My sister-in-law Lauren's crazy-haired dog, Rocket, lounging in the family room. Michael shot the photo reference, which I loved.

The interior of the now closed Beerworks pub and restaurant in downtown Mill Valley.

A nearly empty Miller Avenue in Mill Valley, looking toward Mt. Tam, shortly after the beginning of the Covid lockdown.

The shadow of a large out-of-frame tree provided the inspiration for this painting of a San Francisco street.

While eating breakfast in my office, I decided to document the chaos that is my desktop.

A nighttime view of the Immaculate Conception Catholic church in the central plaza in Ajo, Arizona.

A daytime view of the Immaculate Conception Catholic church in the central plaza in Ajo, Arizona.

In a photo taken by my father-in-law in 1955, four little girls stand mesmerized by the carousel horses circling just beyond a rope barrier.

A rainy day left Grant Street in San Francisco's Chinatown deserted and with a mystique caused by the reflections of a gloomy sky.

Leaving a San Francisco art gallery just before dark, I caught the last traces of sunset behind the downtown lights.

In Tuscany, a country home shortly before sunset.

The iconic Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Puerto Vallarta, against Banderas Bay.

Inspired by the black-and-white images in a documentary on deteriorating 19th century tenement housing, I added trees, telephone poles, smokestacks and sparse color to create a street scene that retained a gritty feeling.

My affinity for metal sash windows, a 20th century innovation, can likely be traced to their ubiquity in my childhood.

Emerging from a restaurant late one evening, the empty sidewalk and Edward Hopper-like glow of the neon signs caught my attention.

My husband and I often eat at the bar of a favorite local Italian restaurant. This piece captures the light that glows through both the aqua shelves and the clear bottles behind the bar.

One evening I drove into San Francisco at dusk to shoot some street scenes, including this one of Lombard Street looking toward downtown. Cars honked as the golden hour approached.

Dolores Park in San Francisco is always teeming with people, but here I imagined no one around to emphasize the green space and varieties of palm trees.

Inspired by the black-and-white images in a documentary on deteriorating 19th century tenement housing, I added trees, telephone poles, smokestacks and sparse color to create a street scene that retained a gritty feeling.  (This is a miniature version of the larger piece, "Renewal".)

This east-facing impressionistic treatment of San Francisco's Telegraph Hill showcases Coit Tower with the Bay Bridge visible in the background.

At a carpet vendor in Oakland whose 1910 warehouse was originally occupied by the Pullman Company for repairing railroad cars, this vintage bathroom is essentially unchanged. Only the plastic water bottle suggests the present day.

In this stove top vignette, I was enchanted by both the monochromatic colors and the steam billowing from the pots.

On a trip to Alcatraz island, I loved this perspective of a gray concrete hallway disappearing into a bright white light at the end.  The hallway itself is also bathed in white light from a large bank of mullioned windows trimmed in malacite sash.

At Equator Coffee near my home, I was enchanted one morning by the varied shadows cast by the French folding café chairs, a nearby planter and some overhead trees.

A litter of reading materials on my nightstand inspired this still life.

Sipping the last drops of a cappuccino at an airport café, I noticed the artistic swirl of coffee remnants in the empty paper cup.

A stack of hand towels, rendered in blue and white.