Monday, August 31, 2009

The Mother Road


5 x 7 monotype, oil painted on copper
and than created on an etching press.

This is a sketch of a section of old Rte 66 that is no longer in use
and is beginning to erode as weeds grow in the cracks of the asphalt.

I will be doing a large oil painting of this in the coming days.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Pig Hip Restaurant, Route 66



8 x 10 oil on 3/8" gessoed high quality panel

The Pig Hip was opened by Ernie Edwards in 1937 in Broadwell, Illinois. Rather than paint the big sign in front of the eatery, I opted to paint this arrangement that I found on the sid of the building, it just spoke of the down home hopitality of this place. I was very fortunate to have been able to visit The Pig Hip, since much of it was lost in a fire a couple of years back.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Funk's Grove General Store



9 x 12 oil on linen on masonite panel

Four miles south of Shirley, Illinois is Funk's Grove Maple Sirip Farm, founded by Isack Funk in 1824. It is now in it's seventh generation of family ownership. In the 1920's Route 66 was built along the grove. There is a lot to see in Funk's Grove, it is one of the prettiest areas along Route 66. The day we visited the Grove we drove 145 miles and only advanced 45 miles along the Rte., but we soon found that it was just a typical day along the way.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Rte. 66, Hitting The Road

sold

9 x 12 oil on linen on masonite board

Some time ago during an evening of conversation, a friend of mine and I tossed around the idea of how fun it would be to do a, just girls, road trip. But where to? Route 66 spilled out of my mouth, we looked at each other, wickedly laughed, and the wheels were set in motion, Route 66, the Mother Road, from Chicago to the Santa Monica Pier, 2448 miles of history, our Appian Way.

We decided, we needed a third partner in crime so Mary Jane asked her friend Nancy, she was excited on the idea. We decided to take this trip the following May, a year to map it out, to stay true to the road and all that is still in existence from that era.

Mary Jane, the ultimate planner, subscribed to Route 66 magazine, we bought books on the subject, read and compared notes and mapped it all out, while our husbands just laughed and shook their heads.

Late the following April, we gathered in Michigan at Mary Jane’s ready to start our adventure form Chicago to LA, one month to do it.

We packed our car, not the idolized Corvette which none of us had, but the more comfortable, moderate SUV, after all, we needed room for our favorite pillows.

On May 1st, set to go we said our goodbyes, Mary Jane turned left out of the driveway, the expressway was to the right, this provided much laughter for our husband for months to come.

Our plan was to start the trip at Michigan Avenue and Jackson Blvd in Chicago, head the car west and drive, but first a stop at “Hit The Road” store in Chicago, slighty north of the famous intersection. The store is loaded with Route 66 memorabilia, information and maps, especially the fascinating maps by Bob Waldmire.

I have decided to do a body of work about this trip, I won’t promise to stay in geographical order with the paintings, but it will be a great trip.

So come with me on Route 66……………

Monday, August 24, 2009

High Desert Back Road



5 x 10 oil on gessoed masonite board

Took a day trip yesterday and did this painting plein air
off the beaten path in Peeples Valley.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Blue Bottle



6 x 6 oil on linen on panel

The last of the series of glass bottles.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Green Bottle


6 x 6 oil on linen on panel

This is the second in a series of three or four bottles
that I am working on.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Red Bottle


6 x 6 oil on linen on masonite board.

After doing this painting I now understand why Georgio Morandi
painted all his bottles opaque.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Sun Flower Garden

sold

30 x 36 oil on canvas

Sunday, August 16, 2009

First Light



4" x4" oil on gessoed masonite board

Friday, August 14, 2009

Red Hot Chili Pepper


4 x 6 oil on gessoed masonite panel

Del Bano Finished Master Copy

Finished the copy project today, it was such a wonderful learning experience. I had previously said that the orighingal was in the Prado, but later found out that is actually in the Sorolla Museum. One obervation and thought about his work is that I believe that the richness of color and the brightness of his paintings are a direct result of painting under the Mediteranean sun. I definately will do more master copies in the future, but for now back to daily painting.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Master Copy Part 2



The project is nearing completion and it has been both tedious and rewarding. I hand ground my pigments in order to have the best possible control over the strength of the colors. Mixing the colors to achieve the colors of the painting was very painstaking, but as a result I have added many beautiful colors and hues to my pallette, which alone has made this all worth while. I worked from a high resolution image that I found at the Art Renewal Center which was helpful in getting colors similar to the original, but matching the subtle hues was painstaking. By zooming in on the reproduction I was able to work on small areas of the painting as well as study the brush strokes used by Sorolla, which I also attempted to copy. I should complete the painting in the next day or so and will post the finished result, if anyone has questions about the process, please feel free to contact me.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Master Copy in Progress

I have fallen a bit behind on my painting a day, I finished the large sunflower commission and than started another large painting. I have become very interested in and excited by the works of Joaquin Sorolla. The wonderful lightness of his paintings and the subtle changes within the colors is amazing. I decided to do a copy of his painting "Del Bano," in about half the original size of 70x44. I have undertaken this project in hopes of learning more about color range and to expand my own pallette by trying to achieve the same colors and values as tha Sorolla used in his painting. I am using an internet copy of the original which hangs in the Prado in Madrid. I hope to one day see the original, but in the mean time I thank Sorrolla for his wonderful and beautiful works. I will update my progress in the next few days and share some of what I hope to learn from this undertaking.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

The Yellow Cliffs at Bartlet Lake


11 x 14 oil on gessoed board

This was done Saturday afternoon at Bartlet Lake. Finally had a break from the summer heat and was able to do some Plein Air painting.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Streets of San Francisco



9 x 12 oil on linen on board by Raymar

This painting was done from a photograph provided by Karin Jurick on her blog "Different Srokes from Different Folks," where artists are encouraged to paint or draw their own interpretations. I enjoyed doing this painting since it is similar to my series of charcoal drawings of San Francisco street scenes.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Iris #2

25 x 25 charcoal and color pencil on watercolor paper
the last from my floral drawing series

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Stargazer

25 x 25 charcoal and colored pencil on Reeves BFK
Another from my floral drawing series