Another quick glimpse at one of the paintings I’ve been working on.
I’ve spent a great deal of time working on the shadows and highlights on this piece.
As with all my work, looking at it on your screen – a computer, a phone, an iPad – it’ll look far more tight than it does in the flesh. When standing in front of the actual painting you’ll see several think layers of paint.
Putting the finishing touches on this vintage 16mm Ampro film projector. This will be for my solo exhibition at the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles, which will feature a dozen new paintings starting on May 21, 2016.
I have a little over a month to finish up the work, so I came up for a quick breath and then I’m heading back down to focus on finishing the paintings.
Above is an early evening view of the easel as I shut down after a long day of working with tiny brushes on the details of these vintage cameras. I like seeing the paintings in different light, I grabbed my iPhone and took this quick snap as the light faded.
For over a month now I’ve been flowing along in the studio, working on numerous paintings that will be heading to the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles for an exhibition running from May 21 – June 25, 2016.
The paintings I’ve been working on are complex and full of details, so all my focus and energy has been on the paintings. By the time I’m done a painting session I find myself a bit mentally exhausted. Retreating from social media is important when I’m focussing on painting. There seems to be this pervasive pressure to constantly share what one is up to in the studio, but honestly, I find it easier to just rest instead of coming up with something put on Facebook or Instagram.
These colourful vintage alarm clocks – I can’t seem to get enough of them. I could paint them over and over. These will be showing at my October/November 2015 exhibition in New York City.
Five, already belongs to a collector, but there are limited edition archival prints available at the George Billis Gallery — click here for details.
Four — a tidy arrangement with an even tempo and rhythm, also available as a print.
Dream Days, a little alarm clock with brass bells sits on a small stack of books, all on blue.
I started painting these clock and book compositions a few years ago. I find the combination to have a calming effect. The shapes are so simple and recognisable. They have an orderliness about them that speaks to me. Read more
I have several recent paintings showing at the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles from January 10 through February 14, 2015.
I find it remarkable that I was able to make any new work at all, considering how insane the last 8 months of my life has been.
It all started when we prepared our house for sale. We decided we were going to move 1,000 miles to a warmer climate. It’s no small undertaking to downsize your belongings after a decade of life in a house. With kids. While you’re still trying to make paintings. But we did it. We sold our house in a mere 3 days and then had to prepare to move. Another massive undertaking with more downsizing.
We hunted for a home, under the impression that we’d simply sell our beloved home and find its equivalent 1,000 miles away in a city we knew little about. Instead we ended up hunting for a suitable place to rent. Finding a place to rent wasn’t as hard as we thought and renting meant we could learn about our new city, make friends, relax and casually look for a home to call our own.
It didn’t happen that smoothly. Although the house we rented was great, the other tenant who lived in the ground floor suite was one of the worst possible tenants anyone could ever imagine living near. It shocked us. I’ll spare the gory details, but if there’s one thing I learned with the experience, it’s that you never, ever want to get on the bad side of an activist call girl (“luxury companion” as she referred to herself as) and her drug dealer boyfriend. It was bad. And my innocent, wonderfully naïve family had some major life lessons we didn’t ever expect would come our way.
And then we found a home. In a quiet, safe, wonderful neighbourhood. With a great big studio. And everything turned around. And we’ve made wonderful friends and found out things can be just as good as you once imagined.
So we packed up and moved from our interesting rental. Again, upending everything in our lives. Yet I managed to find time to do what I do best. Time to sit in my studio and quietly work on my quiet paintings.
