A half-acre property on Miller Avenue welcomes people to downtown Mill Valley with redwood groves and a creek running by rustic wooden buildings. Its original purpose was as a lumber yard that supplied the surrounding community for 120 years. When new owners Matt and Jan Mathews purchased the landmark property in 2012, they hoped to attract a building and hardware  tenant, but those efforts were hampered, likely by competition from "big box" stores in the county. They began the task of renovating and retrofitting buildings for a mix of tenant uses, with a goal to preserve the buildings  and keep the spirit of the property alive, even keeping the name - Mill Valley Lumber Yard.

I've enjoyed walking, riding and driving by these great old buildings since I first moved to Mill Valley in 1987.  In more recent years, I have also enjoyed painting them - so it is really a treat to participate with a group of six artists as we transform some of the vacant space and outdoor area at 129 Miller Avenue into studios for Marin Open Studios, the weekend of May 10 & 11.

I'll be there from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day - with my easel  and paints - and a display of framed and unframed paintings, drawings and prints for sale. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, come by and have a look. Directions are on my website.

Over the past several years, I have enjoyed being invited to be an "artist in the garden" on the annual garden tour for Mill Valley's Outdoor Art Club. 

This year, the organizers asked to use my  Geraniums painting for the promotional poster and invitation, which is an honor - and good exposure.
This painting has certainly made the rounds -- it's been featured in Marin Magazine and in the Marin Open Studios gallery. The original painting  is now back in the studio and it is for sale.

I've had requests for prints of this painting - which is an affordable and attractive option for people who like to have their art under glass - so I have decided to make it available as a matted photo print, for $50.

Geraniums will be printed half-size (11 x 14 inches) and matted to fit into a standard 16 x 20 inch frame. You can order it here.

Hanging an art show takes time and patience. The opening night of a show over in a flash. Then the show hangs, until it's time to take it down. Pieces that have sold are delivered to new collectors, and the rest is packed up and taken back to the studio. 

My June landscape show opening (at Alain Pinel in Mill Valley, California) had over 100 visitors for art, conversation, and a glass of wine. It was a great opportunity to show my latest work to old and new friends, collectors and interested guests. 

If you weren't able to see the show in person, here's a look at some of the new, and still-available paintings, all beautifully framed.  Click on the image for a larger view, size and price:

Tomorrow it will be time to load boxes, padding and tools into the back of the Prius and unhang it all. Some pieces are headed to new homes, others are headed to photography for prints and notecards. But tonight, I will put away wet paints and clean out the studio to make room for what's coming back. And I pick a winner - not a painting, but a person.  

At every show, I ask people to sign a guest book and one person is randomly selected to win a print. This time, the print was "Mill Valley Depot," and winner is Lydia Maroevich. Congratulations!

Since I returned from Chalk Hill Residency and its fields ablaze with clover, I've had two weekends of Marin Open Studios and now I'm getting ready for a solo show in Mill Valley. Exhilarating. Exhausting. Energizing.

Nice article in "In the Make" about my time at Chalk Hill Residency. 

Open Studios was an interesting learning experience. I've only done it once before and it was very successful. This time, I was coached to not use my in-home studio because of its remote location. Instead, I teamed up with two other artists in a location that was more central, but off the main drag. Traffic was in ebbs and flows, and most of the people who visited and acquired paintings, prints and notecards were people we knew. Does location really matter? I'm beginning to doubt it, since I got several emails and calls from new collectors who made their purchases over the phone and via my website as a result of my listing and advertisement in the Open Studios guide.

JoAnne Berlin of Alain Pinel graciously invited me to be the artist of the month at their Mill Valley location, and is hosting the opening reception on June 4th between 6-8 pm for the monthly Mill Valley First Tuesday Art Walk. It's a fun night where you can walk from venue to venue to see the art, enjoy a glass of wine and appetizers. If you are in town, I hope you can stop by. If you can't make the reception, feel free to drop by 32 Miller Avenue during June to see new California landscape paintings and prints of local favorites, such as Down Blithedale, Mill Valley Depot and Old Mill Creek, pictured at right. 

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