This painting, which I called "Winter Pink" was one of my earliest works using mainly a palette knife instead of brushes. Palette knives are just what they sound like - a flat bladed piece of metal that you use to push paint around. They come in different shapes, sizes, and flexibility. It takes practice to learn how to use it without getting frustrated and throwing it across the room.

One benefit of using a knife is that you don't need to use solvents when painting with them. And the major benefit of not using solvents is that most of the ones artists use are highly toxic. The knife also makes very interesting marks and makes for very interesting paintings - or at least I hope you think so.

Who doesn't like fries at the county fair? I walked around our fair this summer and loved the flags on top of the french fry stand fluttering in the breeze and the stark shadows from the hot afternoon sun. Can't you just smell the fry oil and malt vinegar? Lettering in a print is especially difficult because you have to carve it out in reverse to get it to read correctly. Even so, I kept coming back to it in my mind and just had to try to make a linocut from it.

This is the result. Go to the print section of my works and check it out. Then let me know what your favorite food at the fair is!

This print is based upon a photo I took of a Shinto Dancer in Japan when I went with our sister city delegation to the dedication way back in the 90's. This is a multi-block print. This means that I carved two separate blocks and inked them separately and then printed them separately. So the black was printed and had to dry. Then I printed the red and gold.

I entered this print into the Findlay Art League Fall show and it received an honorable mention! I really appreciated being accepted and and am super happy to receive any special notice.

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