Absolutely consumed by my latest "art" project: remodeling my fireplace! Wielding a trowel vs a palette knife and mortar vs oil paint. My hands hurt, but there is a creative element involved. Stay tuned for pix to follow.

Good news today; Almont Gallery wants me to exhibit starting in late February. This is "the gallery" to be part of in Waukesha, WI.

Happy New Year

River Splash in Fall

16x20, Oil

$475

Off we go in 2009. I've felt a bit complacent about my art. I recently went to a neighboring gallery, Almont Gallery and talked with the owner about traffic and sales. January will be slowest but she expects '09 to be okay. I only finished 7 paintings all of '08 and most of those came end of the year.

With my new spot at The Clinton Street Gallery which was recently part of a grand ribbon cutting ceremony for the mayor, I feel this could be a good year to get some commissions and sell a bunch. My goal is to be in 3 galleries by April 1st. I'm teaching an after-school program in Wauwatosa, WI which is getting me in front of hundreds of kids (and their parents), so I might be able to get some portrait commissions from that. Time will tell.

My latest piece (above) was just completed and was part of my fall trip up North last year. A lot of knife work with the water being done with combo brushwork and knife.

Snowy Morning
5x7
Graphite
$50

First in a series of pencil drawings during this perfect season of white on black. Happy New Year!

Pebble Creek First Snow

Pebble Creek First Snow
Oil 12x16 $180 framed

Here is the final painting discussed in the video on YouTube. My first snow scene with two more on the easel. Hope to get them done before Spring!

How I painted video

I recently completed a winter scene painting and videotaped the whole thing. After hours of editing it down I posted it on YouTube. Definitely a learning experience from both the shooting of my work to cutting stuff out to get down to the 10 minute max for YouTube. I hope to provide some insight into how I go about doing what I do when I paint. If it is helpful great. If you have some pointers to make me paint better, please comment.

Check out my painting video on YouTube


Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Ov_rUq760

I recently completed a portrait for my uncle. This is of his longtime hunting dog, Nala. This turned out pretty good, though you really can't tell by the photo here. I think he was happy with the results.

Lake at dusk
Oil, 11x14
$175

I'm on a roll, with 5 new pieces at some stage of completion. This was from summer as the sun was setting on a great hot day. I fished from shore while taking some photos. In the midst of winter, this painting brings back relaxing summer memories. All palette knife work with a somewhat Impressionistic color scheme.