Here's the new painting, The Glance:

Across the luminous full moon, Sake (a snowshoe Siamese cat) meets the gaze of a crow. Teal autumn leaves dance in the night sky, which is in shades of plum and purple. This visionary landscape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in black acrylic)

Finished a new painting with a big cat, White Tiger Meditation:

A white tiger watches protectively over a miko (Shinto shrine maiden), sitting in contemplation beneath a twisted pine tree. A torii sits on a distant hill. A full moon illuminates this tranquil scene. This Japanese landscape, from the Zen Mandala series (visionary landscapes in a contemporary surreal style), is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in purple acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The watermarks on the image do not appear on the actual painting. Prints and pendants are also available.

Here's Loki playing with this handmade catnip toy:

We tried a new park today, Almaden Quicksilver County Park. When we set out, the morning was overcast and cool but had burned off by the time we got there. Still, the trail we took uphill, New Almaden Trail, was mostly shaded.

The trail had passed through a grove of these lovely red-barked manzanita trees:

Upwards...

Finally made it to the top. I made the mistake of sitting down on the trail for a few minutes and needed help standing back up! My legs were like jelly--couldn't make them go.

On the way down, more oak trees, such as this interesting one:

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Got several new pendants made. Just waiting for it to get sunny enough to put on the resin. My new resin "UV cures" but I found that the sun has to be nice & bright. Tried it in the late afternoon once and it didn't set. You can buy a gadget with a UV light to cure it but my house is so filled with gadgets and I figure I live in California. It's not sunny here every day but it doesn't typically go more than a few and, this time of year, it's no problem at all. And I can always go back to my original varnish if need be.

Finished a new painting, African Sunset Meditation:

A leopard watches protectively over a woman in turquoise meditating on a glorious sunset in shades of yellow, orange, red and purple. This African landscape, from the Zen Mandala series (visionary landscapes in a contemporary surreal style), is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in purple acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The watermarks on the image do not appear on the actual painting. Prints and pendants are also available.

This is my first painting with a big cat. I hope to do more (tiger next, maybe a white one).

New pendant, A Raven Remembers Spring:

A raven, or crow, gazes at the setting sun in the yellow sky. Ghostly, transparent cherry blossoms light on the tree branches. This visionary landscape, part of the Golden Glow modern art series, is offered as a fine art pendant, hand crafted by the artist. Made from polymer clay with the print baked into it, then sealed for protection with resin, giving the image a glass-like quality.

A couple years ago, I started making pendants of my paintings out of polymer clay. I should say, several years ago. That's when I got the idea to do it but it took a year to learn how to use the clay properly and do the image transfer with an inkjet printer.

I just got different transfer supplies for this, and here's one of the first pendants (the first to use both the new transfer material, and a resin coating). One wonderful thing about the new transfer materials is that I can do different shapes, such as this oval of my painting, "A Raven Remembers Spring."

I wasn't sure at first about the resin because it's so shiny...nearly blinded myself setting it out in the sun to cure (this type cures in direct sunlight). But I love it. For one thing, it's fully waterproof, fog proof, all that stuff. And it's thick enough to compensate for any little bumps or such in the image. As these are hand-sculpted, some degree of "handmadeness" is a good thing but you don't want to go overboard ;-).

Finished a new fantasy painting, Mermaid at the Golden Gate Bridge:

A red-haired mermaid with a green tail watches the twinkling lights of the Golden Gate Bridge. The luminous full moon shines down upon the San Francisco scene, through a break in the clouds. The night sky is in shades of deep blue. This California fantasy seascape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in black acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The watermarks on the image do not appear on the actual painting. Prints and pendants are also available.

Finished a new fantasy painting, Crimson Mermaid:

A dark-haired mermaid with a red tail gazes at the luminous full moon, shining through a break in the clouds. The night sky shades of gold, rose, crimson, burgundy and dark blue reflect on the water. This fantasy seascape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in black acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermarks on the image do not appear on the actual painting. Prints and pendants are also available.

Working away on the peace tree painting. The plum background is in and most of the tree branches. I've started on the orange blossoms and thinking about the dragonflies.

We thought we'd beat the heat today and head over to Half Moon Bay. Unfortunately, there was a bicycle marathon of some sort going on down Highway 92 (not really wide enough to accommodate it), so we decided to go a little further up the coast to Rockaway Beach in Pacifica. It's been quite awhile since we visited this lovely spot. As is often the case, hot weather inland translated to cool fog along the coast.

This area, in general, always has interesting foliage growing in the sand dunes:

I liked this dramatic view of the beach from a bluff with wildflowers:

This looks like a good spot for a mermaid painting :-):

We walked as far as this wonderful cypress tree, which I'd spied from the road as we went past:

You can expect to see it in a painting at some point soon :-).

New painting:

Wishes by a Stone Lantern

The full moon illuminates dandelion globes. On a distant hill stands a twisted pine tree. On a closer hill, a Japanese stone lantern casts golden light over the scene. The night sky is in shades of lavender, lilac and purple. This visionary landscape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in purple acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermark does not appear on the actual painting. Size: 14" x 11"

Offered at $500 and prints and pendants are available.

New .99 ACEO print listing, Dragonfly in Teal Moonlight. The original painting is sold but you can pick up one of these collectible, limited edition prints--once the edition is sold out, it's gone.

Finished the ginkgo leaf triptych:

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It's hard to show the scale on a small screen. It is a set of three 16 x 20 canvases (total size is 48" x 20"). I went with a morning/noon/night theme.

Worked away on the ginkgo leaf painting (the first in the triptych). The water is done and I gesso'd in the basic form of the leaves. I thought that would be best, yellow paint being varying degrees of transparent. When the gesso dries, I'll put in some shading of vermillion & raw sienna, then top it off with yellow ochre & cad yellow. At this point, I'm thinking I will also put in water drops on the leaves. It's been years since I did a painting with water drops.

I've been planning this one for months. Ages ago, I picked some ginkgo leaves then went home and took various photos. I dropped them randomly, arranged them, all sorts of stuff, then looked at the photos and chose one. This one has five leaves.

Still working on the gingko leaf triptych (I'm going to call it that, in the hopes that I'll finish it ;-)). So far, I only have the first one started, with circles in the gray water. The other two will have rust/dark red and purple backgrounds. I may have to get more 16x20 canvases. I also promised a lovely person I'd do a painting with her two gray tabbies (probably a blue background on that one). It was a busy week...lots of print & pendant orders, which I am grateful for. Hopefully, more time to paint over the weekend.

New painting:

Shinto Lantern in Bamboo Forest

Gray stones lead around the Kanju-ji Lantern in the bamboo grove at Hakone Japanese Gardens (in Saratoga, California). Dawn light streams through the bamboo, in shades of lime green deepening to emerald. This zen visionary landscape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" staple-free sides are finished off in green acrylic)--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermark does not appear on the actual painting. Size: 14" x 11"

Offered at $500 and prints and pendants are available.

We went to Pinnacles National Monument today. It's not as far as I thought it was (we made it in about 2 hours). It's a bit more strenuous a hike than the usual gentle walk we do but worth it.