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For a while this spring I was feeling out of sorts, not really cranky, not really angry, just sort of off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on a reason why. It was taking an extra bit of persuasion to get myself in gear to pull the palette out of the freezer and start mixing up colors, dipping the brushes.

I’ve been blessed to be part of the John Pence Gallery in San Francisco since 1993. John shows the work of some of the best-known realist artists in the country in one of the grandest series of halls I’ve ever seen for exhibition. I’m truly honored to be part of the gallery and always want to make the best presentation possible.  Over the years I’ve mostly shown pastel landscapes. As an experiment, John and I decided we’d try my oils. I’ve been doing studio paintings on canvas and board for the last four or five years after fairly intense study with Brooks Anderson, a young local painter. Time to give my oil landscapes their moment in the public limelight and see what the response would be.

Delta Reflections, oil, 24 x 36 in.

Many months ago, John offered me a place in a group landscape show and I jumped at it. I spent some thoughtful time sorting through paintings already done, others just started, some just a glimmer in Daddy’s eye. What would work together? What’s exciting and different? What will John accept for the show?

Once I saw what I had, it was time to get to work in earnest. One by one I got these new paintings to a stage I considered done. I submitted probably ten works for possible inclusion on the invitation and in the exhibition. John narrowed the group down to just three?  But wait! I have a huge diptych underway meant for the show! When put together, the two canvases make up a dramatic 30 x 96 view of the Napa Valley near Calistoga, fall vineyards and a barn down below in the shade, the towering hills and Palisades above in the evening sunlight. I was given the go-ahead to include them. Yikes! No more dallying around. They have to be finished and framed.

Napa Valley, oil, diptych, 30 x 96 in.

Aha! Now I had some idea why I’d been feeling out of sorts. I’d lived with four of these new works in my studio for months taking them from bare canvas to finished landscapes. And the earlier canvas came back from a gallery unsold and was fair game for reworking. Typically months apart from a painting makes the faults, or even just inconsistencies, stand out so much more. Pop that puppy out of the frame and get to work.

It was now time to put all five in front of a gallery owner I truly respect, and then in front of the public, alongside twenty-two other artists I admire. It’s both an exhilarating feeling to “let go” of new work, as well as a nerve-wracking sensation. All those nagging questions pop up.  Impossible to back out. My name was on the invitation along with a bright image of one of my favorites.

Twilight, Pacific Grove, oil, 18 x 36 in.

I had no idea where my work would be hanging in the spacious gallery. Hidden on a side wall in the third room?  I was delighted, when entering for the opening reception, to find my paintings right up front near the reception desk, impossible to overlook. Their vibrancy also made them stand out. I’m no limited-palette painter, mixing all colors from a small group of pigments. Coming from a pastelist’s background, I see no reason to limit myself. I don’t have twenty five colors on my palette; nor do I have just five or six.

I’m happy to say that the new work looked terrific on the walls of the gallery. There were many positive comments and surprise from gallery-goers who’d never seen my oils before. To date no sales. Time will tell. It’s always possible that the paintings will come back to my studio for revisions!

Land's End, oil, 20 x 30 in.