one of those days it was down all day long. This meant that neither the cell phone nor the landline worked. We also had an unscheduled half day without electricity and another day without power from 9:30-6:15. All of this took place during the week when I was preparing for my demo/talk How To Draw. In addition, I had people waiting for emails, with proofs, sketches, and price quotes to approve. It was also a week that I had set aside to make multiple phone calls to a tech service in order to repair and understand my wonky website.

Without power or internet, how does one print drawing exercises? or scan things necessary for handouts? or print one’s own notes? or let inquiring customers know you are not a flaky artist? How does one repair a website that one cannot access?

One waits. One uses a yellow legal pad and a pen. One waits some more. One composes emails and puts them in a folder called “Drafts”. One keeps waiting. One works in quiet, without tunes or podcasts. And one waits some more.

When the power came on, the printer wouldn’t print anything in color until I cleaned the heads about 6 times. Then I had to replace the ink, of course. I believe that printers were designed by ink companies. The next one I get will be a laser printer. I don’t know what that actually means, but people who have these say they are very reliable and use less ink. Everything uses less ink. EVERYTHING. (Excuse me, I need to leave this blog and order some more ink while thinking about it.)

Okay, I’m back, $48.70 poorer.

Eventually, I was able to get everything printed and scanned in time for the talk. Eventually, the emails went through. Eventually, I was able to make one phone call to repair one thing on my website. I also got a bit of painting done on one disrupted day before it got too dark to see.

From this:

To this:

To this, when I finally decided it was too cold to leave the door open, but too dark with it closed.

Thus, we end today’s complaint session with a vague sense of productivity and thankfulness for autumn beauty and electricity and internet and telephones.

Simply Home

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

Plein Air Painting in Three Rivers

For about 2 years, my friend Krista has been asking me to paint with her in Three Rivers. Last week we had an entire day without electricity, phones, internet, so it seemed like a good time to leave home and paint outside. Besides, it is always a pleasure to hang out with a friend, especially outside on a nice afternoon in our scenic foothill town.

I thought about places to paint, and it is tricky when every shoulder of the road is marked with NO PARKING signs. I decided that I didn’t care, and if anyone wanted to tow Fernando away, we would have a conversation about it, and it would turn out just fine. (Our sheriff is an artist.)

This view shows the curve on the right side of the road as it heads to the bridge.

This view shows the tall sycamore trees on the left.

I wanted both, so did a sketch to see if I could squish them both in. Good thing you know that I can draw, or you might be a little worried about the quality of this sketch.

Here is my substandard plein air equipment, perfectly functional for my limited interest in this method of putting paint on canvas.

Here we go, another sketchy messy beginning.

The light changed quickly, and then all the color was gone.

That’s fine, because I took the painting as far as I could figure out while painting on location. I just don’t understand how to smash all sorts of details together; maybe someday I will, but I can’t imagine that I would like the results. I think I will like this painting after reworking it in the painting workshop at home.

Krista and I had a great time together; it is very likely that we will do this again.

Simply Home

Silage, Silos, and the Sierra, 6×12″, $145

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

oil paintings Three Rivers

Trying to Work in Three Rivers

It started out to be a fine day. The time change was over, my neighbor and I had a good morning walk, the election was behind us (phew, what a stressor that has been), and I had a list of phone calls to make, my website to keep repairing, some sketching/designing to do, and of course, paintings to finish. On top of that, there was planning to do because of a scheduled all-day power outage the following day.

I reworked the Asilomar beach path. This was my second painting during my week of plein air painting, and it is one I liked, probably because the scene held still, as opposed to those manic ocean waves.

Tucker was enjoying the sunshine and keeping me company (this cat LOVES me).

Then the power went out. WAIT, WHAT?? It’s not tomorrow yet.

A friend from about 2 miles below me said it was out for her too. She was driving down the hill and reported that there was a fire at the dam. (Turned out to be more in Lemon Cove than actually at the dam.)

It wasn’t dark out, so I worked on the Marble Fork Bridge painting for awhile, using enlarged photos on my laptop for details until the battery needed charging.

Life in Three Rivers: Within one week, the internet went out for a day and thus, no phone either. Without internet, no cell phone for me because we have no signal. Then we had a scheduled power outage, but it went out a day earlier. Currently we have road construction causing 10-15 minute delays in town.

At least our water hasn’t gone out in awhile.*

Simply Home

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

Today, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. The spaces are all full.

*WROTE THAT TOO SOON. A DEER BROKE A HOSE BIB, WE STARTED WASTING WATER AT A RATE OF 6 GPM, SO WE DREW SOME WATER AND SHUT OFF THE MAIN. THE PLUMBER WASN’T AVAILABLE, AND EVENTUALLY TRAIL GUY FOUND A WAY TO BYPASS SOMETHING, BLOCK SOMETHING ELSE, AND GET WATER BACK TO THE HOUSE. Excuse me for shouting. This has all been so annoying.

oil paintings Three Rivers

Walking in Three Rivers

Walking isn’t as easy as it used to be. I walk shorter distances more slowly than I used to, wearing Crocs instead of these shoes, which I now have listed on eBay.

Until the time change, my friend and I walked in the dark. Sometimes it felt adventuresome, as if we were getting away with something. On the days when her schedule isn’t tight, we still go 4-5 miles, although that’s nothing compared to when we trained together for a 1/2-marathon. Still, we are happy that we can walk and can do so in places without traffic, traffic lights, or sidewalks.

One day recently, Trail Guy and I poked along our street where he pointed out a peculiar sight on our neighbor’s lot.

Not real, mighty peculiar, and completely without an explanation.

I found a small sparkly on the ground, which I ended up securing to the fence of the former day care at the Presbyterian Church.

While admiring the view from the Catholic church, I wondered what the bright red was in the distance. It most likely is a truly spectacularly bright tree. We weren’t so fortunate when we chose our own Chinese Pistache trees, nor when they created volunteers on our lot.

I’ve always admired this barn across the highway, and being November, I also admired some red trees in the distance.

Walking more slowly and going shorter distances does increase one’s awareness of the surroundings. That is a good trait for an artist to cultivate.

P.S. Yeppers, two churches in our neighborhood, neither one “ours”.

SIMPLY HOME

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. It is full.

CACHE drawing lessons Exeter gallery oil paintings Three Rivers

Hard Drawing and Painting Hard

Last week I did some sketching and designing for a very difficult pencil commission. It is breaking a hard and fast rule that I have set for myself, but I can’t figure out how to say no and still help the customer. It’s too scary to show you right now. . . more will be revealed. . .

Then I painted hard. How hard?

I painted so hard that my brush snapped. That’s a first for me in 18 years of painting.

These two paintings got moved into the house near the wood stove to dry. There’s more to be done on both, but I am spending my week working on my presentation for How To Draw.

IMPORTANT

Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. Contact me if you are interested, because seating is limited and there is one more spot.

SIMPLY HOME

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

CACHE CACHE gallery commission pencil drawing oil paintings

A Day Without the Internet

Last week was a rough one for tech. My blog croaked, which led me to realize that my entire website was AWOL. This led to many phone calls, and a large expenditure. Then, when I had things working again, thanks to Rowland, Mario, Eva, and Ken Joe Sam (Really? No, really??), we had a day without internet, cell service, telephone, or teevee. (I didn’t miss that last thing.)

So, I painted, after spending a bit of time in the studio making plans and taking care of administrative tasks. Those necessary parts of an art business are too boring to tell you about.)

Mr. Antisocial Jackson was suddenly interested in everything I was working on.

This painting is either 11×14 or 12×16, but I don’t remember. I am painting it so that if someone needs to take a painting from Simply Home, I will be able to put something in the hole.

This lighthouse painting, done mostly plein air, still needed to be finished in the painting workshop. (I draw in my studio and paint in the workshop, because painting can get messy.)

It will look better when it is scanned. This was photographed with my inferior phone camera. And as always, it will look better in person.

Pippin was happy to sit behind me while I painted.

REMINDER: Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. Contact me if you are interested, because seating is limited.

SIMPLY HOME

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

art business oil paintings

Three Finished, Two Begun

These three turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself, which I just did.

Tom-ato’s Last Mater, 6×6″, private collection

Lemons on the Tree, 6×6″, $65, oil on wrapped canvas

Pomegranate on the Tree, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $65

Don’t be scared; these will also turn out well.

Simply Home

Ed’s Herd, 11×14, oil on wrapped canvas, $300 (This is the only painting that comes from outside Tulare County, but since I met Ed in Tulare County, this qualifies.)

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

How To Draw, Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, at CACHE, 125 S. B Street, Exeter. Admission is FREE, but seating is limited, so email me cabinart@cabinartdotnet (do it the real way, not this bizarre spelling designed to thwart spammers).

oil paintings

Painting in the Workshop

Most artists paint in their studios. I reserve my studio for drawing and business-ish activities and do my painting in the building next door, a workshop. This is because painting is messier than drawing.

I started with the commissioned piece which is now called Tom-ato’s Last Mater. A man named Tom was known for growing heirloom tomatoes, and this 1-1/2 lb. specimen was the last one he produced before succumbing to a terrible disease. His wife asked me to paint it for her, and I gladly complied.

Next I decided to make a couple of small 6×6″ fruit-on-the-tree paintings for the Mural Gallery, which has reopened in Exeter after a summer of revamping, refurbishing, and redesigning. Things have changed since it opened 20+ years ago. Back then, it was called the “Mural Gallery” because only Exeter’s muralists could show and sell there. Now we are old (and some have died), so it has opened up to other artists in the area. In addition, the artists who show and sell there have been asked to work one shift a month. (I had mine on October 24 last month.)

The shapes and backgrounds went quickly on these, and I saved the details for another day.

After hanging these on the pegboard hooks to dry a bit, I looked out the window at the studio garden and saw these marauders destroying the foliage. Welcome to Three Rivers, where gardening is war.

At least I have something completed and not destroyed to show for an afternoon’s work in the painting workshop. Yes, I signed it and painted the edges red, so it just needs to dry before getting scanned and then shipped to Florida.

SIMPLY HOME

Cabin Dishes, 8×10″, $200 (Yes, oil on wrapped canvas, and yes, there is sales tax.)

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

SOMETHING IMPORTANT: Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. Contact me if you are interested, because seating is limited.

commission oil painting oil paintings Three Rivers

Plein Air or Studio?

This is Asilomar State Beach, the first place I set up an easel to paint plein air, which means feet in the sand, wind in my hair, hair in my eyes, and easel fighting gravity.

This is my painting of Asilomar Beach, brought into submission in the confines of my painting workshop (i.e. studio).

This is Carmel Beach, voted the most beautiful beach in California or the US or ???, as first painted while sitting on a park bench, balancing a pochade box on my lap with my palette of paints on the bench beside, all the while wishing I was down on the sand with my feet in the water, minus the painting.

This is my painting of Carmel Beach, brought into submission in the painting workshop, with the able assistance of some photos where things hold still for a pair of minutes and color can be actually seen rather than squinted and guessed at in the bright sun (or deep shade)

But I’m perfectly neutral on the topic, as you can see.

P.S. At the opening reception of my show Simply Home, an acquaintance of many years said to me, “I’m going to tell you something that will make you mad.” Then he proceeded to say, “You draw better than you paint.”

What would he have said if he’d seen my plein air paintings before I retouched them??

Simply Home

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

P.S. This painting is the one chosen for the publicity for the show. Yes, it is oil on wrapped canvas, but I’m tired of typing that and fairly certain that you are tired of reading it too.

monterey oil paintings plein air

A Studio Painter, for Certain.

The week in Monterey was a great enjoyable time, and also a real learning experience. So many beautiful things to paint, it almost didn’t matter if we drove anywhere or just stayed put.

Plein air has never appealed to me, and it was stinkin’ hard, but I think I got better as the week progressed. I don’t love the process or the results enough to invest in a good easel/tripod set up (those run $700-$1000!) I’m still not convinced that it improves one’s skill; maybe it does if plein air is the preferred style, but honestly, I look at those paintings by people who are a Big Deal and think that someone needs to find a good optometrist.

So, I am fully committed to being a studio painter. It is good to have decided who I am, finally, at age 65, after 18-1/2 years of oil painting. Maybe someday I’ll get a wild hare and try to paint quick, thick, and sloppy slick (but I may not sign those).

However, I don’t consider the time spent painting plein air as a waste of time. It taught me a way to paint a little bit faster, how to focus more on the composition, that my easel was a major annoyance, and now I have the ability to paint plein air, should anyone ask me to do so (more for the process than the product).

A clean palette without sand and a level place to set it—such a relief.

A long-overdue sequoia painting is drying before scanning and delivery.

A little more progress on the Marble Fork bridge.

This is a commission of a giant tomato for someone in Florida.

You may have heard me profess my love of the beach in the past a time or two. I ordered a stack of snapshots of the beach and waves, along with some smooth 5×7″ boards (called “gessobord”) to practice painting waves and beach scenes. IN THE STUDIO!! FROM PHOTOGRAPHS!

BECAUSE I AM A STUDIO PAINTER!

So there.