Understanding Freedom through Art
What does it mean to be free? It’s such an abstract concept for someone who has always been relatively free. I mean, it sounds simple enough to understand, but how do we really appreciate freedom unless we’ve experienced the opposite? If you're an American...
Colorful Cauliflower: A Live Painting Demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzIG0JPdqks&feature=plcp I've been learning a little bit about iMovie and editing video from Canadian photographer Vivienne McMaster. My first attempt is this edited version of a demo I did in March of 2011 for the Los Altos Art...
Are you strong enough to be a dad?
“Reach for the Stars”, acrylic on wood panel (original Sold) The vocation of being a dad is not for the faint of heart. I am a daughter, one of three sisters. I also have a daughter and mostly girl cousins. Almost every living being in our family, except my...
Out of Darkness
My Irish grandmother used to say, “Into every life a little rain must fall.” She wasn’t just stating the obvious. She was speaking a necessary truth. You can’t have “happy” all the time, no matter how much you wish it. But then, without the darker times, would we know...
Open Studio 2012 This Weekend!
I’m all packed up and about to go set my booth up for Silicon Valley Open Studios 2012! Over the past week I have introduced you to a few of my fellow exhibitors. There will be 14 of us in all. The rest of the artists selling their awesome work at this location...
Artist Feature 4: Jane Ferguson (countdown to Open Studio 2012)
Hi everyone...You may have noticed that I now do Home Portraits, one of the ways I am using my art to honor and celebrate family traditions and stories. I will have a few samples at my Open Studio this weekend for you to see. The great thing about paint is I can make...
Artist Feature 3: Floy Zittin (countdown to Open Studio 2012)
Today I’m putting the finishing touches on my Garden Charms® for this weekend’s Open Studio. These are super popular because they allow you to hang art anywhere...kitchen, bath, even outdoors! And speaking of outdoors.... I want to introduce you to today’s Featured...
Artist Feature 2: Andy Ballantyne (countdown to Open Studio 2012)
It’s going to be hot weather this weekend for our Open Studio, but maybe my coastal house art will make it seem like a day at the beach! I love my new 6x6" paintings on wood panel. Each one is painted with layers of fluid acrylic on carved gesso. Plus, I’m making...
Artist Feature 1: Yao-pi Hsu (countdown to Open Studio 2012)
Hi Art Lovers and Fans... I’m getting all my art ready and planning my booth for my Open Studio this weekend, May 12 & 13, 2012. Today I put the hanging wire on this fun piece called “Cool Summer Salad”. Doesn’t it just make you want to eat healthy? And one of...
My Relationship with Art
I have a never-ending stream of ideas running through my head. Sometimes it’s a good thing, or even entertaining. Sometimes it’s a stumbling block that keeps me from moving forward. I’ve always loved pattern. Pattern takes all that chaos and puts in into some kind of...
Love is Patient…
The painting above is titled “Patience,” one of the nine fruits of the spirit bestowed upon us by the Creator. In the U.S., Mother’s Day is coming up and I think most of us would agree that the vocation of motherhood requires a lot of patience. Moms are the primary...
If I weren’t an introvert, I might not be a painter.
Yesterday I went to my daughter’s school to help with a teacher appreciation lunch. It’s the end of the year, and all the kids were gathered in the central lawn with a photographer to take the official group picture. It’s a pretty large school, so that’s about 700-800...