More Mythological Work

This piece was finished just before the ProArts open house.
It is part of the continuing work on the reinterpretation of ancient mythologies.
This piece comes from the middle eastern ancient Mithraic tradition. The god Mithras fighting and slaying the bull of heaven. Mithras was a solar diety who became very popular in Ancient Rome as a patron god of the soldier. His origins were in Persia and appropriately the images have a kind of resonance for what we are doing to the planet and to each other every day.

More Family Paintings

I finished painting these two paintings almost simultaneously. I knew that the portrait of the "Flapper" was from a photo of my husband's grandmother. I didn't realize that the other photo I used was of the same grandmother as a little girl. I loved the way she was wearing the bow and the jewelry, very seriously involved in her presentation. I titled this "Bows and Beads". I love doing the paintings from old photos. Some are very blurry or faded and all are sepia or black and white. I have not had any hand colored photos, so I get to imagine the colors that would have been worn or in the background. I try and understand the period as well as the people involved and try to find a way to allow their spirits to flow through the art.

ProArts East Bay Open Studios Last Weekend

Photo: Barn Silo Altamont, NY

My Studio is opened on Saturday, June 14, from 11AM until 6PM. 1361 Berkeley Way, Berkeley. Number 48 on the ProArts Map. Check out the ProArts Website

Encaustic Painting difficult to Photograph

I have been trying to photograph my encaustic paintings with little success. The wax has a transluscent effect that give the pieces great depth but it is next to impossible to capture the feeling of the pieces. I think I have solved the problem with photoshop but I have to
re-photograph everything which will take a while. This piece was painted last fall. I think I finally have a photo that looks somewhat like the painting!
Come and see them in person during the East Bay Open Studios, June 7 & 14th 11AM to 6PM.

Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios

Check out the Pro Arts Website for more information about the up and coming Open Studios and related events in June.

Painting Experiments

Have been busy experimenting with a looser, more impressionistic look with thicker paint and no glazing. The still lifes have been more successful, the landscapes more challenging. I have revised a couple of older experiments.

A busy spring!

Things have been very busy, so no posts recently. I have been gearing up for the ProArts open studio in June and trying to enter some competitions, as well as take some classes in an effort to expand my horizons and my techniques. I have work in the Alameda On Camera 2008 Show in the Frank Bette Center, and will soon be moving over to Perforce Software Corporation in Alameda. It is only the second time I have exhibited straight photography. Well they are giclee prints on watercolor paper but they are still photography as opposed to Photobased artwork.