Painting #16
Robot
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Board
SOLD


Sean's going to be 13 in a couple months. It's been amazing watching him grow and develop into a young man. It's also been interesting watching his tastes develop over time. From Barney and the Wiggles to Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan, he's not the little boy he was. Toys and posters and things that cover his shelves have come and gone as well. I'm glad the robot has stayed, though. It arrived when he got his first big boy bed, which was space-themed, and has made the cut ever since. You know, this probably explains why I started crying during the opening credits of Toy Story 3, and was still sniffling as we walked to the car in the parking lot. Toys come and go. But it's nice to have little things like the robot to remind me of when he was very small.

Painting #15

      Two Pear      

7" x 5"  

Oil on Canvasboard 

SOLD

Don't really have an anecdote for this one. Just beautiful fruit from Kruger's Farm. If you're in the Vancouver/Portland area, please go. Quality time for the whole family. It's one of our favorite places to go as a family, and we highly recommend it.

Painting #14 - Hydrangea in Blue Jar
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvasboard
SOLD

Hydrangeas abound in the Pacific Northwest. White, pink, blue, purple, a veritable explosion of color. I think it's a question of the pH balance in the soil. In Minnesota, hydrangeas were few and far between, and they were invariably white. Angela, growing up in the Pacific Northwest, was quite fond of hydrangeas, and so we did our best to grow one in Minnesota. We were able to, over time coax a single hydrangea bush out of the ground in front of our house. And every summer, like clockwork, after the first thunderstorm at the end of May, it would look like a 16-ton safe had been dropped on it. Trying to tie up the smashed stalks to approximate and actual living thing became an annual tradition for us. It always ended up looking like what would have happened if Frankenstein had been a botanist instead of a medical doctor, but it was OUR hydrangea. It was perfect, and to us it existed in that magical time in late May in Minnesota, after the snow banks had finally receded, and before the violent thunderstorms and robin-sized mosquitoes took up residence.

Painting #13 - Black Coffee
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvasboard
SOLD

Dad made me like black coffee when I was 13. My sister and brother-in-law were building a church in Minnesota. Dad, being the can-do force of nature that he was, decided to take it upon himself to do the lion's share of the manual labor. That meant that we all made the trek from Ohio to Minnesota for a little 'vacation'. Of course, this was also the middle of winter. Working outside with Dad in winter was always an experience anyway. Working outside with Dad in winter in Minnesota was something else entirely. At this point I liked coffee, but with large amounts of milk and sugar. Black coffee did absolutely nothing for me. Dad, being Dad, liked his coffee black. Preferably with a pinch of salt. And maybe some metal shavings. So it was that I found myself during Christmas vacation on a frozen patch of desolate ground in the middle of nowhere, Minnesota in the absolute crotch of winter; extremities freezing, exposed skin growing numb and the hairs inside my nose frozen stiff. (Minnesotans understand this phenomenon) I wanted nothing more than a nice, hot, sweet, cup of coffee to help me warm up. Dad knew this. He called me over and held up his battered, green metal thermos. And smiled.

Happy Fathers Day, Dad. Love you.

Painting #12 - Happy Apple
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvasboard
SOLD

I was going to whine about not having a Happy Apple when I was kid.
Then I realized they didn't come out until I was 6. Little late by that point.

Painting #11 - Wienermobile Hot Wheel
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvasboard
5.31.12
SOLD

It's not like I needed another reason to like a 27 foot-long, 11 foot-high v-8 powered hot dog that continuously plays my favorite song when I was 4. But it turns out that 1 of the 6 Weinermobiles has been spending a lot of time in the NW - our area in particular. It turns out they have been here not only bringing joy to kids (and adults) with regular stops at grocery stores and mall parking lots, but also raising funds for Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland. We'll be doing our part today by donating the proceeds from the sale of this painting to Doernbecher too.