The Honor of Your Presence is Requested........

I love painting weddings!

Last Saturday, I had the honor of painting a beautiful wedding in Dana Point at the Marriott. The setting was beautiful! A beautiful ocean view, lush green lawns, huge trees in the background. The gardens were bursting with color and the weather was perfect.

I always arrive plenty early to set up, start my sketch, take photos and start blocking in the background. Once the ceremony begins, I begin to paint in the guests and the bride and groom. As the ceremony continues, I quickly work, to paint in as much as I can before the ceremony is finished. I will usually paint through dinner, my goal is to have the painting finished by mid dinner. So, it usually takes me about 4-5 hours to finish.

The guests are always friendly, stop to chat, take photos and will often come back later to see the progress that I've made on the painting. Children are curious, they will come up with their parents, i enjoy visiting and chatting with the guests, it doesn't bother me to stop and chat. I will stop during cocktail hour and paint a small,quick scene of the cocktail hour as it is happening. Tables, umbrellas, guests, a quick snapshot of the evening as it happens but not with a camera, with oil paint.

Music, happy people,a beautiful setting, a happy couple and love from family and friends...while I paint away their moment. I love it!

Here are some photos from last weeks wedding. I did go home and make some changes, sometimes I have to do that. I wasn't thrilled with the cocktail hour painting, so I wiped it off and re did it from my memory and photos. Yep, some paintings get wiped off.... I think it is much better now. I can't wait for the bride to receive her paintings from her wedding day.

Enjoy!

Play Ball!

Baseball season is here and we love baseball! Ever since our oldest daughter, Sarah, played Softball we have loved the game. Well, we probably loved it before she played. We spent many hours at the field, practice, lessons, tournaments, games, try outs, working the snack bar, coaching, umpiring...you get the idea. Parents all over the county can be found at the field, everyday, every weekend. Those days of watching our kids play are over. We still love the game and will hop aboard the train to ride to Anaheim to watch the Angels play. Wearing our red, eating our peanuts, bringing our Costco hotdogs (because they are cheaper). We love the game. Paul loves the game so much that he umpires every chance he gets. He has the rules memorized and has been honored with calling games at some of the most important games in the county and even out of state. Umpire of the Year, yep, he earned that award too.

So, I painted a few baseball scenes. It started with a gift for my boss, a long time Angel's fan, he has had season tickets forever. When he retires, he would like to be on the grounds crew, he wants to hold the hose, while they water the field. If anyone has any connections, let me know.

Then I painted a former student of mine. I had him in my Kindergarten class, a long time ago. He is quite a player and Paul and I like to watch him when we have a chance. Someday, he may just be in the big leagues. My teacher, Kim, coached me as I painted this young man. "Raise the fence line, make his foot little longer, don't put in the spectators". Kim is a great teacher, when I finished then painting, she said, " I'm digging the red"... I knew it was turning out good then.

Finally, I painted Paul. Here he is, behind the plate. Calling balls and strikes, mumbling to the catcher, keeping everything under control in he game and having a blast at the same time.

Oh yes, one more. Spring break,, I went out to Angel Stadium and painted the ticket booth.

"Take me out to the ball game!"

Enjoy.

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Well Here I Go.....

Blog, Blog, Blog....

Let me see if I can do this...put it out there for the world to see.  Could be embarrassing, could be funny, could be what I just need to do.

This will be a place to share some of my paintings, how they came about and maybe a funny story or two about my day job.

So, to get this thing started, I'll show you some pictures of where I store all my paintings.  Exciting, I know.  I love the sun room.  It was added onto the house before we bought it.  It has wood windows that surround the entire room, lots of bright light.  However, there is no insulation in the ceiling and the room is either very hot, like a green house or very cool.  So, I don't really paint in there.  Someday, I'll get some ceiling fans.  I'd also like to get a cool work table, a taboret, to organize my things.  I have a lot of things. I like things.... I know, it's a problem. In my defense, they are all cheap treasures from the Flea Markets, nothing too valuable.  I am on the hunt for something funky, vintage and with character.