Happy Father’s Day!

A detail from a painting of A father and son build sand castles at the beach on a sunny day with the cheerful blue and aqua ocean waves rolling in behind them and a bright banner of crabs, starfish and scallops blows in the breeze, while a family of turtles gathers nearby on the sandy shoreline.

  Happy Father’s Day! Some of the best memories come from shared projects between parents and children, like building sand castles on a sunny beach with the merry waves of the ocean rolling in behind them. A cheerful banner with a scallop, a starfish, and a crab (you can also just make out the tentacles…

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The Completed Painting: “Wild Horses”

A detail from A herd of wild horses stampedes its way in a circuitous route, bolting and bucking and prancing and looking back. Violets, blues and yellows featured.

  The big reveal of the completed painting of “Wild Horses”. I am happy to say that it was already accepted into a shoitw, the Art of the Horse Art Exhibit. Getting into shows and exhibits takes a lot of work. So, it’s always a win when your artwork is accepted. These horses appeared as…

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Illustrated Title Banner for the Painting, “Wild Horses”

A detail from Hand-lettered title for the painting, "Wild Horses", with illustration element of a horse head with flowing mane.

  Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a wild and wonderful time. “Wild Horses” is the title of my newest painting for which I have been sharing the work-in-progress pictures. Now, watch for my next post when I reveal the completed piece. What is your favorite thing to do on Sundays? Tell me about…

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Save the Date!

A detail from A painting hung on a wall above a console with metallic statues from the Far East and a blue Art Deco glass vase, and lit from above by industrial-styled lights. The painting is a modern take by Melani Grube in which Sunday afternoon sunlight filters through the trees along a shoreline park filled with people in turn of the century dress, lounging, playing, fishing, rowing, and sailing in this updated take on the French classic by George Seurat.

  SAVE THE DATE: Add September 15th and 16th, 2018, to your calendar because we are going to have a party! I’m having a Solo Show and Open Studio and YOU ARE INVITED! Here are the details: Date: Saturday, September 15th and Sunday, September 16th Time: 10 AM to 5 PM At: Pause Coffee Address:…

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Horse Protection Day

Detail from pen and ink illustration of a cantering horse, mane flowing, tail flying behind.

  Horse Protection Day is March 1st (I know I missed it by a couple months. I just found out about it.) It was founded by pet lifestyle expert and animal behaviorist Colleen Page to bring awareness to the plight of both wild horses and unwanted horses being auctioned to be slaughtered for their meat.…

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The Image Appears in This Work-In-Progress, “Wild Horses”

A detail from The first application of ink to reveal the image for the painting, "Wild Horses".

This is the third phase in creating my painting: applying ink to the paint spatter to define the image. It’s a tense, but satisfying part of the process. The problem is ink splats happen! And you never know when. But there’s still a ways to go before this painting is finished. See the evolution of…

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Preliminary Sketches for the Painting, “Wild Horses”

A detail from A preliminary pencil sketch for the "Wild Horses" painting, of running, wild horses, featuring one looking back.

These pencil drafts (see the second image below) are the second phase in the creation of my paintings. (You can see the paint spatter in the first phase here.) They’re messy and loose and far from refined. But the looser they are, the more they keep the spirit of the initial inspiration for the painting.…

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The Paint Spatter That Inspired “Wild Horses”

A detail from A spatter of paint in violets and yellows from which the images for the "Wild Horses" painting emerged.

  Each one of my paintings starts with a spatter of paint. Pictured above is the spatter that inspired the painting, “Wild Horses”. I can always feel an excitement when I have a paint spatter that holds an image that I have yet to uncover. What can you see in this spatter? See the evolution…

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The Art of the Flat Lay

A flat lay of mystical images, color studies, patterns, handlettering, ribbons, gathered from a mood board.

  What is a flatlay? A flat lay is a photo of an assortment of items laid on a flat surface (thus, flat lay). The photo is most often taken from directly above the items. The surface serves as the background to the photo. The objects usually describe a theme, like “a day at the…

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Using a Flat Lay to Explore the “Wild Horses” Painting

A detail from the flat lay exploration of associations we have with horses, through an assortment of objects: a horse shoe of good luck, the glove of English-style riding, the wildly beautiful horse on the book cover, the bow-tie of the proper gentry riding class, the red and white lariat, the silver cowboy, an arrowhead pointing to the Native American riding tradition, the archer-horse-man of the horoscope sign Sagittarius, and a mini celluloid pencil for scoring horse shows.

  Have you noticed all the different ways that horses touch our lives? When I started working on my “Wild Horses” painting, I  kept running into associations with horses. But I got worried when I started putting together a flat lay image to expand my ideas for the painting. I thought I didn’t own anything…

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