New, and sorta new

Pugliacci had his debut last November, and is now resting on the molding in my living room with other paintings from past shows. He is very pathetic, isn't he?


"Spell", a new mixed media tryptic is currently up at Halogen through June, (they share the same wall with the Roq LaRue, no big deal):)


Paint paint fur, all day long, paint paint fur while I sing this song...

A few things I have been occupying myself with...

The knitting has slowed down a bit now that it is warm outside, but I am pretty consistent with the making of the hats and the limb-warmers in the winter.


Lewis at Gasworks, he is one of my favorite subjects when I pretend to be a photographer.


Poor squirrel, he was a fresh one. He looked like he was sleeping.

Seattle's Hidden Gem

The Arboretum is my favorite wandering spot in the city. There are thousands of species of plants here, from all over the world. Spring time is euphoric.

Tunnel on the path.


Japanese Garden.


Cherry blossoms.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Formally known as the "Denver Natural History Museum."
This South Denver museum was a field trip destination in elementary school, and I haven't visited for over a decade. I remember my 4th grade class had a sleepover night at the museum and we laid out our sleeping bags in these rooms with the dioramas. It was the BEST field trip EVER. Except for that annoying kid coughing and keeping everyone up all night.

I wish there was a display like this in Seattle, I can view the animals from all angles and could spend days here!


.dork.

Grandpa's Basement

Oh, boy did I encounter the find of a lifetime on my last visit home to Colorado! My grandma guided me through a few things in her basement, a wind up clock, old letters and a box of mixed letterpress type belonging to my grandpa, Kermitt Patton. I averted my eyes to a corner of the basement and pointed at an old cabinet with many drawers..."What is that....?"
To my astonished delight I opened a drawer to find it packed with wooden type. Nineteen of them are still waiting for me in Colorado, but I had my mom mail one drawer to me so I could print with it right away. There is no complete font, and they are all lacking many vowels, such as the much used "E", but I still wish to make a collage of letters to spell words.

Capitol Hill Watercolor Society

Some friends and I got together to paint and watch/listen to movies at Suzy's house. She has the perfect place to gather and they are such good company. I hope to remember to bring my good camera friend along next time, I'd like to have a document of other artwork at the "secret and highly classified meetings."
I painted up this girl with a portrait in mind, alas it came out totally different than I was intending. I accidentally gave her my little pony eyes! Yeesh. I hope I combated it by adding brighter colors to unify things.

Spring is coming

My pale skin needs a little vitamin D!

Look what the cat dragged in

I rescued him just before my cat unleashed the wrath of chomping and spitting out. He was a lively one!

Linoleum block printing

Lino cuts are a great side project for me to work on, because they demand my attention to detail using a different technique, and the carving provides a nice stress management exercise.


A few tools, one day I will indulge in a small press...




I use Oil Relief ink and would prefer to use a soft brayer, but I unfortunately I bought the hard one, so it does not press ink on the block as evenly as I would like. I mixed a bit of oil medium to thin the ink as an experiment. The ink turned out to be too thin and seeped into the tiny cracks resulting in lost detail on the print. If any medium is added to thin the ink, I will only use a very small amount. I want the ink to be tackier next time.



I spread them out by the window to get a little air, they will be wet for days. I used Rives lightweight for this type of printing because it is thin and strong. I need a thin paper to press the ink with a baren by hand.
And the apartment reeks of turpentine afterwards. Mmmm mmm mmm! Much apologies to my roomie.

Misery, Love, Company practice

I go to the practice room about once a month to catch up with the guys in Misery, Love, Company--a Seattle-based jazz/psych/rock band. They are great friends and amazing musicians. I like to draw while they play so I sketched them in action. Kohen on drums, Banjo on bass, Josh on keys and Nelson on trombone. I have acquired many sketches and a dwindling sense of hearing at these sessions.

Teeth

I started this painting at home and was pretty excited to paint with oils again. I love the smell of linseed oil and although the mineral spirits make my head spin a bit, I wont be going back to acrylics any time soon. I love the brushing quality and open time of oils.

I covered reeves bfk with yellow ochre gesso and started transferring my original sketch from my moleskine to the paper.


First layers, I feel like painting skin first in most paintings


Hour 2




This is about done, I dont have an image of the final painting yet, (mostly due to the fact that the painting is not complete :) but I need to pay more attention to the fur on the cat and the clothing and such.

Catching Up

I have been away for a while, its true. But I have recently started taking photos of my watercolor paintings in progress. Step by step this is how its done...

1 Hour (after sketches and graphite transfer to watercolor paper)


Hour 2


Hour 3


Hour 4

"Art in the Garden" at the Ballard pea patch

Saturday gave us great weather and hundreds of local Ballardites at the Art in the Garden festival. I love this pea patch, and when I was offered to show my paintings at one of the booths, I was happy to pack my things up and relax in a local garden all day. My art fit right in, featuring dancing insects, twisted trees and intricate garden scenes.



I worked on several paintings throughout the day, this one is a color study of a larger watercolor piece I will be developing.

Knitting Nettle Weevil

Watercolor, 6x10"
I am grateful for flickr and its endless supply of macro insect photos. The weevil is a silly little gonzo-like insect that was a destructive force on cotton fields during the great depression. So, this particular "Nettle Weevil" has claimed knitting yarn from a spider's web for a new scarf to show he is fearless of all creatures.

Music Endeavours

CD cover painted for Seattle-based band White Helicopter http://www.whitehelicopter/myspace.com
Watercolor and calligraphy pen

Pod of Narwhals

The final design for "Unity Anarchy" scooter group from Seattle WA. I opted for an all black and white logo to help save money on the sticker production, so I focused more on developing the line work to make up for color.
The Narwhals are a symbol of strength and and akward stamina, ...like a group of scooters :)

Morning memories

I did this for a painting contest at work, the idea came from a dream (so typical, right?, but I must say much inspiration comes from colorful dreams). We have 3 watercolors we must include in our entries: Bismuth Vanadate Yellow, Quinacridone Pink and SB Turquoise. My entire pallete had only these colors (but I did cheat on the opaque white cherry blossoms and a touch of dark green in the left corner. :)

Seed

Illustration Friday "Seed"
My little cyclops furballs make another appearance in this piece. I saw the suggestion for seed on IF and thought a plant drawing would be such an easy task, I took it a bit further, and rather liked the results.

Working space

Today I will demonstrate the innerworkings of a productivity...

Messy desk


Clean desk


Wish I could snap my fingers to make this happen!

Artwalk

May was just slightly too cool to set up my "booth" at the Pioneer Square artwalk. It was the first artwalk I participated in this year, I'll be out in June and July too. Gotta take the day of work and get there early, or else I wont find a spot to set up, but it does make it easier to have blankets instead of a tent.