So, I’m hanging my show at Secession in less than a month! This show is going to be up til the end of November, and will coincide with Open Studios (our weekend is Oct 9-10). Today I’m designing the postcard I’ll use to promote my newest work. If you’d like to get a postcard from me, please email me your address.

The photo is of a piece that I just finished and haven’t gotten professionally photographed yet. I have a few more pieces I’ll have to get shot before I hang them at the end of September. This painting, “Superb Tanager”, is the biggest one I’ve done in this series (24×36″), but I’m hoping to finish a 30×30″ for the show, too.

I’ve been able to spend a lot of time in the studio over the last month or so, and that’s good, because I have a lot of painting to do! I’m getting something more than a dozen completed paintings photographed this Friday in preparation for my Open Studios show, which goes up September 27 and stays up til the end of November.

I also have a show of my Earthly Desires works going up this weekend at the Variety Screening Room - the reception will be Thursday, August 5, I believe 5-7pm, and the show will be up for August and September.

This photo is of my favorite brush, which I’ve recently retired but haven’t been able to get rid of completely. I call it the Velveteen Rabbit brush, because it’s been so loved that it’s pretty much not there anymore. I guess that makes it real. I wish I could buy brushes pre-aged (maybe not this far gone, but not nice and shiny-smooth). I like when my brushes are on the roughened side, to give some texture to the paint - I do a lot of dry-brushing and really scrub at the surface and generally maltreat my poor brushes. I try to wash and condition them well, but eventually they do wear out and become useless.

I’ve been working away like mad on my newest pieces: embroidering and crocheting when I’m not in my studio, and painting when I am. I’ve been working on something like six or seven pieces at once, because the techniques I’m using involve a lot of layers of medium, and each layer requires a fair bit of drying time in between. So I flit from painting to painting - there’s always something do to.

I’m hanging several of my newer pieces at Arrivederci Cafe, 11 G Street in San Rafael, CA. They’ll be up June 26 - August 12.

Also, on Monday, June 28, I’ll be participating in Arrivederci’s weekly Salon, organized by Angar Mora. Join us if you can! I’ll be presenting a short talk about my latest work and techniques, along with some other performers (details to come). There is a $7 cover charge, which includes a 25% discount on dinner orders - make a reservation for 5:30 with the restaurant (415) 453-6427 if you can, mentioning the salon.

For more information about the salon events, take a look at this Examiner article.