Santa Barbara Sail Boats

"Santa Barbara Sail Boats"
5"x7" Oil on Gessoboard
$75 Unframed
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This was a scene from the Santa Barbara harbor on the first day that I arrived. Such a fun scene to paint. I'm back in Singapore after having to go back to the US for the weekend, so as soon as this laundry gets finished I'm back in the studio. Next week is The Fair @ the Hilton Hotel, so if you are in Singapore, come by and see my booth! I'd love to see you there.

Venice Beach Alleyway

"Venice Beach Alleyway"
5"x7" Oil on Gessoboard
$75
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It is the burning season here in Singapore. That basically means that somewhere in Indonesia or Malaysia the farmers are slash and burning the palm plantations (usually) for the Palm Oil harvest. It creates this horrific smog that just turns the sky to a weird smoky gray, and generates more thunderstorms than normal. I have a really tough time with it because so little light gets in. This month of smoggy gray had taught me I probably wouldn't do so well in China, where it is like this year round. In any case, because of the awful smog, I needed to paint a blue sky. This is just down the street from my cousin's house, which is right by Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Pier. I had just had a week of cloudy gray in SoCal, and this last morning in the LA area broke with beautiful blue sky and no clouds. It was so uplifting.

And as for my husband and I, we'll be traveling back to the US first thing tomorrow morning. I wish the circumstances were better, but we are so grateful for the family and friends that we have. We have been blessed with close, happy relationships with all of our family, and I for one am eternally grateful that both of us have enjoyed relationships with our grandparents well into our adulthood. Not many people can say they have had that opportunity. 

It is times like these that make being on the other side of the world much harder. Luckily, we can get back, and see everyone. And, in the meantime, in addition to seeing all of our loved ones, it looks like it will be sunny in Kansas, so we'll be able to also enjoy some Mexican food and BBQ!

And as a side note - all you Gulf Coast people, make sure you are tied down and have extra ice for the drinks in case power goes out!

Santa Monica Tower

"Santa Monica Tower"
6x6 Oil on Gessoboard
$95
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This was from my last morning in Southern California. I had just endured an awful week of the June Gloom (it was April). Not exactly inspiring, and pretty impossible to paint when you can't see across the street. But I woke up the last morning at my cousin's house, and the sky was a beautiful California blue. So I walked down to the beach and just enjoyed the solitude. There is something about the ocean that just renews my soul.

Truckin'

"Truckin'"
12"x6" Oil on Gessoboard
$195 Unframed
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I just loved driving down the 101. For most of the trip I pretty much had my camera just perched atop the steering wheel as I drove. At least until the windshield gathered too many bugs... This tanker had such beautiful colors and reflections in it, I couldn't resist painting it. The perspective was a lot of fun too.

Our container arrives today! I am so excited to finally have our things out of storage. The downside is that this week has been crazy, so I haven't had much studio time. The upside is that along with the container comes about a years worth of art supplies (and two years worth of Cascade!). 

Motel California

"Motel, CA"
6"x6" Oil on Gessoboard
$95 Unframed
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This is another one from the California series. The Eagles song "Hotel California" was stuck in my head, so pardon the punny title. :) I basically pulled into San Luis Obispo for about an hour and took a bunch of photos. I'm still sad that I was only there for an hour, and that it was in the middle of the day, when the lighting wasn't so great. It is such a neat little town. Definitely on my list of places to go back to in California.

At the end of last week I took a look at the calendar and had a small breakdown. I realized that the fall show season is only a couple of months away, and that I had very little new work showcasing Singapore. Whoops! So, the California series has been put on the back burner while I come back to Singapore. This fall I am doing some larger pieces, and I'm really enjoying doing them. Shophouses have kind of become my happy place. I'm always growing, learning and exploring, but I love coming back to the houses after a break. I usually come back stronger, with fresh, new ideas. Here's a progress photo of one currently on the easel (it will eventually be 12"x24"... that's BIG for me!).

Roadhouse

"Roadhouse"
6x6 Oil on Gessobord
$95 unframed
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This is a wonderful little signal house that I saw as I was driving south on the 101 from Palo Alto to Newport Beach. That highway has some beautiful scenery on either side of it. I am only sad that I didn't have the time to really explore more of the nooks and crannies - I had to boogie down to Newport Beach for my workshop. 

Sorry about not posting much the past couple of weeks. I've been working on this California series, and after letting it sit for a week or so, I went back to the paintings. Only a couple of them were really up to par, and should have been wiped off. I think I was just locked in such a battle with them that I didn't want to let go. But that is one of the things I've started to learn about painting - when to not release things. The journey is about painting every day - but there are going to be some lemons in there, and that is okay. The lemons are an important part of learning, it means you are pushing yourself.