CAPTURED FOR POSTERITY:
The Fountaingrove Round Barn as we will fondly remember it.... painted earlier this year in the spring of 2017.

I plan to start taking orders for small (7"x7") fine art giclée reproductions of this painting during Sonoma County Art Trails this weekend. All money from the sale of this reproduction will be donated to Redwood Credit Union North Bay Fire Relief Fund, which guarantees 100% of donations directly aids victims in our community.

Please use my contact page if you are interested in placing an order. I have prints on watercolor paper in stock. Prints come complete with archival mat - to fit a 12 x 12 inch frame (standard size - readily available).
Shipping available with tracking for an additional $7

Suggested donation is $50 for matted, ready to frame print ($40 for unmatted) ... it's all going for a great cause. Thank you.

UPDATE: As of 11/24-17 Round Barn prints are also available at Upstairs Art Gallery, 306 Center Street, Healdsburg. Open 11-6 daily.

The original painting has just been purchased, and 100% of the money has been donated to Art Trails Artist Relief Fund.  You can still see the original painting at my Sebastopol art studio during the 2 weekends of Sonoma County Art Trails October 21/22 and 28/29 before it goes to its new home.

INFERNO: So sad.....Fountaingrove Round Barn, Santa Rosa, California - razed to the ground during the devastating wine country wildfires of October 9 2017. Gone but not forgotten...

Some of the steps along the way....

Recipe:
Take one real grape leaf.
Cover leaf with liquid latex and press leaf onto watercolor paper. Press down to 'print' the leaf.
Let dry.
Remove leaf.
Paint with watercolor - the latex will preserve the veins and leaf shape.
Remove latex.
Collage with rice paper.
Have fun adding color with watercolor, acrylic inks, water soluble crayons - designing a colorful background.
​Voila!

Available at Upstairs Art Gallery, Healdsburg.

Art imitates life.......A happy customer emailed this pic of my Red Gravenstein painting hanging in her dining room. Paying homage to the Gravenstein apple, a local variety which Sebastopol is celebrated for. Thanks Carol!

In England, outgoing letters do not get collected from your home, as they do here in the States. You have to drop them in the mail, so these pillar boxes are a very familiar sight on street corners throughout the UK. The cast iron post box depicted here is one of the earliest around - dating from the reign of Queen Victoria, as designated by the VR monogram.
The Royal Mail began in the 16th century with letters being carried by stagecoach, but the world's first postage stamp, the Penny Black, wasn't invented till 1840.
I have been saving stamps from personal letters and postcards for decades. My attraction is partly connected to travel, and the countries and cultures they represent, but they are also beautiful miniature pieces of art in their own right. If you look closely this painting, there are stamps, British maps and other treasures hidden into the collage.
Who doesn't love to receive a handwritten card or letter complete with a real stamp or two to seal the deal?

The gull can be seen as a symbol of creativity, following a dream and believing in yourself.  The inspiration for this painting was to create a subtle visual reminder for me to do the same.
In Richard Bach's book, young Jonathan Livingston Seagull teaches others in his flock the importance of expressing individuality and following your own path. A creed for life as an artist perhaps?