Trolley Trek Tomorrow!

I finally get to hop aboard a TC TOSCA trolley ride! I've wanted to do this for a while, but couldn't make the previous ones.  This time it's a bonus for me, too, because my art show is one of the stops. Good thing I love to talk about what I do!

Speaking of "what I do," time to get off the internet and continue working on my next dog portrait commission. This is Bailey. I'm posting my two favorite source photos of her; the portrait I'm doing is 12" square and I'm using the pose of her in the tall grass/weeds. I'll have progress photos soon.

The Starting Point: A Painting I Nearly Killed

54th and Bayfront, below, is a big -- 48" square -- painting I made back in 1995, from an image I'd had in my mind for years by then.

I still have this restless energy in my work, and the love of color, and the horse as a symbol for all the conflicting power/motion/fear/courage involved in building a life.

Strange but true: at one time I wanted to destroy this piece. In 1998 a good friend of mine plucked it out of the dumpster where I had tossed it. Want to hear the whole story? It'll be part of my talk at Robbin Gallery this Sunday, the 23rd, at 5:00 p.m.  Hope to see you all there.

Meet me at Robbin Gallery tonight

I'll be tending my show at Robbin Gallery from 5:30 to 8:30 tonight, Thursday the 20th, and making some drawings while I'm there.

Footbridge at Mary's, mixed media sketch, matted to 11 x 14". Available $60.

I have a lot of original drawings there, matted and ready for your standard 11 x 14" frame, starting at just $45.  Smaller drawings, ready to fit your 8 x 10" frame, just $35.  These are the real thing, not reproductions.

For the price of a dinner out, you can have a piece of original art that lasts a lifetime.

Home and happy!

Yes, it is stupidly cold here in the Twin Cities. Yes, snow; yes, I had to move my truck at nine last night and eight this morning so I wouldn't get towed while the Snow Emergency proceeds (I am in St. Paul).

I love it here. I love it that I get to show at Robbin Gallery (open Tues, Weds, and Thurs 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., so you can get there after work; Friday and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m.; my reception is this Sunday, the 23rd, 4 to 8).

I love it that there are so many other artists all around me. Those of you who dig the stuff I do with salvaged objects should have a look at Allen Christian's work at the House of Balls. Kindred spirits.

I have another two Cracked Concrete pieces in progress. Never would have happened at all if I didn't have the Old Town Artists to work with. I'll be back in my studio tomorrow for figure drawing/painting night, and I can't wait.

I <3 Minnesota, y'all.

Florida Update Again

It was COLD on that patio/balcony today, folks. Sunny, beautiful, windy, and by the time we stopped painting, our fingers were numb.

These walls are very rough stucco. Yes, artists can paint on it, and it can look very good. It just takes about twice as long as working on a smooth surface.

I pretty much spent the day painting palm fronds. The trees are all my work.

Martha adding some flowers to the plants I painted. We do this kind of tag-teaming a lot.

Update from Florida!

Martha Dodd riding Filibuster in the early evening sun.

Painting at Shell Point Village. The two plants here are my work.

Martha working on a pot of delicate ferns on the opposite wall. 

It's great to be here; I get to have art fun and horsey fun, and how could I ask for more? Also, Martha feeds me well. Anyone who'd like to know more about her can check out Martha's website.

Hello from Florida!

I am in Fort Myers, resting up a bit before going to work tomorrow with good friend and fellow artist Martha Dodd.

Meanwhile, those of you in the Twin Cities can check out my bright and non-wintery work at Robbin Gallery, where my solo exhibit, Dangerous Crossings, runs through Jan. 28.

AND! I have been tagged with my very first blogging honor:

http://threads-n-patches.blogspot.com/2011/01/wee-favorites-on-friday.html

Many thanks to my thread-hound friend and supporter.

I will post again soon with photos from Ft. Myers and progress reports on the job. And for my artist friends out there , you may want to check out the monthly bargain link at Frenchcanvas.com. Martha introduced me, and showed me some canvases she bought there, and the quality is great!

Wingy Thingy and Moon Howler

Wingy Thingy

Moon Howler

 These are what I did last night, making little fables out of cracked concrete from the ACVR Warehouse floor. Both 8 x 10" oil paint and wax medium on canvas, $95 each or $175 for the pair.

The Obligatory New Year Musings

Weird a year as 2010 was, hard as it's been in so many ways, I can't bring myself to do the thing I've done in the past and jeer at the old year as I leave it behind.

Because that would mean ignoring the astounding generosity of my family and friends, the stunning turn my business took in the 11th hour month, the fact that I am whole and well and blessed in more ways than 90+% of the people on this planet, and that I believe in a God who is endlessly good to me even when I absolutely don't deserve it.

It's been real, 2010. Not easy, often not fun, but real. I hope 2011 brings much less upheaval -- I could do without moving any more, for one thing -- and a lot more prosperity for all of us, but when I look around at what I already have, I am so grateful I could cry.

Another, different flight

Forward (Warehouse Angel #5), oil paint and wax medium on canvas, 30 x 40"

Finished last night. Happy New Year, everyone.