Once you contact me, I can send you a QR Code to pay via Venmo. If you don’t use Venmo, I can take your credit card information over the phone.

I should be able to determine fairly accurate shipping costs on some items (especially smaller ones) and add those into your invoice.  

On larger items, I may have to take them to FedEx for pricing. I can then notify you so that you can transfer the funds via Venmo or by credit card (as above).  FYI – If possible, I pack paintings myself, which is less expensive than FedEx packing.

Contact me and explain what you would like. Ordinarily this will involve your sending photos that you want me to work from. If I think I can work from those photos with a good result, the next thing is to decide on size and timing.

Once we come to an agreement, I will quote you a price and you can forward payment, as explained above. While I am working on the commission, I will forward photos of the work in progress so I can be certain I am heading in the right direction and that the end-product will be satisfactory.

Shipping will be handled as described above.

Pricing will depend on size and complexity (for example, if the work involves several people, it will be more expensive; one pup is less expensive). Also, if it needs to be expedited (painted and finished very quickly), that will increase a cost to some degree. For a general idea of the baseline for pricing, check the paintings on the website of similar size and complexity (check “Barns & Rust,” “Environments,” and “Trains,” not “Abstracts”).

I much prefer a hard surface to the “give” of a canvas. Originally, I began painting on panels because they didn’t require stretching canvas (i.e., they were easier) and I could discard them if the results were unsatisfactory. I’ve never really stopped. When I tried switching to canvas, I did not like the “feel” (the “give”) or the surface texture of canvas.

I suggest doing an internet search for “Gel Press Monoprinting Plate.” (You will find it available from numerous sources, e.g., Amazon, Blick Art Materials, etc.) It is a re-usable gel plate that takes acrylic paint. It is also easily takes impressions from objects, stencils, and any number of items. The paint and patterns, once applied to the gel plate, can be transferred to different papers, including tissue paper, by pressing the paper onto the plate and lifting it.

The process can be repeated numerous times on the same paper for a layered effect, if you wish. The printed tissue paper is excellent for collaging. I often use it in my abstract paintings.

There are a multitude of YouTube videos showing different processes using a gel plate (search for gel plate printing techniques, gel printing, etc.). It is a very easy, inexpensive method of printmaking.

Cold wax is a medium with a beeswax base. You add it to oil paint to make it more spreadable. It also increases the volume of paint as much as 50%, and it speeds up paint drying time, as well as adds texture.

Cold wax lends itself to experimentation with multiple layers because the old adage of “fat over lean” when using oil paint no longer applies when using cold wax as a medium. It cannot be used with acrylic.

Cold wax is not the same as encaustic, which is a warm or hot wax medium that dries and hardens as it cools. Encaustic is also toxic, requires ventilation, and is most often used with encaustic pigment cakes, not oil from tubes.

The most effective scraper is one usually associated with cooking … a silicone bowl scraper with a flat and pointed, but relatively soft, edge. The Messermeister is the best (www.messermeister.com). It enables the application of large swaths of paint (mixed with cold wax). One can also buy smaller scrapers sold as art supplies for more precise handling.

It is a setback between the natural wood frame and the painting. It is made of wood and painted black. See photo below.

If the work isn’t framed, I paint the edges of the panel (usually about 1” – 1.5” deep) with a compatible color so that raw wood isn’t visible. Note: the panel itself isn’t 1”-1.5” thick (that would make it too heavy), but it has what is called a “cradle” around the back along the edges to prevent warping. See photos below.

An edge-painted work can be framed, if the owner so desires, but it isn’t necessary.

This is a painting created all or mostly in the open air, at the site of the scene or objects being painted. Often finishing touches are added later in the studio. “Plein Air” is a French term meaning “open air.”

Vintage photos are old photos, often in sepia or gray and black tones, that pre-date color photography. One can find them in old photo albums, historical societies or the Library of Congress.

It depends entirely on the piece. Sometimes a work will come together quickly; sometimes not. When painting plein air, one usually spends 2-4 hours on site, with some follow-up work in the studio. The studio work can be relatively quick or it can expand into several hours, depending on how much work seems to be needed.

Studio work, like the Barns and Rust work, takes many hours over several days, even weeks, working a few hours at a time. Sometimes a work doesn’t seem to come together to my satisfaction so I will set it aside and work on another before returning to finish it.

Abstracts are interesting. I will work on the base layer, let it dry a bit, then return the next day or so for a second application. This process can go on for quite a while, until it seems “finished” to me. Sometimes the unfinished work will sit for days before I decide what I want to do next. The actual work or paint application can be relatively quick.

Usually commissions involve a deadline so that, by necessity, speeds up the work. The length of time, as with any work, depends on the nature and complexity of the commission. Usually animal portraits take less time than commissions involving people. Often the latter involves visiting a home, meeting the individual or individuals involved and taking photos.

The short answer is, no. I don’t consider myself a portrait painter, and don’t wish to become one. That is essentially “plein air” painting of people, i.e., painting on site. It is a particular expertise that I have never concentrated on.