Windy lane studio

Back to work

2012-01-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

I've been working mostly on commissions and other projects for the last few months and I finally have time for my personal work. I have a show coming up in April called Beyond Words so it's time to get to it! Hopefully I'll be off and running and will have lots of new updates in the coming weeks and months. I still have to brainstorm and come up with a game plan so for now I'm just trying to get some paint down. In theory I'd like to incorporate video, sculpture, ink and watercolor into the show but we'll see...

For now here's a small painting I just finished and one that I'm working on.

The Look, oil and wax on wood panel, 4 x 4 inches

painting in progress, oil and wax on wood panel, 20 x 20 inches

New Postcard Sets

2011-11-27T13:41:00.001-08:00

I've put together a set of 5 postcards from a selection of my paintings. They can be purchased from my Etsy shop or by an email request ($5.50 for 5 cards, $10 for 10 and $17 for 20). They're good for small framed prints or just sending a letter (like in the olden days). Here are some photos and a link to the posting.

New Studio in Jenner

2011-10-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

I've been in the new studio for just over a month now and it's fantastic. I still have to get a few things (mainly a door to separate the workshop from the main studio area so I don't coat everything in sawdust again) but it's very comfortable and funtional. I'm excited about the work I've been doing here and will be posting it soon but for now here are some images of the space and the view.

Leaving Windy Lane

2011-10-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

I left my studio on Windy Lane about a month and a half ago. I loved the space and was sad to leave as I worked hard putting it together and spent countless hours painting there. But as sad as I was to move, Clare and I found a place just up the coast in Jenner with detached studios for both of us. I have insulation in my studio now, old wood floors and a view of the Russian River and Pacific, I feel very lucky to be here. Since I can remember one of my biggest goals in life was to end up living and painting near the ocean and now I can hear the waves crashing while sitting at my easel.

Here are a few images from just before the move and some from after the space was cleared out.

A shot of inspiration and a painting in the works

2011-06-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

the title says it all...

Back to the easel, this time with wax

2011-06-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

I've been out of the studio for the past week or so and before that i was working on other projects and hadn't been painting much. yesterday i got back to it and used a cold wax medium for the first time. so far so good. it builds the texture and exposes the brush strokes nicely, i like it. more to come soon.


two finished


two unfinished

3 small paintings

2011-05-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches each.
no titles yet, just paintings.

Against the Gray Wall, continued...

2011-05-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

Against the Gray Wall

2011-05-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

I've been working on some new paintings for a show at The Cold Store in Norwich, England coming up in a few months. Here are a few. The individual paintings don't have names yet but the title for the group is Against the gray wall.

It was a little tough getting started since the pieces had to be small (for shipping purposes) and I've been mostly working on much larger paintings lately. After a while though the scale allowed me to loosen up and experiment a bit. Yesterday the paintings took on a slightly new approach and aesthetic, using more paint, broader strokes and less detail. It's not perfect yet but I'm excited about the direction, it leaves more room for interpretation and discovery.

One person in the works

2011-04-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

almost there... one more sitting and i think i'll have it.

Untitled and unfinished, 36 x 48 inches, oil on raised wood panel

Two places finished

2011-04-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Sunrise across the road, Sunset from the roof.

Bodega bay sunrise, 36 x 60 inches, Oil on raised wood panel

Bodega bay sunset, 36 x 60 inches, Oil on raised wood panel

Landscape in progress

2011-04-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

been working on a few new landscapes lately. one is finished. this one is not.

Moving paint forward

2011-03-10T18:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything in a while because i've been struggling with the ten or so unfinished paintings i'm working on right now. i keep starting paintings but can't figure out how to finish them. i feel like whatever the next step is that i take with my work will be a big one and i want all my current paintings to take that step together. it's felt as though i've been standing at a crossroads for some time now. there are a million ideas and directions floating around in my head (fighting would probably be a more accurate word though) and i've been having a hard time for some reason making sense of it all.

Today was a big step in the right direction. this painting feels like it's moving towards where i would like my work to go. both with color, composition and subject. it's not finished but i think i'm going to stick with all the major decisions. i'm not sure if it looks much different from other paintings of mine but to me it feels like it's worlds away for some reason.

36 x 48 inches, oil on wood panel

Two unfinished

2011-03-10T18:40:00.000-08:00

Back to class

2011-03-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

Clare and i went to a figure drawing class in sebastopol last night. first time i've drawn from a model in about 6 years (even longer for her), had a good time and the drawings came out alright. we'd arrived early so before the class started we walked around the corner and had a shot and a beer at a bar on main st which i'm sure helped with the drawings (and with tolerating the slightly out of place intense new age music that was playing! next time headphones will be worn). here are a few of my sketches.

end a long week

2011-02-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

New painting and it's process

2011-02-18T19:28:00.000-08:00

i'd like to write about this painting but i'm fried. it's been a long fractured week. it's cold. it's wet. birds are attacking our garden. i haven't eaten much of anything today and by now (7:23pm on a friday) i'm a little to drunk to focus on writing, as much as i want to. another time. for now, here is the painting i finished today along with a few process photos.

18 x 18 inches, oil on wood panel

The tar beneath the fog. completed

2011-02-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

i think it's finished.

The tar beneath the fog and painting table

The tar beneath the fog, 36 x 48 inches, oil on raised wood panel

a possible new direction

2011-02-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

last week i started experimenting with a new approach using fragments of multiple images to create a single portrait. the first try didn't work out but they're getting better now. these two i think i like so far, the male portrait is finished and the larger female is still in progress. the collage aspect allows for more discovery. to me, the fragments create an illusion of movement, as if it's a still image of various stages of motion.

i still have a few doubts but i'm going see where it goes, i think there's potential. it might lead somewhere completely different. any thoughts or observations would be appreciated.

24 x 26 inches, oil on wood panel

36 x 48 inches, oil on wood panel

the tar beneath the fog

2011-02-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

a few paintings i've been working on in a series called The tar beneath the fog. they started coming together today and now they feel like they belong in the same world.

the painting extended

2011-01-31T18:56:00.000-08:00

i wasn't happy with the cropping so i added and extra foot on top. here it is so far...

36 x 48 inches, oil on raised wood panel

new painting update

2011-01-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

36 x 36 (soon to be 36 x 48), oil on wood panel

new painting in progress

2011-01-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

two images of a painting i started yesterday.
just a few hours in so far but i think it's coming along alright, hopefully i won't ruin it.

36 x 36 inches, oil on wood

two new ink studys

2011-01-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

both 9 x 12 inches, ink on paper

Studio sunset

2011-01-20T17:15:00.000-08:00

here's a cell phone picture collage of the sunset a few days ago..

new work

2011-01-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

One or two might be finished... they were going well before the holidays and now i'm trying to regain
the momentum and get back on track. so far so good. a bit of coffee and whiskey should help.