November, Insects, Animals, Environment and Flowers Series

Grasshopper and Orchid

acrylic on paper, 5" x 7", 2013

This is a study for a series that I am working on with animals/insects and their environments.  I am painting the natural settings where the animals thrive and love to live, trying to recreate what our earth was meant to be and not how we have manipulated it to suit our needs. 

Traffic Doodles

Kenter, Imagine no Traffic

Bundy, Ahh, the Exhaust

These sketches were completed over the course of several days.  I sat in traffic in the exact same spot for a minimum of ten minutes - sometimes as long as 25 minutes - watching the lights turn many times without moving an inch, just creeping along Sunset Boulevard after teaching at one of my schools during Summer Art Camp.  I love the freshness of the sketches, maybe the only good thing about L.A. traffic. 

Ocean Views

Jelly Fish (study)

10" x 10" acrylic on board

Painting on wood panels or gessobords enables me to work fluidly.  I do not care for the 'punch' of the canvas nor the texture.  Many of my artworks that are not for commission are layered with textures similar to this painting.  I start with a loose drawing using conte crayon and work in thin layers using brushes, towels, and plastic bags.  The affect is ethereal and somewhat abstract.  I had so much fun combining a somewhat realistic image of a jelly fish - inspired by a succulent plant on my studio wall, with texture that resembles water.  I would like to utilize this fluidity in some of my pet portraits.  

Floating Chrysanthemum is now . . . Underwater Bag and Blossom

Underwater Bag and Blossom, 16" x 20" acylic on gessobord, June 2013

The Floating Chrysanthemum painting wasn't complete after taking another look weeks after my post on March 31.   I knew it needed a shift to further push the sense of floating, water and the light rays penetrating the space.  I repainted shapes of the shipwreck and sea creatures that I had previously covered and subdued the nearly dead centered flower.  This image is much closer to my original vision.
It is part of a current series called, "MANY, MOST, NOT ENOUGH"

Sunny and Star in the Truck

5" x 7"

acrylic on panel

These two friends are some of my favorite models.  They love to play on the beach and ride in their parents' truck to go anywhere!  We first met Sunny and Star in South Dakota when visiting Jordan and Gail at the end of our hiking and hoping trip.  Now, they call the coast of Oregon home.

to see more custom pet portraits, visit my site

www.kittypuppytown.com

Ballona Creek Wetlands

Ballona Creek Wetlands, Winter 2013, acrylic on board  5" x 5"

Ballona Creek is within walking distance to my home in Playa Del Rey.  It is a stunning oasis just before you get to the Pacific Ocean from the major thoroughfares of South Los Angeles. I painted this after a long walk with Jack along one of its shores.

New Paintings, Inspiration: JAPAN

Swimming Cranes, acrylic on gessobord, 16" x 20"

I continue to be inspired by origami, to practice perspective and form in space.  I especially love the origami crane, symbolizing peace.  Here, the cranes are swimming and flying and floating and playing in a beautiful blue, tranquil paradise.  

Floating Chyrsanthemum, acrylic on gessobord, 16" x 20"

Flowers are always a particular challenge.  I started drawing the chrysanthemum during my drawing a day years.  I particularly like the idea of something floating without string, without helium - like a feather in the breeze.  Here, the chrysanthemum floats in a beautiful sea, just above an abandoned boat and among sea life.  I think it symbolizes hope for the Earth.