painting every day

the persistence of memory

2011-05-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Puff, gouache on paper, 8" x 8", copyright BVF Betker 2011

Painted from photograph with thanks to DD Betker.

open harbor

2011-05-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

An experiment with open acrylics on canvas, over a copper-colored liquid acrylic base composed of metallic gold and quinacridone crimson on canvas.

seek and ye shall find

2011-03-07T05:38:00.000-08:00

Hide and Seek, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 36"

Left the studio window open so this painting could dry, and a major windstorm sent in its suggestions for improvement. Have to say the weather is always right!

while we're on the subject

2011-02-23T08:59:00.001-08:00

Here's a plein-air sketch from last year's Urban Sketchers - Seattle visit to Seattle's Center for Wooden Boats on South Lake Union. I love painting on black, makes the colors pop and the weather look dramatic. You really have to work to get light into the scene!

sketching at one remove

2011-02-22T11:10:00.000-08:00

North Lake Union, 5" x 7", watercolor on gessoed panel

Okay, I'm going to try to take a note from the pages of my betters and get back to creating and posting a painting every day. That, in fact, was the whole idea, wasn't it? Here is one from last evening, a little watercolor sketched on metallic-gold-gessoed hardboard from a photograph I took not so long ago "across the street" from studio. Don't think the metallica quite shows through but it may look interesting when I get this fixed with gloss acrylic or mineral spirits varnish.

swing dancing

2011-02-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

another jazz tune, this time with big band and wah-wah

big juicy apple

2011-01-16T17:41:00.000-08:00

Last September I had the great good fortune to visit New York City, the heart of our culture, with a friend of many decades, the person who actually introduced me to acrylic paints when we were but teenagers.
As may be clear, the scene from any NYC bus stop breaks my heart with joy!

thinking big

2010-09-26T00:18:00.000-07:00

Fishermen's Terminal sketch, April 2010, 6" x 12" acrylic on canvas

looking east

2010-08-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

East From the Gas Works, 30" x 40", acrylic on canvas, 2010.

bon voyage

2010-05-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

Bon Voyage, acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40"

one more from fishermen's terminal

2010-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

Our first FT visit for 2010 was in the rain! My acrylic sketch of the Anita was quite melty when we packed up, but I punched it up back in the studio.

joy

2009-12-27T18:12:00.000-08:00

a fairly recent acrylic sketch on canvas, 8 x 8. Three stages of its creation are viewable on my flickr site!

abstract life

2009-11-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

Here's my latest large abstract, Fish Term -- I know, another jazz painting, another fishermen's terminal painting, ho hum!!!

Veterans' Day

2009-11-25T18:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a relatively new painting, 12 x 12 acrylic on canvas. It started out as this drawing in white ink on black gesso:

then became this painting:

city music

2009-10-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

another dancing jazz cityscape! this one is 30" x 40" acrylic on canvas, alla prima.

4th night jazz

2009-10-16T19:07:00.001-07:00

still revisiting jazz painting days (and nights) -- here's the latest, 24 x 36 acrylic on canvas.

who is with me in these woods?

2009-10-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

Newest painting, acrylic alla prima on canvas, 12 x 12.
References an older (1998) small pastel viewable here: http://paintingeveryday.blogspot.com/2009/03/who-is-with-me-in-woods.html

stone way

2009-10-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here is an acrylic done in the studio, referencing a photo I took with one hand at a stoplight on my daily commute. 24 x 36, acrylic on canvas. My friends seems to like it, especially the local ones who recognize the weather! Was going for a watercolor effect, but wanted the permanence of acrylic.

visiting the floodplain

2009-09-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

Ah, Skagit Valley rain! This is 12 x 12 acrylic on canvas.

jazz night

2009-09-09T17:53:00.001-07:00

Trying to figure out how to get luminous color jazz going in a permanent medium that doesn't need protection from the elements. Love the way gouache sits up on gessoed board; want to get acrylic to do the same so I don't have to spray-varnish. Meanwhile, here is my latest such experiment with gouache. 9 x 12. Still in the first glow with this one, I admit I love it!

the gas works revisited

2009-09-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a small sketch from our Urban Sketchers - Seattle crawl last month. Love painting in this park, 300 degrees of city/water/industrial view! It's about 4 x 6, inks-and-gouache on black paper.

flowerpot experiment

2009-08-18T19:43:00.001-07:00

So I got a little crazy and started painting with gouache on a little piece of black-gessoed hardboard; liked the way the paint beaded up and waited to dry... then I varnished it with acrylic spray varnish and, voila! it's rich and shiny (can't see that here) and no need to put glass over this medium anymore; no need to frame it if it's painted on a hangable board. Makes me too happy altogether! This was my little 4x4 experimental thingy.

experimental jazz

2009-08-17T11:17:00.001-07:00

everything old is new again. here's a 4 x 6 sketch in gouache and ink. tulips may be coming back at last.

blue house

2009-08-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

Would love to just set up somewhere on the lake each day and paint whichever house is nearby. Here is one where I had that pleasure, albeit quickly!

secret gardens of lake forest park

2009-06-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a little 8 x 6 plein air oil sketch from the garden of Carolyn and Chuff Barden of Lake Forest Park.

the gas works

2009-05-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

today's 8 x 16 oil sketch -- think this would make an interesting larger painting! (like 30 x 60 or so)

fishermen's terminal

2009-05-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

A beautiful day at Seattle's working docks. Don't know why this place is not crawling with painters. Here is my afternoon's 8x8 oil sketch.

across green lake this morning

2009-05-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

Today's 6 x 8 plein air oil sketch! The morning was lovely!

the factory behind freighthouse square

2009-05-02T23:37:00.000-07:00

Here's this week's 6 x 8 oil sketch!

pike place park

2009-04-28T23:12:00.000-07:00

gouache, 3.5 x 11. This couple left just before a gaggle of religious pamphleteers descended upon us at Victor Steinbrueck Park. They all gave their names as "Jay," and oblivious to one another's failures to engage us in substantive discussion, each in turn attempted to save us. I guess painting in the park makes us fair game!

teresa in the studio

2009-04-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

10-year-old portrait of my friend-the-longest, oil, 18 x 12

commons counter

2009-04-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

ink/gouache sketch, 3.5 x 11

ballard locks

2009-04-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

here's my first sketch of the day from Seattle Plein Air's meetup at the locks on Saturday. Ink and gouache, 3.5 x 11

lake forest park

2009-04-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

5 x 7 oil sketch: looking south across Bothell Way from the Commons at Third Place Books

in the commons

2009-04-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

yesterday's sketch from the bookstore at Lake Forest Park, oil on panel, 8 x 10

fencepost study

2009-04-17T00:08:00.000-07:00

yesterday's color study sketch, oil on hardboard, 8 x 8

under the bridge

2009-04-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

5 x 7 oil sketch from last week in Tacoma

mossy roof

2009-04-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

oil sketch from the deck of a boat on the Point Ruston waterway (Dock Street, Tacoma) last week! 12 x 16

rainbow street (detail)

2009-04-14T00:26:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas, 48 x 46

serve yourself

2009-04-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas, 29 x 38

the gate

2009-04-12T18:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's sketchcrawl effort. Here is the Gate to Seattle's International District as seen from Yummy Bakery. 3.5 x 5.5, ink and gouache.

half sweet

2009-04-11T06:12:00.000-07:00

oil, 6 x 8

pink lamp incident

2009-04-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

jazz, 24 X 36, 1998; private collection.

be careful what you wish for (detail)

2009-04-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas, about 30 x 36. All about family....

industrial tower

2009-04-08T00:45:00.001-07:00

today's 8 x 6 plein air oil sketch of a view from under a dramatic Tacoma bridge. This tower was tiny on the horizon but glowing in the sun!

dawn

2009-04-07T07:05:00.000-07:00

a gouache conversion of ink drawing from sketchcrawl. 9 x 8, 2008

dan, protected by bog flowers

2009-04-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

watercolor, 18 x 27. private collection.

bliss

2009-04-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

ink and watercolor, 4 x 6 inches -- a little doodle of our duckling.

higher and lighter

2009-04-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

pastel in wet on paper. About 18 x 13 (has been on loan for awhile, I'd have to look up the measurements).

do you want to dance?

2009-04-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

Finally, a figurative piece. I wasn't going to put these up! But here is one. Oil, 29 x 40.

ton plaisir

2009-04-02T06:27:00.000-07:00

pastel in wet on paper. Collection of Terry and John Walsh.

horizon

2009-04-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

watercolor, 8 x 18

haunting heaven

2009-03-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

pastel in wet on paper, 30 x 40. My beloved old Wallingford neighborhood...

pink rat

2009-03-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

jazz acrylic on paper, 24 x 36

thanksgiving day

2009-03-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a little oil sketch from last fall, 6 x 8 on canvas/hardboard panel. I painted it in the parking lot of the hospital where I had spent so much time previously with my dad, and even more previously with my mom. Since it was a holiday parking was free.

treescape

2009-03-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

oil on linen, 22 x 28.

zebra coat

2009-03-27T00:11:00.000-07:00

This is a fractured image painting referencing one of my more elaborate fiber pieces. Heavy-weave patterned silk was first dyed in the shibori tradition, and then fashioned into the Zebra Coat. For this image I laid it out somewhat flat and placed objects of personal meaning to me across it; then crossed this pattern with garden swaths in the painted image. Watercolor, 36 x 54.

someone's heaven

2009-03-26T01:10:00.000-07:00

The view from the dock accessing my studio in 1998; watercolor and pastel; commissioned, in private collection.

ballard sunday market

2009-03-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

plein air oil sketch on gessoed masonite with acrylic underpainting, 9 x 12; August 2008.

glowing impalas

2009-03-24T08:15:00.001-07:00

acrylic on paper, jazz animals series, 24 x 36. Collection of Pamela McDonald.

like flame

2009-03-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

pastel on paper, 30 x 40.

my old studio

2009-03-22T07:15:00.001-07:00

watercolor, 9" x 12".

peach feast

2009-03-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

jazz acrylic on paper, 24 x 36

april

2009-03-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

pastel on paper, 30 x 40

rooftops

2009-03-19T00:11:00.000-07:00

watercolor on paper, private collection.

precipitation

2009-03-18T00:11:00.000-07:00

The view from my studio dock door, plein air oil on canvas, 20 x 30

ruby slippers

2009-03-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a relatively new jazz piece, acrylic on paper, 44.5 x 59.

from the dock

2009-03-16T00:11:00.000-07:00

An older watercolor on paper, the view out my (then) North Lake Union studio front glass doors. About 9" x 9".

distant fire

2009-03-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

pastel on paper, 30 x 40.

water vapors

2009-03-14T00:20:00.001-07:00

This is the reservoir on Roosevelt! oil on canvas, 20 x 30. Collection of my dear friend Teresa Lawson.

mon plaisir

2009-03-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

Pastel in wet on paper, 36 x 40. Collection of Patricia Emmons and Bill Curtis.

painted silk

2009-03-12T04:56:00.001-07:00

This watercolor on paper, 18 x 26, references a shawl woven from torn silk I had previously dye-painted, some with images, some just with color. The crystal is my mother's; the ruby glass and china are mine. These objects of personal value surround the most perfect of all gifts -- sweet fruits.

yellow trees

2009-03-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

Here is an older landscape from the east side, pastel on paper, 30 x 40.

red beads

2009-03-10T00:23:00.001-07:00

Today's daily, 6 x 6, oil on panel.

blue bottle

2009-03-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

Here is yesterday's little painting, 4 x 6, oil on panel. Still wet and full of sparkles from the flash, will have to reshoot it later!

summons

2009-03-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

And now for something completely different: an older commissioned jazz piece, acrylic on paper, about 44" x 58".

sailboat

2009-03-07T00:58:00.000-08:00

Watercolor, 22 x 15. Found this scene at the Center for Wooden Boats. Private collection.

who is with me in the woods?

2009-03-06T00:22:00.000-08:00

Another pastel, this one a small sketch, painted in wet on paper.

intimate distance

2009-03-05T06:14:00.001-08:00

This is the view from my old studio whose access was on a dock on north lake union, pastel on paper, 30 x 40. How lucky was I to be there?!

vivid

2009-03-04T04:56:00.000-08:00

From jazz still life series, 24 x 24, acrylic on paper. Private collection.

detente

2009-03-03T00:24:00.000-08:00

1997 watercolor on paper, 18 x 26. Collection of Martha Dawson.

san diego 1978

2009-03-02T04:35:00.000-08:00

oil on canvas, 30 x 24; painted in 1996.

mother's crystal

2009-03-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

Prismacolor, 8 x 10, 1995.

haunting green lake

2009-02-28T00:15:00.000-08:00

This is a 8 x 10 oil sketch on canvas panel, painted a couple weeks ago. It was very cold and the fog had just lifted!

spoon before breakfast

2009-02-27T07:44:00.001-08:00

From the past to the present: Here is a small (6 x 8) oil I painted last Saturday before breakfast! Still wet.

still life with pheasant

2009-02-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

Here's today's image, an older painting from my jazz still life series. This is acrylic on paper, 24 x 36. It has been in a private collection since 1998 but I'm taking this opportunity to revisit it!

9th & pike

2009-02-25T19:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome to painting every day! Every day I will add the image of another painting, gradually creating an anthology of my work in several styles. Some will be old, some brand new.

This is a 9" x 12" oil sketch on gessoed masonite. It's a scene from downtown Seattle on a day when I went to the art supplies store. The wind was blowing and it felt wonderful and vivid. Hope you like it!