San Francisco-cable cars, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge

 This 16 X 20 oil painting preserves a memory from our July trip to San Francisco for our daughter's and new son-in-law's wedding reception. We stayed at the Mark Hopkins hotel right up the street from this intersection.  From here we took the cable car to the waterfront. The view includes the bay, the bridge, Alcatrz, the hill and the cable cars. I knew this was a spot I wanted to paint! When there were 2 cars I quickly snapped a photo (hoping not to get run over). The cars were always stuffed with passengers and it took several coming to the stop to get up in line far enough to board. I wanted to give the sense of overflowing cars, beautiful weather and the feel of the city. I eliminated a buiding and some of the complex details on them to keep the focus on the cars and to make the composition work. The flags on the building add  color help lead the viewer into the scene. Given the dark days we are experiencing in 2025, I chose a high key palette to brighten up the painting and the mood. Our family time together on this trip is a memory I want to preserve.  I love San Francisco.

Cousins

 James and Emerson are cousins, born 2 months apart. They are inseparable. I did a painting of the two of them running by the Lake in Dillon, Colorado. ( see my April, 2024 post). With both boys in the painting I couldn't decide who should have it so I gave the painting to my brother who is their grandfather. My brother and his wife care for them while the parents work. The family is incredibly close both in proximity and relationships. Then I realized I should probably do a painting of each of the boys for my neice and my nephew. On the right is James out with his parents on a hike in the Rockies. Below is Emerson. His parents opened their restaurant, Wildflower BBQ last year, so I decided to put Emerson in the wildflowers. He loves to help my brother in the gardens. Each setting was chosen to reflect the boys in their natural settings. 

The paintings now reside in Colorado.

Memories preserved at TIMBER COVE

 

12x16 oil

Timber Cove in Jenner, CA is where our daughter and new son-in-law got married. High on the cliffs in northern CA, overlooking the Pacific. they exchanged vows. We stayed  across the cove  in a glass house overlooking the site. The Benny Bufano statue stood clearly silhouetted on the edge of the promontory. (https://www.sebastopoltimes.com/p/the-forgotten-peace-monument-of-the) Visiting the statue and learning about the artist was a favorite experience The beautiful "naked ladies" added a pink accent along the edge of the cliff in our yard. I made watercolor sketches and took several photos to note color and to capture the feeling I wanted to convey. When I returned home I created this painting for them as a gift. I wanted them to have something  special to commemorate their special day. I  was drawn by the diagonals leading the eye from the bright foreground along the cliffs to their marriage setting. The land mass encompassed the bright waters of the cove and Pacific beyond. I gave them the painting for Christmas.

ELO and her Cello

 My granddaughter got to choose an instrument to play when she was in 4th grade.SHe pondered the choice for some time, explored her options and finally settled on the cello. The day she got her cello, she sat on her bed just hugging it. It was cello love.

I like to paint special moments in her life and have been trying to do one each year. This painting is her 2024 version.

I strayed from my usual style somewhat creating an abstract background and a splash of blue on the cello where the rflection was to lead the eye connecting her to the cello. I pushed the warmth of the cello and the shirt color to harmonize with the blues. I like the tilt of the instrument tying together the angles of her arms and legs as they encompassed her new love. I learned that painting a head tilted at an angle is much more difficult than one that is upright. She was delighted when I gave her the painting.

"Cheers-How do you like your Bookers?"

It was a commission conundrum.

 My former brother-in-law's request to paint a Christmas present for his son left me free to choose the subject matter. I was baffled as to what to pick. I hadn't seen him since he was 2 years old. What I knew, I learned from my daughter and Facebook. I knew he had bartended and worked in the liquor industry. 

         When thinking about what to paint for him, I flashed back to my daughter's  3rd birthday: there he was scooping the frosting off her cake before we even lit the candles. She was a little perplexed and the rest of us were cracking up laughing. 

I figured he loved a party then and from what I could tell that hadn’t changed-so “Cheers-how do you like your Bookers?” is my painting for him. 

      I was figuring out my set up to paint with one of our go to favorites-Bookers**, when my son suggested I use the  Mad Men glasses. I agreed they were more fun than the cut glass I had originally put there, so the idea was a bit of a collaboration. The orange is in case you'd like  a Manhattan, but also to create a bit of color harmony.

      I hope he enjoys his painting.

An unusual commission

Usually when people commission me to do a painting, they have a specific idea of what they want. When my former brother in law requested I paint 3 paintings for each of his grown children for a Christmas present, he told me to decide what to paint. He gave me a budget and a time frame. It was freeing, but at the same time daunting. I had only kept in touch through facebook since my divorce almost 50 years earlier.  I had spent a lot of time with them when they were little at Cape Cod. This seemed like the obvious choice for me as it connected us with memories at their grandparents summer home in Brewster.

When I was trying to decide what to paint, I wanted to have two paintings that were  completely different but definitely and completely connected, because that is how I always think of the twins. 

My thoughts of times shared at the Brewster house seemed the perfect choice. The place is so beautiful (like the two of them) and offered great memories as well as many choices for subject matter.

So here are my paintings  of the Brewster beach. This was one of those rare times that low tide coincides with sunset and the flats reflect the light in all it's glory. 

It is a cosmic experience-same night, same beach, two different views. My daughter suggested they could trade the paintings back and forth or even take turns hanging them together.  I hope that they bring joy for years to come.

 

Filoli Rose

On a recent trip to CA, my daughter took us to Filoli. in Woodside, CA. (https://filoli.org/ ) The place was incredible. The history and the formal gardens were captivating.  I knew immediately that I had to paint something to commemorate the experience. My own roses always end up with japenese beetles. The roses here were perfection. SO the decision was an easy one.

I choose to paint looking into the rose itself with it's varying shades of pinks and peach hues and it's highlights and shadows. I cropped it to focus on that particular aspect rather than the shape of the entire rose itself. It was challenging to try and capture the feeling of depth and the curling petals. In the end, it was rewarding to have a little bit of Filoli on  my canvas.