Rooted #5

 Some paintings come easy. Others keep going back to the studio. This was one of those. First i had a reader at the base of the tree, then dancers. More appropriate that it's my kids, still rooted but venturing out.

Sophie Modeling

 August. My son is home from college, and he sees us with fresh eyes. I guess we're not a typical family...

White Dress

Dancers, White Sky

Open Studios is over. Thanks to everyone who came. Thank you, Galen, for letting me use your space. Thanks to Jonathan and Marcus for helping us transport it all home and the the Van Gelders for keeping Sophie. And special thanks to Ed for hanging around all weekend.

The next event of note is the SFMoMA Artists Gallery Warehouse Sale. It starts tomorrow, May 4 and goes through Saturday in building A at Fort Mason. All the art there is slashed 50%, and it's a very lively and fun scene. I have six paintings there. If you don't see them on the walls, ask a staff person to bring them out.

Open Studios Today & Tomorrow, April 30-May 1, 2011

 It's that rush time, loading up the car and hanging at Hunters Point. This year I'll be at my regular space and room 1210 on the main floor of building 101. April 30 and May 1, 11:00 to 6:00. I hope you can come.

My Studio

A late-spring chaos has descended on my studio this week. Tonight and Friday I will transport about 70 paintings to Hunters Point for this weekend's open studio. There's always a point at midspan on the Bay Bridge where I ask myself, "Do I actually get to do this for a living?" Even though it's a tremendous amount of work, I wouldn't want to do anything else.

Hunters Point Open Studio, April 30-May 1, 2011
11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Building 101, Room 1210, Hunters Point Shipyard, San Francisco

The Judges

These guys go with me everywhere. They never agree.

Girl with Hand Raised #2

I sat out on the back porch to paint this one on one of those amazing blue-sky-days after weeks of rain. The painting gets shipped off tomorrow for the Harrison Gallery's tenth anniversary.

Girl at Beach

Oh, I am ready for summer.

Lamp Lit Dinner Party

I went around and around on this one, changing faces, changing the sky. I wanted everyone engaged but no one dominating. it's that time when the meal is over but no one is a hurry to leave the table.

Torch in Forest

I'm packing up a crate today for the Harrison Gallery in Williamstown , Ma. They're preparing for their 10 year anniversary, so I'm sending this and two other paintings. I wish I could climb in the box and go, too. Thank you, Jo, for showing my work the past 3 years.

Two Boats

I would love some input on this one. Is anyone out there? Does anyone read this blog? What is in the paper boat? If it's a message, what does it day?

Vista

She's climbed a long way and still has a ways to go, but isn't the view beautiful?

Sidewalk Dancers

My kids posed for this one. After years of doing this, they are very good at holding still for long periods, arms aloft, quipping jokes while hardly moving their lips.I can figure out when I did a painting by how old they are in it. Soon I'll have to start asking the kids down the block.

Direction

The landscape here is inspired from Dore's illustrations for The Inferno. Does she have correct directions? Is she double checking her to-do list and ignoring the world around her? Or is she rereading a poem that reminds her of what is really important?

Rooted #4

This painting hangs in my bedroom. It's a portrait of my daughter. I use it to remember it doesn't all depend on me.

Arm Wrestling

So much give and take. So much pushing and compromise. If I just try a little harder... I can't let up for a minute.

Twilight Tango

Last week Sophie went on a school trip to El Salvador. It was the first time in 19 years we had no kids in the house for an extended length of time.It wasn't too bad. And then on Friday night, Noah flew home from Boston, followed by Sophie the next night. That was pretty good, too.

Three in Boat with Violin

It's been awhile since I wrote. My mom died after a life of struggle. Life seems very short and precious. Both of my kids are on other parts of the globe and are due back this weekend. Can't wait to hug them. I've been painting up a storm and loading crates in the Volvo for distant destinations. What a journey.

Suitcase and Pines

These trees were the view from a window at a house in Oregon we rented two weeks ago with friends. They are used to me painting at a table as the kids run past. Sometimes a lone teenager will join me and pick up a brush.

Torch #4

Welcome to 2011.
I'm trying to see into the future, but there are a lot of unknowns coming up. I prefer certainty...

Boat in Forest #3

Life is full of mysteries, discoveries on the road, absurd things that seem pointless right now but are wisely stored or remembered for later. The bird gave the young prince three flowers. The old crone gave the traveler a mirror and a comb. The princess saved her father's ring, even when she herded geese.

Juggler with Raven

 Small stage, small audience, a few dropped balls...

Hesitation

Where do ideas come from? Is it right to return to themes again and again? Do I need to always paint new? Or are certain images so hard-wired into my soul that honesty requires that I repeat those themes again and again?

Ravens

Consider the ravens: they don't sow or reap, and they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. Luke 12:24

Art Auction

This painting was inspired by a walk with my friend Jennifer. We were both sorting through the next steps in our careers, and Jen spoke so longingly of how she missed the stage.
Well, a couple of years have passed, and Jennifer is exploring a new type of stage. She has just moved to Pasadena and is attending Fuller Theological Seminary to prepare for ministry. It only seems right that this painting be auctioned off to help her pay for tuition. The painting is 24"x24" on wood panel and is valued at $1000. We are asking that bids start at $350. If you would like to place a bid, just leave your name and amount in the comment section below with some sort of contact info if I don't know you, or you can call me at (510)655-1988. Bidding will close on Oct 16th. All proceeds will go to Jennifer.

• Update: I've received the first bid at $350. (Oct. 15, 9:00 p.m.)

Red House

Saw this doorway on an evening walk up by Indian Rock. It felt like a homecoming kind of place.

Birthday Blessing

It's your day-of-days. I'm glad you were born. You make the world a better place.

Burning at Both Ends

She's not too worried. She's done this a lot before.

Birthday Cake in Dark Woods

I met with a neighbor to pray about our kids' upcoming tuition bills. As we finished, we heard the doorbell... Her husband was there to say that he had just gotten news of an inheritance check that would fill the gap for what they needed the next day for the fall semester. "But we still have nothing to put towards the spring semester!" he moaned. Oh, the candles burn bright in this dark wood.

Long Distance

Last week I took my 18 year old son to college. Then I got on a plane and flew across multiple rivers and cities and mountain ranges and deserts and came home. I'm not hearing from him much, which I think is a good sign...

Just Paper

Birth certificates, social security cards, tax forms, college applications, FAFSA paperwork, bios, resumes, artist statements, visitation records, medical releases, TB test documentation, orientation dates, boarding passes, confirmation numbers, maps, weekly planners, living trusts, power of attorney forms, obituaries...

Blindfold #2

 When someone dies, does their spirit linger for a few days? Do they hear the comments about the unfinished business, the unpaid bills, the long-suppressed feelings?

Tango #2

It's Monday morning. It's a dance, making lunches, finding the coffee, warning a kid who's in the shower too long. An efficient pivot and spin, and it all gets done.

Rowing Hard (diptych)

Another boat. Life is a lot of work, you know? You row hard, and sometimes there are beaches, and you do what you thought you couldn't do.

Overboard

Hmm. Not much to say about this one... Simplification, letting go, realizing what is important... Maybe I wrote too much already.

Birthday Solo

I started this painting with lots of faces crowding around the background, but eventually they all seemed unnecessary.

Precipice

For the thrill of it...

Curve in Path #2

We bought the plane tickets last night to take our son to college. His toes are barely touching the ground, and the whole world is opening up before him.

Looking Back

 Doubletake. Torn between two directions. I was so certain I was going the right way, but something caught my heart...

At Sea

Every painting these days is of the ocean. I've got sand in my shoes and a beach bag by the door.

Two at Table

I've been sketching a lot in cafes this summer. This couple was from that. I ended up removing the other tables and people; only the door seemed necessary.

Traveler in Forest

Another painting started in Redwood Park. That's the park I went to when my labor contractions wouldn't start and the first walk I took my babies to. It's where I celebrate birthdays and baptisms and clear my head after a tough week. So. of course, it's where I would paint about the changes in my life right now, my first kid leaving home and me starting on a new journey, too.

Island #2

I went with a friend to Point Richmond and saw this beautiful island. I wish I was there.

Campfire #6

Many thanks to everyone who came to my open studio on Sunday. It was definitely a spot of light, a warm flame. Afterwards we had a salon with poetry and art and dancing and chocolate.

Taking Flight #3

I sketched this painting at a meeting that was going too long.

Flying Away

Monday morning. How I would love to transcend the old patterns.

Party on Stage

Pause, celebrate, ignore the ever-present audience...