Fat Tire and Lab Scruff

Here's my most recent pieces finished.

"Schlick Fat Tire"; Watercolor and Ink on 12" x 12" Paper

"Lab Scruff"; Watercolor and Ink on 8" x 10" Paper

I've got other pieces of art in the works and hope to share them with you soon.  I welcome any feedback or comments!  Thank you for stopping by.

Fresh Green Bike and Not All Who Wander

Photo: "Fresh Green Bike"; Poured Watercolor and Ink, 11" x 14"

It's been awhile since I've updated this site.  I had a life change that hit me sideways.  I went into work one day earlier this month and was told that "we were parting ways", and just like that I found myself unemployed.  It was a complete surprise because I LOVED doing the job and thought I was doing it very well.  I'm still trying to get back up and have found that I've had more time to do a little painting now between job searching.

Photo: "Not All Who Wonder...."; Watercolor and Ink, 12" x 12"

"Not All Who Wander..." is one of my favorite sayings.  This I added my one one line at the end to have a bit of fun with it.  I even had a 12" x 12" white frame on hand to finish it off.

Photo: Framed and ready to go... this is available for purchase.

Thank you for stopping by and I welcome any comments you may have!

Happy Holidays!!

Wishing you and yours the Best of this Holiday Season!
These are most of the paintings that I've painted in the last year.  It's always amazing to look back on a year and see what has happened over the year.

Blue Country Cyclist

This was a commissioned piece that I just finished yesterday.  I'm currently working on another couple of pieces trying to get done before Christmas.  Oh, the stress of painting deadlines. This painting had 5 preliminary drawings that it went through before it became this finished piece.  I'm glad to say that Tim was very pleased with the finished painting.  He wanted something to remind him of cycling on RAGBRAI but in blues/grays with less riders.  LOL!

Photo:"Blue Country Cyclist"; watercolor on 12" x 16" paper
Commissioned Piece

You may notice in the sky of the finished piece a subtle cloud face.  That was added in the final painting and was an idea that we (Tim & myself) and thrown back and forth.  It's loosely based on Tim's face.

The last Prelim drawing for this piece.

Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comment you may have!

Same But Different

I opted to a bike for a change.  It’s very similar to the “Live, Laugh, and Ride” that I did a while back.  I mixed it up a little, put cloud shapes in and used a different bike.  It made me think of riding through the air on a bike.  Awww...There's nothing like that feeling!  So this has the same saying in this painting but with a different look.  It was a nice little easy break after doing a commissioned piece that I had struggled with.  Here’s “Live, Laugh, and Ride – Number 2”....

I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thanks for stopping by!

Live, Laugh, and Ride...

After getting quite a few comments on Face Book about "Enjoy the Ride" watercolor painting I did for my living room.  I thought it might be fun to do another bicycle painting with a quote/saying.  I was rather inspired by a quick photo that I took of a bike on my long road trip the year before last.  It was a bicycle that was chained up to a tree along a shopping area in Bend, OR.  I have fond memories of that day, watching paddle boarders along the river and hanging out a local pub that night listening to local musicians.  A wonderful day on the road exploring the USA.  With those fond memories, I took that photo and turned it into a warm, sunny piece of bike artwork.  I think that the quote/saying fit with my memories of that day.  I call this watercolor.."Live, Laugh, and Ride..."

"Live, Laugh, and Ride..."; Watercolor on 16" x 20" Paper.

Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any feedback you may have.

Encaustic: My First Experience ...

I had always been curious to try encaustic art.  It has a very long history and I always liked all of the possibilities of layering/collage aspects that are available with this form of art.  So when I saw a local art workshop that was offered on-line, I jumped at the chance.  Even better, it was a low cost art workshop where I would take home 3 finished pieces; or so it advertised on-line.

Photo: The Indian Creek Nature Center, which is situated in southwest Cedar Rapids, IA.

The workshop was held out the local Indian Creek Nature Center; which is near a Sac & Fox Trail that I enjoy frequenting with Mr. Motorhead’s dog.  It’s a wonderful place to go out and enjoy nature.  I arrived last sunny Saturday afternoon, paid for workshop fee in the main barn and then walked a short distance to the “Sugar Hut”.   I went in to find several people huddling around the wood burning stove that was the heat source for the hut.

There was hot wax warming in a couple of places.  One place was a griddle with several small tuna cans filled with colored wax.  Another place was a large electric frying pan where the teacher for the workshop was stirring the wax with a resin.  It looked terribly sticky like hardened caramelized sugar.  She scraped the bottom of the frying pan and would mix and stir it around with a metal paint scraper. 

Photo: Colored wax, implements to apply, carving tools, resin in a bag, paper towels,
vegetable oil and a block of beeswax too.

As everyone, arrived she started to explain some things about the wax.  She explained that it was Darmar Resin that she was mixing with the beeswax and that it is used to make the wax more of a solid form when it cooled at room temperature.  She said that the electric frying pan needed to stay below 200 degrees.  At the 200 degree mark the wax would start to boil and give off noxious fumes.  Not a good thing; she explained. 

The beeswax she used was from a local bee keeper and she ordered it by the 3lb. brick from them.  She showed us how the brick looked.  It has a natural yellowish color she said that you learn to design your artwork around.  She then explained that she used oil paints to pigment her wax.  You can buy wax that is already colored but she liked to have more control over her colors.  She also said that you can generally get all of the colors from the three primary colors; yellow, red, and blue.  But she made a batch of green for us too; to make mixing a little simpler. 

We used cut up matte board that she had pre-cut into 4” x 6” squares.  She took a natural bristled brush, dipped it in the frying pan wax, and brushed it evenly across the matte board.  Then, she used a heat gun lightly over the waxed matte board to make it shine but not too close to make it run off the matte board.  This is how to make it seal and adhere to the matte board.  She repeated the process of using the natural bristled brush to put another thin layer of wax over the matte board.  “This is how you form your strata base”, she explained as she lightly ran an iron across the surface.

The iron had no holes in its surface; and either it or the heat gun could be used to seal the surface.  She explained that this sealing needed to take place each time between layers or the whole of the wax surface could slide off or crack.  Also, the layers needed to be done fairly thinly too.

Photo: "Encaustic #1"; 4" x 6"

Then, we were invited to make our own strata base.  It was not as easy as she made it look, but I managed through.  Next, she took us through all of the different possible ways of applying the colored wax.  She had quite a few brushes and other implements to choose from.  She also explained that if we did not like what we made that it was easy to just scrape off the wax and start again.  For most of the 12 in the workshop, this was our first time ever doing encaustic art.  Also, there was only handfuls that were artists in the group.

Next she took us through the process of transferring and also explained how to carve and apply oil paint into the carved out areas of the wax.  We played for a bit more and some of the participants started a second piece of matte board to form the strata base.  About half way through the workshop she invited us to take a break, go outside and perhaps, take a small piece of nature to use in our piece of artwork.

Photo: "Encaustic #2; 4" x 6"-- An attempt at a girl on a bicycle.

I went for a short hike and then came back to the hut.  I started applying color wax to my second piece and just playing with the different ways in which to apply the wax.  I also carved out a girl on a bicycle and applied oil paint into the carved out crevices.  The detail was lost when I applied the last layer of sealing wax.  Darn it!  I guess there's some learning curve with this new stuff.

Photo; "Encaustic #3"; 4" x 6" -- I'm framing it!

Next, I started the third piece and decided after a layer of colored wax that I would try a transfer of a barn scene.  I placed the ink side down of the black and white copy against the top of the wax surface; then, rubbed with a large metal spoon, over the surface while applying pressure.  Next, I poured a little water over the paper and started to rub lightly with my fingers.  Eventually, the paper came away but the black ink from the copy stayed on the waxed surface.  Ooooo, cool I thought as the last bit of paper washed away.  I think I'm going to frame this one!

I had a little more time yet, and decided to go back to my first encaustic piece and apply a transfer to the top of that one too.  Overall, it was a fun workshop and it was nice top broaden out into a new form of art.  I may decide to dabble in this new form in the future but I definitely would need an area where I would not be concerned about getting hot wax mess on the floor, walls, and etc.  This is when a heated garage would come in handy…. Hmmmm, maybe I could see if Mr. Motorhead has a bit of garage space available?

Enjoy the Ride!

About 3 months ago, I moved into a new place and I'm now finally getting to a point where I want to start hanging things on the wall.  It's not that I have a shortage of paintings to hang on my walls.  But sometimes it's nice to have a variety of things on the wall that have cute sayings or to have other unique items among the paintings on the wall.  Well, in the search for some cute quotes or sayings that I could find on-line for my wall, I found a shortage when it came to bicycles among the quotes.  Most of the quotes had a bicycle and the quote of "Enjoy the Ride!"; which was fine but I just wanted something a bit more.

And so, with drying time happening during a commissioned piece that I'm currently working on, I decided to do my own cute quote with bicycles.  The nice thing is that this way I could plan what I wanted said, choose the colors, and put as much bicycle in it as I wanted.  Little by little, it came together.  I have always enjoyed the quote that "Life is a journey", and I kind of like the "Enjoy the Ride" with the bicycle.  So with those two quotes in mind I laid in a background of a combination of flat washes and alternative methods.  I used a bit of scotch tape here and there to remove color; along with some masking fluid.  I used objects to apply the masking and just kind of played around with it.  I had fun and this is what came of it....

"Enjoy the Ride"; Watercolor on 12" x 18" paper.

I was pretty happy with this and I think it should look good in my living room decor.  Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comments you may like to share.

A Poured Watercolor: Red Tulips and Bicycle...

I had a bit of fun with this poured watercolor and you will be able to see it in person if you happen to be in Fairfax, Iowa this Saturday.  I'll have a little booth there for the Fairfax USA Days.  So I invite you to come swing by for a bit of art and some Patriotic FUN!  But I call this painting: Red Tulips and Bike.  It's a bit more abstract and I kind of like it that way...

"Red Tulips and Bicycle"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 14" paper.

I would LOVE to hear any feedback you may have and thanks for stopping by!

A Hot Pinkie!!

I'm dreaming and painting bikes as the snow continues to fall outside.  It's just a bit of a case of " cycling on the brain".  Here's my most recent painting that I call "A Hot Pinkie!"  Enjoy!...

"A Hot Pinkie!"; Watercolor on 14" x 17" on Paper.

I used a bit of poured watercolor on the background of this painting.  Then, I used some puddle painting for the bicycle. I will admit that this picture doesn't quite do the original enough justice.  One of these days I need to take a photography class.  I would love to hear any feedback you may have!  Thanks for stopping by.

A Bicycle & Bollywood...

I've recently kind of settled down enough to find the time and space to do a bit of painting.  I sat down the other day with a bit of Spring fever and hopes of getting out on a bicycle soon.  So needless to say I had a bit of bicycle on the brain when thinking of painting this painting.  I also had thoughts of the Little Red Riding Hood theme on the brain too.  So here is the result of having bicycling and Bollywood on the brain...




"Red Bollywood Bicycle"; Watercolor on 8.5" x 11" paper.

I would love to hear any feedback that you may have and thanks for visiting!

A Basketted Purple Bike...

I am currently working on a couple of commissioned porch pieces.  Yes, I'm doing a bit of catching up and while I'm doing that I thought I would share a piece that I put on my bike art page but I never did a little write up here about it.  Part of the reason was that I barely finished it before Little Red and then it sold quickly.  Here it is...

"Basketted Purple Bike"; Watercolor on 6" x 8" Paper.

It was one of those quick little paintings I did in the evening while watching TV.  A fellow bicycle club member bought the painting and asked that I frame it in a black frame with matting.  That's what I did and here it is framed and ready for their wall...

"Basketted Purple Bike" framed.

They were very pleased.  I thought that the mint green really brought out some of the green undertones and made the bike pop.  I hope to have some porch commissions to reveal here soon.

Thanks, Silliness & a Winner!

A BIG Thanks for all who swung by my Art Booth at the Little Red Riding Hood Ride.  What a FUN event and such wonderful weather for the most part.  There was a couple of small cloud bursts where I was holding down some tarps to protect some paintings but they were short lived.  It was wonderful being out and having people swing by to view my art.  People from my bike club swung by and were rather surprised that I did anything outside of biking.  It really was a fun experience.  I also managed to sale a few things too!

I managed to get a little silly on Friday night and entered the Little Red Groovy Costume Contest.  They made us get up on stage and dance.  I just wiggled around because I wasn't too sure how a hippie was supposed to dance.  But here's a shot of me on stage in my full regale...

Oh MY!  I think it looks more like I'm doing a Rain Dance!  Maybe that's why there were the cloud burst on Saturday!  Go figure!

AND The winner of the Little Red Raffle is....

Annette T. from Spanish Fork, UT.  Congratulations!!  When she came to pick it up, she told me that she never wins anything.  Well, that's not true anymore and lets hope your luck has changed Annette.  Annette's daughter who did her first 50 mile bike ride ever at Little Red this last Saturday will be receiving the winning painting. Here's the raffled painting that went home with Annette and her daughter...

"Biking with Peace, Love, & Flowers"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Paper.

FUN Stuff for Little Red Booth!

This week, I've been preparing for the booth that I'm going to have for Little Red which is this next weekend.  For months now, I've been trying to build up on the bicycle paintings that I've had available.  I've also done a few new FUN ideas with a bit of mass producing thanks to the help of some websites and added a few new items other than just original paintings. (Yes, perhaps it would be considered by some as a form of commercializing.)  But I figured on some of these items the original paintings have sold and it would still be fun to share those pieces with others.  (And thus, I'm doing a bit of commercializing.  Please forgive me!)  So with some of that in mind, and with enabling people to purchase some of my art on a variety of new forms these are a few things that I've come up with.
Note Cards...


"A Parked Pink Cruiser" available on a note card.
One among many other paintings that I will have available at the Little Red Booth.
Plus there's some that will be exclusively available just at Little Red!

Tote Bags...

Small Tote Bags-

"Abandoned Girlie Bike" available on a small tote bag. 
Small totes are also available that feature the "Cycle of Red, Yellow & Tyedyed" painting.

Larger Tote Bags-

"Cycle of Red, Yellow & Tyedyed" available in a larger black bottomed tote in my Little Red booth.

Bumper Stickers...

A FUN Bumper sticker featuring the "Cycle of Red, Yellow, & Tye-dyed" painting.

Key Chains...

"A Red Big BAD Wolf" available as a key chain.
I thought this fit right in because the Big BAD Wolf is one of the
popular mascots of the Little Red Riding Hood Ride.

AND
Magnets...

"Old Blue Bayou"- cropped a bit but available in my Little Red booth as a magnet.
Other varieties offered on magnets are "Abandoned Girlie Bike" and
"Shadow Cycling Chalk Creek".

Swing by the Little Red booth in Lewiston, UT

if you get the chance this Friday or Saturday!

Thanks & More Bike Art...

Thank you to all who came to the 4th Annual Gallery Roll Art Show.  It was a very good turn out and it was nice visiting with all of you.   If you didn't happen to make the opening on Friday night, the bicycle art will still be available to see up at the Salt Lake City Bicycle Company located at 177 East 200 South in downtown Salt Lake City.  Swing by and check them out if you get the chance! 

I managed to finish a couple more bicycle pieces this weekend.  Yes, I'm adding a couple more for my Little Red Riding Hood Booth during the event on the first Friday and Saturday in June.  I'm really looking forward to it!  Here they are a couple more pieces of  bicycle art. Enjoy...

"Your Chariot Awaits"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper.

"Tulips Along for the Ride"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Paper.

I always LOVE to hear feedback on my artwork!  AND Thanks for stopping by!

The 4th Annual Bicycle Art Show...

You are invited to a Bike & Art Event...

On

Friday May 18th

from

6 - 9PM

(Photo- "Psychedelically Cranked"; Poured Watercolor on Paper.)

The

4th Annual

 Gallery Roll

Takes Place 
To celebrate National Bike Month, every May,

the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll brings you Gallery Roll.

We encourage everyone of all ages to ride your bikes from gallery to gallery and to enjoy the special Bike Art Exhibit hosted by

 located at 177 East 200 South in Downtown Salt Lake City.

Three of my artworks will be on exhibit and I'll be there to visit with too.

I invite you to come out and enjoy some art, bike talk,

and perhaps a little bike riding too!

Come Join in the FUN!

For more information on Gallery Roll and the 4th Annual Bike Art Show

Bikes, Bikes & More Bikes...

May is National Bike Month and with me starting to get into the full swing of cycling season; I seem to have biking on the brain.  (That might be a bit of an understatement!--Just a bit.)  I've got three pieces that will be in a bike art show on May 18th-- the Gallery Roll which takes place in a downtown Salt Lake City bike shop.  I'm also preparing for a bike art booth up at Little Red Riding Hood and I'm currently debating on which photo of my bike art to enter into a Sugar House Art Walk Bike Art Photo Contest.  Oh, my!

Between that and actually riding on my bike, I amaze myself that I still find the time to paint more bicycles.  So here's the last three, I've painted this week...

"Old Blue Bayou"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Pressed Paper.

"Petals on Pedals"; Watercolor on 10" x 10" Cold Pressed Paper.

I really tried a bit of a new direction on the last one here.  It's a teenage girl swinging her leg out, coasting along and showing off her vintage 60's outfit with her vintage striped bike with basket.  It's fun!  I can imagine this watercolor hanging up in a little girls bedroom.


"Fashionita on Wheels"; Watercolor on 11" x 10" Cold Pressed Paper.



Mother's Day Ideas...

Are you trying to find something new and unique for that Mom that may have everything? 

Of course, there's always the fall back giftcard to her favorite restaurant

but you kind of get tired of THAT!   

You want to give her something that she would like that's new and different.  

Here's a few ideas that I've recently added or created...

If she happens to be a cyclist,
she would LOVE these wonderful high quality t-shirt featuring bike art?

Abandoned Girlie Bike on a Pink Babydoll Fitted T-shirt... CUTE!
or

A Cycle of Red, Yellow & Tyedyed on a White T-shirt with Red Trim....FUN!

or

Allgood's Amish Triangle on a Wonderful Comfortable Long Sleeve Pink Tee...YUM!

Click on the above shirts or to visit the AllgoodArt Store on Zazzle, click here. 

There are also a couple of variety of key chains available too!

OR...

Auntie's Kiss... is now available on a notecards!

There's the chose of high quality notecards that feature my artwork on the front

at my RedBubble site...

Click Here to See

You can choose from Bike Art, Porch Art, or People Art

AND

IF you purchase 8 or more notecards there's a 20% discount!

(YES!  SORRY, I am shamelessly do self marketing and promoting and am hoping to raise some funds to cover my cost of RAGBRAI this summer.)

Back to Biking with Peace, Love, & Flowers...

The Groovi-ness continues, as I prepare for the Little Red Riding Hood Bike Ride in June.  I'm planning on having a little booth with some of my art on sale.  The theme for Little Red this year is Groovy!  Here's my latest creation keeping in with the cycling and groovy theme...

"Back to Biking with Peace, Love, & Flowers"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Cold Pressed Paper.

On this painting, I used a combination of styles.  I did a couple of layers in watercolor pours for the background, the bike seat, the bike seat bag and seat post. I used puddle painting for the rest of the bike.  I limited the colors to yellow, permanent rose, dioxazine purple, and a watered down liquid red watercolor.  I think the ladies at Little Red will like this one!  Would love to hear your feedback and thanks for stopping by!

A Red Big Bad Wolf...

I put the last finishing touches on this painting last night as the wind was howling and the rain was pouring.  It made me glad that I had decided to go for a run at the gym than to push being out in the pre-storm windy weather.  But either way, this painting that I had started a couple of weeks ago finally came together last night as I sat in my cosy, dry apartment.  Yes, I had a bit of painter's block on this painting and that happens sometimes.  But FINALLY I worked through it.   Yeah!  Here's the resulting poured watercolor...

"A Red Big Bad Wolf"; Poured Watercolor on 8" x 9" Cold Pressed Paper. 

I did this in preparation for the Little Red Riding Hood Bike ride that takes place the first Saturday in June.  The Big Bad Wolf is a mascot of the ride.  It's quite a FUN event and I'm really looking forward to it!  I'll have this painting and several others on sale in my booth during that event.