An Aerial View Painting Inspired by Spain

My latest painting began live at a special event at Will Leather Goods in Venice on Nov. 22, 2014 (see that story HERE). Since then, this piece has evolved dramatically and my progress and the final painting are presented below. This one has been a wild ride and way more challenging than I anticipated. Sometimes it goes that way, but the education en route is well worth it!

It was inspired by my window seat view of the Spanish countryside moments before landing at Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas. Beginning with Madrid, the places I visited and the things I saw on that trip opened the door to a change in painting style and sharpened my focus on subjects important to me.

10 Stages of Aero No. 14

Aero No. 14 (Miami -> Madrid) | Acrylic on birch panel | 46 x 23" (Complete painting to the Left, plus extreme closeups to the Right)

Actual scale of Aero No. 14

On the easel: Aero No. 14 (Miami -> Madrid) | Acrylic on birch panel | 46 x 23"

Scenes from Art Night in Venice

I joined forces with Will Leather Goods at their flagship Venice store for their inaugural "Art Night" on November 22. Special thanks to Tim Chan and the Will staff for hosting me, and to all the friends who made it a fun and special evening of art and fashion.

The exhibition included over a dozen cloudscape and aerial view paintings from my Aero Series PLUS a live, in-store demo of me painting the latest in the series. Enjoy scenes from "Art Night" @ Will Leather Goods here:

Something exciting is happening in there! The view of Will from world famous Abbot Kinney Blvd.

Aero No. 33 (Mountainscape) greeted visitors to Art Night.

It was a lot of fun integrating my paintings throughout the store. Here's Aero No. 6 hanging out behind the counter.

Live painting about to go down!

The beginning stage of my newest, Aero No. 14 (Miami -> Madrid)

Aero No. 25 (Barcelona Sky) and Aero No. 39 (Powerlines)

Making progress...

Aero 2014.3 (LA Sky)

Spreading it on thick! I made the switch from painting with brushes to exclusively using palette knives about 1 1/2 years ago and haven't looked back since.

Getting extra encouragement from my fiancé, Rachel.

The base colors are all there. Will have to finish this one up in private in the studio. Stay tuned! Aero No. 14 (Miami -> Madrid) | Acrylic on birch panel | 46" x 23"

Head In The Clouds at "Sky: A National Juried Exhibition"

I was honored to be one of over 75 artists selected to exhibit a piece from my Aero Series at the Bedford Gallery in picturesque Walnut Creek, CA. The opening was Sunday, March 9th and the crowd of sky lovers was out in full force for the gala!

What a great space and tremendous crowd!

Closing in on my painting...

Loved the tableaux they created with these pieces. My painting,  "Aero No. 8", is on the lower left.

Rachel capturing the moment :)

Was thrilled to meet family living in the East Bay for the very first time at the show (From L-R: David,  Rick, Maria, Mark, and little Marky)

So proud to be part of this excellent show.

Such great interpretations and techniques to capture the beauty and majesty of the skies. Congratulations to all the artists, the jurors, and the Bedford Gallery for a first class event.