Denny Holland Studio

2012-01-26T17:51:00.000-08:00

The New Ark

Well after a year of not working on this sculpture I'm back on it again and actually moving along on it fairly quickly. I've spent so much of my art-making time this past year focused on painting that this has fallen to the back burner. (Oh well, I'm not really a sculptor, so I don't feel too bad!) Anyway, I'm having fun again with this piece and I'm even starting to create a little story about it in my mind. The brain does tend to take you to strange places when spending quiet hours on building something like this. I might write a short story or create a series of paintings to go along with it, who knows. That's one of the side benefits of making art, I find, the mental excursions that can be experienced and how one idea can cross over multiple disciplines.

The hull is ready to be clad. The cardboard mock-up of the skyline helps me figure out shapes and mass. The finished city will be a lot more refined, I promise!

2012-01-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

My Stair Railing Design: From Paper to Steel and Wood

Every now and then a fun design project lands in my lap. This one dropped by about a year ago from a colleague whose daughter and son-in-law were in the throes of building a custom home outside Las Vegas. They wanted a custom rail designed for their staircase and were unhappy with the designs submitted by the railing companies, so they decided to try it from an artist's perspective and asked me to come up with a plan. I remember spending the better part of one weekend working this out on trace paper "old school style" with French curves, a T-square, triangle, and a lot of eraser work. (A couple of glasses of cab helped the creative flow too, I must confess.) Along with the railing, I also designed the newel posts at the ends of the runs.

I have to admit it is pretty exciting to see an idea on paper materialize this way in real life. When someone likes your idea enough to bring it into the design of their home is pretty amazing. Design and art are tough gigs most of the time with a lot of rejection attached to ideas that are personal and close to the soul, but at times like this, it certainly is worth it all.

2012-01-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

Zebra Chair

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Gettin' it into gear...

2012-01-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

The Luminous Ant

Emily Holland

oil on panel

6" x 6"

From time to time I like to post some of Emily's artwork. She painted this little gem over the Christmas holiday in just a few hours. She's very interested in insects and science (in addition to art and music) and she's seriously thinking about entering the 50/50 exhibit this year. It will be a lot of fun if we get into it together. At age 20, she's way farther along with her painting skills than I was at her age, so it will be exciting to see how far she'll develop over the next 10, 20, 30 years.

2011-12-30T15:09:00.000-08:00

Odd Man Out

oil on panel

8" x 8"

I managed to get one more painting done before 2012. Happy New Year!

2011-12-23T13:52:00.000-08:00

Three Sisters

oil on panel

14" x 11"

These trees are from Lundy Canyon in the Sierra. I'm reminded of my three daughters who are firmly taking root in the world and standing strong. Happy holidays, everyone!

2011-12-10T17:31:00.001-08:00

Winter Oranges

oil on panel

8" x 10"
Sold

I picked up these oranges this morning at our farmers market and decided to do a quick painting alla prima (in one sitting). I limited myself to two hours. A nice exercise for a Saturday afternoon, kind of like practicing the piano.

2011-12-10T12:49:00.001-08:00

CAT

oil on panel

12" x 16"

This is a plein air I did last summer but just now got around to finishing it off in the studio. Most of my plein air paintings are completed in the studio since the field paintings look more like sketches and are very rough. Besides, I'm a studio painter by nature and find I have more control over my work that way.

This painting came about by accident. I was taking a plein air class and we were out on the shore in East Palo Alto, all the students fanning out to find the ideal landscape to paint. I saw this bulldozer in the middle of a field and was immediately taken by the way the blade reflected the sky colors. It was beautiful and I spent the next two hours "roughing it out". My fellow students thought it was amusing that I chose to paint this as a subject, but a lot of the time I'm more interested in what is inhabiting the landscape rather that the landscape itself.

2011-12-10T11:32:00.001-08:00

Just Off Old Stage Road

oil on panel

11" x 14"

As the year winds down I'm busy finishing off some incomplete paintings in order to clear the way for new projects for 2012. I've got a show scheduled for October and I need to clear the deck in order to get busy with the work for it (because we all know just how fast a deadline like that is on your doorstep in no time at all). Also, I'm going to spend more time focused on working this blog and developing a more online presence through sales. Basically it's time to push harder and get my work out before more art lovers. Stay tuned!

2011-11-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

Rockaway Beach

oil on panel

11 x 14

This is the finished plein air from the post below. Tomorrow I'm participating in a plein air paint-out with the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park and the artists are allowed to bring a finished work to include in the sale and exhibit following so I'm thinking this might be the one I'll bring.

2011-10-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hit one of my favorite places today to paint- Rockaway Beach. Struck up a nice conversation with a couple of cool surfers and got to pet a dog. People like to see an artist painting outdoors, it brings folks together, if only for a few minutes. I'm still getting used to "being on stage" when doing plein air in a public area, but mostly it's fun chatting it up with folks. I've got a paint-out in a few weeks at the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park, so I'm trying to make good use of this great weather to get my painting chops down. I'll finish this study of the rocks in the studio and will post it if it turns out halfway decent. Cheers!

2011-09-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

Pescadero Creek

oil on panel

12" x 24"

Yesterday the coastal fog cleared and I headed down our coast to Pescadero beach which is a beautiful 40 minute drive from my house. I was hoping to paint a few studies of the rock formations and breaking surf, however there was still a bank of fog hanging right on the beach so any hopes of painting there were soon dashed. Across the highway, looking east and toward the little town of Pescadero, the fog was thinning over the marshland and the morning sun was just filtering through. Pescadero Creek was absolutely shimmering sliver against the dark foreground like molten platinum and the effect was magical. I felt the same exhilaration that Church, Cole or Bierstadt may have felt more than a century ago as the landscape dances with the perfect light and creates magic. I made a few quick studies, took notes and absorbed the land. I finished the painting late last night in the studio, not wanting to let it rest and lose my momentum on the experience.

2011-09-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Coyote Point

oil on panel

12" x 16"

I'm getting a few recent plein air paintings ready to ship to their new owner, one of the loose ends I've put off since doing the 50-50 series. I've also got a new painting in the works and sketches begun for another. I'll post the progress on those soon.

2011-08-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

The Sweets are up and on display. Had a great turn out last Friday with a lot of good friends stopping by. With over 70 artists participating there's something for every taste.

Enjoying the guests with drink in hand. ( That's my daughter Becca in the foreground.) I'm on to new work in the studio this week which I 'll post soon...

2011-08-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

Painting #50 (Final)

Sugar Skull

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

That's all folks, the end of this 50-50 session. It was fun but I'm glad to be moving on to other paintings and projects that have been sitting on the back burner since June. Later today I take these over to the Sanchez Art Center to hang in preparation for the grand opening this Friday. I'll post a photo tomorrow of the installed work, they're pretty cool all grouped together.

2011-08-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

Painting #49

Sugar Molecule
oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

Where it all begins.

2011-08-20T16:43:00.000-07:00

Painting #48

Gumdrop Invasion

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-08-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

Painting #47

Randy's Donuts

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Painting #46

S'mores

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

Painting #45

Dubble Bubble

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-08-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Painting #44

Spumoni Cake

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-08-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

Painting #43

Milk and Cookie Sunrise

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-08-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Painting #42

Circus Peanuts

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-08-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Painting #41

Pancakes!

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

You know you love them.

2011-08-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Painting #40

Big Bite Gummy Bear

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

This beast contains over a 1000 calories. And it smelled like a petroleum product under the lamp of my set up.

2011-08-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Painting #39

Cafe Mocha

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

Painting #38

Pop Art

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

Painting #37

High Fructose Hallucination

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

Painting #36

Chocolate Dipped Awesomeness

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

Painting # 35

Key Lime Pie

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

Painting #34

Dark Chocolate Bunny With Partial Ear

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Painting #33

Chillin' With My Peeps

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

Painting #32

Chocolate Truffles

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-04T16:03:00.000-07:00

Painting #31

Meltdown 2

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-08-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Painting #30

Eclipse

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-08-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

Painting #29

Candy Cornfield

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-07-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

Painting #28

Under the Milky Way

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-07-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

Painting #27

Taffy

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-07-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

Painting #26

Fruit Tart

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-07-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

Painting #25

SoHo Soft Cone Truck

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-07-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Painting #24

Your Diet is Over

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-07-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Painting #23

Burnout

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-07-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

Painting #22

Good and Plenty

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-07-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

Painting #21

The Behemoth

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

The title says it all.

2011-07-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Painting #20

I Drink Your Milkshake

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

Hey folks, I'm leaving for Los Angeles on Friday then next week I'm in NYC, so I'll be more sporadic in my posts since my paint-time will be impacted. Hang in there, I'll get back to it as soon as I can and promise you the 50 sweets you so deserve. Thanks so much for following along, your comments on Facebook and support are much more than I imagined, and for that, I am grateful.

2011-07-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

Painting #19

Flan

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-07-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

Painting #18

Cotton Candy Fog

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

This pinky, purple, sticky stratus is inspired by a favorite artist of mine,

Will Cotton.

2011-07-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

Painting #17

Firework

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-07-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Painting #16

Maraschino Madness

oil on panel

Sold

2011-07-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Painting #15

Cleaved Cupcake

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-07-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

Painting #14

Red Wine Candied Apple

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

I really felt like a Dutch painter from the 16th century painting this (except they probably didn't have Popsicle sticks back then, so that kinda broke the spell).

2011-07-01T00:18:00.000-07:00

Painting #13

Smartie Pants

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

A commissioned piece for a friend. I'm a visual DJ, I take requests!

2011-06-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

Painting #12

A Thousand Fortunes

oil and fortunes on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

Today I enjoyed the simple abstraction found in a broken cookie.

2011-06-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Painting #11

Motivational Mandala

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

See the light.

2011-06-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

Painting #10

Honeycomb

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-06-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

Painting #9

Klondike Meltdown

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-06-23T16:49:00.000-07:00

Painting #8

Store Bought Mascarpone Cheesecake (Single Serving) Achieves Sainthood

oil and gold leaf on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

Heavenly dessert, indeed.

2011-06-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

Painting #7

Store Bought Mascarpone Cheesecake (Single Serving)

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

2011-06-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Painting #6

Cherry on Top

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-06-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

Painting #5

The Vortex

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

I used two scaled people (used for architectural models) in the set up for this painting to create a doughnut that is larger than life. It reminds me of the TV show The Time Machine that I watched when I was a little kid- people would walk down this swirling tunnel and end up fighting pirates or find themselves having just assassinated Abe Lincoln, or something to that effect. Hence the title Vortex, this chocolate glazed sucks you in and delivers you to a world so unspeakable, yet so delicious.

2011-06-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Painting #4

Stacked Mints

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

2011-06-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

Painting # 3

Mickey Pez

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

It would be cool if these could dispense Lipitor.

2011-06-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

Painting #2

Jordan Almonds

oil on panel

6" x 6"

$175

When I set this up in my studio I was surprised how distorted and enlarged the candied almonds were in the glass bowl. I placed it on my light box for a nice under lighting effect...it reminds me of a lava lamp. Wow, man!

50-50 Sweets, Glorious Sweets!

2011-06-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

Painting 1

Sweet Kiss

oil on panel

6" x 6"

Sold

And away we go! For the third year in a row I'm putting myself through an incredible artistic challenge (or is it self-flagellation?) by painting 50 works of art in 50 days. This year my approach will be a bit different because of travel plans in July and the fact that I am pushing my realism to a whole new level, so most of my paintings will take more than one day to produce. I plan to work on three at a time, so there may be some breaks in the daily posting, but rest assured, they will all get done in the 50 day block.

This year I'm indulging in the caloric-heavy world of candies, pies, cakes, etc. This includes all things sugary and sickeningly sweet, nothing will be off limits. Like before, if you see a painting you would like to purchase, you may reserve it ahead of time by contacting me. The show hangs at the Sanchez Art Center in late August.

I hope you'll follow along on this trip through Candyland.

Denny

2011-06-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

Mori Point

oil on panel

6" x 8"

2011

It still feels like winter around here.

2011-06-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Montana Sky

oil on panel

6" x 8"

2011

Sometimes a break is needed. I felt I had to put the brushes down for a stretch (almost two months) to figure some things out, work on the house, and focus on my classes. Now that June is here and the semester's over, I'm looking forward to getting back into the saddle and hitting the oils pretty hard. I've signed up for a summer plein air class (it's good, I think, to see how other instructors approach familiar territory), a trip to NYC is in store as well as Lake Tahoe, and my inclusion in this year's 50-50 show will all keep me very busy.

50-50 starts in 11 days and of course, I will post paintings here as they come off the conveyor belt in my little studio. This year I'm exploring the caloric, teeth-rotting world of sugary treats. Should be fun, indulgent, and probably fattening. Stay tuned!

Pocket Dioramas

2011-05-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Next Big Thing

Playing around with a little modeling in a series I call Pocket Dioramas. Parallel worlds in an upside down universe, all on a 6" x 6" piece of real estate.

2011-04-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

Broken Wing

oil on panel

11 x 14

Well, here it is, this year's entry into the world-famous Birds in Art Competition. My buddy Marty has been accepted four times, I'm still working on my first. I'll find out May 6 if I need to ship this puppy off to Wisconsin or if it roosts back on my wall.

2011-04-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Two Pheasant paintings from my current show at the Mildred Owen Concert Hall, the left is my grandfather's (painted in 1974), the right is mine painted last year. He was untrained as an artist and never exhibited the paintings he created, until now. This is my favorite part of my show.

Two shows in a week's time, I must be doing something right! Last Friday was the opening reception for my solo show at the Mildred Owen Concert Hall in Pacifica and I was absolutely overwhelmed (in a good way) by the support of friends and students who came out. April made sure everyone was well attended to with her delicious food as I greeted and chatted for three hours. I sold five paintings and a set of chair drawings that night which blew me away, I always forget that sometimes I make money in this crazy venture called art. Thanks to everyone who stopped by on Friday, I was deeply touched.

Two of my paintings (right side of column) at the William Jessup University library. (Photo courtesy Frank Ordaz)

Now on to the next show which opens this Friday at the William Jessup University library in Rocklin, CA. The group show is called Wired and is curated by Frank Ordaz, a fellow blogger and painter extraordinaire. (Click on the link to see more photos of the show and to see Frank's work.) Frank brought together fellow realist painters across the country who have blogs for this fine exhibit. The other painters in this show are top-notch, in my opinion, and I'm honored to hang among them. I've known Frank for a couple of years now through our mutual blogging and Facebooking and will finally have a chance to meet him face-to-face on Friday. Fun! I'll take pictures of the event and post next week.

Until then, be good!

Denny

2011-04-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

Memory, Lust, Enjoy (Scholar Chair)

I just finished hanging my show at the Mildred Owen Concert Hall which opens next week and runs for three months. It holds my work from the past two years and covers my two favorite subjects: nature and design. It's a bit of an odd mix, but then I've never been one to paint just one style or theme over and over again. I don't have that kind of focus, there's just too many interesting things to cover in the world.

Pictures from next week's reception will be posted, for sure, and then it's off to the Wired exhibit in Rockin, CA (orchestrated by fellow blogger Frank Ordaz) where I'll hang with some pretty extraordinary painters who blog.

A few of my smaller water paintings.

2011-03-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

Filigree

6" x 8"

oil on panel
(Sold)

Another ocean detail...

2011-02-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

Tracery

oil on panel

6" x 8"
(Sold)

Today I rejoiced in the electrifying patterns in nature.

2011-02-13T20:36:00.000-08:00

Pacifico

oil on panel

6" x 8"
(Sold)

There just might be something here...

2011-02-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

Broken Wing

11" x 14"

oil on panel

My good friend Keith, who I have been friends with since the sixth grade, owns one of the largest prop rental companies serving Hollywood. His father started it when we were kids by renting out his antique toy collection to advertising agencies for print media, which eventually grew and expanded into television and film. I've watched this company grow for decades and always enjoyed walking through the warehouses of antiquities when I could.

Keith has a lot of his dad's toy collection at home displayed in just about every room of his house. Last Christmas, we paid a visit to Keith and his family and of course, I had to rummage around and take pictures, because things constantly change with the collection. I found these two tin articulated birds, dusty, laying in a box that was not quite unpacked. The pair spoke to me immediately not only as subject matter for a painting, but also as having some sort of narrative dialog between the two. They were friends (or enemies?) and one has lost both wings and is in a vulnerable state. I could go on about all the possible metaphors to life and art, but I'll simply leave that to you, the viewer, and let you draft your own story. I will say, however, that there seems to be some poetry in the mood of these colors and I'm happy about that.

2011-02-03T12:36:00.000-08:00

Today I'm taking a short break from the oils to put the finishing touches on my rendering of this designer chair. I presented a photo of this chair to my class last night as a warm up exercise .

It was a challenge for them but they worked hard at it. After, I went over the techniques of blending markers and color pencils to render form by observing light and dark areas. This drawing uses Prismacolor markers and premium pencils.

2011-01-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

Tangent

oil on panel

6" x 8"

We're well into the New Year and I've got several paintings in various stages in the works. I'm still focused on learning traditional techniques that I missed in college and in my own struggles with painting. As I get older, the more traditional my painting has become and within that discipline many, many, challenges arise. Currently I'm in the middle of reading James Gurney's Color and Light, a fantastic treatise on effectively using- well, color and light, -in one's work. I've taken on some of James' challenges on my own as exampled in the study above. In this painting I'm trying out two interesting lighting techniques: edge lighting and subsurface scattering. Edge lighting is self-explanatory, an aura of light illuminates the edge of an object for dramatic effect. Subsurface scattering is light that passes through a translucent object, illuminating it from within as in Tangent's ears above.

There is just so much to learn still and a thousand hours of practice ahead, but every now and again there is progress.

Happy New Year, everyone,

2010-12-24T21:04:00.001-08:00

December Beach
oil on panel
4.5" x 16"
(Sold)

Okay, I thought the cranberry painting was to be the last one for this year, but I was able to get one more painting done today. This morning our family went to the de Young museum in San Francisco to view the Post-Impressionist show and I guess I got inspired. Of course, as an artist, one thinks one is never producing enough work or putting in enough hours. So many head games come with this vocation. After my nap I sat down to my little table top easel and got to work.

This location is just north of the lighthouse at Pigeon Point, about 45 minutes south of my home on the San Mateo coast. I was there last week with my friend Shawn to take in the winter sky and coast. We sat for hours watching the approaching storm, I took a few pictures and notes of the colors and contrasts of our surroundings. A few beers and sandwiches were sacrificed for the occasion. I love the coast during the winter months, it feels like stepping back in time- like maybe a million or so years.

Peace.

2010-12-19T17:48:00.001-08:00

Home for the Holidays
oil on panel
9" x 12"

Probably the last painting of 2010, wrapping up a very good year in the studio.

Cheers!

D

2010-12-05T16:39:00.001-08:00

Home for the Holidays

(work in progress)

I'm holed up in my back office today with another storm passing outside my window, a perfect Sunday for listening to music (thank you Nano, oh what a divine slice of technology you are) and laying down some color tracks on my homage to the lowly, yet loved, canned cranberry sauce-jellied style. Today's goal was to get a second pass of color on board and leave the details for later tomorrow after the paint has dried a bit. So far so good. This one is moving quickly and it should be ready for your Christmas dinner table this week.

Happy holidays, friends.

2010-12-02T22:18:00.001-08:00

Home for the Holidays
underpainting
9" x 12"

I'm back to painting again after the Thanksgiving holiday and ready to focus on getting some paintings under way for my show next April. But first, I really needed a new desk for my home office, so I dedicated this week to building my own Parsons table from scratch. Every so often I get an urge to build with my hands and work that other part of my brain. I finished the table today and enlisted a tired April (my wife) to help me schlep the beast from my studio, around the front of the house, navigate down the narrow hall to the back bedroom which has now been officially ordained as my "office". She's a trooper and must really love me to move furniture and the end of her work day wrangling high school students as a VP- and keep a smile on her face.

Anyway, my new slap of oil paint on board is a holiday painting dedicated to the engineering feat of canned jellied cranberry sauce. I was lamenting the fact that somehow I missed out on the homemade, organic cranberry sauce my brother-in-law Larry brought to our house, so I really wanted to pay homage to the kind I grew up with- straight out of the can and able to hold its shape once released from said can.

As a subject matter, canned cranberry sauce is a poor model, unable to hold a pose for too long, so getting a good reference photo together is priority one. And here's the best shot which offered all the dramatic Hollywood lighting that my cheap studio lights could muster:

Not bad for an amateur photographer such as myself...

It's a good idea to print out a black and white version of the image too, it helps in seeing the range of value without the colors getting in the way.

Here's the set up before the photo is taken, obviously no expense was spared in this production with the lighting equipment. Tonight, the cranberry "tower" is in the refrigerator slowly losing its mass to the cold, dry air, so its time as a functioning model for this painting is obviously limited. Which is good after all, if this painting turns out well it might make a swell Christmas card.

Cheers!

2010-11-14T17:23:00.001-08:00

Double Batch of Frosting
oil on panel
14" x 18"

So many challenges with this painting, but I'm pleased with the results.

Time for cake!

(Thank you, Leslie R.!)

2010-11-07T14:25:00.001-08:00

Cake in progress.
oil on panel, 14" x 18"

This subject interests me in three ways: there's fire, there will be reflective highlights in the silver platter, and it is of course, dessert. Our friend Leslie baked this cake for her husband's 51st birthday and when I saw it I knew immediately I wanted to paint it. It contains so many challenges, but so far, so good. With all the underpainting in place, I'm slowly working my way down from the top to the platter. I spent a number of hours on those candles today on this rainy Sunday.

2010-10-31T16:48:00.001-07:00

Work in progress- Memory

Today I work on the floor in the spare room (second studio).

2010-10-20T13:16:00.001-07:00

A few sketches and drawings from my design sketchbooks...

2010-10-13T11:46:00.001-07:00

Plein air oil sketch at Rockaway Beach.

Wow, what a way to start the day this morning, taking my oils out to the beach for a little work out. We're having incredibly warm weather here on the coast and I certainly wanted to take advantage of it, because tomorrow could very well be a different story entirely.

I'm not doing as much plein air as I'd like and I feel so stale because if it. I was just looking at my pochade box the other day and noticed how new it still looks, a testament of how little work I'm doing outdoors. My box looks like it just came off the shelf, with very little "battle" wounds and scars of color adorning it.

I'm finally getting used to not having a day job, since I closed down my interior painting business, I feel like I've reached some mid-circle of retirement. It was strange at first, but I'm finally getting comfortable devoting my day to studio work and developing my teaching cirriculum. I worked hard for 26 years to get to this place so I'd better damn well enjoy it...

2010-10-08T13:53:00.001-07:00

The Wedding Gift (Study)
oil on illustration board
9" x 9"

This raku-fired vase was a wedding gift from Paul (April's college friend) given to us twenty six years ago and it has been a favorite of ours the whole time. This morning I decided to do a two hour study of the vase, it's something I've been meaning to do for, well...twenty six years. Better late than never?

2010-09-29T15:53:00.001-07:00

Figs and Toile
5" x 7"
oil, acrylic, pencil on illustration board

The perfect ingredients went into this painting that I made this morning: a strong cup of Colombian coffee with a dash of chocolate powder, Sheila Chandra's ABoneCroneDrone on the stereo, and fresh figs from the farmers market. Oh, and a wallpaper sample donated to our student ASID sale for reference. (Don't worry Nancy, I didn't get paint on it, it's still in its wrapper!) All these elements combined make for a wonderful way to shut out the world for a few hours and practice with the oils.

2010-09-27T13:56:00.001-07:00

Leather Chair
oil on panel
9" x 12"

We stayed at our friends' family house in Carmel before summer and I was taken by the way the light reflected off this chair's leather surface. I painted a small study in oil early on, but just today put the finishing touches on the painting. Interiors are challenging in so many ways and I find them intriguing in terms of rendering them in a variety media. In my classes, I teach my students to use markers, color pencils and watercolor for their interiors and furniture pieces, but I save the oils for myself!

2010-09-25T17:19:00.001-07:00

View From My Window
18" x 36"
oil on canvas

This is a painting I started during the 50/50 project over the summer, but just now finished. It's the view from our living room window, around 6:30AM. I've got a few more unfinished works in the studio so I'm going to plow through them as quickly as I can. I have a solo show scheduled for April 2011 and I want to focus on that as soon as all the little loose ends are wrapped up in my studio.

Oh, did I mention all our girls have moved out and we're redecorating two rooms? There's a lot going on in the Holland house- big changes!

2010-09-11T11:32:00.001-07:00

I'm getting caught up on some projects this week, so I began the tedious process of adding the horizontal spacers between the bulkheads of New Ark. Each piece is cut to size on my screaming miter saw. The pay off to this long process is that the shape of the hull begins to reveal itself. I'm going to clad the hull in .063 polycarbonate film that will be painted to resemble steel.

New Ark concept drawing

2010-09-05T09:45:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning, a time to reflect and realize just how many unfinished projects I have going. This week will be devoted to finishing at least a few of them. It's getting downright embarrassing...

2010-08-28T19:36:00.001-07:00

Atmospheres
oil on canvas
36" x 36"

I'm slightly changing direction with my painting, leaving the exterior world behind for awhile and exploring the interior landscapes of well-appointed homes. It aligns with the material I teach in the interior design program at our college, but with more emphasis on the oil painting approach to rendering spaces that are beyond most our means. I'm also incorporating text into the images, bas relief style. I've got a solo show scheduled in April 2011 and hopefully this new body of work will warrant exhibiting at that time.

The painting above is an abstract sky painted a few years ago. I'll post new work next week.

2010-08-16T09:18:00.001-07:00

The End of Summer (as I know it)

For those of you who know me personally, you probably have tired of me complaining about this winter-like weather here on the coast of Northern California. It's been a particularly chilling summer, and only here do we need to blast the furnace in August to chase the chill from our bones. That is why I look forward to the end of August as we slip quietly into the warm folds of September, my favorite time of year to be living on the ocean's edge. September is our summer and we actually crawl out of our holes and stare in wonder at the big bright thing in the sky.

So it is appropriate, and with some humor, that my sun painting was chosen for the cover of the latest issue of sPARKLE+bLINK, a lit magazine created by Evan Karp. Evan and his cohorts sponsor live poetry and fiction readings in San Francisco and publish the performed pieces in these series of books. Quite amazing and ambitious and I encourage you, dear readers of this blog, to find out more here! (Thanks, Evan, for bringing a little more sun into my August.)

Now, if you'll please excuse me, I need to bundle up and get to some unfinished business in the studio...

2010-08-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

Picked up a video camera instead of my brushes this weekend. I hope you enjoy this little nugget I put together called Flowers...

2010-08-05T13:29:00.001-07:00

Rhino Beetle by Emily Holland

I'm playing catch up with house repairs this week, so I have no finished artwork to show. Instead, I'm showing Emily's latest creation, the rhino beetle made from Sculpy. Actually, I'm thinking about renaming this blog Emily Holland Studio, since her output has been way higher than her dad's.

2010-08-01T13:23:00.001-07:00

Me and Child Unit 3 at the recent Buddy Show.

2010-07-30T22:08:00.001-07:00

50/50 Reception at the Sanchez Art Center

So much to be thankful for: a loving family and the good fortune to be able to pursue my art. Thanks to my friends who came out tonight (and last night) to view my passion, your support means so much to me.

2010-07-27T11:35:00.001-07:00

Tuesday morning plein air with Emily. We're in South Lake Tahoe and the weather is perfect.

Here you can see me violate two cardinal rules of outdoor painting. I'm painting with the sun directly hitting my canvas and I'm wearing a light colored shirt (black is preferred because colored light won't bounce off my shirt and change the colors on the canvas). Oh well, sometimes you've got to break the rules.

2010-07-25T09:37:00.001-07:00

50/50 Opens on Friday!

Reception: Friday, July 30 6-10pm

Directions and gallery hours:
Sanchez Art Center

2010-07-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

Enjoy this video I made of my studio, I'm playing around with the video editing feature on my laptop...