Life

A mural commission for a cancer hospital. The request is for a tree of life, using gold leaf and these are details of the beginnings. I am trying to imagine being a patient, signing in at the front desk where this will be hung, and what would I want to see? Probably not this bear who ended up looking so wise but so sad. I'll try to cheer her up. Maybe I can make her look wise and happy. There are tricks to change facial expression like lowering her eyebrows and raising her cheeks to scrunch her eyes shut a little, which happens when we smile. She looks sad because her eyes are too open.

Should I cram as much life as possible into a crazy rococo cornucopia? This image will have to be structured and quietened for it to bring solace to anyone. Somewhere between the mania of this riot and the introspection of the solitary bear detail I hope to find a life affirming image. I have a lot more work to do. 

Cherry Tomatoes on the Roof Deck

I have signed up for the 30 Day Art Challenge here in Seattle. I have 30 8x10 canvas boards and am supposed to deliver 30 pieces of art at the end of the month. There will be an exhibition at the Toshiro Kaplan building in early December. Normally the "painting a day" concept isn't right for me as I prefer to take care and time to make a piece of art. But I am experimenting with more spontaneous media like pen and ink to see what happens. It suits painting en plein air too, which these were. I squeezed the last drops of summer sunshine out of the day on the studio roof deck yesterday - and today the rains have begun.

Cloudy Day on the Farm

I'm not sure what crop is under the white fabric. I'm guessing that it is being protected from bugs.

Mixed Farming

From left to right there is red lettuce, baby green lettuce, French chard, rainbow chard and kale.

Mixed agriculture is very decorative. But of course it is beneficial for the environment  - important for bees and in the natural control of pests and soil management. I just watched "Queen of the Sun" - a documentary about the state of bees around the world. The aerial footage of 600,000 acres of monoculture almond farms in California were sickening. Bees are shipped in from far and wide in blossom season and then shipped out again. They cannot survive after the blossoms die since there is nothing else to eat. It's really a wasteland. I don't feel very good about buying almonds any more.

Poplar trees were planted by long ago farmers as wind breaks and are usually found in rows. This one is missing its partners.

Old Giants

A sunny morning at Local Roots Farm. The giant stump was shaded by its neighboring tree. The plowed field and hills in the background were in bright sun. By the time I finished this painting the sun had reached around to light the stump. My friend Tina brought me a picnic lunch and took these pictures of me for scale. 

I am standing upright in this picture. The grasses were six feet tall. And the blackberries were scratchy. Yes, I'm a tree hugger.

Hives at Local Roots Farm

Local Roots Pen and Ink

A pen and ink of Local Roots Farm in the Snoqualmie Valley - very much inspired by Van Gogh's drawings - even the dots in the sky.

History on the Farm

One of the most striking things about Local Roots Farm is the row of huge trees in the middle of the fields. They are the stumps of giant cedars, cut maybe a century ago, from which maples are growing. It's an extraordinary sight. I'm heading back to the farm today, though the farmers will be here in the city at my local farmers market! We're trading places.

You can see the notches cut into the cedar by the loggers so they could insert springboards to stand on. The picture below dates from the early 1900s. I found it in a history of the trees of West Vancouver, written by my Mum! (West Vancouver: A View Through the Trees)

Discovering Local Roots

Two kinds of kale at Local Roots Farm in Duvall, WA. I am still experimenting with brushstrokes for these little plein air paintings. I love Van Gogh's staccato dashes but I haven't found a plein air style that really suits me yet. 

Painting in a farm field with the warm sun occasionally bursting out of the clouds was, as always, one of the most peaceful and glorious things I can think of.  

More Tomatoes

My audio book yesterday was about Picasso. So I'm trying to paint with swagger. It feels a little disrespectful to paint the tomatoes but not the leaves. There is something uncomfortably egotistical and brutal about abstracting so much from nature as my work is usually about the gentleness of the world. But it turned out to be quite a jolly little painting. (It measures 9x12 inches)

It was painted on the roof deck of my studio in the warm sun with the sea sparkling in the distance - almost like the South of France. Next I'll be wearing a striped fisherman's shirt and being cruel to all my mistresses. 

It was a very good tomato day. My friend Sandra brought over these tomatoes. The salmon bowl was made by another friend - Tina. How delicious to have friends who make and grow beautiful things.

Have You Seen This Chipmunk?

A couple of months ago this chipmunk was kidnapped from an exhibition on Bainbridge Island. I'm posting this sad news in case its new owner is reading this and can return it to me. No questions will be asked. You could simply drop it off in the place you took it. Come home little chipmunk.

Tomatoes

 A plein air study of the tomato plant on my roof deck. 

Picasso - as wonderful as usual. He had more red to work with than I do since all my tomatoes are still green. 

I just read "Tomatoland" by Barry Estabrook about the tomato industry in Florida. He has an article here about tracing the original wild tomato in the Chilean desert.

September Garden

A Cardoon Artichoke.

A Zinnia.

An Echinacea.

A Sea Creature. I mean a Zinnia.

Ballard Pediatrics

I have just finished a painting for Ballard Pediatrics to commemorate the retirement of Dr. Telzrow. The painting is a landscape of Ballard and includes the pets and animals of the staff at the clinic.

Here are the dogs and cats who live with the staff. The painting is in the waiting room so I think the kids will enjoy looking at all these characters.



The painting measures twelve feet wide.

I love the backs of sunflowers.

The painting shows things that are special to Dr. Telzrow. The children's book "Make Way for Ducklings" and his Scottie dog. His fishing boat and favorite lunch restaurant are also included.

Harvest Fair

I spent Saturday at Seattle Tilth's Harvest Fair. What a glorious day of colorful vegetables, music, children and sunshine. Many farmers in this area are conscious of 'salmon safe' farming practices. I have painted Full Circle Farm and Oxbow Farm's conserved wet lands and will do some more this month. Here in Seattle we can even buy 'salmon safe' chicken eggs. 

Human carrots (organic of course) led the children's parade past my booth.

 Here I am manning (womanning) my painting booth. The tent was lent to me by artist Lisa Lamoreaux. Thanks Lisa!

Last week I spent some time with the teens at Seattle Tilth Youth Garden Works teaching botanical illustration on their urban farm. We painted veggies from the farm while we were sitting outside in the field. Such a beautiful day with such amazing young artists. I loved it.

One of the students from the painting workshop showing his friend's work at their harvest fair veggie stand. These paintings are destined to the be row markers at the farm. I wish we had had time to paint the writing as well. ( I borrowed this photo from Seattle Tilth's Facebook page. )

Happy Labor Day

My friend Johanna posing for scale in front of one of the Coit Tower murals in San Fransisco. I have just finished reading "American Made" by Nick Taylor about the New Deal and WPA during the depression in the 1930s. How amazing to have government employ artists! And what beautiful work they did. 

This is Coit Tower again.

This one is by Henry Bernstein for the East Lansing, Michigan post office. 

I like the very modern style of this one by Paul Julian but the sexy romanticization is odd. The clothing is surprisingly twenty-first century looking. It is in the post office in Fullerton, California.

Bees in My Garden

I loved the warm late summer sun yesterday and so did the bees in on my sedum plants. I feel a bee painting coming on.

 

I can't think about bees and art without remembering the Barberini bees in Rome.

I love these four legged Medieval bees from the Barberini Exultet Roll,  (Vatican City),  The Praise of the Bees

My friend Johanna and I had fun visiting Rob Keller and his bees (and Bob Dylan) in Napa last month.