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.

Finished the gothic mermaid painting:

The Gift of a Red Rose

A raven brings a red rose to a dark-haired mermaid with a red tail. Cypress trees stand on a bluff on a stormy day. Seagulls fly through the shafts of light breaking through the clouds. The rocky shore was inspired by Monterey Bay. This California fantasy seascape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in gray 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.

Offered at $800 and prints and pendants are available.

Took a little trip to Santa Cruz yesterday. It was pouring here so we knew we were taking a chance but it was just fine there. Perfect for my purposes (stormy, dramatic skies but not raining). It did rain right near the end of our walk and it was a bit cold for someone coming down with a cold (like me) but worth it :-). We parked in Lighthouse Field:

Then saw a seal on the rocks:

Walking back, we took the other side of the street and passed Darling House, a Bed & Breakfast (which is up for sale). Beautiful garden blooming in the front, including these black tulips:

Started the gothic mermaid painting. I thought I'd start with a thin layer of red oxide, which I'm hoping will warm up the grays. I roughed in the sky, water and sand. Then I thought I should let this layer thoroughly dry (this one is in acrylics and it tends to lift up).

Stayed up late to get the new pendants online:

Today, we went to a little known park in San Jose, Rancho Canada del Oro. It's a nice park with a great loop that's around 3.5 miles (first half is uphill, leading to spectacular views).

As you get near the top, you pass through a cattle gate and we came eye to eye with a small herd.

This California Condor (OK...vulture) circled us up at the top, although I assured it I was doing just fine ;-).

On the way down this time of year, you can see many surprisingly little waterfalls.

The trail finishes with this phenomenal display of flowers. Poppies cascading down hillsides, lupines, buttercups and all sorts of ones I can't name.

Went to Pacific Grove (California) today for my yearly trek to see the pink/purple flowers blooming. I can't imagine a nicer day. It was beautiful!

Finished the new painting:

Balinese Cat at Hakone

Lady Sky, a gorgeous Balinese cat with a little white spot at the end of her tail, sits on a rock, watching the koi fish swim by. Behind Moon Bridge, the cherry blossoms and brightly colored foliage of Spring, a wisteria branch in the foreground. A turtle rests on a distant rock. This landscape, from Hakone Japanese Garden (in Saratoga, California), is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" sides are finished off in brown 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.

I've decided to keep this one, since it's the first portrait I've done of Lady Sky, but prints and pendants are available.

.99 ACEO auction :-)

Bent Pine Tree at Moonrise pendant, from my original art:

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A bent pine tree on a mountain top, illuminated by the full moon. Clouds drift across the blue night sky. This feng shui landscape, part of the Zen Mandala modern art series, is offered as a pendant, hand crafted by the artist from my original painting. Made from polymer clay with the print fired onto it, then sealed for protection.

An adjustable knotted cord is included so the piece is ready to wear and will fit most sizes (these are adjusted by sliding the knots and don't have a metal clasp). As they go over the head, these tend to hang long, although you can sometimes double them up once they're on. If you would prefer a cord of a particular length with a clasp instead, let me know at the time of the sale (no additional charge).