aug 21 - sparky sneaks da keibard enne camper

mom left for a few monutes so i am typn this to you to tell my stori. i cant hit the shift key and type so it wil be in these little letters. i no better but when you be small and a dog that is da way it goes.

we four --mom, me, onslo and the old dog--went for long walks over the dunes 'n' i found so much to smell 'n' see. even on the rope things i cud get my nose in places. beach places smel gud.

mom made da leaky face again when we were at that bell tower thing.

then the next day it was drive and drive more--i hate that part--i hides in mom's elbo alla da way. now we be on the beach in a place she calls ocean-o, but i no see any beach, jsut sand. lots other dawgs too, an lotsa horses, too. bark

be4 we left --bet you dint no i cud do numbers like dat, mom spent time taking us down to nother beach, where dere was water. i played wit onslo an' mom painted da sunny ocean and all be4 we left.

here is da pichur out da back windo of da camp thing wit da bell tower where she made leaky face. it be on da left side, see it, ya.

morrow we be home an' i like dat. uhoh here she come bak. bye

sparky da wonder dawg

Aug 21 - Susie Q is Painted Again!

Sebastopol's Color Boot Camp is over, but I thought you'd enjoy the painting that demonstrates evening light for the participants. This is one of Fay's Georgia heifers, and she is marked so well for demonstrating what happens to white and brown when in light and shadow that I have used her more than once in my workshops!

It's a 9 x 12 ($150), and the source image is to the right of the painting...to share with you how the Color System makes the ordinary into extraordinary. Warm box colors in the light and cool box colors in shadow.

I received rave reviews for the just-completed workshop, and the comments mostly were about how logical the Color System is, and how easy it is to apply.
Here's a lineup of one students' paintings for the three days (without the value studies and "silly" painting). It's amazing how they all "read right". Backlit, morning, mist, clouds/sunrise and moonlight. All from an artist who had never used the Color System before. (Thanks, Paula!)

One more workshop scheduled for October in Riverside, now set for October 8-11. I'll update my site with links for signing up in the weeks ahead, and have been taking emails to notify you when that page is up. Color Boot Camp!!

Tonight I head for the coast again, and more fog paintings of the ocean. Then home....

Thanks go to Jacob Cohen of Sunnyvale, California on the purchase of "Incoming" today, and also to the many folks who are the happy owners of the Colorful Oil Painting DVD sets from the demonstration. I'll have that painting for you in the days to come.

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Aug 20 - Evening in Sebastopol

I was camped in the end of the mobile home park in Sebastopol, California, and looked out over the fields to see the evening light bathing the distant trees. This oil 9 x 12 was done from the dining room table looking out over that vista and resulted in a fine example of evening light. I love getting back into my oils after a hiatus into the acrylics, since both media have attributes that appeal to me.
The evening fog comes in from the ocean, cooling down the night, leaving dew on the dry grasses of the open fields. Sebastopol is a small town with an atmosphere tempered by the hippies of the 70s and I love it here. Those hippies matured into the business owners and the city magistrate of today--creating an energized adn open environment for an organic, green lifestyle. Great place!

Today I'll be doing the demonstration for the great group of AWS friendly artists who inhabit this area. A small contingent of them were dancing in my camper last night after dinner to the Rolling Stones. What a party!

Yet tomorrow I head to the ocean, for a couple days of painting there before heading home. I've so thoroughly enjoyed this workshop, demonstrations and trip north.

This oil is already sold, sorry.

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Aug 19 - The Workshop in Sebastopol

How I LOVE to paint mist and fog! Here's the demonstration acrylic painting for the Sebastopol workshop as a 12 x 16 example of fog adn mist on the California coast. I was over just north of Bodega Bay the day before and took some nice images while walking the dogs on the beach.

Because of the Color System, I used only the Cool Box colors to get these lovely grays and painted this while talking to the fourteen students in the workshop. I'm pleased with it, because getting the "feel" of a place is really high on my list of good paintings. Having sunk my shoes in the gravelly sand of this beach, I know that I caught the essence of the day. It pleases me....

Here's the source material (resized) from which I worked to make this painting in about 30 minutes... You can see how I changed and enhanced the colors in it by comparing. After I photographed the painting, I made some minor changes in the details, as well.

One more day of workshop, then a mini-vacation back on this beach before heading south to horses, husband and home. More paintings to come!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Aug 18 - Bodega Bay and Nicholas Green

When I come to Bodega Bay, I manage to end up here on this stretch of open space beside Highway 1 where the community center is located, and I always walk down to the bell tower constructed in memory of Nicholas Green. This young boy was killed by a highway robber in Italy while traveling with his family. He was seven. His death was not in vain, for his folks donated his organs to seven Italians, and thus saved their lives in a gesture of forgiveness, acceptance and connectedness rarely seen nowadays. The bells on the tower are from towns all throughout Italy and offer thanks and a reminder to us to be kind to others when we can. I couldn't paint that memorial (not yet), so I did this small 8 x6 sketch of the road to the space where the bells sculpture stands. There's one of those August-blooming Pink Ladies on the left side....

Acrylic, done plein air beside my camper in Bodega Bay. And I'm reminded to be kinder to folks I meet...

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Aug 17 - In Ukiah, Sebastopol and Bodega

What a wonderful trip so far! I'm sitting in a Starbucks coffee shop wifi-ing to you with the evening sun heading down, and relaxing after the first day of the Sebastopol workshop. Two more days of "Color Boot Camp" and there are 14 people together with "yellin' by Elin". And I'm just slam-dunked by the amazing paintings coming out with the Color System, even on this first day.

Two days ago, I painted for the art group in Ukiah, which is about an hour and a half north of here. Great group in a lovely museum setting, and although they were pressured by preparations for the museum's annual fundraiser event, we were able to get out in plenty of time. This is a 16 x 12 acrylic of the coast to the west of them, done to convey the fog breaking up and the sun coming through. It still needs a bit of tweaking for details, but I'm pleased with the composition. If it seems similar to an earlier moonlight painting, you're right! The Color System allows you to change the time of day on source material to match what YOU want. I'm pleased with it at this stage.

In the coming days, I'll be posting the Sebastopol and Bodega Bay plein air work and the workshops demonstration pieces for you.

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.