I'm very proud to announce that I was recently accepted as an artist on Zatisa.com - Zatista accepts about 5% of the artists who apply so it's a big honor to have been chosen.  I'll have original works available for sale on their site and you can also commission a work of art from me directly through the site.
  My career as a studio artist is something that I balance with my teaching and I'm very happy that I can continue my career as both an artist and as a teacher.  I don't really see these two occupations as being different because my own studio practice inspired my teaching and vice versa.  I'm just really glad that I can continue to do what I love and what I'm passionate about.  
  This entire past year has been really amazing and I can't wait to see what happens next!

  After many hours of concentrated work, I'm going to call this one finished.  I think the last time I did a cast drawing was back at Pafa so this was a good exercise to return to.  The most difficult part was rendering the background and getting the value dark enough.  The instructors taught us rendering techniques and how to control the values, which was what I always wanted to learn.  
  Today marks the halfway point of my first semester of grad school.  I'm really beyond happy with the way this program is going.  If anyone out there is a teacher (or interested in teaching) and looking for a solid atelier graduate program then you should apply to the Florence Academy program.

  I just got a new rare book that I'm very happy to add to my library.  This is a 1934 1st edition of Painting A Portrait by Philip de László (1869 - 1937).  It's part of a series of books called "How to Do It", which included 6 books in total in various media, such as watercolor, etching, sculpture, etc.  For anyone who doesn't know, de László was a brilliant portrait painter who took over a lot of commissions once Sargent announced "No more paughtraits" in 1907.
​  I first read this as a PDF file that was generously sent to me by Mr. Juan Jr. Ramirez.  That PDF was different from this edition and had some different photos and information.  The photos in this book are nicely pasted in and almost have an old, glossy photographic finish to them.  It's really a beautiful book.  As a painter, art historian and collector of rare books, I'm proud to add this to my collection.

  My new frames came today from Art To Frames and I'm very pleased with them.  Art To Frames always does a great job and I highly recommend them for anyone looking for great custom frames.  
These pieces will all be available from the Geary Gallery at the end of August.  I also have two more pieces that will be available once they're framed: The Main Garden (16" X 14") and Long View of Spring Lake Beach (12" X 18").