"Mahjong Cherries"

6 x 8 inches

oil on gessoed museum board

I found some cherries with stems still attached and had such fun, I ended up with a series of paintings. I will continue to add new paintings until the cherries are gone. Some have been painted five times before eaten! Such restraint.

Utopia, Limited

On the shop floor, shot from the top of a tall ladder. It is now on the wall in Act II of Utopia, Limited. The show opens a three week run at the Bagley Wright Theater in Seattle tonight. Show dates: July 10-11, 16-18, 23-25. Ticket information.

The Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society's photographer shooting during dress rehearsal for Utopia, Limited.

Shield Section for Utopia, Limited

The upper right section of the shield set out on shop floor.

If you click to enlarge, you will see the spattering over everything, the final step in coloring. This spatter softens the effect and makes everything appear more believable from the audience. In the larger image you can also see the chalk marks, guides for the person who will screw all the carved parts to the circle base, finishing the shield.

The set designer, Nathan Rodda, asked me to make the lettering casual, loosely Roman, not perfect. The Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society's production of Utopia, Limited opens Friday night, July 5th. For more information click here.

Alligator & Flamingo

A little more of the 'shield' for "Utopia, Limited." They are probably ready to deliver to the theater by now. The painting was finished on July 3rd. This image shows the carved characters before they were spattered, the final touch.

Shield Alligator

More Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society from the shop.

The alligator, carved by Mike Andrew, is made of styrofoam mounted on 1/4" plywood. Mike adds as many layers of foam board as need to make the required thickness for the various parts of the design before he begins to carve. He comes to the shop in the evening and works well into the night. I think he can make absolutely anything! He has also carved the flamingo and pineapple for the shield. I will post them in a day or two.

Nathan Rodda, the set designer, has everything painted black as a base. The white is added next, then the coloring layers which are made with a clear acrylic medium (house paint) with color concentrate added, just as you would have custom colors mixed to paint your house. We mix very small amounts in recycled plastic ice cream and yogurt containers.

Shield Center

Getting the center of shield ready for coloring. It is made from foam board mounted on 1/4" plywood. The lower portion of the carved pineapple can be seen in the upper right. It will be added to the center top of the shield.

Sketch for Act II

chalk sketch pattern for shield

10 x 6 feet

Next week the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society opens its 55th season with "Utopia, Limited." I have been at their shop working with the set designer and thought I would share something from Act II. This sketch was made several weeks ago. I went to the internet for reference photos of flamingos and alligators. You can see some of them here, scattered on the platform, which is also part of the set. The platform was painted and taken to the theater earlier this week.

"A Painted Breakfast"

9 x 13.5"

oil on gessoed museum board

This was my breakfast one morning. The shapes and colors were so exciting when I set this on the table, I ran inside for my paint box. By the time the painting was finished, the egg no longer looked so great. I fixed another one to eat.

I added the "painting in process" to show you the little paint box my husband made for me to take on an overseas painting trip quite some time ago. I like it so much I often use it at home as well.

"Mr. Pepper's Pasture"

10 x 8

oil on panel

I had painted all day in this pasture, packed up my gear, turned around and saw the late afternoon sunlight catching this tree as the sun was sinking behind the hill. I grabbed my paint box and very quickly painted this. I loved the moment and am glad I stopped to catch it.

"Wearing Nikes?"

Please click images to enlarge and see color more like the painting.

12 x 9 inches

oil on wooden panel

Last July I did a small oil sketch of these two “little maidens” and have been wanting to paint them again. Here they are! 

Annalisa

10 x 8 

oil on panel

This is a young friend of mine. She is great company and very fun to paint. The colors in the painting are very rich. On my monitor they look more like the painting when you click to enlarge the image. I don't know why the colors in some of my paintings are so washed out when I upload the images. Would love to hear from you if you know how the solve the mystery.

Mystery solved - Thanks Miro! I have uploaded the images again.

"What A Guy"

10 x 8 inches

oil

This lady was so much fun to watch and even more fun to paint! She was head-over-heels “in love” in a theater production. Her expressions were wonderful. So was her dress - black bodice with bright red long, full skirt. Click image to enlarge.

"Sand Writing"

8 x 8"

oil on panel

A view from our favorite spot along the Olympic Wilderness coastline in Washington State. We backpacked into this beach every summer for many years. The sketch posted on March 31st was the background for this little painting.  

Click image to enlarge.

Sand Writing sketch

Another little sketch is turning into a painting today. Also one of my daughters at the ocean long ago. The painting is not quite finished.

"A Good Read"

6 x 8 inches

oil on wooden panel

Click image to enlarge.

This little painting is from a sketch I did long ago on a trip to the ocean. The model is one of my daughters. I was interested in thick, juicy paint and loose brush strokes. A joy to paint. The sketch is below.