summer vacation "Bird Flock"

I'm taking a summer blog break for a couple of weeks--see you in mid July!

"The House That Chirp Built"

Here we are back at "The House That Chirp Built." I brightened the lawn on the left and softened the contrast of the clouds and blue sky. Some of the trees in the background have been modulated as well. The idea is to promote continuity in the environment in which the house is situated. The result is a slight differentiation between indoors and outdoors, while still retaining a hint of ambiguous space. The room on the second floor left where the purple cat peers out the window is somewhat simplified as well. I am tempted to paint an additional bunny on the left foreground, which was there originally, because it balanced the composition, but I will try to restrain myself!

"Dappled Horse"

"Dappled Horse" is a watercolor on paper, 24" x 18," completed in 2010. It is an illustration for a forthcoming book, an adventure in progress.

"Bucket Head"

"Bucket Head" is another watercolor painting that was meant to be an oil. When I became adept at oil painting with the newly developed oil painting technology, I was able to paint this painting in oils, as I had originally intended. No longer allergic to the paint and painting medium, I was now free to paint in oils. The child was photographed in her backyard wearing a blue bucket as a hat. She was pretending she was at the beach. Lo and behold, through the magic of painting, she was transported to her favorite beach! "Bucket Head" is an oil on canvas painted in 2007. It is 50" x 38," the same size as the original watercolor.

"The House That Chirp Built"

This may be the final version of "The House That Chirp Built." The color might be a bit subdued for my taste, and I would love to spend more time applying paint, attending to detail, etc. But I feel that it is time to move along and work on some other paintings. I have many more ideas which I will use in the future when I continue the "House" series.

"The House That Chirp Built"

Well, I'm slowly straightening out some of the vertical and horizontal lines, but notice that the stairs would benefit from being perfectly parallel to the bottom of the canvas. A lot of editing needs to be done on the right half of the painting, and the burnt sienna room upstairs with a portrait needs fiddling with. The attic room with the reclining figure could be brightened. And the line of the roof --it definitely needs work! The interior decorator will have to be consulted as well!

"Ocher Rider"

The other day I was in Dearborn, Montana, picking my son up from an overnight visit at a friend's house. The air was mountain fresh, the scenery was pristine. From the dizzying precipices the blue ribbon trout fishing holes were clearly visible. I've been told it's also the site of the Cooper (as in Gary) ranch! I'm always curious as to the identity of the mysterious riders in my series of paintings. Hmmm. This is probably the final version of "Ocher Rider," oil on canvas, 24" x 36," completed in 2020.

"The House That Chirp Built"

Here is another transitional phase of "The House That Chirp Built." I've been working on the "wackitecture," which still needs straightening out as well as "wackying" up! The same goes for the landscape, animals and figures. In other words, the whole painting needs work! I do like the bright colors and the beginning of ambiguous spatial qualities in the structure.

"Moose"

When we arrived in the parking lot at Swift Current Inn in Many Glacier, Glacier Park, Montana, there was quite a hub bub! Shutterbugs were all a twitter over an incident with a moose mom with two calves. The trail head to Red Rock Falls provided an idyllic backdrop for a photo op with the moose family. But all of a sudden a grizzly bear snatched one of the calves and dragged it off to certain doom! The mother moose and surviving calf continued grazing, but the tourists were in a state of shock. Tiny Montany reminded us that when humans enter the park, there is always the chance that they may become part of the food chain as well! Luckily, we made it through our adventure intact. As we left the park, we noticed another survivor of the food chain loping along the river. "Moose" is a small oil painting on canvas, 9" x 12," painted in 2010.