"Starbuckin'"

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
sold

After a couple of days of tightening up - I needed loosening up. I love painting both ways really. Balancing it out is the key to sanity.

As my ongoing series ATL to NYC & Back is coming to an end, our final morning in New York City began with a stop at the nearest Starbucks, where I spotted this young woman enjoying the sunny window.

"Mellow Yellow"

10 x 8"
oil on masonite
sold

I was walking up to the door at a Starbucks, in Seattle, when I spotted this gentleman. I could best describe my surroundings as grey - the sky, the sidewalk, the wall - and bam - this yellow coat. That does good things to your brain, seeing color when there isn't much.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Daily News"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

Continuing on with the alphabet, D is for Daily News - a young man taking a coffee/reading break in a local bookstore.

"Pull Up a Chair"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

I want to wish everyone a fun holiday weekend - I'm hoping to take some time off and go to a local arts festival, eat hotdogs and apple pie and swim in my neighbor's pool. What a perfect plan.

I got a little painting in this afternoon - a young woman reading in a big chair in a Starbucks. I even made up a short movie of the process of painting this little piece - click here if you'd like to see it.

"Three Amigos"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

I've had a long, pleasant day of painting - just finished up this new piece which will be included in my July show titled "The People I See". These three friends were chatting it up inside a Starbucks, on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Please click here for a larger view and purchase information.

"Life in Layers"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

At times, when I start a painting like this, I think of how I can avoid the visual confusion of all the layers of activity. Paintings can be too busy especially compressed into a 6" square. Generally I start from the back, like the buildings across the street, and work my way in. I am very pleased with this piece, a little depiction of life in the big city.

Thus began the morning of my first day in San Francisco, fueling up with a Starbucks Mocha Cappacino and muffin to go.