Long time coming...

It has been too long. Part of it is due to the fact that I now work almost full time. I'm still painting as much as I ever was but the thing I gave up was my internet time. It felt kind of good to be unplugged for awhile. I can be an addict.

This painting finally came together when I bought some oil sticks and pulled out my wax. I'm  now ready to say it is done.

This is the first in a series entitled "Scenes From A Train".  Images of industrial Portland viewed from my window as I take the train to Portland on occasion.  I started by laying down watercolor and then tearing up pieces of old monoprints on rice paper and collaging them in. Once I am happy with the base I work with pen and ink and acrylic.

This is the second piece in the above mentioned series. I really struggled with this one. In the end I decided on the purple for the buildings and it all seemed to work.

Walk Around The Lake...this one is only 5"x7".  This is a surprise birthday gift for a good friend. Shh. don't tell her!

I was talking with a friend the other day about my latest pieces. She mentioned that all my work  looked really different. Like they could have been done by different people. I haven't decided if this is a good thing or not. The truth is I'm experimenting all over the place. I really want to do it all and have been trying very hard to do so.  I know that I should have a definitive style so that people can look at my work and say, "oh yes. That's hers!" But I don't. I love working in abstract. Its probably my favorite thing. But I like to jump into doing very detailed drawing from time to time. I think as I keep working and experimenting I will figure out my one style. Maybe my one style is to not have one. I'm okay with that. I'm loving what I'm doing right now and that is the important thing.

I've started some bases for upcoming pieces:

So, more to come.....