"Aqua Rider"

"Aqua Rider" is a watercolor on paper, 24" x 18" that I started in 2009 and finished in 2010.

It is somewhat abstract and stylized, what I call an all-over painting, in which the space is filled

with various imagery and calligraphy relevant to an overall theme. I let the viewer figure out the

story. Usually my story is different from that of the viewer. It's more fun to let each person come

up with an individual version. There are chess pieces, architectural forms, animals, aerial views.

"The Source--Giant Springs" 2009

The Source--Giant Springs" is a large-scale oil painting on canvas. It measures 60" x 48." I

build all my stretcher bars--the wooden frame the canvas is stretched over--myself. No power

tools are used. It's all with hammer and hand saw and staple gun. If you're using power tools--

air hammer, power saw, power staple gun--how nice for you!

A variety of life forms, plant and animal, including a magical bird, a squirrel and a bighorn sheep

are nurtured by the spring. Bubbling thousands of feet to the surface, the Giant Spring is the source of all life's delights.

"Pet House Mountain" 2009 oil on canvas 24" x 30"

In this 2009 painting, a purple polka dotted cat perches on a rooftop, while a squirrel contemplates his nut supply. Various small furry and feathered creatures inhabit the structure, the house that chirp built.

The painting is among the thirty paintings on display in downtown Great Falls, Montana. There are abstract, landscape, and portraiture included. Large-scale oils--the biggest is 55" x 88" and

mid-size oil paintings, mixed media paintings on paper are on display. Montana landscapes, some horses and riders, children, animals, and even an enormous monkey pod tree from my home state of Hawaii are some of the themes included in the show.

"Jamaican Children" graphite on canvas, 1980s 28" x 40"

So far I prefer this earlier version of "Jamaican Children." But I'll continue to work on the oil painting. Hopefully I can bring it up to snuff before too long!

"Jamaican Children"

I recently decided to do a painting from a drawing I did from a photograph of five Jamaican

children in Montego Bay. Their expressions were joyous, pensive, playful. The preparatory drawing became a favorite of mine and I couldn't bear to paint over it. I really wasn't up to doing another preparatory drawing.

Somehow, living in a small town in Montana, the time seemed right to tackle the project again.

I feel comfortable enough to paint freely without a preparatory drawing. Maybe I can show it in

downtown Great Falls, which in itself will be worth the effort.

And if you're wondering what became of my previous work in progress, "Sienna Moon," it was

snatched off my easel and is presently on display in downtown Great Falls. I never got a chance to

finish it.

We hung thirty paintings for the downtown Art Walk, an effort to draw people to the deserted downtown area, which has become a bit of a ghost town. Perhaps "Jamaican Children" will liven things up a bit!

Sienna Moon by Deeling

Spirit

bears

howl

at

the

red

moon.

Sienna Moon by Deeling

I've been working on it , and here it is so far.