Classical Still Life I

I photographed this still life set-up at an oil workshop with Qiang Huang. I wanted to try this in watercolor and had the opportunity this week. This is a small painting for me (6X6 inches) and I enjoyed painting small- a lot! Much faster to complete and I didn't feel overwhelmed like I frequently do with a large sheet of wet paper! 

Tres Hombres

Another in my Visitadores series (aka Pink Cowboy series). When I took this photo I enjoyed the way the cowboys seemed to be connected. You could tell they were good friends, and enjoying the day. I hope this painting translates some of that closeness with the viewer.

Halfway through this I wondered which was more important to 'get right'. The anatomy of the horses or the accuracy of the cowboy's hats? ;-)

Riding Into Town

A day I'll never forget! Last summer hundreds of Visitadores road into Solvang wearing pink shirts to commemorate breast cancer awareness.
This painting was part of a show I hung a few days ago at Los Olivos Corner House Coffee. When I stopped in for coffee this morning it was missing. I cringed thinking it might have fallen off the wall. A smiling (and caffeinated) patron told me it had sold. :-)

Rusack's Roses by Sunset

Since coming to California I've heard many people complaining about the multitude of plein air painters (and paintings) in California. This seems a non-issue to me. I see bucolic scenery in about every hour of the day here.

As a painter, it's not a matter of recording what I see around me. It's the challenge of taking what I feel  when I'm confronted with this beauty and translating these feelings onto a two dimensional surface.

BTW, these roses jumped out at me when I was driving down Ballard Canyon Road. The old vines were dripping with pink roses that were backlit by the setting sun. My car pulled itself over and insisted I get out with my easel. What great memories I have of squinting into this scene as I tried to capture all of those colors.

Harbor Cross

I love this composition! This painting has such a spiritual connection with me. I’m calling it Harbor Cross. The main thing I was concentrating on was neutralizing some of my tube color tendencies. The other was this week's mantra:

PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION

Thanks for viewing my art!

Santa Barbara Harbor I

It's been awhile, but I'm still here! I've been traveling and painting, getting ready to hang a show in California. I've got several plein air paintings that are about finished; this is one of them. I should have stopped working on this a few hours ago! I know I'm finished because I'm making more mistakes than progress. My goal: to keep these plein air paintings fresh. Not overwork them. My mantra this past week: Progress and not perfection. 

"Off With Their Heads!"

I've been painting a lot lately. Pushing limits. Ruining painting after painting. I'm to the place in my career that 'nice' paintings are common. These paintings are colorful but not saying anything new.  So I'm trying to act on every 'what if?' that comes into my head.  Below is a watercolor of an antique Turkish vase and a New Guinea shield. I enjoyed their colors and texture and wanted to give these a try. The finished watercolor needed more of something, not sure what. So I lifted through stencils, stamped into Asian paper and collaged a few pieces of this in areas here and there. This is a bit busy in my opinion, but I'm glad I've tried these things. I will let this sit on my easel overnight and perhaps this will continue on it's journey tomorrow.

This brings me to this thought: Golfers go out on the golf course day after day and practice their swing, putting, etc. They're not expecting anything in return. Just practicing. Why am I expecting to bring home great paintings day after day? Why not feel good about showing up in my studio and painting?

"I am not a technician when I paint. I barely pay attention to the technical aspects of the process. I am absorbed in what is happening on the paper, always working on the edge of disaster. My only concern is to pursue the image in my mind's eye. I believe that is the force behind every good painting."

        Joseph Zbukvic