Eostre Bunny


I didn't really finish this, but here it is. I was looking at the photography of Hans Silvester, who spent five years traveling to the Omo Valley to capture these amazing images from Africa. The photos caused me to think about the roots of Easter in human culture and wonder about possible connections to the Easter bunny. I know this is a little odd, but it was fun to think about.
I did this for our team blog at Pogo, which can be found here.

March Still Life




it's a bit unfinished, but the flowers were on their way out, so i had to stop. i may tighten up some areas later.

i saw the green swan planter in a shop and thought it was pretty cool. i am a collector of pottery, especially vintage pieces. the green swan planter is a reproduction of a 50's design.
originally, i wanted to paint an entire still life that contained 100% green objects of varying shades. I had a problem however...the yellow lilies bloomed and the hyacinth bulbs bloomed. so to balance out the design i purchased some narcissus and placed them in the still life. i will still probably try the all green painting again in the future. it would also be cool to try an all pink or all white painting too. hmmmmm....

It's Showering Paper Flowers and Chinese Take Out

This week I don't have any paintings. I was busy preparing for a bridal shower in honor of my step sister, Kate, who is engaged to be married later this summer. The bridal shower brunch was at the Zuni Cafe.

The inspiration for the theme came from all of the Chinese take out I've been eating on Friday afternoons after late night dinners on Thursday after sculpting class. I found these cute patterns for Chinese take out boxes at the Paper Source. I filled each of them with chocolate snaps cut cut into hearts with a small cookie cutter. I also put two pink chocolate hearts in each box as a special treat.


The centerpieces were crafted from child sized collanders found at Sur La Table which were filled with paper flowers I made from kits purchased at the Paper Source. My good friend Elaine deserves at least half the credit for the shower. She helped me craft many of the flowers and put together the take out boxes! A HUGE help.



We all had such a wonderful time at the Zuni Cafe for Katie's bridal shower. Love is a reason to celebrate. How wonderful.

February Satsumas with Chestnut Branches


I deliberately arranged the objects in this painting at 90 degree angles, thinking it would emphasize the more fluid organic elements; the protea, the satsumas, writing on the vase, and the branches.

I enjoyed painting this. Being home sick from work the past few days, I set up this still life, listened to the soundtrack to "Coraline", and spent some quality time with my kitty, Maggie. Although my mood the past few days has been pretty blue, the solitude combined with intense concentration really balanced everything out.




The latest sculpture from the Thursday night workshop. The first thing I think when I look at this is that he doesn't seem like he is in motion. The model, Isaac, was posed with a rope in his left hand, pulling it from the base of the model stand. My sculpture doesn't really have a sense of that dynamic within the body. I also made him too lean in some areas which is why his legs appear a bit too long.

I think I will try to concentrate on a more gestural sense of the body rather than the anatomy next time. Whatever the result, I still totally enjoy sculpting. I just adore it. :)

In this quick little study, I was experimenting with soft edges, especially around the vase.

Once, long ago at the Palette and Chisel in Chicago, the historic art league where I used to paint, I heard Richard Schmid talk about how he likes to handle edges (contours around objects) in painting. He felt that both the eye and the camera see the picture plane and edges the same way - as only being able to focus on one spot at a time. Therefore to manipulate the viewer into resting on a center of interest, the artist should make that area the most detailed, most vibrant, with the hardest edges, and juxtapose it against softer areas within the image.

Lately I have been experimenting with this idea in my still lifes. The question for me lies rather in how much or how little. I think my natural painting style leans in the direction of the overall sharpness of the French naturalists, but I would like to pull away from that a bit. Or do I? I'm just not sure yet.

21st sketchcrawl Event

I had always heard about this world wide event that happens every three months called sketch crawl, but hadn't tried it. So, when my friend Jackson mentioned that he was going, I thought I'd check it out.

We tried to meet up in Golden Gate Park initially, but the parking was just too difficult. We ended up by the Palace of Fine Arts and then Chrissy Field. Earlier in the day, Jackson mentioned that Eric Tiemens uses a limited palette for his outdoor sketches, so I thought I'd give that a try. This was ultramarine blue, yellow ochre, paynes gray and white (pro white).


At the end, everyone sketching around the city met up at the DeYoung Museum Cafe and swapped sketchbooks. I met this really great artist who just started in vis dev at PDI four months ago, moving from Hamburg, Germany. Goro Fujita - check out his site! Nice work and nice guy!

Happy New Year!


I raced through this one because the light was changing very fast.

and here are some resolutions, at least the ones I'm willing to make public!

1. plein air painting every other weekend, more if possible
2. at least two "studio" paintings (still life) a month, more if possible
3. continue sculpting, just because :)))
4. continue sketchbook project with Cherylyn
5. take some classes at the Castle in the Air in Berkeley
6. jog lake merced at least four times a week
7. more yoga, meditation
8. more volunteer work

That schedule doesn't leave much time for a social life. But I feel happier now than I have in years because I am doing what I love. There is the buddhist saying "be what you practice". Maybe someone will love me for it someday, who knows. At the moment I am truly happy, and that's the best I can ask of the universe. It's a pretty fabulous way to start out the new year.

At the Epicenter Lies a Turkey

and some sugar pumpkins, with a glare on the right side. one of these days I'll learn how to photograph oil paintings.


I'll admit this painting is odd. The pumpkins are sitting on a festive thanksgiving dish cloth. I was interested in painting printed cloth with objects on top. I struggled to find a balance between the pumpkins and the color of the printed turkey on the dish cloth. I think after seeing the final result, I might have toned down that turkey much more. gooble gooble.

and here is a work in progress photo of my living room, the epicenter of my life (after work):

I found this little watercolor portrait I did about ten years ago. The memories rushed back when I looked at it. I was still at the American Academy of Art, in Chicago, enjoying my watercolor class, and just about to start working at Calabash Animation as a background artist. It was a time filled with anxiety about my future...someone should have told me that life as an artist would always be that way!