Out of the Loop and Back Again

I have been out of the loop for a long time but now I'm back! So much has happened. I closed down my Ventura studio and have been working exclusively from the Westlake studio. I was once again selected to participate this last year, 2007, in the Focus on the Masters artist studio tour, and it was once again a great experience.

I have also completed a piece titled "First Steam Car in Town 1899." It was an amazing and somewhat crazy-making experience. I paint BIG because I like the freedom I feel on the large canvas, and I like the feeling that one can "connect" with a large portrait (or portraits) within a painting. However, on this piece, I have over 45 people in the painting - that's 45 portraits! This means that I might as well be painting 11 x 14 as opposed to 48 x 72, as all the figures had to be scaled down to fit and I'm just not used to painting such "tiny" (well, at least tiny for me) people!

It was a wonderful feeling, however, completing the piece and seeing the scene in full color and depth.

Also, sadly, I had to give up my wonderful 1949 Ford Sedan for now. I've had it for 3 years now and it has been an inspiration and a joy to drive. Although it hasn't made it into a painting yet, it may still happen. An interesting gentleman from Santa Clarita purchased it, and like me, he loves the fact that it was mostly all-original and not modified or "chopped." He plans to use it and drive it - like I did. I was pretty depressed about it at first, until I saw a 1941 Buick 8 Special for sale and realized THAT has to be my next car. Now I have something to aim for and look forward to!