California Girls

Oil on Canvas Panel, 5 x 7

(c) Peggi Kroll Roberts

A collector recently asked me what artists' work I personally collect.  Great question!  I could write several posts on this topic, but for today I will just take the theme of "California Girls" and talk about three of my favorites.

Oil on Canvas Panel, 6 x 8

(c) Peggi Kroll Roberts

When I collect from fellow painters, I seek work that is not only pleasing to look at, but that can also teach me something. The top two images are paintings by Peggi Kroll Roberts.  I have taken several classes with Peggi, and can vouch that she is a wonderful and generous teacher.  Just looking at the impasto paint on these canvases, I remember watching Peggi load up her brush and make her beautiful marks.  It reminds me not to skimp on my paint, and to be expressive with my mark-making. 

"Across the Fields"

Oil on Panel, 12 x 12

(c) Sandy Ostrau

Another California girl whose work I admire is Sandy Ostrau.  I have never met Sandy, but I have seen her paintings in several different venues, and find it stunning.  I think we both love geometry in paintings, and she is a master with geometric forms.  She makes simple blocks of color absolutely sing.  And although they are not "descriptive", in the sense of being detailed, her paintings still convey a sense of the time and space in which they exist.  Just looking at my two little Ostrau paintings (see bottom image) spurs me forward in the quest to simplify and to master color relationships.

"Red Horizon"

6 x 6, Oil on Panel

(c) Erin Lee Gafill

My most recent acquisition is a little painting by Erin Gafill.  It's called "Red Horizon".  Even though it's only 6x6 inches, it has a much larger impact.  To my eye, Erin's paintings have a definite meditative quality.  They convey the sense of being fully present.  Her still lifes, like the little cobalt jar I purchased earlier, speak of the majesty of simple things.  And they never look labored--they seem to flow organically off the brush.  I've never met Erin either, but I almost feel as if I know her, having watched her on UTube and having heard her talks.  Maybe someday!  Meanwhile, looking at her paintings creates a sense of serenity and reminds me to be present and quiet with my subject. 

Oil on Paper, 5 1/2 x 7 1/2

(c) Erin Lee Gafill

Hope you'll enjoy these paintings as much as I do.  I'm concluding with shots showing their placement in my home.  Thanks for reading!

It's Back!

Torrit Greys

This week I got an announcement that the 2021 Torrit Grey has hit the shelves!  Years ago, I was befuddled by a similar promotion at the local art supply store, which promised me a free tube of Torrit Grey paint if I bought a certain amount of goods made by Gamblin. Nowadays, I am a huge fan, and eagerly await each year's release of Torrit Gray.  Here's the story...

Gamblin Artists Colors is one of the largest paint manufacturers in the US. Their factory uses an air filtration system made by a company called Torit. The air filters trap pigment dusts that escape into the air during the paint mixing process. Every spring, Gamblin cleans the dust out of its filters. Instead of dumping the pigment dust in a landfill, they use it to make a special paint, which they call "Torrit Grey". How cool is that?

Because the combination of pigments cleaned out of the filters is never the same from year to year, the color Torrit Grey is never the same either. Recently, Gamblin has started labeling the tubes of Torrit Grey with the year of manufacture. So now we can collect tubes from various "vintage years", if you will, just like we would collect wines from different vintage years. It's a limited edition pigment!

Not only is Gamblin's approach very earth-friendly, it has the added lure of the mysterious: You never know what the next batch will be like until you open it. It often tends toward green, because one particular pigment, Pthalo Green, has an extremely strong tinting strength. Sometimes it is a truer neutral gray, like the 2013 vintage shown below.

Torrit Grey is great mixed with other colors. In his book "Landscape Painting Inside & Out", Kevin Macpherson advocates for scraping your palette as you work, and stashing the scrapings on the side, to be used in mixing other colors. Many painters call this their "mud". Kevin even suggests buying empty tubes and filling them with your mud, rather than discarding it at the end of a painting session...another great recycling approach. Here's to more earth-friendly ideas!