One more push

After much debate and thought, I am looking at getting one more painting done for the show next week. I was looking at the amount of pieces that focused on the canyon and thought the mill city painting needed a companion. Since it is so close to the exhibit, I have decided to work in Acrylics instead of oils. That way the painting will actually be dry when I hang it. The first image is the painting I have started of the old Pillsbury elevator that is on the opposite side of the Mississippi River banks from Mill City. I thought they would work well together. With any luck, it should be done by Thursday night. The other pic is of one of my walls that will soon be empty once the paintings go to the show. It will actually be nice to get the space back and start focusing on the next show which will be in July at the Edina Art Center. I only have a couple of my children's illustrations that will be done for that though. I am also starting to layout a major solo show that will have 20 -25 paintings that is going to happen next June here in the Twin Cities. Never too early I guess to start in on it. That way there isn't so much last minute work. Will be back soon with more crazyness.

Texture, texture, texture

Today started off as a busy one with a couple of meetings near downtown Minneapolis this morning. It was an especially nice ride into town since I had the sunroof open and the windows down enjoying the warm beautiful weather. Then it was back to business in the studio with the final pushes for the paintings. As I was working I noticed that the texture of some of the paintings were really cool to look at from the side. So I thought I would take a snapshot of that and show you myself. This one is a closeup of one of the apache trail paintings. The other photo is of Dakota as she lay on my pillow watching me work from afar. I am sure she is getting sick of all of this work as well! Anyways, will be back with some final pics in the next day or two.

Getting final touches on

Well, can't believe it is Wed. already. It is amazing how fast the week goes when it is busy. I have been working on getting the final touches onto the three paintings that are left to finish. This one is really close to being done, but have some more work on the rocks to deal with. The other two will hopefully be complete by Friday night. I also have been putting the final details in some painting workshops that I am going to be teaching the weekends of June 15th and 22nd at Homewood Studios in North Minneapolis. As the summer approaches quickly, I am really starting to look at a packed schedule. That is good though as it will keep the work flowing.

Frogs sounding out

Happy Sunday to everyone. I hope you have all had a great weekend so far. Things here have been beautiful with the weather. The frogs from the pond in the backyard are croaking like there's no tomorrow. It's nice though, feels like I am at the lake with the ducks and frogs and all. I even have the patio doors and windows open so the fresh air is nice as well. The first picture is looking outside of the studio space. I know the other photos have all been dark night shots, so this will be a little better to look at. The other picture is of the painting that I starting working on again. I am down to three paintings now that need finishing and am looking forward to getting them done. Its nice having a deadline approaching, otherwise I would be tempted to go outside and skip the studio work for a day or so. This way it keeps me on my toes and working away.

Apache Trail II final

Well, I am getting to the point finally on a number of the paintings where I can start putting some finishing touches on them. The Apache Trail II painting that I have attached is pretty much finished now (if a painting ever really is!). That makes four of them completely finished and another four that are ready to be completed by mid next week hopefully. I also have been working on the drawings as well the last couple of nights. I think it will all come together just in time. I also thought i would show another one of the "studio" shots to give you an idea of the craziness of my studio right. How empty it will feel when they all go out the door. At least I will have room to work on the next pieces.

NIght of Drawing

With many nights of painting lately, I thought it would be a good change of pace to get in some drawing tonight. As you can see by the photo, I have three of them to work on, but am happy that they are not the size of some of the paintings I have recently done. I also have been enjoying my increased studio space lately as well. It sure is nice having more space to work and lay things out. I guess it will just be a better excuse to make a bigger mess!

Sunday work

Thought I would give you guys an update photo on the painting.

Finally a springlike sat.

After a number of weeks with snow and cold weather, we are finally feeling like spring here. And I have my patio doors open to bring in all that fresh air. Don't worry though, I am still hard at work with the paintings. The snapshot here is an untitled piece that I layed out last night. It is the key mountain that you see when you start your way onto the apache trail in Arizona. Not sure of its name, but there is a number of residents that live at the base of it and will be painted in this afternoon. Check back to see the progress.

Also it looks like there will be a reception for the Waconia show on Monday May 14th at 6:30. I will give full details when they are settled but will more in likely be signing copies of a couple of the books I have illustrated as well. Have a great start to your weekends!

Kolb Studio Final

Here it is. The final Kolb Studio. I was having trouble getting a good picture of it with the camera and lighting so this will have to do. I am sure you can get a good idea of it. The piece itself is 24" x 18".

Kolb Studio progess's

After a short hiatus on the Kolb Studio painting I am getting back into it and working on finishing it by the weekend. I managed to get alot of things figured out with location and color in which I can start putting finishing highlights and textures on next. This one and some of the other ones I am sure you have noticed are getting a little more expressionistic with color and brush stroke. I am getting back into some of my old style that I had done a couple of years ago with texture and color and having fun with it. On the other front of things going on, I was invited to be apart of a Plein Air painting competition the week of July 17-20 in Aiken Minnesota. It will be a week of painting and enjoying the outdoors about an hour and a half from the twin cities. It is part of the River Boat Arts fest 2007 sponsored by the Jaques Art Center in Aiken. I will keep you posted as to the locations and times we will be out there so if anyone wants to stop by and check out the fun festivities you can. Plus all the paintings that are done in the field are available to buy, so they will be great gifts for anyone!!

Apache Trail II continues

Happy Easter everyone. I hope you were able to enjoy time with your families this weekend. Now it is time to hunker down again and get all the projects done that I have started. Sorry for the absense of posts this last week as well. I was occupied with some product illustrations that needed to get done and will be working on some more this week. As you can see by the picture, I have been able to work more on the Apache Trail II painting as well. It is getting closer to done, but will need to put more of the finishing touches when this layer dries a bit more.

Xtreme Weather

So here I sit with some snow on the way and it was just last week we were in the lower 80's. Hard to believe. At least it is April and the summer is not far away. As for work tonight, it has been a mix of working on another one of the paintings for the show (I don't think I have shown this one up close yet) and the start of an illustration project that has to be done by Thursday. I can really start to feel the pressure of getting all the paintings and drawings done with the show a little over a month away. I am anxious but know the pieces will get done on time and it will be a good show. What would work be like if there wasn't a little bit of anxiety that went with it!