Elephants Are Gray

Elephants Are Gray - Oil on Canvas
30" X 30"

I have loved the elephant since I was a child. It is no surprise that the subject brought itself to the top of the list eventually. This has been through a long process of changes and modifications and the result is something that pleases me very much. It is a very personal painting in tribute to the elephants around the world that suffer and struggle to live. Some in captivity and some in the wild but all having to deal with humans that do not understand life and family as well as an elephant family does.

So this is perhaps the first verse of my song to the elephant who is the true King of the Beasts.


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Four New Paintings

I'm a bit behind in posting painting here. And, since I post the newest each time, I have posted these in the order that I finished them. And so I will comment accordingly.

A Slow Set came from an idea for a technique. Create a painting by painting small squares in a rather random pattern. I controlled only the where the value of the colors went (other than starting with the orb at the very beginning). The squares are 1/2". Similar to the pointillist technique but with more restriction to the boundaries of each "point" or square.

The painting took more than 24 hours of actual time at the canvas. the paint is applied very thickly providing a significant amount of texture to the painting.

A Slow Set - 9/2009
30" X 30"
Oil on Canvas

Behind Again - a painting I took from an original by John Karl Claes. I love and am facinated by the colour combination Claes puts into his paintings. Especially the ones where the sky dominates the space. This is in no way a copy of Claes' painting titled "Behind" it is an interpretation of the concept.

Behind Again - 8/2009
30" X 30"
Oil on Canvas

Down Front - someone must always take that spot. Sometimes it is you and other times it is me but someone is always down front leading the way, standing out, catching the light that the others avoid or shy from.

This two panel painting is very simple. An arrangement of trees that seem to be without direction or purpose except for the one Down Front. Please forgive me for expressing the stories in my mind but this is the message the painting gave to me once it was done. It was not complete until the final tree was put in place down front.

Down Front - 8/2009
36" X 29" in two panels
Oil on Panel

"Leaving Yonder" - is a painting of unusual dimension. I wanted a wide panorama for the subject. The painting is for the melancholy, the lonely, those separated from their family and other loved ones. The viewer must decide whether they are approaching a new shore after leaving their homeland for a new life in a land and country they have never been to before? Many have experienced this feeling but not so many anymore do so on board a ship. Or, is the viewer leaving their homeland and heading out to the open ocean for a voyage to a new life. Either way, they left their home over yonder.
Leaving Yonder - 9/2009
48" X 7.5"
Oil on Panel

Invasion and Chocolate's Fault

Invasion started to be one painting and ended another. I know it sounds "spooky" but once I started painting this piece, I could not stop even though I wanted to. I was compelled by the concept to continue until the panel was covered with paint. That is the way it works sometimes for me, a painting that has formed in my head forces it self out once I give it the chance by picking up a brush. It's like an invasion.

Invasion - 8/2009
31" X 30"
Oil on Panel

Unlike Invasion, Chocolate's Fault was planned out and came out pretty much the way I had pre-conceived the painting. The working title "It's Chocolate's Fault" was shortened for sake of better handling. The painting does not have a deep hidden meaning but is a lighthearted experience with a delectable nectar that we all love. We all run to and we all are chagrined when we imbibe too much. Blame it on chocolate, it always at fault and we love it.

Chocolate's Fault - 7/2009
48" X 36"
Oil on Canvas

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Looking Beyond and Spiderman's Kiss

Two new paintings.

"Trouble" - I do not have much of a story on this painting. Initially it was a study in warm to hot colors. It evolved and changed as it progressed and ended with shades of some cool colors. Even now, a possibility exists that it will be modified.

"Spiderman's Kiss" 7/2009
34" X 48"
Oil on Canvas

"Looking Beyond" - is another reinterpretation of a painting by John Karl Claes. Claes' painting is of a scene from a river valley in California. "Looking Beyond" has three sections with different dominate colors. "Looking Beyond" 5/2009
24" X 24"
Oil on Panel

Above

It's Above.
What is Above?
The title of the painting.

Why is it called Above?
Because that is what it is.

You are either looking at what is above or looking at whatever from above.

The painting is simple but the effect is powerful. Like the saying, half full or half empty, we are either above our circumstances or below them looking at what is above. What is above is hope, if it can be reached. What is above is where we are over the struggle of what we are above.

Look at it either way.

Above - 6/2009
30" X 30"
Oil on Canvas

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Fish Eyes and Owl Eyes

I'm posting two new paintings and they have a connection with one another - it is in the eyes.

The first painting "Fish Eyes View" will be entered in an on-line show with www.EBSQ.net. The show is an annual "Ripped Off" show where two artists agree to select one of the others pieces of art and create a new interpretation of it. The artist I am paired with, Nikki Soppelsa has selected my painting "Overload" and has created a collage of it. Collage art is something she does a lot of and does it very well. I have selected two watercolor paintings, each of a fish. A perch and a rainbow trout which I've combined the two into one painting and added a few things. The eyes of the original pieces were so captivating I've included them here is a surreal way. It was a challenge to get the eyes to a point of satisfaction for me.

Fish Eyes View - 2009

31 1/2" X 13 1/2"

Nikki Soppelsa's original fish in watercolor. "Rainbow" & "Fish Fry"

The painting below is titled, for the time being, "Owl". I started by painting a pair of eyes seeing how I might do it for the painting above. The painting then developed its own life and this is the result.

Owl - 2009
20" X 16"

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Alley Art at AlleyFest

We spent the weekend tending our booth at Alley Art, a part of AlleyFest - and annual celebration of the arts in East Texas. It was a positive experience even though we did not make more than one sale. I did sell the painting posted here - a painting I did on Sunday.

I decided to try my hand at acrylic paint since it would dry quickly and be less messy than oils. I actually completed three paintings but I will have to post the other two once I get a good photo of each of them.

This painting is more representational than abstract although it still has a great amount of my interpretation in it.

Flower Power - 2009
Acrylic on Canvas Sheet
16"X20"

These two untitled pieces are really exercises. I painted them on Saturday while at Alley Art. I like them now but wonder what I'll think of them in a few days or even weeks.

Untitled works - 2009
Acrylic on Canvas Sheet
Each 16 X 20

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Media Interview

This recent interview is posted on 1st Angle & Friends - a British based site for Artists of all kinds of art.

Aproaching Storm

This is another painting that had a John Karl Claes painting as its genesis for an idea. The painting by Claes is a wonderful landscape with a straight canal dividing the painting. "Split" is the title of the original idea.

I gave it quite a different treatment. So much so that when one person saw this they thought they were looking up at a tall building on fire. Who knows...but that is something I really enjoy when someone sees something totally different that what I actually painted. The colors of course are different as I worked with mostly all warm colours.

Approaching Storm - 2009
Oil on Canvas
20" X 16"

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Nowhere Known

Using a painting from another artist can be challenging. When I do it I do not try to replicate the original. I paint my interpretation which generally changes most of the painting. This painting is after a 2003 painting by John Karl Claes called River Valley Spring - it is an 8 X 10 oil on panel. I used a 25 X 14 POUS (Panel Of Unusual Size).

Nowhere Known - 2009

25 X 14
Oil On Canvas

This is called "Nowhere Known" because I don't know where the sot is. I was asked, "Where was that painted" and I said, "Know where I know". So I gave it a title to answer all the times that question is or might be asked.

Only One

Sometimes a painting intends to be one thing and becomes something else. That is the case with this painting. "Only One" became a much better painting because as a result of changing the idea.

Only One...there is only one, none other exists to accomplish the greatest mystery of life.

Only One - 2009
Oil on Canvas
24" X 36"

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Just What Do You See?

The most recent painting I have finished and posted on this blog is one that I think is best enjoyed when studied.

Several who have seen it have seen the painting very differently. That is a good thing. It is something I want to happen when people view my paintings. I always have some concept in my mind when I start and when I am finished (most often the concepts change).

Sidestep - named so because I sidestepped the original name I planned for the painting (don't ask) - is a painting that needs "gaze time". It needs to be studied and in a relaxed mood and posture. Let the painting reveal itself - it will be fun.

Sidestep - 2009
Oil on Canvas
20" X 16"

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Trapped!

I know that sometimes I can sound somewhat esoteric about my experience painting and the paintings I make. Nevertheless, I am much more emotionally connected to my paintings than anything else I have every created.

This is a painting that is an example of the emotional struggle I experience sometimes (nothing of great significance). I knew what effect I wanted from the painting when I started but it was very difficult to get it right. I "feel" like the painting really go away from me. Several various attempts to capture the effect of two worlds in one painting eluded me.

I am satisfied with the end result without any further explanation. It will not be an easy painting to understand for some. But I find the message, or emotion communicating what I intended. The effect does not represent well in a small image of the photo - it needs to be experienced in person.

Trapped In Two Worlds - 2009
36 X 30
Oil on Canvas

Self Portraits

These two paintings are actually a pair belonging to one piece of work. I've called them "Self Portrait #1" and "Self Portrait #2" but they are hardly representational. This chair sits in the downtown Judge J.T. Smith Sculpture Garden as part of the 2009 exhibit. It is an entrancing chair and full of all sorts of fun and imagination.

Self Portrait No. 1 - 2009
16 X 20
Oil on Canvas

A Self Portrait No. 2 - 2009
16 X 20
Oil on Canvas

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Stormy Weather and A Red Wood

Here are two paintings I've recently completed.

The first is a 56X56 canvas. For the time being, I'm calling it Stormy Weather. I've had this large canvas mounted and ready to paint for about 2 1/2 months. I've been waiting for the canvas to tell me what to put on it or for formulation in my mind of what I knew should go on the canvas. I have set aside several ideas very different than this. Where this idea came from is an image (shape) that is recurring in the paintings of John Karl Claes. Claes has used a big sweeping turn of a canal in some of his landscapes. How the image from his paintings ended up looking like this in my painting is a mystery to me, but I like the painting.

WT - Stormy Weather - 2009
56 X 56
Oil on Canvas

The second painting posted here might be finished or it may not. I've continued to work on it but I have probably completed what I've wanted to do. I've titled it "A Red Wood" but it is a departure from my previous "wood" paintings. I never know, sometimes a painting steers me in ways I did not expect to go. This painting is a good example of that dynamic. Again, no photo will properly represent a painting - it must be seen in person.

A Red Wood - 2009
36 X 24
Oil on Canvas

Stimulus

There are three paintings that I have been working on in recent days. I finished this one and it is on a panel. The size is uncommon at 36 X 13.

Stimulus - 2009
Oil on Panel
36 X 13

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New Photos of Paintings

I was able to take new photos of my most recent paintings. They are more representational of what the pieces of art actually look like. However, I always find that the photo simply can not be an accurate record of what a painting really looks like. All these photos are sized to 10" wide or 10" high depending on the aspect. Therefore there is no way to appreciate the painting in its actual size without seeing it.

I post them here in order from the most recent. I did not have the opportunity to re-photograph the paintings "SECOND TIME AROUND" and "A VIRGIN WOOD" since I do not have easy access to them. Those paintings I have left in their original posts while I deleted the old photos of any painting I have new photos of.

Joseph's Well - 2009
30" X 30"

"JOSEPH'S WELL" is a painting I have had in my head for a very long time - even before I ventured into abstract art. I intended to do it on a very large canvas (56" X 56") but have not had the courage to take the plunge. So I decided to do it on a smaller square canvas. Now is the questions of whether I will still do the larger version or not? Since I have released this painting do I still have the need of creating it again?

Two Schools - 2009
30" X 40"

I was sketching in my book and actually was drawing a much different concept that was a horizontal aspect and had nothing to do with anything that looked like fish. Even in the process of making the painting, it seemed to have a mind of its own.

A Bent Wood - 2009
50" X 30"

"A BENT WOOD" of course is in the vein of "A VIRGIN WOOD". I frequently draw trees and images that resemble trees one way or another. The making of these paintings are really satisfying. "A VIRGIN WOOD" is seen in a previous post.

See Clearly - 2009
20" X 16"

"SEE CLEARLY" started out as a random placement of images of windows. I filled in the open spots on the canvas with the reds - now the most frequent comment I get is that they see bricks. I just suppose, they do not see clearly enough.

32 Squares - 2009
48" X 24"

Not a lot to say about this or why I did it. More of a challenge to do a painting that had much less to it than most I work on.

Sections Two - 2009
48" X 36"

My painting "SECTIONS" evoked a comment by one person to "Paint me one, only bigger." This is bigger and a bit different.

Honey's World - 2008
24" X 36"

This painting was a real muscle stretcher. I had to work in concepts that are not natural to me. Although I had sketched this idea several time and even worked it up in a computer graphics program, it still felt foreign until it was done.

Four Sided Triangles - 2008
48" X 36"

Bold colors and contrasting perspectives, I really have nothing much to say about this painting.

Sections - 2008
30" X 24"
SOLD

I had been working on this painting for a good while before Kathy saw it. As soon as she saw this painting she said, "I want that painting." That's who has the painting and it hangs in her house. The painting really resists having a good photograph made of it and must be seen in person to see what it really looks like.


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A Virgin Wood

I finished this painting today. It is a piece that I am really pleased with. From inception to completions, this has been a fun painting to make.

A Virgin Wood (2009)
44 X 32

Second Time Around

I'm posting one paintings here - the other two that were on this post have been moved to a more recent post with new photos.

Some time ago, I copied a painting of John Karl Claes. I decided to redo the painting leaving the basic composition unchanged but using different colors. This is what it is second time around.

Second Time Around (2008)
30X24
SOLD