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INTRODUCTION
(This page last updated November 15, 2006)
The Website
This is my Web Site. It reflects my special interests, which are china painting, watercolor and amateur photography of animals (and, of course, computers). The site began, in January 1997, as a place to display my china paintings and photographs of animals.
Although this website started out to represent my interests and my art, it has evolved into a bit more. During the years that the site has been on the internet, I have periodically added new pages to broaden the scope of the site. My work on the site has slowed down quite a bit since I started the Porcelain Painters International Online (PPIO) website with Marci Blattenberger, another china painter. Most of my web design time is now devoted to that web site, but I try to update this site periodically.
The links at the top of this page lead to other pages on my site. These pages contain animal photos, photos of some of my china paintings and my watercolors and the art of other china painters. In 2004, I started teaching china painting, in my home studio in Captain Cook on the Kona side of the Big Island of Hawaii. There is a page on the site about those classes. There are also some pages showing photos of my student's work. See the link to My Students Gallery. These are updated as time permits. My home page has links to pages (on the Porcelain Painters web site) with upcoming china painting shows, china studios, catalogs and web pages of china painting artists and teachers. The Books & Tapes link takes you to a page with information about some books and videos concerning some techniques of china painting. The Step-By-Step pages have information, with pictures, about the steps involved in completing three separate china painting projects. There is also a page featuring some unusual Techniques for china decoration.
I encourage you to explore the various pages of my website.
A Little About Me
In March of 2000, after over 36 years working for Los Angeles County, I retired from my daytime job, as a programmer for the Department of Children's Services of that county. Less than a month after I retired, I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii to live with and take care of my mother. She had a terminal heart condition (actually more of a circulation problem). Unfortunately, she suffered a stroke in April, 10 days after I arrived in Hawaii, and passed away May 9th. Although her death was not unexpected, I do wish I were able to have more time with her over here. At least she was able to "die in Hawaii", which was her wish. I plan to stay here in Hawaii. It is a very inspirational place to live for an artist and my sister, who is also an artist, lives here too. In January, 2001, I purchased a home in Kona Paradise, a community located on the Kona coastline, about 25 miles south of Kailua-Kona. I sold that home in October, 2003, and moved north, to the town of Captain Cook, located about 12 miles south of Kailua-Kona. My new home has an "Ohana" downstairs. "Ohana" is a Hawaiian word, meaning "family" and is sometimes applied to a separate unit in a household, sometimes used as separate quarters for other family members (such as a grandmother or young couple). I use the Ohana in my home as my art studio.
I have been a China Painter for over 30 years. I used to say that I occasionally paint in oils and acrylics, but I don't do that anymore. All of my painting is done on porcelain with either regular china paint or lusters. I also paint watercolors and "dabble" in silk painting. I very much enjoy doing paintings completely in luster. I like to use lusters for the complete painting, rather than just as a background. And, sometimes, I try to achieve a naturalistic look, using all lusters. I have posted some of my china paintings, both regular and lusters, as well as my watercolor paintings on the "Gallery of My Paintings" page.
My specialty is painting animals (my favorite is the tiger and other big cats) and portraits of people. Since I started watercolor, I also paint pet portraits in that medium. When I lived in California, I used to visit the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park and take photos of the animals there. I also visited the Wildlife Waystation, near Sunland, California and various preserves or wetlands in my area of Southern California. Many times the Wildlife Waystation takes in abandoned or abused animals when no one else will accept them. The Wildlife Waystation is on the Internet. The link to their web site is on the "Web Links" page on this web site. I use my photos as a resource for my paintings.
Some years ago, I did a series of paintings (on porcelain) of animals in unusual places (unusual for the animals, anyway). I've so far only done three in the series: a Cougar in a Sunroom, my "Tiger Fun in an Aquarium" and the painting I titled "There's a Giraffe in the Nursery!". Both the tiger and giraffe paintings are featured on the "Step-By-Step" page, which shows the painting as it progressed (step-by-step). I recently did the same "Tiger Fun in an Aquarium" and the "Cougar in a Sunroom" in watercolor. The watercolor paintings were named, respectively, "Tiger in your Tank" and "Condo Cougar". Recently, I did a painting of a leopard on a four-poster bed lying on a leopard throw. This painting is titled "Lounge Leopard".
As a result of my visits to these wildlife places, I have a lot of photos of animals. I've scanned some of these into image files. I've put some of these images on this website on the "Photographs" page. If you would like to see some of these images, click on the "Photos" link at the top of this page.
China painting is a very old art. It is very relaxing, but it requires a lot of patience. To read more about the art of China Painting, click on the "About China Painting" link at the top of this page.
If you would like to attend a China Painting Show or you are interested in pursuing the art, there is a link to the China Shows page and another link to the China Studios page on my home page. These pages are on the Porcelain Painters International Online (PPIO) web site (http://www.ppio.com), but I provide a link to them from this web site for your convenience.
The "Web Links" link at the top of the page will take you to a page listing some of my favorite Websites, including other sites related to the China Painting art and links to the San Diego Zoo, Wildlife Waystation and sites related to the art editor I sometimes use to plan my designs (Corel).
If you have similar interests and want to EMail me, click on the Email link below. I'd be interested to hear from you. If you like talking to other china painters or have questions about technique, be sure and check out the Free china painting mailing list, sponsored by PPIO. Read about what the mailing list is and how to join on the Mailing List page. You can get to this page by clicking the "Mailing List" link on my Home page.