Waiting At Starbucks

We were sitting at a table near the line of people waiting to place their order at a Starbucks coffee shop. Service was slow. Perhaps everyone wanted a complex order.

But this row of mostly young people found waiting as an opportunity to socialize.

As sat there, I became fascinated by their shoes. I pulled out my digital camera and with my hand close to the floor I took a series of photographs from which this 18 x 48 inch oil painting was developed.

I added the napkin on the floor (which has the imprint from someone's lipstick) to bring interest to the foreground. The painting is a study of imagined human interactions. The body language from the legs, leaves much to the imagination.

Rhone In Spring

This 24 x 36 inch oil painting shows the trees lining the Rhone River in southern France. They are just breaking into leaf.

The river is high and the water, fed by the recent rains, is rushing under a nearby bridge. Though cold, the sun is shining and a woman wheels her baby along the river bank, while enjoying the view and the lovely day.

This painting was developed form several photographs taken during our 2008 visit to that area.

"Woman Reading" oil painting.

Catching up, this is the first of a series of paintings I have recently completed, but failed to post to my blog.

"Woman Reading" is another of my series of oil paintings capturing memories from our 2008 trip to France.

The 30 x 24 inches canvas depicts a sunny spring day. A young woman is sitting on the wall along the bank of the river Rhone. She is deep into reading a book, oblivious to us walking by. Her bicycle leans nearby against the wall.

She did not notice us as we strolled along the broad pathway, enjoying the view. I sneaked some photographs, from which this painting was developed.

At long last - another blog entry!

It is hard to believe, but it has been six months since I last wrote to my blog! As one getts older, time seems to go past so quickly.

But I have been busy: painting most mornings, preparing for exhibits, visiting grandchildren - all the important things of life. Plus a few medical problems - relating to my prostate cancer returning after many years of dormancy.

One major task that has occupied a lot of time, is the complete revamp of my website. A critique by Sylvia White of my work and direction, suggested that my website was to complex and technical. she recommended the style of several other artists, which I used as my guide.

In addition, Adobe has discontinued support of their GoLive web design software, encouraging my moving to their Dreamweaver application. So I took the plunge, purchased the new software, and have revamped the whole thing. The rework is largely completed, though I will make some more changes in the near future. Please take a look at my website and let me know your comments and suggestions.

Another big event is that for the month of May 2009, I had a major solo exhibit "Memories of France and Mexico: Recent Paintings by Peter Worsley." It took place in the western side gallery of the large Faulkner Gallery of the downtown Santa Barbara Main Library. It consisted of 18 paintings from my 2006 and 2008 trips to Mexico and France respectively.

Unfortunately, the opening coincided with the begining of a devastating brush fire on the northwestern edge of Santa Barbara. A large section of the community (including ourselves) were forced to evacuate. And the opening reception was canceled. These events, plus the depressed economy, have resulted in no new sales. But I had many exhibit visitors, gathered a few more people for my email mailing list, and obtained some very good publicity.

Coming up I have several more events: in July 2009, I am the "Artist Of The Month" at Gallery 113, in downtown Santa Barbara. And, at the end of August I am participating once again in the Santa Barbara Studio Tour event.

Painting of my Daughter's Montecito Home

Over the years I have painted each of the homes of my children. Even though my daughter has owned their Montecito home for several years. for various reasons I have not got around before to give them a painting of this house.

I have take several photographs over the years and this painting is an integration. Particularly it shows some of the spring and summer flowers that grow around the front path.

Formal Portrait of a Friend Completed

Last month I received back the digital image of my recently completed formal portrait if a friend. The portrait is too big to use my scanning/photomerge technique to make the image myself. The canvas was too large to balance on my scanner. I had to send it to my local photographer who has access to a 25 megapixel camera.

I wanted the high resolution to allow the possible full size print reproduction at ImageKind. I try to make all my paintings available this way.

This is my first attempt at a formal portrait. I started with a series of digital photographs taken at his home. There were groups of images in each of several poses, some seated, and some standing. I used daylight augmented by a floodlight.

From these images I chose a specific pose. Then painted the portrait looking at the various photographs of that pose. The facial expression varied with each image, allowing me to choose the best data from each. I chose to paint a near black background (actually a mixture of red and green complementary pigments) with a slight green rear highlight behind the left shoulder.

New Group Painting - Encounter/Yellow Umbrella

A couple meet on a cold rainy day to talk briefly under a yellow umbrella. From the bright colored bag dangling from her hand, it appears she has been shopping in a nearby store. He carries a portfolio and a small bag over his shoulder. Perhaps he is on his way to a business meeting.

This painting is loosely based upon various photographs I took in Paris, France, last Spring (2008). I wanted the image to induce the feeling of a connection between the two figures. Yet it is only a brief encounter, since each has their own agenda. The yellow umbrella links the two together for these few moments.

I am trying to play down the individuality of the figures. I want the viewer to identify the people from their own imagination. The male figure's face is hidden. The female's face is only sketchy - enough to see she is please with the chance encounter.

The composition has been chosen to use a wide range of values, from the dark coats of the figures to the white of the distant light on this rainy day.

30 x 24 inches. Oil on canvas. Unframed with painted edges.