Recent Commissions & I'm on a Podcast!

Along with finishing up and moving into my studio, I’ve been working on a lot of commissions for people and it has been really fun because there has been a pretty big variety in terms of subjects.

This is Dahli, a Lhasa Apso being a very good sport about her “Tibetan” costume. It was fun getting creative with the background and adding in the traditional style Tibetan clouds.

These two lush green paintings were a double commission-a childhood home in the Midwest and their screened in “summer house” which apparently is how you stay cool, but avoid the bugs in the Midwest. Squirrels in the yard were specifically requested and added a sense of whimsy.

This summer house looked so lush and inviting compared to our tan and dried out landscape this late summer and fall. I’m hoping we’ll get lots of snow this winter so next year’s fire season is better.

This was a very fun commission to do-the historic Comstock Park Pool. This was a wedding gift to a couple who met life guarding here during high school. I got to see a video of the bride as she unveiled the painting and there was little scream and definitely some strong emotion which is always a delight to me as an artist. I want my work to move people so it is so satisfying when I manage to achieve that goal. I hope it reminds them of their early love all the many years that they are married.

This is the third painting I have done for this patron and I have one more to go. We’re doing a full four seasons series of house portraits. I’ve done spring, summer, and winter, but because we got snow so early last year, we had to skip fall so that’s up next. It is always interesting to hear what she wants to emphasize or change in each season. It makes each house portrait unique in addition to the change in weather!

These final two paintings are illustrations that accompany poems from local artists in Spokane Coeur D’Alene Living Magazine. The poems are always a surprise and new to me so a good challenge and a way for me to stretch my creative muscles. See the column in full and read the poem (and the magazine) online here.

This was the poem for October which I thought seemed pretty fitting since it has a bit of a magical/witchy vibe.

Melissa and Erin of Trending Spokane and I in the recording booth at Fellow Coworking!

I had a great time talking with Melissa and Erin of Trending Spokane last week. I was honored when they asked me to come on to talk about my art and love of Spokane. The podcast is out now and you can listen to it wherever podcasts are found. If you have apple products here’s a link. And you can find it on Spotify here.

Eventually they will have the video option up on their Youtube channel so you can see the paintings I’m talking about (and my silly facial expressions!) if you want.

Snowed in and loving it

We’ve been snowed in to the point where the pantry is starting to get a bit bare, but I’ve been loving the excuse to hole up and paint in the studio. It’s pretty funny to me that I’m surrounded by white and the theme for this post is definitely GREEN, especially since I’m not sick of the snow yet. I still have a whole bunch of snow paintings to do!

This is a recently finished house portrait that will be a Valentine’s Day gift to a husband who loves fall.

This house portrait was commissioned by a loving daughter as a Christmas present to her parents!

My version of the Madonna and Child Stain Glass Christmas Display that used to hang on the Macy’s Building. I’m glad they managed to get it out of storage this year, but wish that it was a bit more centrally displayed. It ended up on an apartment building near our Lady of Lourdes. I initially tried to capture the color of the brick wall it is hung on, but I didn’t like how it came out (too dark and muddy for these brilliant colors!), so I cut out the stain glass design and I was so amused by the arch shape, I nearly left it like this.

But, a small arch shape is a bit odd and difficult to display (though perhaps I could think about mounting it on a custom wood panel!), so I glued it down onto a sheet that I painted lime green, drawn from the stain glass itself and to emphasis the brilliant and glowing colors of the stain glass.

This month my column in the Spokane Coeur D’Alene Living Magazine is focused on a painting of the Coeur D’Alene Resort on a beautiful summer day.

How are you all doing? Enjoying the snow or bemoaning it? My goal this winter is to go snow shoeing in my yard (We’ve got about 10 acres.) and try painting plein air without freezing my fingers off. We’ll see if I manage to achieve it!