A Celtic Fable

 A Celtic Fable - (6x9" closed)

Last October when I took a workshop from Lynne Perrella, she brought, as always, a number of examples of red rosin work to show the class.  One was a piece I hadn't seen before with an Asian theme. She had cut and folded it to make it into a book.

 I was struck not only by the design, but by the feel of the paper - there were so many layers of paint on it it felt like leather.  I decided then and there that I wanted to re-create that leather feel on a piece of my own.

  As usual with my ideas it marinated for a few months in my mind and I came up with the concept of doing something Celtic.  A Celtic Fable was conceived and now is born!

 I started by gessoing the front and back of a 16x24" piece of red rosin paper adding some bits of cheesecloth here and there on the front for texture.  When dry, I painted the back using Lumiere's Pearlescent Blue and then stenciled Celtic knots with Golden's Iridescent Gold Deep (fine) and Quinacradone Crimson.

 I used the same three colours on the front side along with an Unbleached Titanium  from Liquetex. The Celtic knot stencils were employed again (thanks to friend Destiny for cutting these for me!) and the small web stencil from  Mary Beth Shaw's Stencil Girl. Sequin scrim (or punchinella) provided the small groups of dots. Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels in red and blue were lightly scrumbled over the cheese cloth and then hit with a heat gun to bring out the colour and affix them to the strands of the cloth.

 Various bits of Celtic imagery (xerox copies) were adhered with matte medium, I rubbed these lightly with a small amount of paint on my fingers to "ghost" them out and make them sink into the surface. Splatters in all four colours were next. A few bits of red cheesecloth (courtesy of Lynne's friend Steve Sorman fine art printer maker) were affixed with matte medium.

I found a small Celtic knot stamp in Margot's stash (a clingmount - couldn't find a designer's mark on it) and sprinkled it throughout the piece using Ranger's Archival Black.  Gold circles were punched out of joss paper and adhered with matte medium.  Sumi ink was used to add "mystic" symbols.  The final touch a few Celtic charms (from earrings) were sewn on with FireLine.

The paper was folded and cut to turn it into book form.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  The paper does indeed, with all it's layers, feel very much like leather. Thanks once again to the incomparable  Lynne Perrella for not only the inspiration but for teaching the techniques to achieve it.

Beacon Art Show 5

Age Old Music 24x36

For the second year in a row I've been accepted into the juried Beacon Art Show, sponsored by the Methodist Church in San Luis Obispo. I was quite pleased to have sold my piece last year and hoping for another sale this year as well.



This piece done on red rosin paper and then mounted on canvas features different sized xeroxed copies of Caravaggio's The Lute Player. I used water soluble oil pastels on the faces in several colour combinations and both vertically and horizontally. The blue, white and red palette is one I use often, but the addition of yellow was something different and really "pops".

The show runs through the first week in April
and is being held in the church hall.

Age Old Music

Age Old Music 36x24"

The theme of the current show at the Cambria Center for the Arts is "Beauty in the Eyes". My entry is Age Old Music. This piece done on red rosin paper and then mounted on canvas features different sized xeroxed copies of Caravaggio's The Lute Player. I used water soluble oil pastels on the faces in several colour combinations and both vertically and horizontally. The blue, white and red palette is one I use often, but the addition of yellow was something different and really "pops".

The show runs through July 31,
every Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11-5.

Red Rosin, Red Rosin

The Baker's Daughter

Water & Stone

Si Tengo Alas Para Volar

In Navitate Domini

These pieces all use the wonderful red rosin techniques that I learned from the incomparable Lynne Perrella. Four of many that will be featured at this weekend's Open Studios Tour, October 9 and 10, Saturday and Sunday 10-5. The welcome mat is out!

Water & Stone

Water & Stone - 16 x 20"

Several weeks ago I did my first landscape, Harmony Hills, using red rosin techniques on canvas and I thought it would be fun to try a seascape. Here's the result - Water & Stone, a depiction of Morro Rock and the surrounding bay. I gessoed the canvas using cheesecloth to form the rock and the clouds, and Golden Pumice Gel for the foreground and sandbar to the left of the rock. Acrylic craft paints in various greens and blues were used for the water and sky. The rock I covered with Golden Glaze -Asphaltum . Portfolio Water soluble Oil Pastels were used to add green accents to the rock and the sandbar. Small Morro Bay signs were rubbed with the pastels and then collaged on with matte medium. Drips in several sizes and colours were added. The final touch, a hand-dyed silk ribbon in blues and greens runs through the water in the foreground.

Detail of above, showing oil pastel and asphaltum glaze over pumice gel.

This foray into land and sea scapes has been interesting- and given me even more respect for the artists whose metier they are. This piece will be available at Open Studios this October.

I Hope the Leaving is Joyful

I Hope the Leaving is Joyful 16 x 20"

A quieter Frida piece this time. I used red rosin techniques of textured gesso and xerox collage. The central figure is from a photograph by Nickolas Murray. The background was painted using a palette of craft acrylics in burnt sienna, brown iron oxide and cream, then I dripped both horizontally and vertically to create a grid pattern. The quote "I hope the leaving is joyful and I hope never to return" was coloured with Portfolio Water-soluble oil pastels in violet, red, and black. The pastels were also implemented to accentuate some of the textured gesso (see photo below). Punchinello was used as a stencil for violet circles. Black Staz-On ink was stamped along the bottom using an Anne Bagby design.

As always, when creating an artwork with Frida as my inspiration, the ideas just flow and time stands still. This piece will be available at this October's Open Studios Tour.

8 x 8 Show

Grand Tour - London 8 x 8"

This Friday and Saturday Allied Arts of Cambria is having their Spring fund raiser at the Cambria Vets Hall. This year all the entries are 8 x 8" and priced at $75.00, a third of the profits going to fund various Allied Arts scholarship programs.

Grand Tour - Venice 8 x8"

For my three pieces I chose to take the "grand tour" and visit London, Paris and Venice. I used red rosin techniques directly on the small canvases, gessoing in cheesecloth for texture, using craft acrylics and then embellishments - including marbled paper, a Laduree business card, English tram tickets and various vintage coins.

Grand Tour - Paris 8 x 8"

It was fun to work small, about a twelfth the size of my usual red rosin paintings, and of course, always wonderful to revisit Paris, London and Venice!

Juried Show

Doorway to Paradise 24 x 36"

Allied Arts of Cambria is mounting a juried show this month and the above piece has been accepted! This is my first juried show, so I'm very pleased. The piece, done on gessoed red rosin paper features string, cheesecloth, foil, collage elements and acrylics. I did this piece last year at Southwest Passages in Taos, a marvelous workshop I attended, taught by Lynne Perrella and Anne Bagby. The show opens tomorrow, opening reception from 5:30-7:30 at the Allied Art Gallery in the Old Cambria Grammar School. If you're here on the central coast, drop by.

Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!

Saturday Afternoon at Grandma's

It's been a good start Art-wise the first 2 months of 2010. I have sold three of my pieces from various venues.

Midtown Kiosk

These are the first of my red rosin paintings to sell - a wonderful feeling!

Nostalgia in the Key of Rust

And very satisfying and really rather special to think of my work being displayed and enjoyed in different homes.

Never Forget

Never Forget

A red rosin painting in tribute to all who experienced the Holocaust - their courage, their faith, their entreaty to "Never forget" in order to keep anything so horrible on such a massive scale from ever happening again.


I used a dark palette of raw umber, black, burnt sienna and hooker's green for the background over gesso; textured with netting, cheesecloth, aluminum tape and twine. Xerox copies of the Star of David crossed with barbed wire were coloured with light blue and brown Portfolio water soluble oil pastels and affixed with matte medium, as were strips of Hebrew letters in pale blue and pink.


Gold and blue stars were stenciled on using a Star of David stencil found on www.spraypaintstencils.com. Barbed wire and star rubber stamps were applied with black StazOn ink. Pieces of mattress ticking were torn and "aged" with brown Portfolios and water. Small charms - Stars of David and Torahs - were sewn on and the ticking was attached with heavy gel medium. More charms were tied onto the netting at the bottom of the piece.

Portfolios were used as highlights on netting and cheesecloth. Drips and spatters of blue, cream, black and gold finished the piece.

Midtown Kiosk

Midtown Kiosk

For awhile I've had the idea of recreating a section of kiosk on a red rosin painting - flyers, posters, announcements, sorta grungy, peeling, lots of layers.


When I gessoed the red rosin paper I used cheese cloth, fish net, net trim and Golden pumice gel for the maximum amount of texture. I picked a non-characteristic palette, for me, of burnt sienna, raw umber, and avocado green, with highlights of cardinal red, copper and bamboo.

I raided our scrap paper box at work and came up with old flyers from our public bulletin board. I made sure to rip off or cover phone numbers and any personal information. I coloured these bits with Portfolio water soluble oil pastels in a myriad of colours, and then affixed to the painting with matte medium. A round of drips and splatters and voila! Midtown Kiosk.

One more ready for Open Studios.

The Healing Woman

The Healing Woman

Here's one of the pieces I did last weekend in Lynne Perrella's Color as Catalyst workshop at The Artists' Nook. Done on red rosin paper, gessoed and liberally textured with cheese cloth, string, fishnet,splatters and stamping.

I used a palette of greens and purples, with accents of gold, copper and burnt sienna. Multiple Xerox copies, in varying sizes, of a garden statuary face were coloured with Portfolio water soluble oil pastels. Gold foil circles, marbled tissue paper, dried leaves and flowers, rubber stamping and drips and splatters finished the piece.

The classic lines of this face were a perfect match for the juicy colours of the Portfolios.

I did the piece as a gift (a surprise) for my wife Margot and was very pleased with the way it turned out. She was too!

Lynne says she thinks it's the best work I've done, and I agree.

Age Old Song

Age Old Song

Another red rosin painting this weekend. The face taken from Caravaggio's The Lute Player. Portfolio water soluble oil pastels on Xerox copies in several sizes on a piece of red rosin paper, gessoed, with cheesecloth , and then painted, dripped, splattered, collaged with the faces and stamped with an Anne Bagby stamp and black StazOn Ink.



I chose a rich palette to recall the majesty of the Renaissance, but also used lighter, less brilliant colours in other areas for an aged feel.

I'm pleased with the way the stamp faded in and out, giving a worn look,

One more done for Open Studios.

927 Alternative Art Show in Cambria

The Quick Brown Fox...

Today and tomorrow is the annual 927 Alternative Art Show in Cambria. 927 is the phone prefix here. It was the only prefix when the show started almost 20 years ago. In the intervening years we've added 924, 934, 935, and 203. Mostly thanks to cell phones and cable companies, but the name "927 Show" has stuck and that's what we all call it.

It's a chance for alternative artists to have a little fun and exhibit works that might not fit into other shows around town. Over time the titles have become almost as important as the art and it's always fun to figure out the puns while enjoying the pieces.

My entry for 2009 is The Quick Brown Fox... which I featured on my blog when I finished it last month. The use of at least 8 full alphabets and parts of 6 others (different colours, fonts, materials, etc.) gave birth to the title.

This will be my third entry, I've been fortunate to win prizes the two previous years and am hoping to keep my string going. The artist reception and prize announcement is tonight. I'll keep you posted - results on Monday's blog. Hours for the show 11-9 pm Saturday and 10-3 Sunday, at the Veterans' Hall in Cambria.

The Baker's Daughter

The Baker's Daughter

Done on red rosin paper, gessoed with string and cheese cloth added for texture. A palette of lavender, French blue and light pink craft acrylics with accents of Golden Quinacridone Crimson and Iridescent Gold Deep (Fine).

The image is Raphael's "La Fornarina", xeroxed in several sizes and coloured with Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels. Squares of metallic gold paper, wooden crosses (covered in the Golden Iridescent Gold) and a rubber stamp of script (Hampton Art Stamps) complete the work.

Techniques learned from numerous workshops with the master Lynne Perrella. I'm pleased with this piece - it turned out exactly as I had envisioned it - which as we all know is not always what happens. One more piece ready for Open Studios!

Saturday Afternoons at Grandma's

Saturday Afternoons at Grandma's

This is a red rosin piece I did yesterday. I embedded vintage doilies in the gesso. The colours I used are ones I remembered from needlework and petite-point at the home of my uncle's mother.

On Saturday afternoons when I was very young, four and five years old, my Uncle Gordie, who lived down the street from us in Azusa, would go to his mother's house in La Verne to do handyman jobs and yard work for her. And often I'd get to go along. My paternal grandparents lived in New York and my mom's had died before I was born, so this was my equivalent of "going to Grandma's". She always made a delicious lunch of fried chicken, grits, gravy, and drop biscuits. (I'm sure there were vegetables involved but that's not something I was taking notice of at that age!) For dessert there'd be yummy pie, she had a deft hand at pastry. While my uncle was busy in the yard and the workshop, Grandma Dark would tell me tales of her growing up in the wilds of 19th century Texas. Sometimes, for an extra treat I was allowed in the parlour and that's where I remember seeing the cushions and pillows arrayed in these evocative purples, lavenders, and greens.

Seeing these colours in combination can instantly carry me back over fifty years to that dimly lit parlour. The smell of baking biscuits scents the air as I gingerly touch a purple needlepoint pansy, my eyes drink in all the colour and I hear "Erin, y'all come now. Food's on the table."