My first Moleskin contribution - IZ

click to enlarge painting

this is watercolor

This is my first contribution to the Flying Moleskins Project. Edward Burton chose his theme to be music. When my daughter danced hula and Tahitian with the renown Na Hula 'O Moku'aina dance company for five years, I fell in love with the culture. Kumu Catherine Blakenship is a very talented teacher, singer and gifted choreographer. Her instruction for new dances always included a history and cultural lesson. This is my dedication for her work in preserving a beautiful art and culture.

Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole is a Hawaiian Icon. If you go to the Flying Moleskins Project webpage, you can listen to his rendition of the song "Over the Rainbow" which gained him National attention.

Coffee, Tea or Beer

My friend asked me to accompany her to a Cafe one night to listen to some live music. This place in Berkeley was a busy coffee shop during the day and a bustling cafe at night.

I surreptiously took this image with my camera phone. I thought the guy at the bar appeared to want to look like an urban pirate with his bandana, sunglasses [at night] but showing he was a sensitive dude sipping his Latte.

The man in the foreground had finished his dinner with his family who were enjoying their tea while he indulged in a tall glass of draft beer.

12x9 oil on ArtBoard

Looks fast standing still

I felt very honored when a former co-worker of mine asked me to paint his "baby". He had seen my Vespa painting and thought it would be cool to have that style depict his motorcycle which he loves to ride all over the country.

He was a motorcycle cop when he was in traffic and this is probably a lot more comfortable and easier to maneuver than the loaded down Harley he rode.

12x12 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Mina's partner - Celeste!

This is a companion portrait of Celeste. She is the other dog my client has and is the complete opposite from Mina. The client allowed me to be a little more expressive with her because she described Celeste's puppy like behavior which is the Ying to Mina's calm and serene Yang.

When she saw this portrait, she wrote: "Celeste is such a doof – you’ve captured that perfectly!!"

She certainly was fun to paint and I appreciate it when clients give me a little more artistic freedom.

20x15 oil on canvas board

Debut of the Flying Moleskins

I was honored when asked by fellow artist and blogger Dominique Eichi to join in the inaugural launch of the Flying Moleskins project. Thirteen artists from all over the world are participating in a unique format.

The usual method of passing art books for people to contribute some are is to have one single book which goes back to the original owner.

Dominique thought of letting everyone have their own book with their own collection of works from all artists. Some chose to have themes (like me) and some chose to allow us creative freedom. Please visit this new blog to see all the artists participating in this unique project HERE.

Another interesting commission...

Client wanted very specific style and color. This turned out to be more time intensive than first calculated. I am so grateful the client was very patient with me.

That'll teach me to not underestimate a project again ....

24x30 acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Challenging commission

So you have a client who wants this pose....

but to make sure it's in the right colors...

It takes you much longer than you expect because of the larger size and now you hope that she is happy with the result.

Mina: 16x20 oil on canvas board.

The Penny Experiment

Jeffrey Strain had a vision of turning a penny into a million meals for the local food banks. He explains how this thought came to him HERE.

He is going to be selling postcard sized art that has a penny incorporated to start to raise money. I was lucky enough to get into the first group of 100. He said he thought he would have to wait months to get that many donations from artists but it was only a matter of a couple of weeks.

Artists were able to chose a number if it was available. 72 is significant for me because of all the growth and transition and occurred that year. This piece is called "Transition" and is filled with symbolism.

You can see other contributions that have been submitted already HERE.

5 x 7.5 inch watercolor & pen on paper.

Something different....

I was fortunate enough to have Benny Alba show me how to make glass beads a couple of weeks ago. Using a torch to melt slim rods of colored glass onto metal rods was so fun.

I made this crude looking octopus bead and strung it with other beads to give to my daughter for Christmas.

She is not a Sugar & Spice kind of girl so a silly little octopus was right up her alley.