From the Studio...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:30:58 -0800

This portrait of Louis is the first painting I’ve marked “for sale” in a series of ten new works that I recently completed. A few days before Thanksgiving Louis was reminiscing to me about an earlier portrait I had painted of him which “sold” for thousands of toiletries (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap) collected by elementary school students in Seattle. Since then Louis has been encouraging me to paint his portrait again with the hopes of collecting something else to help people. Although Louis sleeps in a car under a bridge in Seattle, he still finds it in himself to want to do something to help others. Louis shared with me how cold people get sleeping in cars at night; he told me he always tries to wear a warm hat when goes to sleep. I marked this new portrait of him “for sale” for new, warm stocking caps to be sold to the highest bidder on Thanksgiving Day! A fierce bidding competition for the art ensued between a family in Bellevue and a woman in Baltimore, Maryland! By the end of Thanksgiving Day, a woman in Baltimore “purchased” with a bid of 475 new, warm stocking caps! A wonderful Thanksgiving it was!

“Me & My Dog”

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:51:26 -0700

A couple favorite places of mine in Seattle are the kite hills. Purely by accident as I was finishing this painting did it dawn on me that this piece is reminiscent of those hills! I struggled a bit naming this painting... It could be “Kite Hill” as one friend named it (and April does happen to be National Kite Month.). It could be “Red Balloon” as that’s what another friend calls it. It could be “There Might Be Snow” as a friend’s little boy pointed out the snow in the painting (who knew?!). I decided on “Me & My Dog” because of the little guy who has become my art assistant! Just a few minutes after putting the last bit of paint on the canvas he asked me to include his dog and him in it. See the painting in person and see if you can find them!

“Flours”

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:38:11 -0700

When I was getting ready to paint this new abstract work, a friend asked, “Can you do some of your flowers?”. I don’t do flowers. I never have painted flowers and probably never will. After thinking about it long and hard and so as not to disappoint, I decided I would do flours instead. This big, bright painting is filled with colors that remind me of my favorite gardens and it is filled with hidden photos of vintage flour ads and flour sacks. Look closely and you’ll even see a hidden image of Hank Williams singing the jingle for Mother’s Best Flour (a truly great jingle!). Also included in this piece is a vintage ad for Schlitz beer in which a husband is holding his wife in his arms while smoke comes out of the oven. The husband says to his wife, “Don’t worry honey, you didn’t burn the beer”. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t do the cooking or baking in our house. (My baking history includes having left the oven on once for three months.)

The Happiest Time in his Life...

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:40:09 -0700

This is a painting that I haven’t been willing to part with for many years because there is something very special about it to me. It is a painting of our patient, Rogelio, who comes to the clinic often. Every single time he visits and sees his painting the smile on his face speaks of how proud he is of his portrait. Rogelio speaks Spanish and although I speak a little, with the help of our Spanish interpreter I asked Rogelio to tell me one thing he would like people to know about him when they look at his portrait. With a giant grin on his face, Rogelio stuck out his chest and raised his fists up in front of him and began making a squeezing motion with each hand. He went on to share that he once was a dairy farmer and it was the happiest time in his life. The background of his portrait is a carton of Dairigold milk. When I first met Rogelio he was homeless... and now years later has his own place to live.

Roy & “Roy”

Thu, 8 Apr 2010 12:19:52 -0700

During a quiet moment today, I happened across Roy sitting in our clinic lobby not far from his painting hanging on the wall above him. It seemed a perfect moment to take the painting down from the wall and snap a photo of Roy and “Roy”. It was a wonderful surprise when I reviewed the photos I took and discovered that Roy had a smile on his face! It isn’t everyday that we get to see his great smile!

500 Sandwiches in 30 minutes!

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:52:53 -0800

In a fierce bidding competition against someone in Baltimore, Maryland, with only 30 seconds left to bid, a group of students from Seattle’s Bishop Blanchet High School were unsuccessful in their attempt to “buy” a portrait. They were bidding in currency of sandwiches that they would make to feed the homeless. Their final bid was 1,500 sandwiches while their competitor bid 1,600 and won! For the genuine heart they showed - offering to make 1,500 sandwiches - I offered them another painting. And not long after on a sunny Sunday afternoon, a group of about 50 people (students, a basketball team, teachers, coaches, parents, and some little brothers and sisters) gathered in the cafeteria at their school to make the first of three installments of 500 sandwiches. The sandwich-making began at 12 noon and by 1230 the group was done! The sandwiches were taken to St.Martin de Porres homeless shelter and fed about 300 people later that day. Who would of thought that a small group of people could get together and in just 30 minutes make enough food to feed 300 people?!

1,600 Sandwiches for Homeless in Baltimore...

Sun, 6 Dec 2009 22:06:23 -0800

A few weeks ago as I was finishing a painting of William, I got to thinking, instead of “selling” one of my paintings in exchange for someone going out and making a large, bulk purchase of supplies for the homeless maybe it would be fun to “sell” a painting in exchange for someone doing a kind deed to help the homeless. Not sure it would work or not, I ran an auction of sorts on Facebook. I put William’s painting up for sale to the person willing to make the most sandwiches to feed the homeless in their community. With the starting bid set at 500 sandwiches, I took bids for seven days. It took a couple days before anyone bid during which time I worried that noone would go for it. Suddenly bids started rolling in. 600 sandwiches. 750. 900. 1,000. 1,100. 1,250. Then with only two minutes left in the auction I received a bid for 1,500 sandwiches! With only 30 seconds left, Andy Benson of Baltimore, Maryland bid 1,600 sandwiches!
Today (with the help of good friends) Andy made 1,600 sandwiches! The photo above is Andy standing in front of all of the sandwiches and the painting of William! Andy arranged to make sandwiches for two shelters in Baltimore; one shelter requested Ham & Cheese sandwiches and the other requested Peanut Butter & Jelly. I’m told this project required 160 loaves of bread (borrowing someone’s Suburban to transport it), 20 tubs of peanut butter, 14 jars of jelly, 84 packages of sliced ham, 7 huge packages of cheese and a couple big refrigerators!
This past month seems like the daily news has been filled with unusually terrible stories. With that in mind, I find Andy’s willingness to make a difference in our world truly amazing!

Seattle Restaurant Helps Homeless!

Sat, 5 Dec 2009 21:39:30 -0800

This holiday season the generous restauranteurs, Kristina and Craig Bartleson, who own The Sand Point Grill requested to hang one of my portraits in their restaurant and run a winter clothing drive for our homeless patients at Harborview’s Pioneer Square Clinic. In just the first week, the painting of Marvin sold! The asking “price” was 1,000 pairs of brand-new socks. An interested buyer asked if she could work in a different currency - 1,000 new pairs of gloves and mittens instead of socks. I stopped by the Sand Point Grill last night and discovered that the very big collection basket set out in the entry way is OVERFLOWING with new gloves and socks! It was a beautiful site to see.... especially in light of the cold snap we’re having here right now.
Last week a homeless man came into the clinic. He is a very big man and a former professional athlete. As the man and I were visiting I glanced down at his hands and saw that he was wearing a tiny, thin pair of what looked to be women’s gloves.... so small they didn't even cover the base of his thumbs. I didn't have any proper-fitting gloves to offer him and it was very cold outside. It means a lot to me to have seen in person at the restaurant last night all of those new, warm pairs of gloves. Hopefully one of those pairs will fit that man I met last week!
This is the last week of the winter clothing drive at The Sand Point Grill - so if you get a chance stop by and drop something special in the basket... and enjoy some really good grub! Thank you Kristina and Craig!

1,000 Cans of Soup...

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 21:25:03 -0800

Today I received photos of the 1,000 cans of soup purchased by an art patron in Vancover, British Columbia! It’s exciting to see the pix - at the grocer’s check-stand and then on a fork-lift as the soup was in transit to a food bank in Canada. Lots of hungry folks will be fed! I never imagined that someone might really “buy” a painting in exchange for a 1,000 cans of soup for a food bank. It seemed a fun idea worth trying.... who would of thought it would end with something so inspiring?!

outside the front door...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:04:00 -0700

On my way to work the other morning, sitting on the sidewalk outside the front door of the clinic was a gift that a patient left for me during the night. The gift was wrapped in red tape (like a ribbon I think) with a scrap of paper for a tag that read, “For Mary & art work”. It was left by a patient who has been homeless for many years - often sleeping outside in an old truck. He’s always been a big supporter of my art. Over the years he’s brought me many art books to study, also left on the sidewalk at the front door... and probably pulled from a dumpster. Even though the frames are a bit too small to use for my paintings they sure are a gift that carries big meaning. Pretty thoughtful if you ask me!