Motel California

"Motel, CA"
6"x6" Oil on Gessoboard
$95 Unframed
Click Here to Purchase

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!).

Southbound

"Southbound"
6"x6" Oil on Gessoboard
$95 unframed
Click Here to Purchase

It's that time of year, the great American summer roadtrip. I figured that with this week being the 4th of July and everyone embarking on their family vacations that it would be a good time to start posting my CA roadtrip series. This little number is on 278 in South Carolina, on the way from HHI to the Savannah airport. I seem to paint that highway quite a bit, but then there are some pretty sights to be seen there!

Sentinel

This guy was standing alone in the middle of a field, just as the morning light was highlighting the leaves I was able to paint this scene.  There is so much humidity in the air, you can almost taste it!

IMM Field

I spent most of the day yesterday exploring nooks and crannies of Singapore, and I got some great shots.  I totally understand why most plein air painters usually work in Spring and Fall - it gets bloody hot here.  By 9am I am dripping sweat just casually walking around.  This little scene is from in front of the IMM building by the Jurong West MRT station.  There are some beautiful trees in a field that has somehow managed to avoid development thus far.  I am not holding my breath, as I am sure the government will find something to put there, but in the meantime I very much enjoy walking to the middle of the (very mushy) field and feeling like I have escaped from the city.

In other news, my cubic meter of art supplies finally arrived!  I bought all of the art supplies with the intent of resurrecting BS Art Studio.  I had so much fun with the encaustic stuff, but the more I got into it, the less time I had for school and oil painting, which is my final goal.  So, after much talk with the hubby, he proved himself amazing once again - I'm dropping the encaustic and working on oils full time.

Unfortunately, most of the supports that I ordered were Ampersand Claybord, which is decidedly NOT recommended for oil paint.  It is way too absorbent.  I have seen a few artists use it, but it definitely doesn't have the effect that I am looking for.  So, as you can see below, I have a lot of gessoing in front of me.  But - on the good side, I now have close to a years worth of supplies.  Woohoo!