The Astor's Beechwood

I love this property. I remember visiting the Astor's Beechwood (www.astorsbeechwood.com) as a little girl and taking the tour --led by actors in period costume-- with my family. I remember standing in the front of the group, eagerly following our guide through all the rooms of this lovely mansion. I truly believe my childhood trip to the Astor's Beechwood sparked my interest in museums, and in turn my studies in college.

I started this painting over the summer, and have carried it around in my paint kit for some time. I wrote previously that I struggle painting white buildings, and this neutral color was also a challenge for the same reason.

It's Halloween. Can you guess what we decided to be?

iPhones!

Our costumes were a big hit, and I carefully painted each app! Unlike most of my other work, I painted the apps that made up our costumes using acrylic paints on reclaimed fabric. You may also notice the fabric "puff paint" I used in the Yelp app to add some dimension and shine. I wanted to make a homemade costume that was current, relevant, and inexpensive to produce, but once I started painting 40 apps, I realized I set myself up for a complicated project. It took more time then I anticipated, but everything was completed in time for the big weekend. In the photo above, we are posing in front of a Mondrian at SfMOMA's Curiosities Party. Thanks to Celestine for the photo.

The Contemporary Jewish Museum www.thecjm.org in downtown San Francisco is located in a lovely courtyard area in the center of the block bounded by Market, Mission, 3rd, and 4th. I love walking down Yerba Buena alley and passing by this monument when I going through this part of town. I would love to paint this building again in different lighting or from a slightly different angle. We'll see... there is so much I want to paint!

This building, 2008 Washington Street, is just up the street from me. I love walking by here and imagining I called this place home. It is next door to Danielle Steele's house, the old Sprekels Mansion, and across from Lafayette Park.

I feel like my art is very safe, so I am trying to push the envelope a little. This is a place on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco that I walk past every day. It is not the prettiest or most well composed landscape I have painted, but I wanted something that was an urban landscape in its most natural state.

Many a calorie has been gained at this delectable little seafood shack. Red's Eats is a Wiscasset, Maine staple. This place is not far from my family's summer cabin, so it is a favorite place to stop to consume part of my annual allotment of "lobstah rolls" and whoopee pies.

I enjoyed painting this work because of the candycane striped awning, the challenge of the lettering, and the people. I often avoid painting people, but I can handle painting them from the back.

I named my art business "I Was Here" because I enjoy painting the places I visit. With this painting, I had a tickle of happiness each time I pulled the painting out to work on it. I love looking at this and remembering a funny moment last summer. On a dare, my mother pretended to toss my precious lobster roll (which we waited in line a while to get) into the water. My baby nephew slept beside me in his stroller and my sister and brother-in-law broke into laughter. It was a lovely moment as the sun went down and we ate until we were full. This painting brought me back there each time I worked on it. I was here.

This is the Paul Barret Jr. Library at Rhodes College (http://www.rhodes.edu/) as seen from the Kappa Sigma house front lawn. I am a Rhodes alum, so this was a natural pick for my next watercolor subject. The library was constructed after I graduated, but I snapped the source photos for this when I was visiting for Homecoming.

1969 Rolls Royce Cornishe. Probably my last car painting for a while, but it was a fun trying something different.

People are always really surprised to hear that I often paint on planes. Whenever I fly, painting with my field watercolor kit is my favorite activity to keep me occupied. Above are two recent photos. The first is in a first class seat, and the second is in coach. It works in both!

Painting at home can be distracting. On the plane, there are never disrupting phone calls. The blackberry is off- so no emails to worry about. I don't even have to get up to get water as the flight attendants bring it to the seat. The tray table works just fine as a work space, and it cleans up easily. The cocktail napkins they pass out with the pretzels work better then a paper towel for blotting. The ipod and fancy headphones clear out the noise of the plane, and I am off in my own little world.

This is the exterior of Hop Kiln Winery in Sonoma (www.hopkilnwinery.com). I tried a different technique here- the use of watercolor pencils. I have resolved to stick with my brushes, but it was a fun experiment.

Now for something completely different...
In 2005, my husband and I took a trip to Italy. While in Venice, I snapped a picture of these street performers and I have had the photo in my "inspiration" file ever since. So, this one is for Venice Carnival lovers... for people who love the masks they sell along the winding streets in Venice.

Philips Hill Estates (www.phillipshillestates.com) in Anderson Valley just moved into this charming historic building. Toby, the wine maker, is an artist, too. I love his work-- which is abstract, and the total opposite of mine. I will send a copy of this little painting along to Toby, though, to commemorate his new space!

This painting is of Chateau St. Jean in Sonoma www.chateaustjean.com. I tried to keep the painting light, quirky and imperfect, and with just a few playful shadows. The winery has a lush lawn and I wanted to capture that as much as the building.

This is the front door to my grandparent's home when I was growing up. It no longer is their home, and it is no longer red... this was more of a sentimental piece.

I adore the swimming pool at the Montage in Laguna Beach http://www.montagelagunabeach.com/. This is one of my all-time favorite properties. I love the subtle colors of the lodge interiors, the landscaping, the views, and this amazing pool. I even love their branding- their logo is a little gilded framed painting. What's not to love?

Franciscan Winery (www.franciscan.com) in Napa. I am pleased with how the glass came out. I tried to capture the late afternoon sun setting in the color on the glass and the shadows.

Here is the second painting from the Jacuzzi Winery www.jacuzziwines.com in Sonoma. Between the time I started this painting and completed it, the winery added the blue awning and the plants grew (a lot). I noticed the awning when I did a google images search of the winery, just to check on a few details as I painted. Although I have not been to Jacuzzi since its new blue awning was added, I decided to paint it in anyway. I think it is funny when the buildings change as I am painting them. The painting of the Amelia Payson Bed and Breakfast, for example, is not longer accurate as the shutters have changed color. I also have a painting coming of my grandmother's old house, which was painted a different color after she moved. There are several others that have changed.

Summer cabin at Westport Island, Maine.

This is another painting I created as a client gift. This is a vintage Rolls Royce Silver Cloud. The car paintings are getting a positive response, so you may see more soon.

The Jacuzzi Winery www.jacuzziwines.com in Sonoma has a lovely stone building that houses a tasting room on one side and an olive press on the other. I have another Jacuzzi painting in the works, so watch for another view of the building soon. This is precisely the style of painting that I feel would work well as a retail opportunity in the winery's tasting room. Imagine it imprinted on reusable cotton lunch bags or tea towels. Feel free to post your thoughts.

This is the outside view of Chapel of the Holy Cross (www.chapeloftheholycross.com) in Sedona, Arizona. Painting red rocks is a challenge. If you look back at my Broadmoor Hotel paintings, you can see how I used a different style for the rocks this time. I am employing the "wash" technique in a patchwork to create the look of the red rocks.

We visited Chapel of the Holy Cross (www.chapeloftheholycross.com) in Sedona, Arizona last year. I wanted to paint it as soon as I saw it. This is a view of the chapel interior, and my nextpost will feature the exterior.

This is one of my favorite paintings I have done recently. I am really pleased with the way the red rose vine came out, and with the vivid colors over all.

This is the tasting room at Husch www.huschvineyards.com in Anderson Valley. At Husch, the property is wonderful, the wines are tasty, and the staff is so nice... so when I look back at this painting, I have that feel-good "I was here" experience I strive to give people who look at my art.

This little shed is beside the Squire Tarbox Inn http://www.squiretarboxinn.com/, a lovely B&B in Westport Island, Maine.

This is the front of the Pellegrini Family Winery http://www.pellegrinisonoma.com/ in Sonoma. The heavy shadow cast on the building by its own roof line reminded me of the painting I did of the facade of the Broadmoor Hotel (read down in the blog to the 2005 entries).

This is the Squire Tarbox Inn www.squiretarboxinn.com/ in Westport Island, Maine. I love this property since my family has a home just down the road.

This painting is a little different from some of my others as I have not painted a scene seen through a window before. There are two inspirations for this work.

I snapped a source photo for this piece in downtown San Francisco a few years ago. It was before we moved to California, so I was taken by all the designer shops around Union Square. I like the source photo, but it has some imperfections which I tried to paint away in this piece.

The second inspiration is Ward Schumaker www.warddraw.com. Ward illustrated the Spring/Summer 2008 Hermès catalog and there was an article about it in the San Francisco Chronicle. I devoured the article, and dreamed that Hermès or some other fabulous designer label would call me one day to illustrate their collection.

When I thought about Ward Schumaker's work, and used my Hermès storefront source photos, this painting came to life.

A few years ago at my sister's Harvard graduation, this little child was running around outside the tent where commencement took place. I know I should have been intently listening to all the speeches and the pomp of the ceremony, but I could not get over the little girl's precious raw silk ensemble. I snapped a few pictures.

I was reviewing some of my old photos recently and I decided this one needed to be painted.

Today I completed this painting of St. Francis Winery http://www.stfranciswine.com/. You can see a great shot of this building on their website home page, so take a look at the link.

While I was making this, I was unhappy with the color of the tower, but I glazed it with a china white paint at the end, and I am pleased with the final look. I am sure that is just awful and trained watercolor artists are cringing at reading this... but the white wash did the trick! I was also unsure about the shadows as I painted, but stepping back, I think they work.

Enjoy!

I painted this to use as a client gift for customers of a vintage car service.

There are two versions of the painting. The first I did in about 15 minutes. I came back to the painting at night and added more color and more detail. The car is a 1953 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith.

It is my first attempt at painting a car. It was fun to paint, so watch for more cars.

I just love the Hotel Del Coronado (http://www.hoteldel.com/). Ever since my family stayed there for Christmas in 1999, the property has always held a special place in my heart. Furthermore, since I love all things Victorian, the iconic red roof is something I am sure I will paint again.

This is a side view of one of the many roof lines at the Hotel Del Coronado (www.hoteldel.com). The Hotel Del has so many interesting views to paint, I could see myself doing a residence there and never running out of vistas.

I completed this painting on a plane. As I have mentioned it before, I often paint while I am flying. I wanted to try something different, so I did this Asian-inspired painting as fast as possible. It is not my normal style since I created this piece so quickly. I completed this in less than thirty minutes.

These images are from an illustrative series I just began. I am trying to expand beyond landscapes. My goal is to make playful and light-hearted illustrations of everyday items.

The blender was easier to paint than the teapot.

Coffee anyone?

For a long time, I wanted to paint Stortorget http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stortorget in Stockholm, Sweden. I sketched it from a photograph sometime in the spring of '08, then carried the sketch around in my watercolor travel kit for months. I finally revisted the sketch and added the colors over the Christmas holiday. I am trying to paint more scenes from Stockholm to add to my collection, so watch for more soon.

I love the colors in this painting. I cannot take credit, though! I owe the playful colors to the source. The Gamla Stan area of Stockholm is full of inspiration with bright colors on all the facades.

I find buildings much easier to paint then people. Nonetheless, I continue to try my hand at having people as the primary subject in my watercolors.

I like how the goulashes came out with the polka dots! I think the pattern makes this painting playful and light-hearted.

This is a flower shop in Stockholm called Melanders Blommor http://www.melandersblommor.se/. I painted it in part from memory as I did not have a good source photo to work with.

As I worked on this painting, I used the exact same technique in painting the flowers in the windows that I taught myself in middle school when I doodled in my notebooks. I find it amusing that my flowers look almost the same as they did when I drew bouquets up and down the margins of my Mead spiral rings.

I liked working on the rustication on the exterior of the building, so watch for more of that in future subjects.