Wow, Another One Sold from The Artful Home!

Fandangle, 24" x 24", acrylic on canvas, 2008

Well, August has been a banner month! Fandangle makes the 5th painting The Artful Home has sold for me. I do believe this is a record. Anyway, I painted Fandangle earlier this year, it’s sort of "Jumble meets the Reclamations", but I like it. I always thought I might include it in the “Reclamation” body of work and try for an exhibition somewhere, but Fate has made other plans for it. It's on its way to Connecticut.

The two in the catalog sold…

Quadrants 1 & 2, 24" x 24" each, 2007


I originally painted these on spec for an art consultant who, it turned out, was not interested in them. Then Image Conscious was interested in making posters and off they went to San Francisco. Yes, they wanted to make reproductions of them! They kept them for a couple months and finally, when I called to inquire about their status, it turned out that they weren’t going to use them after all and they were sent back. I’ve had a couple of inquiries from the trade about them but nothing came of it. Then the Guild (now called the Artful Home) put them up on their retail site and there they sat for nearly a year. I have been rather surprised that they didn’t sell quickly because I think they are good. In fact, I made a whole set of layouts to extend the series but for whatever reason have never continued with them. I used the knife on these and I really like the effect. Some very interesting things are going on in these pieces. Anyway, I’m glad that someone has finally purchased them.

And another sold from The Artful Home!

Sentiment, 24" x 24", acrylic on canvas, 2006

I painted Sentiment in late '06, sort of as a tribute to a series of paintings that I had done in 2004. That series has no official name, I just refer to it as the "Jumble" series, as Jumble was the first painting in that idea or style. Interestingly, Jumble was a painting that I very nearly painted over. It was one of those "magic" paintings, the kind that practically paint themselves, and it was fun to paint, but it didn't look like "me" for whatever reason and I had determined that it wasn't any good. It had gone too smoothly, I didn’t know where else to take it and it didn’t seem right that a painting that had only taken a couple of hours could be considered “finished”. I had started on a different canvas when my sister Dianne came by my studio one afternoon to see what I was working on. She pointed at Jumble, which had been tossed to the side and exclaimed that she loved that one! Oh no, I said, that one is bad and must be painted over. She said, “no way, I’m buying it from you”. I felt bad, the painting really wasn’t anything to me at the time. How could I charge my own sister the $200 I was asking for such paintings at the time? Really, I said, let me try to sell it on eBay (this was back when I did such things) and it probably won’t sell and then you can have it if you buy me a new canvas. She said yes, but probably it would sell and boy did it ever! My reserve price for 24” squares on eBay at that time was $200 and this one got itself into a little bidding war. Not just between two bidders, but three or four. The high bid was $340 which was the highest amount I had ever received for one of my paintings on eBay until that time and I just couldn’t believe it.

Jumble, 24” x 24”, acrylic on canvas, 2004


Hmmm, there was something there. People seemed to like little Jumble! Maybe I should paint more of them. So I did. The next one went for $425! These were pretty hefty prices for a new, unknown artist on eBay back in those days. I painted a couple more after that and they all sold, Lost & Found fetching me the highest price of $600 on Gallery Today.

More in the “Jumble” series:


All of those paintings were fun to paint and I don’t know why I stopped them after just a few, or why I never titled series. I sometimes think about doing something with it again and maybe I should, since I’ve gotten a bit stuck and don’t know what to paint right now. It seems that this series is just as good an idea as any other I’m currently considering. Maybe Sentiment is trying to tell me something. In any case, it is now on its way to Connecticut.

Just sold from the Artful Home.com

Yup, Encounter, a painting I did earlier this year. I really like this painting, maybe because it doesn't look like I painted it. (But I did!)

Encounter, 24" x 24", acrylic on canvas, 2008

Another sold from the Guild's Studio Sale

Industria #12, 12" x 12", acrylic on canvas, 2005

This piece was originally painted for my very first art show back in '05 at Remmi Fine Art Gallery in Denver, CO.

Just Sold from the Guild's Studio Sale!

Sticks & Stones #39, 2008, 30" x 15", acrylic on canvas

I just painted this one a couple of weeks ago (see post entitled "New Direction").

Just sold from the Guild.com

Dapple, 2008 and Whim, 2007 both measuring 24" square.

The wonderful thing is, this is a customer who has purchased my art from the Guild before. It's always great when a collector comes back for another piece of art!

Fond Memory

Just sold from the Guild.com, Rapport is one of my favorite paintings. Not only did it turn out to my liking, but it is what I call a "magic painting." I remember its creation fondly. It was effortless, almost painting itself. It was spontaneous, there was no hesitation, no conflict, no wondering "where to take it." One minute it was a blank canvas and seemingly the next it was a completed painting. Like magic.



Unfortunately, magic paintings are rare. Right now I find myself fighting with tiny canvas panels during practice. I am spending more time preparing canvases than actually painting them. Sometimes I think I should do something else completely. Maybe I wasn't really born to do this. Some say I just need a break (from what? I'm not actually painting), others say it's just a block, it will pass or I have to work through it or whatever. Frankly, I am starting to doubt that it will pass even if I work on it. But I keep trying, painting really bad paintings and attempting to resolve the frustration that results.

Rapport was painted back in 2005, during a time when I was good. Right now it is on its way to Florida. Meanwhile, I have to get back to the studio.