Mazie

"Mazie"

14"x11" acrylic on canvas
$400
SOLD

I've been painting, but I haven't been posting. Sorry about that. It's mainly because I'm burning the candle at both ends and the middle.

Between painting, working at the gallery, training for the state swimming championships, working at Zephyr Bakery, and traveling a little, I haven't found time to post what I've been working on. That might change with the prospect of an iPhone in my future. I have to make sure it pencils out financially.

I'll be starting a new painting today, and look forward to sharing it with you. "Mazie" was a recent commission and I worked pretty quickly on her. I love how wet the fur looks as well as the glimmer in her eyes.

I don't see the candle burning out anytime soon, because I'm still eager to paint and share, with new technology in hand I might just share more often. I certainly don't plan on slowing down.

Bri-

Green Dot Dixie final...

"Green Dot Dixie"

12"x6" acrylic on canvas

SOLD

I just flew through this painting. I realize that painting dogs is way more gestural than painting building, not that I mind painting buildings, but they take a little more precision.

I write this without even having Dixie in my possession. I've been busy in the studio and at home, so much so that I started another commission and mailed off the finished painting before getting this posting done. I would have like to held on to Dixie a little longer just to sit and stare at the painting. Most paintings stay on the easel longer.

Even though Dixie was rendered quickly by my brush, I still loved ever hour I spent creating the final painting.

Bri-

Green Dot Dixie beginnings..

"Green Dot Dixie"
(in progress)
12"x6" acrylic on canvas
SOLD

I'm sorry you didn't get to see the progress of the abstract background, but it was created at the same time I was working on my last commission, and I just didn't document it.

Dixie is a dog from Fairmont, West Virginia, the same town as one of my dogs. She lives in Illinois though now. I love how quickly this all came together and might even be finished tomorrow. Only time will tell.

It's easier and harder to paint small. The next piece you'll see, if you stay tuned, is a standard portrait. I'm working on it in tandem with this painting. So, again I won't be documenting the whole process.

Bri-

PDX Spring Night detail...

"PDX Spring Night"

(detail)

36"x18" acrylic on canvas

SOLD

Here's the dog that I promised to reveal. It's our dog Bettini on a billboard under the Hawthrone Bridge.

The one thing that I love about the placement is that some people find her right away and others never find her, until I point her out. One woman said, "Oh, on the billboard is cheating." I don't know if I'd call it cheating, but it sure was fun to put her there.

Today is the last day you can see the painting in person at Short Term Gallery, from 12-4PM. Thanks to everyone who came to see it or commented here. I know it was a departure from what I normally do, and I'm glad that most, if not all of you liked it.

Bri-

PDX Spring Night...

"PDX Spring Night"

36"x18" acrylic on canvas

SOLD

I have one last step before this painting is officially done, which is to put a gloss medium over the whole piece. Otherwise this painting is as done as could be.

It was a wonderful piece to create, and I truly enjoyed the whole process. I'm not sure when I'll paint anything like this again, but I have a better idea of how to approach a scene like this. In the picture here of the painting you can't see the dog, but I'll show a detail of it in another posting.

What struck me as amazing, is that it only took a few quick gestural brushstrokes to create the dog, but the buildings and reflections in the water sometimes took hours. Now the dog is very small compared to other things in the painting, but it really took no effort to make real. It just goes to show, that when you do something often enough it just comes naturally.

Bri-

Almost finished...

"PDX Spring Night"

(in progress)

36"x18" acrylic on canvas

SOLD

The water and reflections are turning out great, if I do say so myself, and if I'm lucky I'll be finished today. However, looking at the painting while I post this, I see a bunch of little things I want to tweak before putting a signature on it.

When I'm completely done with it, I plan to create a little video of the paintings progress. Plus, if it's okay with the client I'll have it on display for 1st. Friday this week. So come by Short Term Gallery to see it.

Bri-

POP Bettini

"POP Bettini"
NFS
6"x6" acrylic on canvas

This is a piece that's a glimpse of what was to come for me. The dog featured is Bettini, and was created in the first few months of our move to Oregon.

I was looking at older pieces when I created this. I had done a number of works using xerox transfers, and wanted to do something in that same vain using paint. This wasn't the first painting where I used an  abstract background, that was created as a commission back in '03. Either way it's nice to look back at works that have lead me to where I am today.

Bri-

Sketch...

"T-shirt Sketch"
nfs

I've been working with Jenny the buyer at FootZone in Bend, OR to come up with t-shirt designs. I know you might be thinking, that it means I drifting even further from the dog paintings that you've come to expect from me and my blog, but I promise that's not the case.

As you can see in this sketch I've included a nice dog running. In fact our dog Zephyr is my favorite running partner. He's always willing to go for a run, no matter the weather or distance. Lots of the time he's more eager than I am. However, I am more interested in running now that most of the snow has melted here in town.

In fact I think we'll go for a run around lunchtime today.

Bri-

Straight thanks to tape...

"PDX Spring Night"

(in progress)

36"x18" acrylic on canvas

SOLD

I've been busy with the straight lines of the bridge structure lately, and thanks to painters tape I appear to have a very steady touch with the brush. If I were to be doing it freehand, I doubt there'd be a straight line to be found.

Because I have so much unfinished, I often sit staring at the painting, trying to decide which element to tackle next. My brain wants to do it all at once, but my hand and brush aren't capable of pulling that off. I doubt there is a painter alive who could.

Maybe, if I started painting with both hands at the same time I'd get more accomplished.

Bri-