"In Like a Lion"

6 x 8"
oil on masonite
sold

I didn't believe those weathermen - I admit. It hasn't snowed on my street in ...... maybe 6 years. I wish for it all winter long - every winter. What a sight. What a sound.

This had to be done. Today. My first painting of snow from the street where I live. And... I'm hurrying up to get out of my little studio in case a tree branch does fall. One never knows.

"Them & Their Shadow"

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
sold

I am obsessed with shadows - mostly trying to understand them. Meaning if shade falls on a certain color, what color does it become ..... things like that. From the corner of 7th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, DC.

"Street Walker"

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
sold

The small, dark creature barely lit up on the street is my black cat Willy. Occasionally he will join us when we walk the dogs - creating an amusing pet parade. A summer night scene from the street where I live.

"Pike Street News"

10-1/2 x 14"
oil on masonite
sold

My precious internet access is back. After being out of sorts all week, I'm myself again. It's a small inconvenience compared to other calamities, true, but it is a large part of my world. This new painting was done on a day when I was in the studio at 8 am, with a guy working inside my house and no internet and leaving was not an option. High motivation to tackle a tough painting.

I usually start these more complicated cityscapes with a lack of confidence. It's not important to me to render the photograph as much as it is to capture the atmosphere and the place. Stay loose enough to feel as if you're there and life is moving around you - but make sure the buildings don't look as if they're falling in. It's a challenge. And I'm really not convinced that I pulled it off until I see the light - the rim glow around the people, the sky, the street, the shadows. Then it becomes real - full of life.

The place is on the corner of Pike Street and 1st Avenue, in Seattle - on a brisk, bright, February morning.

Please click here for a larger view.

"X-ing"

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
sold

Sundays are usually devoted to domestic chores that I've neglected all week. Today I sherked the mundane and devoted my day to the letter X. Crosswalks are a visual obsession with me. Especially on a bright day - where pedestrians create wiggly shadows that fall over the painted stripes. It's a subject that I can play with edges and unexpected colors and I just love that.

"Seattle Glow"

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
sold

This new painting shows that beautiful glow of the early evening light on my first full day in Seattle. Skylines can be really difficult unless you approach it as a collection of shapes and color, hoping the depth will take care of itself. I often walk around cities squinting - seeing bundles of blocks and light - and this was one of my favorite views. Many, many more to come.

"College Street"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

This is a very painterly piece - an impressionistic view of what could be considered just an ordinary street on a bright, summer's day in Asheville.

Just to mention - between all of catching up on the mundane chores of life this past week, I've been trying out a couple of ideas and a bit too shy to show them yet. With a little breathing room with the galleries fully stocked up on paintings, I try to take the opportunity to step back and study .... experiment.

One thing that gave me a jolt was watching this BBC miniseries "The Impressionists". Rent it, it's good. There's reminders that we need to take the time and look and study the world around us. It reminds me to stick with what I think we really do see, at a glance - the blocks and shapes of colors, shadows and light - and to paint just that.

I also discovered an artist that reminded me of what I just mentioned. He's Doug Braithwaite, and you'll notice the thumbnails look somewhat ordinary until you opt for a larger view.