Midnight Teahouse -a plein air painting from Tustin

oil 12x12 FRAMED For a closer look and purchase info click here. Here's an honest story about being an artist: This piece was part of Old Town Tustin Art Walk and Plein Air Contest. I drove an hour to Tustin and spent several hours choosing my subject and waiting for sunset. I painted this on the street after dark wearing a headlamp. It was a ton of fun, but when I finished at about 10pm I realized that I was very cold and my bad neck muscles were in spasm. Two weeks of daily headache followed. Maybe an award from the judges will make my effort worth it. Nope. The last straw was very poor sales on Tustin Art Walk day. Thus, I had spent a lot of effort for nothing. All this to say that being an artist is not all fun and games. "That must be relaxing," I heard recently from a passer by while painting on the street. Well sometimes it is just plain hard work, disapointment and even self-doubt. No, not relaxing. Except that your mind is so engaged that you don't even know you're freezing or you have to pee until you sign the painting. Maybe you could say the focused mind is a diversion from the news and personal troubles, but no, not relaxing. What keeps me going? I love to paint. I love paint, color, light and shadow. There's paint in my blood. I know I was made to do this. Today I'll teach a children's class. This weekend I'll teach an Advanced Still Life workshop. I'm so excited about both!

Armstrong's Fountain

oil 16x12 inches (painting), framed. click for purchase information and zoom feature I loved this fountain the minute I found it in the courtyard at Armstrong's Nursery. The lion heads got me first, and then the sound of the water. The dappled light was appealing and challenging too. This is one of those pieces that invites your eye to wander rather than making a simple bold statement. Though I think it's well painted, it received no recognition in the plein air competition. Ah well...there's always next year. I'll just keep on painting.

The frame is wood, 2 1/4 inches wide, dark cherry.

Tustin Autumn SOLD

oil 9x12 inches, framed. Click to Purchase My painting submitted to the Tustin Plein Air Competition. It received an Honorable Mention. To be very honest, sales yesterday were dismal. There were a lot of nice comments on my work, but almost everyone kept their cash and credit cards in their wallets. After a day like that I get discouraged. I ask myself if I'm devoting myself to making things that nobody wants. Seriously. Life is short. I apologize to those who say "don't put anything negative on your blog." I think it's important to be honest about the struggles of being a painter and a human being. Think I'll take a few days off from painting.

Pacific Street Afternoon

oil on canvas panel 9x12 inches (image size)

gallery quality wood frame, warm brown/black with antique gold lip

click here to bid

On Saturday I made some adjustments to this painting while in my sales booth. Now signed and framed, it is for sale here.

Old Town Storefront -sold

The Tustin Art Walk on Saturday was fabulous! I entered the painting above in the Plein Air Contest. Old Town Flooring occupies this, one of the oldest buildings in Tustin. Though my painting didn't win any awards, I can't complain... it was purchased by Margaret from the flooring company. Thanks, Margaret!

You can see from the photo of the building the most interesting part (the front) was completely in shadow. I lightened things up a bit so I could play with the little bits of color in the windows and flag. On Friday I positioned myself behind a parked car where I could see my subject across Main Street. When the lunch hour traffic backed up in front of me, those Tustin people were so nice most of them left space so as not to block my view!

I met the nicest folks and had my highest sales ever. Thanks to Tustin Parks and Rec for all their hard work, and especially thank you to all who stopped by my booth to say hi!

Pacific St. Afternoon

oil on canvas panel 9x12 inches

The colors of this house on Pacific St. in Tustin caught my eye. I'm not usually a fan of peach and green, but the late afternoon sun gave the house a glow that I really liked. The dappled shadows were a challenge as always. I ended my painting session abruptly because I was cold (haven't been cold in a long time!) I hope to make a few minor changes while at my sales booth tomorrow. This one will be for sale there at the Tustin Art Walk.

Red Grapes Go Green SOLD- Old Town Tustin Art Walk

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

Today my Aunt and Uncle from Fayetteville, Ark. are coming to visit for the weekend. Yay! We have lots of family fun planned, but alas, no time to paint or post until maybe next Tuesday. Today I offer this grape painting from...wow...I guess it was August. What happened to September? Grapes are among my favorite subject for their subtle color shifts and translucency.

A heads up for those of you in Southern California: Next week I'll participate in the Tustin Plein Air Contest. I'll paint in Old Town Tustin Thurs. and Fri. and then be at the Art Walk on Sat. the 22nd with all my daily paintings. Hope you can come out and say hi! More information here.

Candy, Apple SOLD

oil on canvas panel 4x6 inches

This was my first painting on canvas this small. It was lots of fun, especially the candy corn coming in and out of shadow. The apple is a braeburn and it really was this bright red.

I have good news! The Tustin Art Walk and Plein Air Contest was a great event. Very well organized, and the visitors were plenty, nice and friendly. I sold a few paintings which is always helpful! The best news is I received a Third Place award for my painting "Warm Inside"!!! This is my first time competing with other plein air painters (35). On top of that, the painting was purchased on the spot! With the week of rain and all the excitement I neglected to take a good photo of the painting. (Go to my post on Oct. 20th to see the lousy photo!) I really enjoyed painting outside and hope to do much more of it in the future.