Untitled 220

Pastel on UArt, approx. 6" x 6".

Art purchase inquiries: please email me: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com].

This is a pastel from a month or so ago. 

I've been in the studio a lot lately, working on a couple of Diebenkorn-esque "Ocean Park"-style pieces. They're on the biggest canvases I've ever worked on: 3' x 4'.  (Although that's not even close to Diebenkorn sizes.) I love working on the bigger canvases, it turns out. I hope to work even larger than 3' x 4' someday. 

It's funny, after I've spent a few hours working on one of the 3' x 4' ones, when I look around at the studio, the 30" x 40" recent paintings suddenly look very small to me!

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Mr. Fennec, the poster child for sleeping well and getting your full 18 hours.

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Handmade in India.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 208 (Scrambled Eggs)

Pastel on UArt, approx. 6" x 6".

Art purchase inquiries: please email me: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com].

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In India.


More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Havana harbor

This began as pure abstract, but after a while it morphed into a remembered scene: in Havana, you can take a ferry ride to an area that is some kind of huge Spanish fortress. When you look back, it's something like this.

You can see little Rumi here with his wonky left eye. I've been looking very closely at his eyes lately, and I feel like there's more to it than just eye herpes or eye chlamydia (very common in cats). I actually feel like his eyes are not quite aligned, that his face (bridge of his nose, cheekbones, eye sockets) is not quite symmetrical. I've also noticed you can always see the tear-duct corner of his left eye (the one which gives him more trouble and which is often squinty), but you never can on the right. Of course, it could all be just my overactive imagination. In any case, his eyes are still often watery (in this photo, they're remarkably clear).

I'm taking him to the vet this afternoon, so I'm looking forward to hearing her opinions on him.

UPDATE: Just got back from the vet. Apparently his face looks asymmetrical because his right eyeball is swollen. Both eyes are watery and the left one is squinty. She thinks he does in fact have eye herpes, and we're going to try more eyedrops and try to get a lot more lysine into him. On the plus side, she thinks he has "ninja vision" and is unusually precocious, agile and intelligent for his age. That's my baby.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

O'Keeffe style

I was looking at an O'Keeffe book yesterday and trying to analyze some elements of her style, what makes an O'Keeffe look like one. Then I set out to do something in her style last night. I'm no expert on her, but the things I noticed and tried to follow were: cropping; asymmetry; boldness; curves; negative space; lack of detail on big color areas; and that each shape and even each little part of a shape, including shadow shapes, have an interesting "arabesque" (line that's never boring, repeated, or symmetrical).

One thing I didn't do, of course, that she did, was blow it up to an exaggerated size. Working alla prima, I had to stick to a manageable size.

It was a really interesting experiment--so different than the way I usually paint--and I plan on trying at least one more in this style.

Blorp.

$115.00 - Two leaves (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

White peony 2

Sold.



Since I've gotten back, I've been doing some abstract oils work ("putting layers" onto some stuff, so nothing new to show yet). Here's a white peony from our yard from...when?...well, from peony season, whenever that was. A month or two ago?

And here's another kill-you-with-cuteness pic of the Lynxmonster. I swear, there's not a single moment that we're not like, "Grab the camera! Grab the camera!" You can't imagine how many amazing moments get missed being documented. You also can't imagine how many times the phrase "He's sooooooo cute!" is uttered around here. The fact that many of you are following Lynx as much as (more than?) my artwork bothers me not at all, in fact it cracks me up. He's a popular little guy out there in cyberspace. Will you all still love him when he grows up? he wants to know.

And on a bummer note, I've been rejected recently from two shows I applied to be in. Oh well. On we go nevertheless in our art journey...

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Sweet pea in spice jar

Sold.

I was pleased with how this sweat pea painting from last night turned out. I was going for simple and fresh, wanting to represent the feeling of the flower itself. It's in one of those old-fashioned spice jars where the wire on one side comes over and seals the lid down.


And then there's the photo of the other sweet pea...

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Pastel limes

The same two limes as done recently in oil, but here in pastel (also from life, actually done the day before the oil).

In real life (as opposed to the photo here), the shadow is a bit lighter value and more colorful.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Tagged / Loriann's Vista

I've been tagged by wonderful artist Loriann Signori, who paints this scene or one like it every day, come snow, sunshine, or frozen fingers. With her permission I borrowed a photo of one of her typical vistas and did my own take on it, hence the title of this work, Loriann's Vista.

By the rules of tagging, I tell you who tagged me, then I will tell you 5-7 things about myself...and then tag 5-7 more artists and let them know about it in a comment I leave on their blog. It's a fun way to get more blog traffic love spread around. :)

Here goes: 

1. I can't tolerate closed shoes. I wear clogs or sandals 95% of the time. (When it's cold, I add socks to the clogs scenario.)

2. I have severe arachnophobia. Although it's not really fear per se, but a primal disgust that I feel upon glimpsing a spider. My youngest cat, my little Cleo, EATS spiders when I call her, making her by the far the most specialized and appreciated cat I've ever had.

3. I'm the author of the novel Seducing the Rabbi, as well as another novel about orchids which is still looking for a publisher.

4. I used to do capoeira.

5. I watch science and nature documentaries far more than Hollywood movies.

6. I was born with black hair, then that fell out and I had auburn hair as a toddler, which gradually turned blond for childhood, which then gradually turned brown, and is now turning gray.

7. When I was little I'd always say, "I'm never going to have kids. I'd rather have kittens!" which of course would amuse adults to no end, who would always say the same thing: "You'll change your mind, dear."   I have four cats and zero children. Now who was right?

Artists I'm tagging (I'm trying to choose different ones than last time):

S.P. Goodman
Sherrie York
Trevor Lingard
Kathy Weber

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com