Butchart Gardens

Last Sunday through Wed we along with Mina's parents went to Seattle and Victoria where we visited Butchart Gardens.  What a spectacular place!  The combination of colors and design & flow of the gardens was spectacular.  I will have to paint in these colors sometime.  You have to visit these gardens sometime. 

Back to the basics- drawing

I am enjoying spending more time drawing ( when I can between packing, starting a new job, getting ready to move).  Drawing for me is the foundation to designing stained glass and to oil painting.  Studying, working things out, not worrying about what is going down on the page.  It is lots of fun and a good way to let go of the busy-ness of my mind.  When I get faster internet speed I will download images of pen&ink and pencil drawings.

Transition

We are going through a huge transition right now.  My wife got a job at WSU in Pullman which starts the second week in Aug and we are in the process of selling our house and buying one in Pullman.  We are planning on moving the first of Aug.  I just accepted a job offer down there last night and start work July 26.  Changes are scary and exciting.  I have had an image for a painting in my head of a bicyclist climbing a steep hill and calling it "Uphill battle" because of how I feel of trying to sell my art, needing to work at a real job to get out of debt, and all that life throws at us.  Hopefully, I will be able to paint that image soon, in the mean time learning this new job and getting to know new people will be fun. 

Human figure in glass

This design was originally an oil painting and I wanted to create it in glass.  I spent many hours hand beveling the figure and beveling colored glass and bonding it on top of the clear bevels.  Even the fingers are beveled. 

I wanted to capture the depth and dimension of the figure from the painting into glass so the bevels are varying width from one side to another and even on the same side.  This gave the feeling of a drawing. The colored glass is blown glass from Fremont.  This was a very challenging piece and I enjoyed it very much. 

Human Figure

A lot of times my painting of the figure feels and looks like drawing which is a fun.  This is oil on canvas measuring 4ft x 4ft.

The human figure in painting/glass

The human figure is a fascinating subject, very complex and expressive.  I enjoy painting the figure to express something in particular or just to show the beauty of it.  Painting and drawing the figure always challenges me. 

I was expressing the emotion of anxiety using the figure with tensed muscles and fingers.  This is in oil and measures 4ft x 4ft.