The 40 & Under show is up at the Elliott Fouts Gallery and runs until September 3. If you’re in the Sacramento area, be sure to check it out. There are some great artists participating and I’m honored to be sharing the gallery space with them.

I’ve been trying to balance working in the studio and enjoying the summer. Every other week we’re out visiting family, going to weddings, the lake, the park or pool all day long… every year that’s a serious challenge for me as I’m always excited and anxious to keep things burning along on the easel. Breaks are needed of course, it’s the frequency that drives me a bit nuts.

It’s what’s inside that counts.
30″ x 24″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

This is the third piece of three that will be showing in the group show 40 & Under at the Elliott Fouts Gallery from August 7 – September 3, 2010.

I’ve had these gumball machines for years, sitting in the studio. Initially I bought only a small amount of gum because, well, it’s intimidating thinking of painting them full. It’s a small form of torture for my kids. Gumball machines high on a shelf, being told “you can’t eat dad’s work”. So the gum became stale and dusty.

Until I decided to paint this piece and I needed more gum to fill the small blue machine. I took the machines down from the shelf and since I now had a surplus of gum and a surplus of pennies, I let the kids at it. They kept returning to the studio, within minutes of their last purchase, to let me know that they either dropped their gum or it ran out of flavor. Or that they got two purple ones in a row and were hoping for an orange so, here we go again.

I will have three new paintings in the August group show at the Elliott Fouts Gallery. The show, entitled 40 & Under, is showcasing artists who are, well, either 40-years-old or younger. I’m really excited to have some paintings hanging in the show.

Below are two of the three, the third piece I’ll share a little closer to August.

Soda Pop Bottles
18″ x 14″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold (Collection of J.Crew)

Pencils, Crayons, & Pen
18″ x 14″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

I had a great time in California. The gallery hosts fantastic receptions with live music and friendly faces all around. The best part, as the artist, is to meet with people who collect your paintings. Cynthia, Michelle and Elliott at the Elliott Fouts Gallery are as thrilled with the results as I am, I’m sure. I really am fortunate to have had a successful first official solo exhibition.

But now my break is over and this morning I was back at it in the studio with headphones in place, paint squeezed out and daunting canvas staring me in the face.

Six Pieces of Luggage
20″ x 36″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

Bartlett Pear & Grapes
12″ x 24″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

I’m packing my bags and heading to Sacramento for the opening reception of my solo show. The reception is on Saturday, June 12 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm. If you cannot make it to the reception, you could always watch the action through a satellite view on Google Maps. 😉

I’m looking forward to my trip, seeing my paintings again after sending them off over the last several months, and checking out wine country on a sunny warm weekend.

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I started painting tricycles nearly a decade ago.

Very early on in my fine arts program there was a project where we had to select an object as an idea and work with it over and over, repeating the image in different styles, mediums and formats. A friend had a fantastic ancient tricycle and it just resonated with me. I painted it in a classic realist manner, but peeled away all the surrounding imagery and focused on the tricycle alone in a straight-forward visual language stuck with me and never left.

Tricycle XIV
36″ x 30″ — Oil/Canvas — 2009
• SOLD

Two Tricycles
20″ x 40″ — Oil/Canvas — 2009
• SOLD

What I love about books is their versatility. They offer and endless bounty of compositions for me to work with, and they have themes and symbolism in a wide variety of manners.

These Are Our Friends
12″ x 24″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• SOLD

Red Book
12″ x 24″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• SOLD

Stacks of Books & Espresso Cups
12″ x 24″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• SOLD

Origins & Apple
16″ x 16″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• SOLD

Vintage Research
20″ x 20″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• SOLD

Light Reading
48″ x 30″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• SOLD

Luggage, Chair & Shirt
28″ x 22″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• SOLD

Chair & Stacked Antique Books
24″ x 18″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

La Chaise Verte II
24″ x 18″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• Sold

Sometimes I sit and contemplate what I should say about my paintings. Sometimes that’s not the right approach. It’s good to just let the paintings do the talking themselves every now and then.

Remington Typewriter & Antique Books
20″ x 36″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• SOLD

Books, Paper, Pencil & Typewriter
20″ x 36″ — Oil/Canvas — 2010
• SOLD