Paintings are Set--A New One About to Begin

Today I finalized which pieces are going to be part of the show at the SAM Gallery. I'm happy with the choices the gallery director made and I'm anxiously waiting for July to roll around.

This weekend I'm planning to paint a piece that I've had in my mind for the past month. Lately I've been doing lots of commission work so it will be nice to paint something for my own enjoyment. It seems like I'm in a yellow phase right now. Earlier this year I went through an orange phase which for some strange reason isn't a color that I have painted with much. My palette seems to be heavily influenced by the northwest resulting in predominately blues, browns, greys, and green. I'll post a picture of the finished piece to get your thoughts.

Kindergarten Follow Up

First let me say that kindergarteners are awesome. Their imagination and enthusiasm is so contagious. Some of the great responses to art that I received were: "Art is about having fun", "I like to make messes, except when I have to clean it up", "I love the colors", "It's so fun to create".

What is apparent to me, is that I feel the exact same way as an adult that these five and six year olds do. Art is about having fun, making messes, color, and most of all, the enjoyment to create an idea.

We did bubble painting as our project. Each student had a straw and primary colors mixed with bubble solution. Some of the works were fantastic and they found so many different ways to use their straws. Many of them used them as sticks to splatter and drip the paint as well as to lightly blow bubbles. One little girl didn't like it so much since she used the straw to drink the paint. After a glass of water, she was back creating.

Kindergarten Class

Next week I get to teach my daughters kindergarten class about the joys of art and painting. One of the questions I plan to ask her class is what art means to them and what exactly is it. I'm curious to see what responses they come up with. I'll make sure to post some of the more colorful ones I hope to receive and if they can teach us adults a thing or two.

Japanese Performance Art

I came across this video on Youbube the other day and felt it was so creative and worth viewing

Site Changes

Back in college, I always seemed to over edit my papers; I probably spent more time editing than writing. Lately, I've been reviewing my website and feel it's time for an update. Intitially, I just wanted to change one page in my gallery section and make it simple, instead, I have decided to completely revamp it. Currently I'm in the process of making changes and I'm hoping to have it completed by the end of the month. At least that's my goal. I'd love to hear from you about features that you would like to see.

The Beauty of Oil Paint

A few weeks back I took a test called the Myers-Briggs. It assesses your personality traits by asking simple questions. After receiving the results, it was almost spot on with how I view myself. I won't go into details about the analysis, but one part that I found fascinating was that it told me I'm pressure prompted.

The beauty of oil paints is that they force you to get things done ahead of time. This is due to the long drying period they require; some paints take a month or so to dry to the touch, and because I use so much paint, at times even longer. Cadmiums are a perfect example. I bring this up, because I just completed my final piece for a show in late July and it's so nice knowing there won't be a last minute scramble.

Needless Pressure

The other day I was down at the sculpture park and came across a piece that really seemed to frustrate me. There was something about it that I didn't care for. It was the form of a rounded line. No it wasn't the Richard Serra whose "Wake" sculpture has rounded lines to some degree, but another piece that will remain nameless. For some reason I gravitate towards straight lines. The dilemma we artists go through each day and the little things we worry about never ceases to amaze me. I get worked up over straight and rounded lines.

Matthew Landkammer

I went to Davidson Galleries on the eastern edge of Pioneer Square to see Matthew Landkammer's new paintings. Matthew's colors are much softer than his earlier work and melts into the wall. The show "Holding on to Nothing" wraps up March 29th so I would move fast if you hope to see it.

Alan Ebnother

Over the past couple of weeks I've had some interesting dialogue with an artist in New Mexico whose work I really admire. Alan Ebnother has been using green as his constant companion for over 20 years and has rarely separated himself from this color.

Green happens to be one of my favorite colors, and being from the Northwest, I'm heavily influenced by our natural surroundings--green being one of the foremost colors in the area. Alan uses surface and texture in unusual ways. Keep up the good work Alan.

Throw Away Painting Could Fetch One Million

Be careful what you throw away. A Rufino Tamayo painting found lying in the trash could auction for more than a million. Story Here

Damien's Skull Sells for $100 Million

Well it wasn't if, but when someone would buy the diamond-encrusted platinum skull. Now someone has.Story Here

Debate Continues Over Discovered Pollocks

Nothing new or earth shattering about who painted the recently discovered Pollocks, but the debate continues. Hopefully we will find out one day if Pollock did in fact paint these. I've been following this story closely. Story Here

Thieves Make Daring Daylight Raid--Steal Four Paintings From French Musuem

Masked raiders have stolen four paintings in a daylight raid on an art gallery in Nice in the south of France. Story Here

Van Gogh Found Under Another Painting

BOSTON -- Art expert and historians in Boston and Amsterdam announced Friday that they have discovered a valuable lost work by the painter Vincent Van Gogh hidden under an existing canvas at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Story Here

Damaged Painting Caused by Kissing Bandit

A woman was arrested for kissing a Cy Twombly painting in France. Story Here