Paintings, sketches and a lovely surprise

One of the things I’m working on this year is working more without line. Not instead of my usual sketches, but in addition to them. Because I can always find more time to paint and draw, right?

Two neighborhood scenes I recently painted: This view, looking down my street on a grey day.

And this one by my daughter’s school. I really enjoy drawing cars. There’s a certain freedom to not understanding anything about cars (besides that they take me from point A to point): you just look at them as shape and go from there. Whenever I paint a car, I remember something Tom Hoffmann said: The darkest part of a car is the shadow under it. I particularly like that he thinks of the shadow as a part of the car, and paints it like one.

In ‘random things sketched last week’: a portrait of my daughter in her frog hat.

And a succulent in Uma’s window.

Also, last week, in amazing news, I received a surprise in the mail. A grant from the Belle Foundation for Cultural Development. Just like that, with no explanation. Here’s how their website explains their mission and grant-giving process: “Each January a handful of deserving, yet under-recognized people open their mailboxes to a letter along with a token of support from the Belle Foundation. It simply expresses recognition, appreciation and encouragement for their work. No strings attached. We do this because we believe that art is important, that creative thinking is important and that it is important to support people who take risks to fulfill a dream. We hope our positive and genuine efforts can make a difference in our increasingly cynical world.”

I am excited, and will put the grant towards one of the many ideas I’ve been considering working on for my next project (The Vintage Signs of San Jose project wraps up with a show this March). I am so thankful for the grant. It means more than I can say. I love what I do, and it just doubles the pleasure that it is meaningful to someone else too.