"Takin' my Time"

I have not gotten around to painting anything new lately, so here is a painting from a quite a few years back.

I realize that I kind of disappeared for a few months, and here is why….A few years after graduating in 2003 with my degree in fine art I decided to go back to school and work toward another goal - to become a doctor. I have recently been involved in the application process for admission, and have flown to three different states for interviews. A few weeks ago I was accepted to a medical school in the Midwest and will be moving there in July with my family.

What does this mean about my art? This part I am not sure about. I am still trying to get new work for a few shows I will be involved with this spring, but when med school starts I don’t know how much I will be able to produce. Certainly ‘the man who chases two rabbits catches neither’ applies here. I imagine it is quite possible to still paint small paintings while still in school, but it is also possible that new work may not surface much. My friend Lane Bennion actually went to medical school as well to get his degree in medical illustration and he had time to paint while there. So, I guess we will see.

Thank you to everyone who has given me support and followed my work! Art will always be a big part of my life, but it may have to go into hibernation for a bit.

So, that is what has kept me out of the studio, and I hope to get in there again soon.

"Plum Stack"

click to bid
I love painting plums. I love their blueish tint they have until it is rubbed off.
Salt.

"Compliments"

I have a group show coming up and this is a piece for it. This painting is a bit larger (12"x11") than I have done in a while, but it was a lot of fun. The crazy thing is this painting only took me slightly longer than my little ones. I can't think of a title for this one (working is not the title), any suggestions?

"Tomato Distortion" - SOLD

I really love how glass distorts stuff behind it. This painting was going to go in a different direction, and then I just placed this bottle in front, and whammo, I had to leave it. I love distortion...did I say that already?
Well folks, in an effort to sell some of the paintings on my eBay store, I have marked all store paintings as free shipping (not including the regular auction paintings). I think I will leave them with the free shipping for one week. Thank you all!

"Sunbathers"

"Lookin' Up"

I know that fraud has been around for a while, but someone just tried to scam me. I had a person claim to be interested in a painting, and wanted to send me a check for it. She also told me stories of how she was hospitalized and after a close call with a miscarriage, in an effort to make me sympathize with her. Similar stories can be found here and here. In fact if you ever think you are being scammed just highlight parts of the email and do a google search, these guys often use the exact same lines in their emails. She finally sent me a check for $2000. I then realized it was a scam and stopped communication with them. If I had put the check in the bank, they would have later told me they had paid me too much and would like me to pay them back the difference. They would have got my money, and soon after the check I received from them would have bounced.

These guys are bad news. So, those of you who sale your work, be careful. ;)

"Drinking"

I actually finished this one late last night. I wiped down the first one and then after a bit of rearranging, and adding, I finally got this one done well past bedtime. And, although I am tired today I think this one turned out okay. : )

"Reaching"

I saw some great paintings over my trip. One artist (I don't remember the name) used a lot of black, and it got me excited to try this painting.

"Peaches"

I will be out of town for a few days. My wife and I are celebrating 10 years together. The congratulations definitely goes to her for putting up with me for so long. : )

Love you Monica!

"Lonely Apple"

"Green and White" - SOLD

"Stacked" - SOLD

I wasn't sure if I had used this title before. It's all starting to become a blur. Fun little painting.

Doug Braithwaite has started a new blog, and I am very excited about it. He is definitely an artist worth watching.

"Lounging" - SOLD

These guys have definitely gotten a bit soft. You can tell they have lost some of their roundness. But actually they have more character this way. Just lounging around.

"Lookin' Round" - SOLD

Thanks for all the nice emails and comments lately.

This was a fun little painting, I have really liked painting that blue in the background lately. Anyway, I gotta go to sleep.

"Black Plums"

"Hillside"

I really love painting outdoors. Beside the wind, bugs, and hot sun, overall it is a great experience. It really forces us to make quick decisions, and I love being able to abstract what I see and put it down as paint marks. Both of these were fun to paint, and both done in the same location. The top ↑ one is looking North, and the bottom ↓ one is looking East.

"Developing"

This photo has a bit of glare on my downward strokes, so if you buy this painting I will throw in the glare with no additional cost.

"Stage Left" - SOLD

I think it's a bit too late to put this on eBay, so I will do that tomorrow. I am also going out of town tomorrow, and will be doing more landscapes.

"Three Against One"

I don't like the photo on this one, but I don't think it's going to get any better. It seem like I have always struggled with getting the best photo possible. I think shooting on my outside porch is the best, but the dark material on the left corner has more color than the photo is showing. Oh well. I think for the most part the painting colors are accurate.

"Plum and Glass"

I love the look of glass when it gets a little wavy. Painting it is really too much fun.

"Attack of the Ants"

Well I learned some valuable lessons today....
Don't spit sunflower shells where you are painting, and don't wear flipflops in the mountains (also while painting) - The ants will attack!

Jeanie Thorn recently contacted me and showed me some great frames she makes out of steel. The frames are really great and the best part is they fit my painting sizes perfectly. Check out her site, and DO check out her other work as well.

"Off the Front Porch" - SOLD

Landscapes are a lot of fun. They do have a time limit though, which forces us to make quicker decisions. I painted this off my in-laws front porch which has always had a great view.

"Yellow and Green"

I wish I had shown a little more of the third tomato, but oh well.

"Carnation"

Oh it is good to be back! I went to a funeral out of state and forgot to bring my paints. I really wanted to paint some landscapes while there, and I still want to start painting outdoors. But at the same time staying in the studio is much more comfortable, so I guess we will see if I can do it.

Also, I started an eBay store to sell some of my paintings still lingering in my studio, so check that out.

"Small Talk"

"Leaning" - SOLD

"Tilt"

"Finish Line"

"Breathing Room" - SOLD

I had fun painting this one. However, its always a frustration trying to get a perfect picture of these little guys. The picture never seems to get it just right. Well I guess every now and again it does. I just wish it was more often.

"Trapped"

"Sideways" - SOLD

I had two lights on this setup which is why there are two shadows on the pitcher. I thought it was kind of cool.

"Back Row" - SOLD

I put on a dark purple wash first, which really pushed its way through the painting. It was kind of difficult working with this dark of a wash, but it kind of unifies the painting in a way.

"Linked" - SOLD

I have been away too long. I actually wiped down the last two paintings. Ouch. But I am happy with this one.

"Blossom" - SOLD

Okay this one is the better picture. I hope the glass vase reads well enough. I looked at the painting this morning and I thought maybe I should have moved it slightly. The branch is off of our tree and the blossoms definitely show signs of spring.

"Guards"

This is the last time I will use these pears. They are getting rather soft and I saw two little fruit flies flying around my studio. I think this is the best of the three, I was able to work out a lot of issues by painting the same four object the last three paintings. I would definitely recommend repetition.

"Pot and Pears"

This had mostly indirect lighting, which is always a bit of a challenge but a lot of fun.

"Inclusion"

"Opening" - SOLD

I had to race time with the petals on this one. In fact every time I try to paint tulips they all tend to move a lot. When I brought these inside they were closed and with the heat and light in my studio they started opening. I actually put a different light on this one, hoping that it would slow down the change. This is about mid-point and actually once I finished they were completely open. So, I didn't get a great chance to go back into the petals, and just left them as they were. But...I'm still happy with this.

"Divas" - SOLD

I am excited to plant these. I actually need to build a few planter boxes before I can do that, so I figured they wanted to be painted while they wait.

"Jar with Water" - SOLD

"Tulips" - SOLD

Have you ever seen Harry Stooshinoffs work? It's Awsome.

"Red Mountain" - SOLD

Alright, I think this one turned out a bit better.

"Sketch"

This is generally what a painting of mine looks like after two or three unsuccessful attempts. I usually don't tend to post these works, but I thought some would appreciate this. Sometimes when I feel like I have completely forgotten how to paint I will just begin quickly throwing down paint. It actually helps me feel better afterward. And sometimes I actually like the end result.

"Looking West" - SOLD

Kind of a quick one. I was cold.

"Three" - SOLD

This is the last of the three commissions I was working on a few months ago. Glad to get it done... Oh man I gotta get moving.

"Climbing"

This month has been, and will be a bit slow. Sorry. I have had some sick kids this week. And, I will be going out of town soon.

I actually tried to do a landscape painting yesterday since the weather was looking a bit nicer. So I went up the canyon and set up. However, I did not last very long because it was bitter-cold. I got back in my car and realized that it was twenty degrees colder than in the valley. I think I will have to wait for a few more weeks.

"Two Hiding" - Donated

My apologies to my subscribers, I am not sure why some old posts have been email to all of you for the last two days. And since I don't know much about computers, lets just hope it fixes itself. Has anyone else had problems with this? Anyway...

I painted this one last night, and couldn't get a good picture till today. I tried my light box again, but just didn't like the result. I think the indirect light from the sun does the best job. So, there are three yellow tomatoes in this painting...can you see them?

"Tomatoes with Creamer" - SOLD

I have been using a cardboard box with all of the sides replaced with tissue paper as a light box for my photos. But, I was getting tired of some of the results. The color often looked drab in contrast to the real painting, so I have been looking for a new photo spot. I took this picture on my front porch, and I think the natural light captures the colors of the painting better. I think I have my new spot...I guess the downfall is I have to take the picture before the sun goes down.

"Pods" - SOLD

Hi all. Thanks for all the emails and comments lately, I very much appreciate them. Well, yesterday was a frustrating painting day, and I didn't end up getting one done. I am, however, happy with this one...But I might change the picture, the bottom of the painting is not as dark as this photo looks.

"Three More" - SOLD

I think it's kind of interesting how after a while our approach can feel a bit stale, and it's nice to try something new. Before two weeks ago I was throwing a lot of paint up fast, and not worrying too much (but enough) about where it landed. Then I would go into the painting and "fix" the placement of my objects. It's a fun way to paint, but it does have some limitations. I got to the point where I felt I was taking to much time fighting the painting back into place, and sometimes the drawing was compromised. However, lately I have been trying to be more deliberate about where I place each brush mark. I figure I have two chances to draw each object correctly, once on the edge of each object and once on the edge of whatever is behind. So, the new approach is to slow down a bit, and make each mark count.