half-sweet productions

adding and subtracting

2011-05-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

This accidental monoprint is just a tonking of a small piece I'm painting on copper sheet. So far I like this better than the painting, but I plan to change that!

portraits of friendship

2011-05-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

acrylic on canvas, 10 x 10

acrylic on canvas, 8 x 8 (tonked)

watercolor on paper, 20 x 14

My dear friend Teresa has been sitting for me every week. She is a forgiving sort and lets me manipulate and distort her features every which way. At some point I will settle down and get closer to what I actually see of her! But here are a few of the latest efforts.

plein beginnings

2011-05-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

untitled, copyright BVF Betker 2011, w/c and ink on resin-infused paper

This began when Leigh took Seattle Plein Air folks to the new footbridge across the creek up in Lake Forest Park several weeks ago. Out there in the trees, I used gouache on black multimedia artboard to create a value study. But pretty soon the rain sent us all running for cover (of course).
Later I added pale watercolor washes for moody stage 2 (immediately above), and then just kept working and adding layers till my desired image emerged (top). I think paint is some kind of magic!

riparian value

2011-04-26T18:01:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple different views of one scene. These are painted from a single (morning!) photo reference taken on a Seattle Plein Air outing to Lake Forest Park -- created in an attempt to study value. One is painted in gouache and watercolor on black multimedia artboard; one on white.

chickens al fresco

2011-03-07T05:18:00.000-08:00

Fellow Wallingford artist Nancy Merrill keeps chickens, and her studio's picture window overlooks their quarters. I was privileged one day last year to spend a rainy afternoon with her, snug in her studio, drinking tea and sketching her chickens in ink on canvas. Added final watercolor and an acrylic fixative to the top one just recently!

landscape party

2011-02-23T08:38:00.000-08:00

flickr has a new group which shares reference photos for mutual 2D experimentation. Here is my rendition of a photo reference titled Minster Lovell by Martin Beek of the UK.

it's good to be queen

2011-02-11T17:11:00.000-08:00

Forever and a day since I posted. have gotten into the studio a little, trying to get out plein air more often too. Here is a sample of what I've managed to get done lately!
Got into a little jazz again. New nature vivant series in progress, it's good to be queen.

floodplain study, 4.5 x 4.5", ink and watercolor on canvas, copyright 2010

Varnished this little watercolor and now it's permanently fixed to the canvas with mineral spirits varnish. Had to gas-mask up for this but it was worth it as I did several pieces at once. This stuff can be used over oil, watercolor, probably pastel although I haven't tried that, still afraid of what it might do. Guess I should test it! Have not used it on paper at all yet.

Vigil

2011-01-16T17:52:00.000-08:00

Visited NYC for September 11 weekend and came away with the same ache of longing I always have for this magnificent city, beating like a heart and like a drum, singing and breathing, at all hours of every day.

that elusive dot card of desire

2010-10-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

Daniel Smith has always been generous with samples of its magnificent watercolors, secure in the knowledge that if they can get you to try them for free you will be enslaved forever. For me, a dot card is an excuse to make little ink sketches just so I can paint on them.
NYC's water towers are my favorite part of its skyline. Some of the DS Primatek colors leave an irresistible sediment, organic patina for my purposes!

Even Julia Kay's Portrait Party isn't safe from me.

Rediscovering this joyful medium may be leading me back into the great mystery. I hope!

new old fiber arts

2010-09-25T23:40:00.000-07:00

Mustang Kimono with Fish (detail), woven acrylic skins on plexiglas, copyright 2010

This summer I've been reclaiming some notes from my past, sometimes in 3 dimensions, mixing various media as fiber. Here are some parts of the process, combining layering, collage, mosaic and weaving of skins made of acrylic paint that also incorporate painted paper and hand-dyed silk threads.

'

Reweaving II, woven and collaged acrylic skins
with painted paper on stretched gessoed canvas,
36" x 36", copyright 2010

Updrafts, 20" x 20", copyright 2010
collage mosaic on painted canvas comprised on acrylic skins, painted paper, hand-dyed silk

another secret garden

2010-08-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

Too busy to blog? I am not going for a record here! But again, unavoidably, it has been forever.

Here is a little painting from last June, when I was invited to paint in the garden of Bill and Merce Rutledge as part of Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park tour. This is 12 x 12, acrylic on black-gessoed stretched canvas. It was a rather dark day but very pleasant surroundings and company! I am sure I had more fun than anyone else there.

the Georgetown incident

2010-05-18T16:09:00.001-07:00

It's been forever since I've posted! I've been painting but working too. Finally Worldwide Sketchcrawl has inspired me to actually upload some photos. Here's my sketch from last Saturday's brilliant day in the sun with folks from Urban Sketchers Seattle, Seattle Plein Air, and Sketch Pistols. So rich to see what everyone does!

rail yard

2010-01-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I sketched this scene in ink on canvas at Fishermen's terminal. It was freezing but bright! Later painted it in the studio. 4.5" x 4.5"

teresa painting, christmas 2009

2009-12-27T10:34:00.001-08:00

This has been a season of peaceful holidays, spent painting! It's been years since I had this freedom.

On Christmas Day my friend of many decades gifted me with her presence and suggested a portrait party. We set a limit of 20 minutes but failed to set a timer, I think it was 30! This sketch is in acrylic on canvas, 8 x 8 inches.

bridge to somewhere

2009-11-25T18:16:00.001-08:00

Here are my two newest tiny (4 inches square) paintings. I am tempted to just do these tiny little paintings forever, this is really satisfying! They begin as pen/brush drawings on gessoed canvas in airbrush-consistency acrylic (I call it ink); when that is dry, I add tiny bits of color, transparent and opaque, until they are suddenly done!

These are views of the Aurora bridge west of Gas Works Park here in Seattle.

This one, West From Gas Works II, was originally drawn in white acrylic on black gesso:

West From Gas Works III was sketched in anthraquinone blue acrylic "ink" on white gesso:

farewell

2009-11-07T13:50:00.001-08:00

Farewell, acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40", copyright 2009 (title sort of explained below)
Well, it has been a while since I've posted all right. Have been getting outside to paint maybe once a week, working a lot in the studio. Would like to find homes for the accumulation. Fantasy is to find a corporate wormhole that will just vacuum up all my production straight into a venue where it will be loved -- no muss, no fuss, no gallery openings, no schmoozing; no hyperventilating, no angst -- no talk, basically. Aren't I terrible? It is exhausting thinking of all the things that must be done to create a dynamic opportunity for my work to go belong to someone else. I don't like talking people into buying work. Hate it, in fact. Never have done it. Yet there used to be clients in my life, back when I was a "real" painter! Some of them I knew, some of them I was never told their names by the gallerists or reps.
I have heard writer Kazuo Ishiguro quoted as saying people who choose solitary professions do so because they have something from which to heal. Whether the quote is accurate, this certainly applies to a lot of artists I know. We would rather work with our physical media than struggle with the vagaries and potential betrayals of human interaction -- at least a lot of the time! Objects can be our friends -- at least for a while.
Is there any reliable way for someone who hates to socialize to sell their art? If anyone has advice beyond "work your tail off" please share!
***
Recently learned that an iconic piece I thought I had in storage was sold at auction a year ago by a place here in Seattle called Pacific Galleries. They won't tell me who consigned it to them or anything else. Very odd. Back when it was new -- one of the times I had to drop the career and care for family, in 1998 -- I could very well have lost track of this piece. For a while it was on loan to Summit Travel and Cruises. Did someone there hang onto it and finally turn it over to the auction house, or did something else happen? I don't know. I have spent the last terrible decade not painting and believing I never would again, but have never heard from anyone regarding this piece; found this sale by accident on the internet.

Ironically, this piece is one I reproduced for business cards I still carry.

avenging the leopard

2009-10-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece that began as an experiment in layers of acrylic paint and mediums, collaging in separately created acrylic skins and painted paper. It developed organically -- a means I enjoy and will have to keep learning from; right now I think it worked well! 36" x 36" acrylic/collage on canvas.
(The leopard in question was my painted silk kimono-style fiber sculpture, stolen from Seattle Center in the early nineties. It walked off its display as I sat 20 feet away, attending to something I guess... I have mourned long enough.)

life en plein air

2009-10-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

It has been one rousing week! I have painted happily with several terrific people, half of whom were previously strangers, out of doors this week; can't quite believe my good luck. Everyone I met was delightful, good painting in good company!
First, on Monday a few of us met at Log Boom Park on a brilliant sunny day. We snuck past the "caution" tape and worked out on the washed-out path and bridge, and met several nice folks strolling by on the safe side of the tape. 24" x 36" oil on canvas.

Then on Thursday a few others and I met at Shilshole Marina, overlooking the boats and breakwater -- another bright sunshiny day. This was knifepainted held in my arms -- without an easel! We met a lot of friendly humans and dogs! 12 x 16 oil on canvas.

Today, I met two more folks for the first time and we painted at a private pond in Juanita! It was perfect weather, just cool and grey and maybe one drop of rain.... we met some neighbors who may choose to join us next time! another 12 x 16 oil on canvas.

across green lake

2009-10-07T10:21:00.001-07:00

This is one of my latest favorites. Having finally acquired a small studio space, one goal is to create some large works based on my tiny plein air oil sketches. Here is my first such effort, a 24 x 36 acrylic based on a little oil sketch I did last spring at Green Lake. The challenge is to retain the freshness of the original. Layering paint into wet mediums seems to give me the feeling I'm after!

Here is the original sketch:

boats or trains?

2009-09-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Made a glorious discovery today. Tried to meet up with Plein Air Washington at Fishermen's Terminal, but found no one to meet up with! So I felt free to follow my merry way, and found that if you park by Net Building 9, not only can you park for 3 days (!!!) but there is a little bike trail nearby that goes under the bridge and voila! you are looking at the rail yard I've craved to paint for quite a while!

Showing you my beloved Beauport easel. This was flat ground but it is stable whether or not! Light enough to carry but as a weakling I put everything on wheels. This means, of course, I tend to bring the kitchen sink along, but oh well, it comes in handy!

welcome to the neighborhood!

2009-09-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

Friend Frances and I conspired and found studio space in Wallingford, and moved in this week. She has since decided to resume looking further south, thereby avoiding a long, toxic commute, but I hope we will continue to collaborate materially and in spirit despite this distance -- as we have so far!
For me, this is the part of town that has everything -- industry, waterscape, neighborhood! I will try to make the most of it.
This is my first painting done in the new space. Acrylic on canvas, 8 x 8, from a photo taken at fishermen's terminal.

Also spent a little time at Gas Works Park ruminating. Here is yesterday's 4x6 lunchtime sketch of a tiny part of the view across Lake Union, in white ink and gouache:

the resurgence of jazz

2009-08-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

we are going out on a limb here. tulips traditionally, of course, must be watched over if not redistributed by an animal companion; but we are just getting back into the swing of things. here are a few new little sketches in mixed media, somewhat reminiscent of a style that used to be mine.

farther along on the burke-gilman

2009-08-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

so here is my best attempt at a photo of the new wet 12 x 16 oil on panel of the same scene sketched a few days ago. This has been an illuminating experience in many ways. First, I don't get tired of painting the same thing, plus it's a different puzzle to solve in different media; second, this process causes me to look at and see the scene again and then again; third, working in black and white helps me work out values. These are no-brainers to visual artists, but I relearn a lot of these every day as I clump towards enlightenment.

I am sure many of my friends on flickr will go on liking one of the sketches better than this painting; but this is a step closer to my own goal -- if only because I addictively struggle to bend this beloved medium to my will.

burke-gilman trail

2009-08-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

looking at old photographs from the next-to-last studio days down on Lake Union (1998?) and found myself sketching one of them. Did a series of 3-1/2 sketches (on my flickr site) on black paper, using white ink, gouache, black ink. Here is the colorful one:

oh Canada

2009-08-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

Visited Vancouver, B.C. , one of my favorite cities, this week to see the Dutch Masters show at Vancouver Art Gallery. Been a few years since I've seen a Vermeer up close! Just a few Rembrandts, one Vermeer (The Love Letter) -- and a lot of other great paintings and history. Being of Dutch heritage I am finally, at this advanced age, taking an interest in a culture I have always considered stultifying. It was illuminating to learn (again and in more depth) that the elaborate Protestant religiosity I grew up with has a history several centuries old; was not the product of my ancestors' lack of imagination, but of spritual and economic necessity and innovation; had served countless generations of peasant survival. While I have known the Dutch explored and colonized widely, I don't think I fully realized just how vast their geographical presence was, preceding British expansion.

While there I was able to get in some sketches from the beach at English Bay. Here are a couple -- one in gouache/ink and one in oil.

Did some sketching in the Gallery too. Will get some of those up after I add some color. They only allow pencils inside!

blue day behind the locks

2009-08-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

Finally got to muck around a bit with my little 8x8 oil sketch from last week at the locks! This is pretty much how the day felt to me, I enjoyed it!

wires and air

2009-07-25T12:38:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I've posted, but I've got Dad's house on the market at last. Whew!

Spent some time at the Ballard Locks the other day, got one good ink sketch and only a good start on an oil sketch. I think I'll mess with it in studio.

Here's my little moleskine study of the wires in the back lot, where all the fun stuff is!

blue house

2009-07-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

Visiting green lake so I snuck off to make a sketch. I've been admiring the houses around the lake, you could spend all your time painting them and never get done. This one is east of the lake, across the street. Being in a hurry adds drama!

Fairhaven boat launch

2009-07-02T07:46:00.001-07:00

Had the opportunity to flit up to Bellingham for the day and hang out near Fairhaven Shipyard! A Washington State Ferry was there for its routine scheduled maintenance. Here is a sketch view from the railway right-of-way at the public boat launch. (ink/gouache, 3.5 x 11)

Bardens' garden

2009-06-21T19:50:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple small plein air oil sketches from yesterday's "Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park" tour! Many thanks to Carolyn and Chuff Barden for inviting Frances and me to paint in their garden! The upper image was painted on gold-gessoed hardboard, 8" x 8". The lower one is painted over a red acrylic base on canvasboard, 12" x 12".

2009-06-04T20:31:00.001-07:00

So -- here are a few sketches from the past few days. Lake City Farmer's Market (today, with a couple other "urban sketchers"), Rockler -- the Woodworkers' Store -- (two days ago) and Darrells Tavern (yesterday). Funny what the hot sun makes us do.

view from gas works

2009-05-31T01:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a little sketch (4 x 4) of a piece of a photo looking east from Gas Works Park, sgraffito in oil on black-gessoed hardboard. I wanted to see if I could scrape out a line drawing from previously massed-in color. Don't know if it worked as such, but I sort of like it anyway!

more from fishermen's terminal

2009-05-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a little sketch I began at Fishermen's Terminal but continued from a photograph. Don't even know if it's done yet.

boats and sun

2009-05-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

A great day painting with Frances and Sue at fishermen's terminal. Imagine a studio with ever-changing scenes of workaday industry, and sunshine (or rain)... here are the day's oil sketches, 6 x 8 and 8 x 8, respectively.

storm at decoursey park

2009-05-02T21:51:00.001-07:00

A terrific week sketching in Tacoma and Puyallup; At DeCoursey Park we brought out the rain! Sketched this in a big hurry before the drops started splatting!
Here's Frances at her "easel," painting the factory behind Freighthouse Square.

blast from the past

2009-04-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a very very old prismacolor portrait of my late beloved kitty. About 18 x 12, prismacolor on illustration board

ballard locks

2009-04-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday we met up at the Hiram M. Chittenden locks. Fun, windy and cold out on the locks themselves! Here are a couple little sketches:
First, ink and gouache in my little Moleskine watercolor book, 3.25 x 5, looking southeast: Then a 5x7 oil sketch looking west at the railroad bridge, from the west end of the large lock:

community space!

2009-04-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

Friday my friend-the-longest (43 years!) Teresa and I went to Third Place Books to look and paint and drink iced tea.
Here is Teresa's painting of the table where the poems are made.

There was a gentleman working in this area, whom I sketched as if closer up.

Lots of people using the Commons there as their third place -- just as intended!

Then we moved on to the windows facing south. Teresa captured the tree-lined path along Bothell Way:

Here is her photo of me sketching the scene.

Thank you, Teresa! I'm so lucky you're my friend!

22nd Worldwide Sketchcrawl

2009-04-11T22:04:00.000-07:00

What a great day in the cold and grey! Here are a few images from our crawl.

beautiful Tacoma

2009-04-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

Wonderful trip yesterday, painting on the Ruston Point waterway with Frances. Wish every day could be like this: meditation time, grand companionship, sunshine, lost in painting!

Here's my first little (5 x 7) oil sketch of the day, from under the bridge!

blue star cafe

2009-04-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today we met at the Blue Star Cafe, where some of the Seattle Plein Air painters will be showing work in July! The whole time, it snowed -- April Fools indeed! Frances and I stayed and sketched a while afterward. Here are our little idylls. Frances' wonderful sketch of our fellow diners is at the top -- many thanks to her for letting me share it! Clearly some of us are just not able to wait until 22nd WorldWide Sketchcrawl, coming up Saturday, April 11!

gas works park

2009-03-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

Raining, windy, freezing! So naturally, 6 brave artists soldiered forth into the deluge. It was great to meet some new friends and reconnect with old ones! Here is my oil sketch, its progress truncated by the need to get warm and flexible again! Maybe a return trip to refine it will be in order soon. Yet I kind of like it as is, a picture of this day in my life!

third place books

2009-03-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

Here are my sketches from today's Seattle Plein Air meetup at Third Place Books. What a great place to watch people unobtrusively!

duck island

2009-03-12T20:17:00.001-07:00

Hey, here's a little (9 x 12) plein air oil sketch from last summer!

shrub of flame

2009-03-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's today's daily effort! If you are reading this you must be my friends, so you can see this progression. You have to start at the bottom of today's post.
Here's the current permutation. I like it to look at, but we'll see if it stops there.

Next, the first stage in today's transformation of this painting in the studio:
First, the 6 x 8 plein air oil sketch from a couple months ago that never had quite enough value differentiation to make me happy. This is how it really looked though, a red bush and yellow trees in my neighborhood on a grey day:

launch point

2009-03-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

Here is a quiet watercolor from a while back. North Lake Union/Gas Works Park area. My favorite neighborhood, mixed marine/industrial/residential!

parking lot trees!

2009-03-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a little (6 x 8) oil sketch I did sitting in the front seat of my car in a parking lot at Green Lake last fall, when the trees were still full of paint, I mean leaves.

waiting at the allegro

2009-03-05T06:57:00.001-08:00

This is my favorite tiny sketch from waiting for others to arrive for the last worldwide sketchcrawl, January 10, 2009. Hapless stranger didn't know he'd end up here. Sort of like me!
So then I started playing around with it with colors. Fun!

higher and lighter

2009-03-03T11:08:00.001-08:00

Pastel in wet on paper, about 26 x 18? It has been on loan for a while so I haven't seen it lately, revisiting it here!

winslow ferry

2009-02-25T09:12:00.001-08:00

So yesterday I took the day to go see the Hopper show at SAM and check out the ferry to Bainbridge and the beach there. Here is my favorite sketch from the ferry.

freeway park

2009-02-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

back to Freeway Park Monday for Seattle Plein Air meetup, but Suzanne and I missed each other. Here is my favorite sketch from the park. I began a little oil sketch but didn't get far before it began raining.

the life of wine

2009-02-22T18:23:00.000-08:00

Painted this 8 x 6 oil sketch today for Monday Artday's movie quote challenge.

From Sideways:

Maya: No, I- I like to think about the life of wine.

Miles Raymond: Yeah.

Maya: How it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline.

spoon before breakfast

2009-02-21T12:10:00.001-08:00

Here's today's small painting. Painted it this morning. Maybe I was hungry. 6 x 8, oil on canvas panel.

friday morning at green lake

2009-02-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

Plein air sketch for today, oil, 8 x 10. What a way to start the day! It was cold but warmed up as the shadows receded.

visiting freeway park

2009-02-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

My favorite couple sketches from today: a man on the bus to downtown, and a view of freeway park.

parking lot

2009-02-16T22:54:00.000-08:00

Here is what I did today. I sat in a parking lot waiting for someone. So I drew what was around me! I didn't have my favorite pen so I used some "value" pens and only got so far before time ran out.

let's do this together

2009-02-16T20:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, here is a little ink drawing of my back porch from the other day when it was snowing. Print it out and color it in yourself any way you want to! If you email me a digital image I'll assume your permission to post it here.

Here is my gouache-painted version as well.

coming soon

2009-02-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

the weekly moment, at least one new painting each week.

later to become the daily moment!

In the meantime, here is something from last fall, a little oil sketch of downtown, near the convention center

A windy day and I was visiting Utrecht

into the world

2009-02-14T10:34:00.000-08:00

University of Washington campus, Sketchcrawl 21, January 10, 2009 --

a grey day doesn't have to be

haunting green lake

2009-02-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

Here are my sketches from last Sunday's Seattle Plein Air outing! The first one is 4 x 6 in ink, waiting at The Urban Bakery for my fellow painters. The other two are oil sketches, first an 8 x 10 view of the Bathhouse Theatre from across the lake -- a very very cold foggy day! Later the grey lifted for just half an hour and gave me the tree above, looking almost like it's still autumn! This is a 6 x 8 oil sketch.

See another painter's gorgeous image of this same tree at Seattle Plein Air, here: http://art.meetup.com/273/photos/537846/

morning has come to half-sweet productions!

2009-02-13T15:18:00.000-08:00

now to get some pictures on the walls!