"100 SLC Porches,No.58"



"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.58"; Watercolor on 8.5" x 10.5" Paper

 I'm very familiar with this porch.  Quite often I show up here outfitted for bicycling or running.  This is the home of my favorite work out buddy Diane.  It was an early evening after work when I swung by to take the photo of her porch.  The flowers had just come out to bloom the weekend before.  The sun catches areas here and there through the tree lined street.  It's in a lovely quiet Sugarhouse neighborhood that is within blocks of all kinds of businesses and restaurants.  By the way, she loved the painting!  To view the progress of (or to purchase) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, please click here.  I welcome any feedback! Thanks!

"100 SLC Porches, No.57"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.57" Oil on 8" x 8" Canvas

Recently, I found some 8" x 8" canvases on sale and purchase a couple.  This porch is a minty green porch with pinkish undertones in the landscape.  It's on a relatively quiet street between the Aves and the University of Utah campus.  I decided not to paint the edge of the next door house.  The houses in this area are older and built rather close together.  Quite often if there is a garage it's off of a back alley way.  But sometimes, these house are built before there were cars and all they have now is off-street parking. To view the progress of (or to request purchase)100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I welcome any feedback.

"100 SLC Porches, No.56"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.56"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Cold Press Paper

This porch is another one from the lower Salt Lake Aves area.  I started this one with a series of flat washes with permanent rose.  Slowly, I built up the pink tones.  Then I started in with some puddle painting with combinations of the colors of phthalo blue, light green, and medium yellow.  I wanted to keep to similar colors of the house which were tones of pink and teal.  I think it turned out to be a nice combination. 

I must admit that it seems I'm getting into a bit of a theme with the flags on the last couple of porches.  We are heading towards that patriotic 4th of July and I've been keeping my eyes open for some porches that have a patriotic "flare".  So if any of you see in the Salt Lake City area see a porch with flags or red, white & blue contact me and I can run over on my bicycle to get a picture. To view the progress of (or to request purchase) all 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thank you!

"100 SLC Porches, No.55"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.55"; Watercolor on 11" x 14" Paper

It was a beautiful sunny day when I went by on my bicycle and this porch in the lower Salt Lake Aves grabbed my attention with the wonderful flags and pink tulips.  I started this painting with a series of flat washes and finished with some puddle painting.  What a wonderful painting to do on a rainy Sunday.  It was a productive afternoon and I hope to have #56 porch done this evening if all goes well too.  That's dependant on how long of a bicycle ride I may take tonight. :)  Please visit the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page to view the progress or to request to purchase.  I welcome any feedback.  Thank you.

"100 SLC Porches, No.53 & No.54"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.53"; Poured Watercolor on 10"x 11" Paper

In the quiet Avenues neighborhood this front porch was almost hidden amid a garden in the front yard.  It seemed to just peek out a bit between the trees and say hi as I passed by on my bike the first time.  I turned around and took a picture of this secluded beauty.  I used medium yellow, dioxazine violet, and sap green in this poured watercolor.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.54"; Watercolor on 10" x 14"

This bricked green beauty from the lower Salt Lake Aves, I started as a series of flat washes in golden tones building and building; adding more color as it progressed.  I'm really happy how this one turned out.  To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.  I would love to hear any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.49 to No.52"

I was REALLY in the mood to paint this weekend and managed to get 4 of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches done.  And here they are in order...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.49"; Oil on 12" x 12" Wrapped Canvas

No this is not the original painting I had planned to paint.  That porch painting is still off to the side.  This porch painting in oil came together quickly.   This sunny porch was scouted out by a friend and I think what drew us both to this porch was the ceramic tiled square areas on the lower areas of each side of the porch.  I also liked the fish mail box too.  I kept to a pastel pallet on this one.

Below Porch #50 was also spotted by the same friend.  I loved the red tree and went a bit brighter with it.  This watercolor was a combination of flat washes, puddle painting, and sponge painting.


"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.50"; Watercolor on 9" x 13" Paper

Porch #51 has an Old English feel to it.  I did this watercolor in a wet to dry method then did a bit of puddle painting to finish it off.  I kept to a raw umber, indingo blue, and yellow mix (medium yellow & yellow ochre) pallet.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.51"; Watercolor on 9" x 10"Paper

Porch #52 belongs to a co-worker who had reserved the number because it was her age.  I really think she wanted me to get more porches under my belt before I attempted hers.  I surprised her at work this morning, and she was delighted with it.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.52"; Poured watercolor on 9" x 10" Paper

Click here to see the "100 Salt Lake City Porches" Art Project page.  Check out my progress or get info. on how to purchase a porch painting.

Struggling with #49...

I’ve been struggling with porch #49 for awhile now. It’s an oil that I’ve started over and over and over; 4 times now. It’s just not coming together and not looking right to me. It’s a version of painter’s block? Maybe.  But I’m thinking I’m going to put it off to the side for later. Perhaps just start another painting tonight; maybe a watercolor. These things happen sometime for some unknown reason and I think I just need to back off from it and give it a bit of rest.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.36"; Oil on 8" x 10" Canvas

In the meantime, some of you may remember porch #36 where I asked the “chicken or the egg” question. Was the yellow trim first or were the pair of beautiful yellow forsythia trees? Well, the answer to the $ 64 question is…” the forsythia came first planted by the previous owner....and ironically I painted in the fall without even thinking about them matching!!!” ...a direct quote from current owner Deborah.


I’ve really had fun with this project and most of the fun has come from meeting and talking with the porch owners. Each porch and house has its own stories. And there have been porch owners from all kinds of backgrounds and with a wide base of interests. There’s some I could spent the afternoon with a cold ice tea hanging out on their porch talking with. In fact, the more and more I think about it. I would like to put little stories about the porches and houses in a book along with pictures of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project. I think it would make a very interesting book. I want to thank the porch owners that I’ve met and I look forward to those that I hope to meet.