New mini abstracts with a brand-new, glass-like resin varnish… releasing to everyone on October 28th!
I’ve been hard at work in my studio painting fifteen new mini abstracts, each with a brand-new resin varnish. That’s the reflection you see above and I’m loving the rich, glass-like finish it gives each painting.
I’ll be releasing all fifteen new mini abstracts to folks on my email list first on Wednesday morning, October 27th. So, you’ll have first choice to add them to your art collection (or gift list) before I announce them to my social media followers the next day.
I’m super excited and think you’ll love them. If you’re not on my very-occasional email list, visit my website homepage to add your name to the list so you won’t miss out on the initial release!
This summer has been a flurry of activity (and stress) to get me and my husband Steve moved back to my native Denver, Colorado. We arrived to a temporary apartment living situation on May 1st and haven’t looked back. Less than a month later we were under contract to buy a great townhome in Denver’s Central Park (formally Stapleton) neighborhood. I can’t believe how blessed and fortunate we were to find a place to buy so quickly in the hot Denver housing market!
Now that we’re mostly settled, we’ve been enjoying the main reason we moved back to Denver – spending time with old friends and extended family here in Colorado. We even took a day off to hike one of my most favorite hikes in the world… the Hagerman Tunnel railroad bed trail near Leadville, Colorado.
Steve and I at the abandoned, narrow-gauge railroad tunnel – Hagerman Tunnel (August, 2021).
I’ve also been getting settled into my basement studio space at our new home. It’s a fine workspace for now, but this winter I’m planning to have the interior finished with drywall, electrical, new lighting, a work sink, a purple-painted concrete floor, etc!
My basement studio… awaiting interior finishing this winter!
This weekend is the final weekend for the 19th Annual Portland Open Studios Tour and I’ll have my studio open. If you’re in Portland, come check me out Saturday and Sunday, 10am – 5pm each day, at my studio at SW 71st Ave/Ashdale in Portland. Visit my website for details and my address – http://www.davidcastleart.com.
And just for visitors, I’ll have all artwork in my studio priced at 10-75% off regular prices, plus see more about how I paint my abstracts and hear about my upcoming Residency trip to the Arctic Circle!
I’m having a summer studio sale! I’ve selected 16 (or so) original paintings on canvas and have marked them down by 50%. Check out the selection from my studio wall below and let me know which favorites you’d like to add to your collection! Sale goes through Saturday, July 15th.
Painting Details
Top two rows: 12 x 12 inches; 50% off price = $200 each
Bottom row, left to right: Painting #1 is a collage of 100 mini metallic silver squares, 24 x 24 inches, 50% off price = $600; Paintings #2-4 are a collage of mini metallic squares,18 x 18 inches, 50% off price = $325 each
I’ve posted more snapshots of these paintings, plus a few bonus ones on my Instagram.
It has been awhile since I posted a snapshot of my studio… I’d sure be lost without my large, main studio table that I got at The Ohio State University’s surplus warehouse before we moved out to Portland! In fact, I’ve found several pieces of great “studio furniture” at university surplus stores, so if you’re looking for furniture you might check with your local universities to see if they sell surplus furniture and equipment.
I’m still getting settled into my new studio space on the northwestern edge of Portland’s Pearl District. My space is small – about 1/4 the size of my studio in Columbus (and more expensive!). For now, I’m making it work!
Many of you will remember my fun Flapjack events in my studio in Denver, and now that I’ve settled into an awesome new studio space here in Columbus, I’ll be hosting my first Open Studio and Flapjack giveaway!
On Saturday, April 26th (11am – 2pm), come tour my new studio at the 400 West Rich building in the Franklinton Arts District just across the river from downtown Columbus. There will be many open artist’s studios and a fun Farmer’s Market going on and if you stop by my studio, each visitor will get to choose their favorite “Flapjack” mini abstract to start your David Castle Art collection. All I ask for in return is for each recipient to sign up for my very-occasional art email list. So, bring your family, kids and friends!
Event: David Castle Open Studio
When: Saturday, April 26th, 11am-2pm
Where: 400 West Rich Street, Columbus, Ohio
And for my fans outside of the Columbus area, be sure to watch my blog here or my David Castle Art page on Facebook, because I’ll be giving away a few Flapjacks online through the end of April, too!
Happy Spring! I’ve done some cleaning in my studio this week and set aside a stack of paintings for a special offer – my first ever “Name Your Best Price” spring cleaning sales event! All of these paintings are David Castle original watercolor or acrylic works of art. Most I just never got around to framing or mounting on canvas, but there are a few canvas-mounted paintings that are ready-to-hang. Here are the details:
When: Wednesday, 3/27 – Wednesday, 4/3
How: Browse the three studio snapshots below, select your favorites (using the numbering in each snapshot) and name your Best Price in an email to me! I’ll accept all reasonable offers, but will also let you know if any Best Prices you offer are too low for me to accept. I’ve listed details for each painting at the bottom of this post, but feel free to email me or comment if you have any questions or would like a closer snapshot.
Payment & Shipping: Once I accept a Best Price, I’ll mark the painting sold here on this post, and will then email you with payment and shipping details (applicable tax will be added for Ohio residents).
Special Free Art Bonus: Share, share, share! I’ll make you a trade: share this with your friends and contacts and I’ll send you an original mini watercolor called an Artist Trading Card (ATC) for free! Just share this Event, encouraging your friends to buy some art, Like me on Facebook and to sign up for my email list. Then send me an email telling me how you shared – include your mailing address and I’ll send an ATC right out. See my blog post here for more details.
Studio Snapshot 1: Large Paintings (regular price range is $450 – $1800).
Studio Snapshot 2: Medium and Small Paintings (regular price range is $300 – $600).
Studio Snapshot 3: Medium and Small Paintings (regular price range is $225 – $500).
Studio Snapshot #1 – Large Paintings
1. Watercolor on paper, 16 x 16″, $450.
2. Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36″, $1,800.
3. Watercolor on paper, 19 x 19″, $550.
4. Watercolor on paper, 16 x 21″, $500.
5. Watercolor on paper, 18 x 18″, $500.
6. Watercolor on paper, 21 x 21″, $600.
7. Watercolor on paper, 21 x 21″, $600.
8. Not available.
9. Watercolor on paper, 28 x 20″, $750.
10. Watercolor on paper, 26 x 26″, $900.
11. Watercolor on paper, canvas-mounted, 24 x 24″, $850.
Studio Snapshot #2 – Medium and Small Paintings
1. Watercolor on paper, 21 x 16″, $500.
2. Sold!
3. Sold!
4. Sold!
5. Sold!
6. Watercolor on paper, 21 x 16″, $500.
7. Sold!
8. Watercolor on paper, 10 x 22″, $350.
9. Watercolor on paper, 17 x 23″, $550.
10. Watercolor on paper, 10 x 29″, $400.
11. Watercolor on paper, 15 x 21″, $450.
12. Watercolor on paper, 19 x 19″, $550.
13 – 18. Watercolor on paper, canvas-mounted, 12 x 12″, $300 each.
Studio Snapshot #3 – Medium and Small Paintings
1. Watercolor on paper, 10 x 10″, $225.
2. Watercolor on paper, 15 x 15″, $375.
3. Watercolor on paper, 17 x 13″, $375.
4. Watercolor on paper, 14 x 14″, $300.
5 – 6. Watercolor on paper, 10 x 10″, $225 each.
7. Sold!
8. Watercolor on paper, 10 x 10″, $225.
9. Sold!
10 – 16. Watercolor on paper, 10 x 10″, $225 each.
17. Watercolor on paper, 21 x 16″, $500.
18. Watercolor on paper, 21 x 16″, $500.
19. Watercolor on paper, 15 x 15″, $350.
20. Watercolor on paper, 14 x 14″, $300.
Well, here it is in all of its glory… my current basement studio space. Rather dungeon-like, huh?
So, on days like today, when I’m more than a little distracted by my surroundings, I load up my iPod with music by my friend Alex Grant. No matter what the painting “situation”, Alex’s music always calms me and gets my paint flowing again. Thanks, Alex!
Where do I begin? Well, perhaps I’ll start with where I ended up…. Columbus, Ohio. Nine months ago, the cats and I made the two-day drive from Denver to Columbus to join my partner, Steve, in our new home. Steve had received an opportunity to transfer within his company to the regional office in Columbus and, since we had been talking about “going on an adventure” for awhile, we jumped on it. And landed smack in the middle of Ohio.
While Steve’s new job got off to a great start, I quickly became deeply involved in helping care for my 85-year-old Uncle Jack. The court here in Ohio appointed me his legal guardian and I spent much of the Spring and Summer travelling up to Cleveland to help care for Uncle Jack’s health and finances. Sadly, my Uncle Jack passed away at the end of the Summer… may he rest in peace!
So, now I’m making art in my basement studio that I’ve set up. A lot of pent-up paintings are now flowing. They’ll be showing up here soon, so stay tuned for more posts from Columbus!
Great news! My new large triptych painting, “Claudia’s Jewels” has been selected for Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe Best of 2009 Exhibition.
This special exhibition recognizes the best individual art works shown throughout the art district on Santa Fe Drive in Denver. My painting was chosen by Gwen Chanzit, curator at the Denver Art Museum and Michael Chavez, curator at the Foothills Art Center.
I have also been nominated for an award as “Best Studio Artist of 2009” and would love your vote! It takes just a moment to visit http://artdistrictbestof2009.squarespace.com/ to add your vote for me. Feel free to forward this to your art-loving friends and ask them to vote for me, too!
"Claudia's Jewels", watercolor mounted on canvas panels (triptych). Selected for special "Best of 2009" exhibit at 910Arts Gallery in Denver.
To kick of this special exhibit and awards, the Best of 2009 – Awards Gala & Opening Night Reception will be held on December 18th and includes live music, holiday art vendors, and a cash bar in addition to the juried art exhibit.
Please join us for this special night at The Event Gallery at 910Arts on Friday, December 18th from 6 – 10 pm. Tickets to the special Opening are limited and may be purchased at http://artdistrict2009.eventbrite.com/.
The exhibition will run from December 18th until January 11th and may be seen with no admission fee during regular gallery open hours (Tuesday through Friday 11-6, Saturday 12-4). For more information, please visit http://www.910arts.com.
Thank you to everyone that has sent me a snapshot… I have many more to post, so keep coming back for these great snapshots of “elsewhere” from artists!
Like this snowy view from her studio, Tracy’s paintings are great views of elsewhere to me. Her view is so calm and still. Tracy writes that this view shows “the apple tree in the backyard with birds busy at the feeder… the tiny splash of yellow in the trees is our beehive”.
Here’s the view out Diana’s door several weeks ago when she had tons of snow. Diana writes that she is thankful her husband takes care of plowing and shoveling the snow, “if it was just me up here at the edge of the earth, I wouldn’tbe able to deal with it”.
I’ve visited Kathy’s studio in the foothills southwest of Denver several times – she has a great creative space! Looks like the snow is piling up in this view! Be sure to visit her website to see her pastel paintings!
Wow! Gotta love this view from Jill’s space. Jill writes that she is “blessed to be able to see the most gorgeous sun rises and sunsets everyday from a corner apartment on the 26th floor… with views of the palisades in New Jersey, Long Island and New York City.
Here are more snapshots of progress… now that drywall is going up, I am able to get a better sense of how small, but perfect this space will be for me!
Exterior of the building from Inca Street. My studio and external windows are behind the green construction dumpster. And yes, I’m not hugely fond of the orange sherbert exterior paint color (sorry Jeff!), but I’m sure it will make describing the building easy!
Drywall goes up in my space. The two windows are external and face Inca Street.
I sure felt depressed as I wrote my last post and came up with that haiku! Well, I now have some good news on the renovation progress with my new studio – my understanding is that the permit issues that have delayed work for nearly 4 months have been resolved and things are expected to move forward quickly now. I went by last Friday and took another snapshot of my space – you can see foundation work being done on the main entryway that my space is next to. Wow! Actual digging and pouring of concrete!
Now the bad news… I’ve had financing for purchasing this space lined up with Countrywide since last September. They just notified me that they would be cancelling my open line of credit retro-effective to the end of January. So, I’m starting over with securing financing and running into some resistance. The big mortgage companies seem to be really tightening up on lending (remember not too long ago it seemed that they gave money away to anyone that could fog a mirror). Going the commercial lending route is also problematic since the amount I need is “too small” for most programs!
I don’t think I’m ready to solicit for donations yet… but I’d be interested in a private financing option, so email me if you’re interested!
David Castle Art 