Showing posts with label Depot Cafe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Depot Cafe. Show all posts

In the Studio Today... Fall Art shows,
Portrait Painting & More...

Thursday, September 17, 2009
My show "Cycling through Landscapes" is still up in Mill Valley for the next 2 weeks, so be sure to get by if you visit the Depot Cafe. This is also the weekend of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, and I hope to get some foot traffic at my own show through this time. I was very fortunate to be chosen for the Mill Valley Arts Commission's poster advertisement for the "First Tuesday Artwalk" in September. They included me on the front of the gallery guide for the month of September as well. This was a great honor for me(see photos, above). The "Art on the Farm" group has several Fall shows coming up, and I will be at the Pt. Reyes Vineyard show in October.

Now is the time to give me a shout if you are interested in a commissioned portrait to be ready for the Holidays! I have limited calendar space for one more family portrait, or a few individual portraits before the end of the year. I am currently working this month on a family portrait commission. The end result is to be a surprise Birthday gift for one of the family members, so I can not post the work in progress here, but it is coming along. I am looking to do more commissioned portraits, pets, and have a couple of ballerina paintings in the cue. These types of works help when the economy is slower and there have been less immediate sales of other my other paintings. This is across the board for artists in my community; there has been a definite slow down in spending on art, which is really tough for artists who rely soley on their art for income. We need more grants and arts funding, and yet there are less of those opportunities at this time too.

Plein Air... Mill Valley Paint Off 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009
"Saturday afternoon on Miller & Throckmorton", 16" x 20", o/c.
Final painting. Started at the Mill Valley Paint Off, 2009, completed in studio.

This is my painting from the Mill Valley Paint Out, 2009... after a second day in the studio. I had originally wanted to paint the scene with the street signs for "Miller" and "Throckmorton", as well as add the lip of the red awning from the Depot Cafe as a repoussoir element. I also added a woman driving a classic mint green convertible in the background, as well as the Cici Gelato bike. Cici sponsored the paint off this year, and sold gelato from Lytton Square during the judging of paintings, and I managed to capture a few shots of the bike and rider, leaving the Depot in his new, burgundy red clogs that matched the bike. I decided to go with the quirkiness that this paint off result produced, and include as many people and bikes as possible. It has a feeling of being a fun, friendly illustration, rather than a work of realism. Below is a detail of the Cici Gelato man and bike.DETAIL: Cici Gelato Bike from "Saturday afternoon in Mill Valley", 16" x 20", o/c.

Saturday, July 25, 2009
Models, beside "Miller and Throckmorton Saturday";
16" x 20", o/c.
(Click image to enlarge).
The man and dog standing beside my painting showed up about 10 minutes before the end of the paint out, so I asked him to stand by the clock tower, and I painted him and his dog into the scene. It was fun. Most of the people always paint the red awnings of the Depot Cafe, and the last painting here, by Scott Grabowski, won first place and the people's choice award. Mill Valley just loves those awnings.


Above: 1st Place Award to Scott Grabowski

Pam Gould, of "More Marin", the blog... also visited the event and wrote us up on her blog! Here is the first press I know of about the event: (Mouse over the images to read the artist's names)
"Paint Off in Mill Valley draws enthusastic crowd"

In the Studio Today... La Coppa Coffee; Day 2

Friday, July 24, 2009
"Ride to the Roasters 2".
La Coppa Coffee, Downtown Mill Valley, California. 16" x 20".

Painting in progress. Will feature 4 bikes in painting. See my previous post on this painting, here.