Village Restaurant

oil on panel, 12" x 12"

sold

This colorful night scene outside the Waverly Restaurant in Greenwich Village, NY was fun to do, as it was a fixture in my old neighborhood in the Village.  It's part of a series of urban night scenes I've been working on.  This one will be part of an Artists' Auction at Incline Gallery, 766 Valencia Street, San Francisco on December 5 from noon to 8:00 pm, with over 50 artists participating.  Bidding for this painting starts at $125, with a Buy-It-Now price of $225.  Get 'em while they're cheap!

Night Moves

 

oil on panel, 12" x 16"

A narrative painting about intersecting lives.  

Tokyo Rococo

oil on panel, 12" x 24"

This is a work in progress.  The challenge will be when to stop.  Updated 8/3/2025:  Now it's done.

Neon Jungle

 

oil on panel, 10" x 10"

An experiment in pushing abstraction within an urban landscape.  

Inner City Blues

oil on panel, 18" x 18"

This urban night scene might be done; I'm not sure yet.  I tried to keep it simple and focus on the depth of field in it.  These urban scenes are fun to do, so I'll be doing more of them.

Convergence

 

oil on panel, 12" x 12"
SOLD

Here's another attempt at a cityscape, this one of downtown San Francisco at night.  This type of urban one-point perspective scene is new to me and quite challenging, so it's a useful learning experience.

Baring Witness

 

oil on panel, 12" x 24"

It's back to Naked Athena and the Portland protests with this piece.  I struggled with this one and because there were such long time gaps between sessions, I lost my way a bit, so it is going to the time-out room for now.  Maybe in the new year, I'll be able to see my way forward and finish it.  That would be nice.

Lightning Up the Sky

oil on panel, 24" x 18"

sold

This night scene is of a neighbourhood in San Francisco in August when California was hit by thousands of lightning strikes, precipitating the devastating fires that followed.  I keep thinking about the symbolism of lightning in this upside down year and the image of the Tree of Life upended.  Curious how eerily lightning resembles an upside down tree with all its branches. 

In the Dark

oil on canvas, 30" x 30"

This was the final painting for my class at UNM, the assignment being a constructed image made from a collage.  I had mixed feelings about using my partner's image for this narrative, and have since promised myself to do a proper portrait of him.  He was kind, hilarious, gifted, and oh so easy to be with.  Here, he looks imposing and kind of scary, not qualities he actually exuded, although he had a kind of personal power that made people respect him.  The narrative I was going for in this painting tells of oppression and unconsciousness, not only for the oppressed but for the oppressor as well -- hence, the sunglasses.  I painted billowing curtains behind the women to indicate the winds of change blowing toward the future.  This is the first painting of its kind that I've attempted, and may be the last!  I'm not too comfortable with political themes.  This painting will be on display at the Taos TCA Stables Gallery May 8-13.

Night Owl

oil on canvas, 12" x 9"

Another bird painting, this one of a barn owl on a black gessoed canvas where all the black you see is unpainted canvas, except for the eyes, which were painted in ivory black.  To create this painting, I used a limited palette of indian yellow, burnt sienna, ivory black, and titanium white.

Supermoon

oil on gessoboard panel, 6" x 8" 

This is my first attempt at a nocturnal plein air painting, again using only a palette knife.  I really wanted to capture that big round ball of a moon from the vicinity of my art studio, so I tried to work fast and furious as it was rising in the east over the hills of Sonoma.  While my lighting setup enabled me to see the panel well enough (the light source was set on a chair), my palette was in shadow throughout, and so I had to later adjust the values in the studio.  What a challenge!  

Night Light

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Now for something different, a night-time iPad painting.  Again walking my dog in downtown Petaluma, I thought this might make an interesting composition.  Rather Poe-like, isn't it?  Truth be told, these digital paintings are much easier and quicker to bang out than actual, organic paintings, one of which I've been slaving over the past few days, and I'm still not finished with it.