I took this picture while driving around Fort Wayne in search of architecture to use as photo references for local pieces. I was standing below in the massive doorway of this church, looking up, I thought it gave this structure a unique view, it is huge.
This is a scene on State Road 3 in northern Indiana going towards Avilla and Kendallville. The owner of the property was kind enough to allow me to take photos as reference for this painting. It is watercolor and pen & ink.
While visting my sister one year in Sacramento, California, I found myself a little bored at her house waiting for her to come home from work on some days. This day, I called her at work and asked her if I could paint her boring off white patio wall, I just felt it needed something, she entertains here often and spicing it up with some original artwork would be unique. To my surprise, she told me, “yes”. Without even asking what I was thinking of doing to it. I asked her, “don’t you care what I do to your wall? I might screw it all up!”, she replied, “No, I trust you”. Her trust inspired me to be sure I did something Cool. I rode her bike to a nearby hardware store and purchased some supplies, then returned and started in directly. I painted the whole thing with a three or four inch sponge roller, just free painting, no drawings, no outlines and no clear idea of what I was doing, I had a blast and actually enjoyed getting paint all over me. I still wear the shorts and shirt with the paint stains! The only sure thing I knew I wanted, was the flames coming out of the grill. When she got home I was anxious and scared to see her reaction, she loved it. The little outline of the doggy door in the bottom right was an ode to her two little wiener dogs, Sydney and Sammy.
This was done plein air style in Albion, Indiana. Leslie White and I drove by this while looking for subjects to paint and were complelled to stop. It is known to be an old “asylum”, but the sign at the far edge of the yard read, “Noble County Infrimary and Farm 1872-1957”. The colored pencil barn I have posted on this site that is in Albion, is attached to this property as well, So, this was a beneficial stop for us. Naturally, we had to make two trips here to do the barn and the infirmary, but, it was well worth it. The tubes coming from the top windows are old fire escapes, as I understand it, a matress would have been thrown down under the patient and they would slide down to safety. Looks fun just to play in to me. It was these unique old escape routes that first caught my eye to this beautiful brick building. I would love to paint this again. The two strips of camera flash glare on the fire escape are a result of this piece being wrapped in plastic.
Visit my other blog site, a writing page, where I have posted the book I wrote on coping with losing a loved one to cancer, in my case, my beloved mother. I hope that this story helps people to connect, share and know that they are not alone in this tragedy….please visit “Courageous Patsy” to read my story. Thank you for visiting Dissen Gallery.
This is a seafood restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, there is an art/framing shop right next to it. While participating in a sidewalk art sale along this area, I painted this plein air style. It was a fun activity I spent the day doing with artist friend, Leslile White, who, now owns this piece. This is watercolor, pen and ink, colored pencil.
This was my mother’s family home in Mount Washington, Pittsburgh, PA. It is my usual mixed media of watercolor, ink and colored pencil. Unfortunately, this is a photo of one of the prints I made for family members, the colors are incredibly more vibrant and green in the original, which, I gave to my uncle as he was the only one still living in this home when I painted it, but you get the idea.
This is an older piece, at the beginning of my ink and watercolor fetish, I still like it, but it could have been better
This is a first attempt at an oriental style watercolor
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