Kind of creepy, isn’t it? Wait until I add the Banded Garden Spider.

Don’t get excited. This isn’t a finished painting. It’s a Photoshop sketch I pieced together with one of my paintings-in-progress (the background of the purple, black and white textile design is my actual painting thus far) and images of three birds, one spider and the circular design. The latter will be in 22k gold leaf, just like the painting I posted last week, while the birds and spider will be painted in oil. All the critters will be rendered at their actual size, which for the Eurasian Eagle Owl means a whopping 23–30 inches. After staring at it for a while, I feel like I’ve set the bar a little high for myself. But I like a challenge!

For about 10 years I have been painting traditional landscapes, cityscapes and portraits (both of sitters with two and four legs). While I look forward to continuing on that path, I have concocted a new painting process and aesthetic in my work that combines all the textile and design patterns I have been hoarding and my formal training as an illustrator. Expect to see some edgy creepy-crawly subject matter mixed with feminine print designs. My favorite added element to these new paintings is gold leaf applied over hand-drawn delicate lace-like patterns.

It seems fitting to mark the beginning of my second decade of painting with a brand new style of work, which is also very motivating as I think about preparing for a show this year. A percent of my sales will continue to be donated to charity as that component of my work has certainly been the thrust of the first five years of content on this website. With that said, I would love to hear suggestions of Pittsburgh charities I might consider. Feedback on the paintings themselves would also be greatly appreciated!

I was in New York City this week and happened to stumble across a store front that I painted in 2006. With the help of the mobile interwebs and two smartphones, my husband and I were able to capture a quick shot of the actual scene behind an image of the painting (sorry about the car in the shot; it’s difficult to take photos in the streets of New York). I guess after years of painting, fun and entertaining moments like these are bound to happen.

My early attempts of applying gold leaf to my latest paintings is off to a great start. Even though, as you can see in this video, the gold is incredibly fragile. A mere sigh sends it flying into the air. It can’t really be picked up, moved or manipulated directly by hand. Instead, a fine brush loaded with static cling (called a gliders tip) gently attaches itself to the gold so the latter can be moved to the desired spot. It feels good to have a new process to master. This is certainly not like pushing paint around on a canvas.

After moving furniture, sweeping, mopping (and mopping again), dusting and scrubbing, my studio is in order. This is by far the biggest studio I’ve ever had. Actually, it’s an entire classroom. Tucked away up on a hill in West Homestead on the south east side of Pittsburgh, I now occupy a room that decades ago was filled with schoolchildren. Today there’s a sign making business on the first floor with artist tenants scattered around the periphery, including Pittsburgh legend, Bob Qualters.

I feel like I should be doing cartwheels in my new space because, well, I can. Guests are welcome since there’s room to sit in my “living room” and glance across the room at my paintings.

My studio is beginning to look like the inside of a wallpaper sample book. Thumbnail photos of print designs are accumulating on the walls to inspire a new series of paintings I’m experimenting with. The next layer on this canvas will be realistic oil painting of birds and insects. I’ve posted a glimpse of another such painting that’s nearly completed. I think for this one I will be adding Anna’s humming birds, bees and wasps. Then, the final layer will be a little accent in gold leaf of a lace design. That will all make sense when I have a finished product to post.

I’ve moved to another new city (I think that makes 3 in 2 years), this time back in America. To be exact, I’m now in Pittsburgh. I love it here because it has the friendly hometown feel of Louisville, and the robust arts community of London. The Economist recently ranked it the country’s most livable city (and 29th in the world). Not too shabby. I’ve set up shop painting in an old schoolhouse in a neighborhood that in it’s heyday was busting at the seams with steel workers. My classroom studio still has a chalkboard with students’ names on it from decades ago. It’s perfect. So, here’s to new beginnings!

I’m trying something new: gold leaf. After anxiously waiting for the glue that sticks the gold to the canvas to set, I successfully managed to apply a delicate design over this painting. I have to give credit to French Master Gilder, Joseph Youss Kadri, who has adorned wall and sculptures with gold in places as prestigious and the Louvre. He graciously gave me some tips in advance of today’s attempt. Thank goodness. I’m not sure I would have figured it out on my own on the first try without creating a messy disaster. The finished product will be up soon.

I’m feeling pretty good about the progress I’ve made in two days in my new studio. My latest move to Pittsburgh, PA has inspired me to do a series of paintings of bridges in the three cities my husband and I have lived in together (Cincinnati to London to Pittsburgh). It feels liberating to be painting in an enormous room versus a London-sized sardine can. I think I can get used to this.

Leave it to me to be inspired by coffee, eggs and pancakes. With a scene like this, I have legitimate reason to be at Square Cafe for “visual research.”

Grad school, volunteering at The Courtauld Gallery, coordinating a move back to the States and planning my wedding has kept me away from my easel. I did however get a chance to sketch the breath-taking Italian scenery while on my honeymoon. This drawing is of a secluded rock beach on Capri, the island where John Singer Sargent painted some of my favorite of his works.