Orchids in a Lion Bowl

Orchids in a Lion Bowl. 18x24 inches oil on canvas

I've been wanting to work on a painting that I could take beyond a study for some time now. Having a place to set something up and creating a schedule that allows me to work on one project regularly has been challanging. Between moving, switching jobs, and returning to study, this is the first painting I've finished in years. I painted this over the course of months, working on it when I've had time. In retrospect, I accidentally took the long road. I'm calling this one done, and I am looking forward to moving on to the next one!

Portraits of Bryce, Brayden, & Meabh

Portraits of your children is such a wonderful way to celebrate your anniversary! It was a pleasure to be asked to draw these.

Portrait of Bryce 8"x10" charcoal & white chalk on paper

Portrait of Brayden 8"x10" charcoal & white chalk on paper

Portrait of Meabh 8"x10" charcoal & white chalk on paper

Here are the portraits all together right before sending them off to the family. Happy Anniversary! Cheers!!

Portraits of the Palette

The Palette & Chisel's show, Portraits of the Palette, will be opening Friday the 15 from 6-9. If you aren't already going to Holiday Party, please come by! Treat yourself to great paintings and company, what more do you need? The show will run until January 7; so no worries if you can't make it Friday. I will be showing the following portraits, and I hope to see you there! Happy Holidays!!

Brittany oil on canvas 8"x10"

Eleanore and Henry charcoal and white chalk 9"x12"

Portraits of Eleanore and Henry

Is there a sweeter way to celebrate your wedding anniversay than portraits of your children?!?!

Eleanore 9"x12" charcoal on paper

Henry 9"x12" charcoal on paper

Here are the portraits in their frames. Happy Anniversary!!!

The Florence Academy of Art Fundrasier

I feel very fortunate to have graduated from The Florence Academy of Art. During my time there I met inspirational artists that still encourage my artistic pursuits today. They are having an art auction, "Drawing on the Masters". It is a fundraiser to support their educational programs, the pieces are either copies of master drawings or original works that were influenced by a master drawing. I wanted to contribute so I squeezed in a little copy of Peter Paul Rubens:) The art work that I've seen for the show is stunning, check it out if you can:) I hope the auction goes well!

Here is my copy of Peter Paul Rubens' Study for Christ for ‘The Elevation of the Cross', 5"x7" pencil & white chalk.

Fall Clearance at The Palette & Chisel

The Palette and Chisel will be having a fall clearance sale Saturday, November 11. It's a great opportunity to see a lot of work by many artists all in one day:) I will have theses studies available, they are all 8"x 10". I hope to see anyone in the area there! 

Emily

I finally made it to another open studio this weekend. It's been a while since I've painted from a model, it's great practice. Emily posed during The Palette and Chisel's open house, which if you came out Saturday thank you for leaving your house in the pouring rain. Another benefit of making it to an open studio is I was able to see their current show, Open House Chicago, there are some really nice pieces and it's healthy to get out of your own workspace for a while and see what other people are doing. The show features mainly Chicago themed works and will be up until October 22, stop by if you can!

Here is my study of Emily, it's 8''x 10'' oil on panel.

Chicago Architecture Tour 2017

The Palette and Chisel will be having an open house during the architecture tour this weekend, I hope to see anyone in the area there! I've lived in Chicago for 6 years and I've still not gone on an architecture tour. I've planned on it a few weekends but life gets in the way I guess, or you don't realize what you have at you fingertips until you move.

Luckily, The Museum of Science and Industry is not too far away and it is beautiful. The building was originally built for Chicago's World Fair to exhibit fine art, which I learned from watching EXPO: Magic of the White City. If you haven't seen it I'd recommend it. Plus it's narrated by Gene Wilder and who doesn't love him?  I could probably work from the museum every day and still find little details I didn't notice before.

Here is a drawing of one the reliefs going along the building. 

The framed drawing, with my tiny little house plants.