"Hill Country"

6 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

These days, I'm able to spend more time experimenting with my paints - which doesn't always mean I have something to show you. In fact, I've been juggling a couple of paintings for days and they're still in limbo. If I begin a piece with the finished painting in my head, most likely, I won't stop until it's done. Lately, I'm sorta leaving it up to fate, or luck, to see if my right hand will lead the way to something unexpected. It's like abandoning the recipe and grabbing what you have in the pantry - sometimes it works, sometimes it's awful. I encourage that every now and then. You never know what you'll learn.

I did start with a plan this morning - the current challenge I assigned on my Different Strokes From Different Folks blog - and I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to get what was in my head. But I did. Today flowed. Yay.

From the hilly city of San Francisco, a view of Lombard Street.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Silver Street"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

I have San Francisco on the brain. I can't wait to get there. As I was rolling through the thousands of pictures I took last spring, I spotted these right-after-the-storm shots I took, around the really hilly neighborhoods, around Lombard Street in particular. What struck me was the dark stormy sky in the distance and that fantastic silvery reflection on the wet streets. An artist friend describes San Francisco as "wonderful, squinty, California light" and I know exactly what she means.