Can You Dig It?

Blame it on the 60's & 70's. These were the years that influenced me most.

This is a small children's guitar I found in a local antique store for under 10.00! Handpainted in acrylic with a high gloss top coat.

I remember once, in a decorating whim, my mom painted my bedroom walls bright grass green and put "flower power" stickers all over them. I loved it of course and it was the only bedroom like it in my neighborhood!

To make it even more my own, I remember using Avon Timeless solid perfume to rub into the centers of the flowers. Now, doesn't that bring back some memories?

I guess I was trying to mask the odors from all the baby hamsters I had!

Wine Duo I

When I found these bottles they were without labels, sucked dry of their contents, and left under the Spokane Street Bridge. I carefully picked them up with a tissue and brought them home to paint.

Upon closer inspection as I washed them, I noticed that they must have been lying in the dirt where I'd found them for some time. Suspended daintily inside each bottle was an intricate web housing a small family of spiders. Inside their colorful shelter, unaware of the dangers just outside their door, they were completely safe.

When I finished the painting and no longer needed the bottles set up on my dining table, I placed them in my garden on their sides hoping that the tiny lives inside would return to their lifestyle as I had originally found them.

Today, as I sit in the warm sun and think about what's hiding behind my hastas, I hope for all mankind to have shelter and safety from all the dangers of the world. I know that I am thankful for mine.

Mandolin Wine

Italian Burgundy, vintage 1984.

While sipping on the sweet & spicy pleasures of this fine Burgundy wine, I contemplate my life and let my mind wander back to the year 1984. Living in Anchorage Alaska, I was most likely sipping to stay warm rather than drinking myself into oblivion. It is also the year my first child was born, and I suppose, the wine may have been the catalyst!

"Cest la vie!" as my mother has said.

Drumbeat Red

Constantia, a small suburb of Capetown, South Africa, has a history in wine making dating as far back as 1659. The wine, which was also named Constantia, was at one time considered to be one of the greatest wines in the world.

The djembe drum I put on the label is from another painting I did which I showed in a previous post here. I just love these 70's colors. It must have something to do with my youth!

New Life to an Old Violin

I purchased this violin, in its tattered condition, in one of the many antique stores in downtown Snohomish, WA. This small town, about 40 miles north of Seattle, is known as the "Antique Capitol of the Pacific Northwest." Often times I would browse these stores searching through the lower priced "junk" as some people would call it. I think I only paid about 20.00 for it. As always, I have these instruments checked out by a professional dealer to make sure I'm not covering up something of any real value. In this case, at least I hope, I've given it more value!
This instrument, along with several other handpainted treasures, will be on display in a 3-dimensional art show at Styling Studio in West Seattle this August. I'll be sharing the space with another artist friend. If you're in town, come check us out!

Amphibious Woman

This "Amphibious Woman" seems to have swum ashore just to watch the sunset. I imagine if we lived below the sea, it would be quite exciting to come to the surface for a peak at a scene like this one. Maybe the creatures that live below the waves do have something similar to our sunsets but I wouldn't want to stay down there long enough to find out!

This painting of a nude woman in acrylic, is on a stoneware plate found at a thrift store.

Mandolin II

Part of the "Sound Through My Brush" series, this Mandolin in acrylic, is framed alongside two other stringed instruments and titled, "Stringed Trio."

I love using purples, golds and deep reds because they're my favorite colors!

Seattle has it's own Mandolin Orchestra and although I have not been to see them, I hear they sound amazing.