Week Three

Squash 12" x 12", acrylic on canvas

I've always liked this painting, this is its 4th and last background. 

Lewis & Clark Compass, 8" x 10", acrylic on board

From the Smithsonian's 100 Objects that Changed America.

Kids' printing and painting collage project,

 ink on paper, paste paper and print on transparency.

Week Two

One Chair, Two Tables, acrylic on board, 8" x 10"

I have to confess, painting is starting very slowly this year. 

When I actually sit down and paint, it's all there, but getting there has been a struggle.

 With this painting I was noticing how attached I get once a line I like is down,

 even if it stops working with the rest of the piece.

More Horses!

I thought about making these creatures some day with some class and since I don't have access to a kiln at the second school I teach in, it was time to do these as horses, in honor of the Year of the Horse. Once they were made, they reminded me of Alexander Calder sculptures, 

I hadn't thought about the similarities of the forms until I saw the show in LA last weekend. 

Which was fabulous, by the way, if you're in Los Angeles, go see it!

Reworked Painting, 2/16/14

This painting of Gram was never right. It looks much more like him now and I am pleased with the looseness of the paint. I left the eyes alone and now they are a little too tight, but that's okay.

The question, why paint and not just photograph? comes up a lot for me, especially since I usually paint from photographs. I have decided it comes down to the quality of the paint on the surface, if done right, it adds so much depth, it becomes something more than just the image. 

The paint on the surface is what I am continually working on. 

It takes a certain amount of caring and not caring at the same time.

First week, Happy New Year of the Horse!

Butter Dish, Acrylic on Board, 10"x 8"

This is under the Allowing category, felt like painting an object this week!

White Bowl, Acrylic on Calligraphed Rice Paper (circa 1933) on board, 10"x10"

Repainted bowl, the under painting was of a fish bowl, never really liked it.... now it's better!

Clay Horse, 8"x 6"

Student project last few weeks for the year of the horse. 

We now have over 65 of these around the school, herds of good luck for the new year!

2014 Series

2014 Series: 

Allowing, Cleaning and Weaving: 

Painting, Repainting and Children's work …. 

Each winter I start a new series of paintings. I find it helpful to give myself an assignment as a way to get work done amidst a very busy life. Previous series have been 36 Views of Mt. Tamalpais, 36 Birds in 36 Days, and 18 Landscapes, 18 Portraits and 18 Objects in 18 Weeks (see below). Posting the work online keeps me honest.

Welcome to the new year and a new series! In mulling over what the work was going to be, I was feeling the weight of old work that didn't succeed slowly stacking up in my studio. Every old painting that did not show or get thrown away holds back a small piece of my creative self and in the past it has been liberating to repaint an uncomfortable image and turn it into something that works. Some of my favorite paintings have come out of reworked images. 

However I don't want to just repaint, I also want to create new work, and it feels like time to allow myself to paint each week without the constraints of a single subject. 

While cataloging my student's work early this year, I realized how much we have done together over the years. A friend suggested I post my student's work with my own to see connections woven between the two.  

For this series each week I will be working on three projects: 

    • allowing myself to paint one work of whatever strikes my fancy, 

    • cleaning house by repainting one painting that feels unfinished, 

    • posting a student's work from my vast archives, curious to see connections between their work and my own and also perhaps to give inspiration to other teachers, since I have been inspired and learned so much from others myself.

You'll notice I work with many images of tea pots..... 

one of my excuses to collect them, such a beautiful form.

This assignment on board was partially inspired by Bryan Nash Gill's amazing 

prints of wood: http://www.bryannashgill.com/gallery.html&gid=6. 

 I played around with his printing techniques one summer with the kids but we never came close to his brilliant images. We settled for painting the wood grain on plywood before painting still lives of teapots. The image at the top is mine, a sample painting in tempera, 

the image on the bottom is a student's.

2013 Series: 18 Landscapes, 18 Portraits, 18 Objects

Yosemite Valley, acrylic on canvas, 12"x 16"

My home away from home when I was younger. 

This is from one of my favorite places in the valley, 

a quiet area that always feels incredibly peaceful.

Car at Sunset, acrylic on board, 12"x 9"

A very cool car I've been driving by in the neighborhood. 

When I saw the interior lit up by the setting sun, I knew this was the image.

Self Portrait, acrylic on board, 10"x 8"

Did not care how this turned out. Stopped before I felt finished. Am happy.

Week 17

Fan, acrylic on board, 12"x12"

Realizing time was getting short I did a big push last weekend to get ahead on these paintings. It was thoroughly enjoyable to paint so much (I did 5 paintings in two days). I wish I could paint that much all the time. I still learn something new every painting.

Porch Chair, acrylic on board, 12"x12"

When I was taking the photo for this painting, a man whipped open the door and said, "Can I help you?" Somewhat aggressively. I said in my most non-threatening voice, "Is it okay to take a photograph of your chair?"... He answered, "Yes.... what's this for, 'Berkeley Porch'?" 

Something like that.

Anne, acrylic on board, 10"x 8"

From a photograph by a young photography student of her mother. 

Week 16

Pt. Reyes, Acrylic on board, 12"x 9"

I've been using a charcoal pencil for my under drawings and letting the line mix with the paint. Somehow I retain more of the quality of the drawing, which I like. I love drawings, but always feel I have to paint an entire image without letting the drawing show. It's interesting the self imposed rules that emerge, but I find most of the time when I try to break them, I am not happy with the result. Always trying though!

Gram I and Gram II, acrylic on board, 8"x10"

My other child. Sigh, as always, not quite right, but it looks like him. I only have a couple more portraits to go in this series and I haven't gotten where I want to with them. Perhaps I should paint the next one with my eyes closed.

After seeing the post online, Gram looked like he was reflected in a fun house mirror. It's amazing what the brain thinks it sees and what is actually there. Each part of the painting looked alright to me, but when it was strung together, it was really off. I repainted it, still not quite right, but it looks more like him. 

I looked through one of my art books with hundreds of painted portraits by well known artists and there were only two showing teeth. One was a Picasso. 

Peony, acrylic on rice paper from a Japanese ledger over wood, 5"x 5"

I love this paper from an old book I bought in an import shop. I have been doing Japanese images on the pulled out pages... I have a hard time with flowers! Next I should do a flower series until I can paint them the way I want to. I tend to get too literal with the petals...it's always a question of how many do you add?