On a day in June we drove the six hours over to Scottsdale, Arizona with a van full of art. A couple we’d met indicated interest in a few of my paintings, so I took those. I also loaded a number of others to provide options. As it happened, they loved almost all of them, like 28! (Only three returned in the van.) For us, it was the sale of the year, or rather, the career. For them, it was a trove of art, which they now love, enhancing their beautiful home. Check them out. (For some I’ve included links for larger views of the paintings.)
They’d recently purchased the house, furnished, but without anything on the walls. That’s what was missing. A beautiful home needs beautiful art to complete it.
The moment of our arrival, the van, with all the back seats down, being the perfect vehicle for transporting art, and keeping all cool in the desert heat. The outside temperature that day was 120!
On arrival, after a bit of conversation and a glass of wine, we began placing art around the house. Here Anne helps Melissa find just the right setting for Senoritas Simpaticas.
I brought a number of pieces on unstretched canvas, rolled up, like this one, temporarily taped to a guest room wall for visualization. They are now having it stretched and framed. They’d seen a version of this on my website and said they liked it, so I made this new one, much larger. (The original, Yellowscape 2, is still available.)
While the large work was still on my studio wall I set up a flower arrangement to paint. The colors of the larger work found their way into background colors for the new one. Gave it an extra pizazz.
It seemed appropriate to make the small floral a gift for the lady of the house. And it seemed appropriate for her to set it over this desk in the same room where the large landscape would go. (For interest, I now have a whole website page on dedicated to florals.)
They found and liked a few pieces on my website that had already sold. So I made new versions, like “Blue Cowboy” being placed here. (BTW, a print on canvas of this piece is available on the Western page of my website.)
It was the same with “Blue Bull,” a new and larger version of an earlier work. Shows what can be done.
Daughter Kendall found Backyard Indigo to be the perfect piece for her bathroom, the colors working wonderfully well.
Rapture 2 found just the right place over a credenza, which should look really great once stretched and framed.
Rapture 1 (left) hung here temporarily until finding another perfect place in the house.
Once again, “Golden Hills” was a duplicate version of one they found on my website. Though inspired by California (and my imagination) it works great in Arizona, too.
I painted Fiesta Interlude (left) many years ago, from a photo I took at the Orange County fair.
Sharon in Studio 2, (right), was another favorite of mine, painted originally from life. I’m glad for where she’s arrived.
Warm Shoulder, long hanging in our own living room, now fits beautifully at the end of this Arizona hall.
Roses on the Way is another painting that also hung in our house. People sometimes ask if it’s hard to part with a painting. I say, “No, to place them in loving homes is part of doing it.” Then again, there is a certain nostalgia when I see them again, like for a number of these here.
Warm Shoulder 3 had just been returned to me from a gallery that couldn’t find a buyer. Turned out to be a good thing as this one surprised us all, here fitting stunningly in the master bedroom.
The abstract, Love Flows, worked perfectly over the marble counter in the kitchen area. (The title also works well with the whole household.)
River’s Reflections is an abstract interpretation of a photo I took in Idaho earlier this year.
Their Majesty is a painting they saw early on my website and knew immediately where it would fit in their wide entry. It’s now framed with an enhancement light over it.
I made the horseman from Spain, “Andalusian,” to face “Their Majesty” (previous picture) across the entry. Works great.
I put Majesty of Pear in the van on a whim; turns out to work great, now framed, in the entry hallway.
Taking a Break worked more than beautifully in this guest bathroom with blue patina walls.
The matching painting with the one above, Gown Girl, worked beautifully in the living room.
Morning Meditations is actually a painting of Anne, though with hair color of an earlier time. I asked her then if she minded letting it go and she was fine with it. It so works in their reading room, the hearth filled with an amazing trove of old books. (Funny, Anne is reading on an i-pad.)
“Beauty and Shoe” works great in the master guest bath. Actually this is the second version I painted of this. The first, on a panel of bamboo, is still available: Beauty and Shoe on Wood.
Blue Elegance found a place on the landing between the ground and second floor. Can’t wait to see it mounted and framed.
Actually, Point of Reference found another wall for better showing. The photo shows a trial placement.
One more, Wayne hanging Seeing the Future in his man cave.
There were others, but this shows the bulk of them, and it also shows the benefit of my having a wide array of painting styles and subject matter. I’ve often wondered if that’s a problem, marketing-wise; but it served well here. This family now has a house-full of art, almost all by one artist, but still with wide variety. I’m grateful. And that they are, too.