Giant Horse Barn

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click Here to Bid

I had a very special opportunity to visit a big sawmill in Lewiston, Idaho, a few days ago, through my husband's connection. We had a nice tour through this facility that was built in the 1920s. The operation of the mill was very interesting. But to the artist's eyes, everything was even more fascinating to see: colors and shapes of the machines and building, etc.. I learned a lot about how the modern lumber industry works, and how people are making the wooden parts of our houses as sustainably and efficiently as possible. For example, bark and sawdust are sent to a nearby powerplant to make electricity and the steam that comes back to dry the boards in huge kilns. Wood chips go to a paper mill in the same industrial complex.
   I think I'll do a series of studies of this mill. To start, I painted the giant old barn that used to house the draft horses, based on my photo and imagination. This is probably the largest horse barn I've ever seen. Some of the old wooden buildings, including this barn, are gradually being demolished to accommodate a new operation system. I wanted to preserve these historic images in my paintings before the buildings disappear.

Baby Meenie

Oil on linen on panel, 6" x 6" --  Click here to bid

This is another baby chick from my photo collection. I love the posture of the chick. This Rhode Island Red chick used to belong to our friends in Pullman.  They thought this chick was female, until it started crowing like a rooster in the summer. Since it's not allowed to keep roosters within the city limit, this baby rooster was adopted by their friends who wanted a pet rooster.

Broken Egg 2

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click here to bid

This is another study of an broken egg shell and crumpled wrapping tissue paper. I painted over the previous painting which I posted yesterday. Since I usually use just primary colors plus white, I had trouble mixing accurate color of purple earlier, but I remembered that I should feel free to interpret and modify the model, and my painting doesn't have to look exactly like what I see. My painting is a "representation" of what I see. So I'd better focus on making a good painting.

Broken Egg

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6"

This is a value study of an broken egg shell and crumpled wrapping tissue paper. This is my second entry for the Daily Paintwork's weekly challenge. I meant to keep this monochromatic painting phase simpler as underpainting for the full color version. But I got carried away, and decided to post it as a finished piece.

I used to draw with charcoal on paper a lot, but since I discovered that I can substitute this with oil painting, I pretty much abandoned charcoal drawing these days. Instead, I've been spending more time drawing with oils on canvas.

I might continue this with full color, and post it later. It was another good exercise with value. It was also a great way to focus on the edges of shapes.

Egg in Crimson

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" --  Click here to bid

This is an egg from my pet chicken, Namie, and crumpled wrapping tissue paper. This is my entry for this week's Daily Paintworks Challange which is about doing a painting with crumpled paper. I crunched up so many types and colors of paper, before I settled with this combination. My studio space looked like a classic office scene of a struggling writer with a bunch of typing papers scattered on the floor. I wanted to include an egg (or something other than the paper), and that made things more complicated.

I like how versatile and interesting the tissue paper is when crumpled for still life painting, especially with an egg. It's been always a challenge to paint something round on the flat surface. I've used paper clips, tooth picks, etc. to stabilise the egg in the past. With wrapping tissue paper, I have more control, and make the background more interesting at the same time. I also found it easy to manipulate the composition; I can start painting as I see through viewfinder, and edit the position and size of the folds of paper. That's a great advantage of oil painting.

Two Pears & Reflections

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click here to bid

Lately, I've been trying to push the color intensity and value in my painting. This was a great exercise.

Morning Rendezvous No.2

Oil on linen on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click here to bid

This painting of a white horse is a part of Daily Paintworks Challenge for this week hosted by Carol Marine. I experimented with compositions quite bit, and settled with this one. I noticed a white little flower near the bottom of the reference photo provided by Carol. So I repeated it around the horse. I simplified composition by eliminating the rear legs and tail, shifting the position of its body. I also emphasized orange and red spots here and there to compliment the blues and greens. I hope these tricks suggest the narrative even though the whole landscape is not shown.

Aunt Bea the Chicken

Oil on linen on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click here to bid

A painting of a year-old Rhode Island Red hen. Her name is Aunt Bea.

Shadow of Steptoe Butte

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" --  Click to bid

Today, Peter and I drove to Steptoe Butte for the fun of it, and of course to take more reference photos for my painting projects. I've painted en plein aire here before, but it was just too freezing to do it this time of the year. Steptoe Butte is about an hour north of Pullman. It's a lonely, pointy mountain made of hard rock, in the middle of rolling hills. It's also a flying site for hang gliding and paragliding, We drove up all the way to the top through some snow in the shades, and saw the enormous shadow of this mountain where we were standing. It was so breathtaking that I just had to paint it.

Shadow in the Wheat Field

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click Here to Bid

Today, Peter and I drove from Pullman, WA, to Moscow, ID, for shopping. It's only seven or eight miles if we drive directly, but we took a detour through the town of Palouse on the way back, to enjoy a scenic drive through the wheat fields, and to take some reference photos for my painting projects. While Peter was driving, I saw the shadow of our truck on the wheat field, constantly changing its shape and size, moving toward and away from us. I was very fascinated by it, and decided to make a painting of it. It was a fun little date.

Dutch

Oil on linen on panel, 6"x 6" -- Commissioned

This is a pet portrait of a rabbit named Dutch, that I just finished. I must admit I used to be rabbit-crazy before I started oil paintings of birds as a body of work in college. When I was little, I had more than 30 bunny rabbit stuffed animals. I also had some bunnies as pets. At the schools I attended in Japan, art classes are mandatory through high school, and I usually found a way to twist the class assignment to incorporate a rabbit in my subject for sculpture, painting, and drawing. So I was excited to do this commission.

Tango for Tobi the Sparrow

Oil on linen on panel, 6" x 6"

The Pantane Company chose "Tangerine Tango" as THE color of 2012. This week's Challenge given by Daily Paintworks is to do a painting based around this color. I painted our pet house sparrow, Tobi, in this color theme. First, I pre-mixed my "tangerine tango" with Shiva Red and Cadmium Yellow Pale. After I did underpainting with Terra Rosa and this mixture, I reserved the beak and foot with the pure tangerine tango, which I blended with more colors later to create gradation. Then I painted the local colors which all shares a hint of this orange. I made sure that brush strokes are clean enough to show through the base color here and there, by wiping the brush and reloading color from the palette after each stroke.

Field Search

Chicken painting, oil on board, 6" x 6" -- SOLD

This is our Shantie, a Buff Orpington hen. She is very good at hunting bugs, especially grasshoppers, in the backyard.

Outing with Kara the Hen

Oil on linen on panel, 6" x 6" -- Buy it at Daily Paintworks Gallery

This painting is about a little pet chicken walking through the gate by a garden shed. I was doing a study of shadows of trees in my backyard on a warm sunny day. Most of our chickens were roaming in the front yard, and I was alone. When I was about to finish painting, Kara, one of our Ameraucana hens, showed up in front of my easel. So I included her in my painting, and I called it finished.

First Cut

It is just before the Fourth-of-July. This is the first cutting at a hay field in Cle Elum, WA.

Step up to Home

Oil on linen on panel, 6" x 6" -- SOLD

I painted this at my friend's house last summer. I guess this can be considered a still life painting even though I painted it outdoors. There is a local artist group in Ellensburg, and I paint with them from time to time. Every Friday morning, we paint together at one of our member's homes, or at an interesting destination around the Kittitas Valley, then we eat lunch and critique our new works. I hope to join them more often this year.

House with Green Roof

Oil on linen on panel, 6" x 6" -- SOLD

I originally painted this in Coeur d'Alene, ID, last summer. The white spots are ducks. I found it easier to paint it en plein aire when it's overcast, as the sunlight and shadow don't seem to change too much while painting. Eventually, the cloud cleared toward the end, and the sun shine changed the color and lighting completely. So that became the end of this painting session. Later in my studio, I improved the composition: simplifying it by removing extra trees on the right, and adding more interest in the sky with color and texture.

Green-Red Apples with Silver Pot

Oil on canvas panel, 6" x 6" -- Buy it at Daily Paintworks Gallery

Painting silverware is fun, but it is challenging! I used this silver pot to break up the plain background. I really like how it works here. I thought these apples were more greenish when I picked them for my models. But  they appear to be more yellowish now. I know these apples will be my next breakfast.

Two Apples in Purple

Oil on linen on panel, 6" x 6" -- SOLD

We gave a nice holiday present for our pet chickens today. We totally cleaned up the loft in the chicken coop where they sleep, and replaced the bedding floor cover with fresh straw. Then we put additional curtains as partitions between them. Sometimes they peck at younger ones on the perch without sufficient partitions. Our chicks are big girls now, and they like to have more privacy at night. ;-)

Tobi the Sparrow No.3

Oil on linen on panel, 6" x 6" -- SOLD

This is our pet house sparrow, Tobi. She is five years old. She flies freely inside the house. She's my best companion at home. She likes singing to running water and music. It's hard to feel depressed when I'm with her. Tobi means "flight" in Japanese.