Anniversary Flowers

Yesterday was our anniversary. I painted this bouquet, but also walked to the corner to buy her a real one. There is something endlessly intriguing about flowers, how they unfold and overlap.

Tulips

I did this drawing for my wife for Valentines Day. She loves tulips. (I also gave her roses.) The house on the pitcher is our house overlooking Lake Harriet.

A Window in the City

I painted this for a calendar back in the '90s, one of several I did for a Japanese cellphone company. It's fun to imagine what it's like to look out at a city scene like this, each window framing another private life. My window looks out on treetops, kids on the sidewalk, the cottages across the street and the lake two blocks away.

Absolutely Meaningless

Just a drawing, nothing more. Sometimes the arrangement of shapes and details gives me an idea for another drawing. I did get an idea this morning from this but plan to let it sit for a while, look at it and think about it and come back to it later.

Gardening Thoughts

It's snowing out today and everything looks like its coated with sugar. It's a kind way to describe transportation hell. Luckily my studio is just upstairs. For those of you who are tired of boots and winter coats, here is a little bit of Spring. I painted this for House & Garden I think. The article was about the civilized crime of stealing cuttings from other people's gardens, which I don't think is a felony in most states. My own backyard is full of blue violets stolen from my grandfather's backyard in Wisconsin forty years ago. Twenty years ago they moved again from my parents backyard in the suburbs to my city lot. The transportation of violets out of Wisconsin actually is a crime because the violet is the state flower. I remember worrying the cops were going to pull us over. They didn't and the statute of limitations is hopefully up by now.

Guy and Flower

This illustrated an article about how guys sometimes have a soft, sentimental side. Implausible as that is, this turned into a fairly charming illustration. Sometimes I like leaving the background landscape in black and white. In this case it creates a separate dreamlike dimension. But often a client will ask if I've forgotten to paint in some of the colors.

Lotus, Lotuses...Loti?

Not the sports car... These were a few of several done for Landor. Somewhere I have several others more abstract, and in a way more interesting.

L O V E

I painted this for my wife for our anniversary last week. Sometimes instead of a clever or disarming metaphor it's nice to just spell it out. (Illustrated lettering is an interesting solution for book titles and for magazine articles too.)