A Painting of a Gravel Pit

Sunset over Gravel Pit, © 2007, oil/canvas, 36 x 60"

I was thinking about this painting the other morning as I drove into work.
It's not in my current show (due to size constraints) but is certainly part of my Commute series
I painted it six years ago, during a two-week workshop entitled Painting's Edge, held at Idyllwild Arts. The program was sort of a mini MFA course created by Roland Reiss. There were nightly slide lectures with visiting artists and critics, and one-on-one critiques during the day. And we painted.

[see lots more Painting's Edge photos on my Flickr here]

This coming July, I'm going up to art camp in Idyllwild again. This time I'm taking a figurative painting class with Rebecca Campbell. She gave me some great advice when I met with her back in 07. A week of painting! Can't wait!

Meanwhile, almost 700 people came to our TAG reception last Saturday -- it was insane!

Elsie Sims, Elyse Wyman and I will be discussing our art with TAG director Laura Korman this coming Saturday at 5:30.
If you're in Santa Monica, please come join us!

From the Archives: Preserves Portraits, a Series for My Dad

This series of still lifes arose out of my need to honor my father, who passed away in March 1996.

Annually, my parents put up jams, storing them away all year and then distributing them at Christmas.
Dad was the force behind the whole process -- picking the berries, cooking up the sweetness, carefully sealing and labeling the jars.

I decided to paint portraits of the various flavors as I consumed them. The level of the jam goes down over the course of time, taking on more and more of a glow, and I have discovered that the jar is never completely empty.

The entire first set: Orange Marmalade
painted at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, March 1996

Happy Father's Day, all you dads!

I painted today

I won't try to explain WHAT I'm painting yet.
It's the fact that I did it.
And figured out a place to do it.
It's a start.