Music Scenes from 'Pennies and Markets'

Bongo Beat

Limehouse Blues - Swingtime at the Market

Take Five

New woodblocks for the show tomorrow night. I'd love to do more in this series of musicians. They are such a cool group of people to have as subject matter.... something about musicians - they have an undeniable swagger and charisma.

Tonight we'll be making lots of homemade cookies for the opening... if you're in Spokane, stop by the Ruby Slipper tomorrow from 5 - 8pm!

Mystery Travel

This man just arrived after a long journey. He got right out of his boat and walked onto the beach with his trunk. (just his boat is in the picture) As usual, it's unfinished... but am thinking it needs to be complete. Painted it from a vintage photograph from the late 19th century. Don't know if it's an American beach or ?? Love the mystery of old photographs... where did he come from and where was he going? They can be a bit creepy too - a la 'The Others'.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We are putting up our tree today by order of the 2 children who run this house :)

Two Ladies...

Here's a new painting started last week. I really like this one and hope it will 'paint itself' without too much ado. Went back to my old way of sketching with thinned paint (purple) as the under drawing. (have been using pencil and doing more detail... but I want to get away from all that detail and move towards a looser approach.)

I'm off to see if anything's on Masterpiece Theatre tonight! Happy Sunday.

Chapel Chairs

A new little drawing I did last night. My daughter fell asleep early (rarely happens!) so I was able to do some drawing and painting. Was so attracted to the 'crowd' of empty chairs... somber yet inviting. The bottom photo is the start of a picnic party painting. (8 x 10" very small for me so, it's a challenge.)

Feels so good to get back into a groove. It's hard to resume a routine though when reality has pushed you in a different direction. Just now starting to get to work after a summer and fall full of family and friends staying with us. Nothing like a quiet house to get the creative juices flowing again. :) Wonder why transitions are so difficult no matter how old you get?!

How do you get started again when you've hit a 'speed bump?'

Car Trouble

Here's a fun painting I've been working on - just putting the finishing touches on it. Love these old VW buses... they came in such bright colors. My ballet teacher drove a turquoise one :) Have a few more in the works I'll be sharing soon. What have you been working on? Happy Thursday!

Telephone Ladies

I have been doing several drawings from some old photographs of a group of women who were telephone operators. They may turn into paintings... but with the thick brush tip pen I used, I thought it best to keep their faces blank for now. Gave me an idea to do a series of work based on gossip and how it can seem harmless but turn into something more...
Have a great holiday weekend and soak up as much summer and sunshine you possibly can!! :)

Painting on Linen

Here's my first painting on linen. Wish I could say it is oil on linen but... my kids are usually mucking around in the studio when I'm there (in the daytime). I can't handle the mess of oil paint/solvent that a child has made and the damage it can cause to them and the house! Someday I'll get back to my oils!!

Anyway, I bought this Belgian linen in Victoria BC at a fabulous art store called Opus... they have a great selection. It felt like quite a splurge... especially when I was building and stretching the linen on the stretcher bars. (I build all my canvases, I consider it part of my process.)

This painting is unfinished but I'm getting closer. It's been through some radical changes and I'm ready to get back to it.

Tea

Tea, by Brenda. 28" x 38" acrylic on canvas

Here's a painting I did a few years back... it's one of my favorites. It sold right away and I did a small woodblock print of the image. I did a 'Tea' series of women having tea and they all sold,
I guess there are a few of us die hard tea drinkers out there! I should pick up where I left off and do some more, I've been wanting to do some larger paintings again.... it's just finding the time to actually finish them. (I have a few going in my studio that I need to finish - maybe with school starting again I might have the chance.)

Flower Market

Part of a larger painting I've been working on! I've got quite a ways to go, but it's like a good book.... I don't want to stop and I'll be sad when it's finished.

Fairy of Good Housework

Here is some punch embroidery I started a while back and I need to get back to it and finish! It's a fun way to embroider with DMC floss. You can buy kits but, I got bored with that and thought I'd just draw on a high thread count cotton. I think I'll just frame this or maybe make a pillow? Not sure yet!

Reading in Bed

This painting I did after beautiful piece by Deborah DeWitt Marchant, one of my favorite painters. I just did it for myself. (There's a link to her site in my link list.) It's acrylic on canvas... with high solid gel - glossy by Golden. That gel makes it much like a thicker oil painting.

Oregon Winter

Oregon Winter, acrylic on canvas. 30 x 40 in.

Here is a painting I did a few years ago of my husband and son who was about 1 1/2 years old. We were visiting Portland in January and went to one of our favorite parks in Lake Oswego - George Rodgers Park. It's right on the river and has beautiful views and an old brick smelter with a Gothic arch. I used to have drawing and watercolor class there in the springtime - I have such great memories of that place. Now I need to do some with my little girl who is now about the same age.

Pillow Fight

Pillow Fight acrylic on canvas

Here is a painting that hangs above my daughter's crib. I had done it from a photograph of some friend's kids I took several years ago. When I was asked to do a show at a local coffee house a few years back I scrambled to prepare. Wanting to add a few smaller pieces to the show, I painted 2 small ones and 2 large ones 'on the fly'. Shortly before the artist's reception, I discovered I was pregnant with my daughter... this painting ended up being perfect above her crib. It looks as though the girls are 'playing' with the baby in the crib - which was never my intention while painting it. Funny how fate works!

Barefoot Friends

Woodblock print 8 x 10 in.

Here's another new print for spring. It is also done from a painting I did years ago in art school, a favorite. I'd never sell the painting so making a print is a nice way to share it without really "parting with it". :)

Walking Home - Sausalito Ladies

Here's a larger woodblock print recently completed for the spring show. I did it from a painting from a few years back. It was just getting dark and these ladies were walking home in the damp, foggy evening, the Bay bridge off in the foggy distance...

Let Me In

Detail of a new woodblock print, hand colored.

Relief Crayon Rubbing

Barefoot Friends Woodcut

Here is a preliminary rubbing I achieved with my son's art supplies. I use his 'big paper' (newsprint) and an unwrapped crayon to rub my woodcut and see how it's

looking. (the newsprint works better than the computer paper I've been using). This is a great way to check it at the table before even doing a test print. Since we all have head colds, printing the other day did not happen - but I'm shooting for sometime this week!

In his Garden

Here is part of a large painting I did a few years ago. Still carving and will test print 3 new images this afternoon if baby will nap while the other child is at school!

Steamer Trunk and Traveller

Acrylic on wood 12 x 16 in.

Started this yesterday, still working on the sand among other things... Have you seen the Georges Seurat sketchbooks at the MOMA? Paris Breakfast.blogspot has a nice and easy link... you can view and turn the pages in 4 of his sketchbooks - it's worth a peek!

Jewel Box Painting

Here is one of several jewelry boxes I will be painting for an upcoming show. I used my favorite Venetian Red Gesso (from Daniel Smith). I love a change, painting on a dark background as opposed to white gesso... it makes the skin "pop". This is just the beginning of this painting... there will be borders, backgrounds - stay tuned.