Salty Sea Air

More new painting sneak peeks! I've been working on quite a few small pieces lately--I think because I have so very many ideas busting through the pages of my sketchbook right now, painting small is a guaranteed way of making sure my favorite ideas see the light.

This one is just about completed and will be in the shop on Tuesday, July 24th...

A deep sea arctic octopus (total painting size is 4x4"). I'm pleased with the outcome! And goodness the gold leaf really does set this guy off. It's a small painting, but packs quite a punch.

Here's a peek at a 5x7" gull painting that's really coming along. When finished, he'll be surrounded by gigantic looming flowers.

And, while not a painting, here's a sneak peek snapshot from my workbench at the Dept. of Ecology (this is a small vial of molluscs I sorted out from one sediment sample--some of those clams and snails are roughly the size of a pinhead!). I help out with the sorting/identifying of benthic invertebrates found in the marine sediment samples that our team collects from Puget Sound. The resulting data helps us to see how healthy the ecology of the Sound is.

Last month and also in April I went out with the Ecology marine sediment monitoring team to collect sediment samples (in the picture above, I'm the one in the yellow). It's so much fun to be out on the boat. Plus, seeing what critters come up in the mud from 100 feet or more below is always exciting...

The sediment is sieved for invertebrates and then bottled up to be taken back to the lab for sorting.

Lots of marine worms!

It's very interesting work. And gives invaluable data for local marine restoration efforts (some of which appear to be paying off--a few locations that were once heavily contaminated with low biological diversity are now beginning to flourish again).

Have a fabulous weekend, guys!

Eight Legs Are Better Than Two

As hinted at earlier, I have some sneak peeks of a work-in-progress painting I've been plugging away at. I started this one last year and shunted it to the side to work on other projects, but since it would fit perfectly for this upcoming show in March, I whipped it back out again to finish.Done in a faux-circus-side-show-poster theme with a slight Northern Renaissance influence (there's a hefty amount of gold leafing on this one), it's a bit large for me at 11x14". I'm so glad I didn't paint it any smaller though, as I had to use my smallest brush for the portraiture.He's coming along, though! I just need to add some tentacles to those writhing legs, and paint an elaborate banner down towards the bottom and it will practically be done.It always feels so good to complete a project that has been lying around unfinished forever. Yes sirree.

Happy Wednesday, folks!

Curious Octopi

Sorry about the random blog banner changes and such. I've finally settled on this one for the holidays I think.

I have a couple surprises for you all, including a shop update pretty soon here (possibly the first week of November--more details a'comin') and quite possibly a really cool giveaway. I just have to ready some pictures, so stay tuned!

This recently finished painting is a part of the "Precious Objects" series I've been knee-deep in and will be in this upcoming shop update--it's definitely a favorite. Definitely.

"Inkwell" acrylic on hardboard 8x10"

Lots of semi-transparent paint glazes for the background (lots--I remember having to wait a solid day for the background to dry before getting to work on the octopus, which for acrylics, is a bit absurd). It has quite a luminescent glow to it.
All I need is a lovely golden frame for it.

On an unrelated side note, I just bought probably the cheapest sketchbook I've ever come across the other day ($3), which is completely made of recycled paper and staple-bound with a recycled pulp red paper cover and made in Italy. I've already filled it halfway. It's so funny to me how the cheapest sketchbooks/notebooks get filled the quickest with various drawings and inspiring little sketches while the really expensive, leather-bound sketchbooks lie nearly untouched with only a handful of far inferior doodles. It could just be me. I think my creative brain is just plain old scared to death of "wrecking" the pricey, cool sketchbooks. Silly, silly.