The Furlough

It seems like a furlough has passed since I last posted a new painting on this blog. But at least there has been some activity out in the studio. Today I post five (5) new paintings with comments on each. These are not presented in the order of completion. They are presented more in the order of however they ended up when I uploaded them.

"Little Boxes"

30" X 30"
Oil on Canvas

"Little Boxes"
The first one is "Little Boxes" I have been doing a lot of reading and studying on one of my favorite contemporary artists, Sean Scully. Scully fascinates for many reasons. One is that he has been so fabulously consistent and focused on his art and what he is producing has a clear sense of humanity and presence. He has not been one to follow the latest popular trend. Instead, he has walked the line into a body of work that is very impressive.

"Little Boxes" is a concept that has formed as a result of my concentration on Scully. Architectural in design, the first layer was painted with a brush and while mostly wet, the second and third layer were applied with painting knives and cloth.  "Little Boxes" can actually be hung anyway one would prefer but I present it here in the orientation I have come to favor.  During the creation process, the canvas was continually turned so that I had the advantage of not having to go "back handed"...at least not too much.

 

"Emerging"
50" X 30"
Oil on Canvas

"Emerging"

Sometimes I have little idea where a concept forming in my mind comes from.  That is not the case with "Emerging".    At the 2010 Great Texas Balloon Race in Longview, Texas, a special feature was a man that inflated a large number of weather balloons (the kind used to send weather instruments high into the stratosphere) with helium.  Watching the process I was captivated by the balloons as they were tied temporarily to anchors during the inflation stage.  Different lengths of leads (strings) caused the balloons to form tall columns into the air.  These balloons were then attached to a bucket seat and when ready, weight was removed to the point that it lifted the chair, man and all into the air where the wind blue it along.  

I did not paint balloons with strings but I the images of a collections of spheres, different colors reaching skyward brought the concept on this canvas. 

 

"Falling Blue"
24" X 32"
Oil on Panel

Nine Trees

#1 "Falling Blue" is the first in a series of oil paintings on panels.  The series will be nine in all each 24" X 32".  This is a project in discipline forcing me to focus and think on a specific subject while treating the subject in anyway that seems to develop.  Each of the series will have some connection to a tree or trees.   

"Falling Blue" is a painting in reds, except for the few remaining blue leaves which must fall some time.  

"Meeting Tree"
24" X 32"
Oil on Panel

#2 "Meeting Tree" is the second painting in the Trees series.  It is painted with knives and very limited pallet.  While I was creating the painting my thought was that it was a signal tree sitting on the top of a ridge.  Somehow that story just did not work with whatever was my initial concept and instead, it comes from images and practices in Africa where specific trees hold immense significance.    When I realized that was the story, I decided that the significance of this tree was the meetings that have occurred and will continue to occur below it.

 

"Living in Water"
24" X 32"
Oil on Panel

#3 "Living in Water" - the full title is "Living Upside Down in Water".  Near where we live is the only natural lake in Texas.  Caddo Lake in ringed and filled with  cypress trees.  Often these trees appear living upside down in water as their root structure spreads out and forms a wide base to hole the massive tree upright.  Even photographs I have taken on calm days can be flipped and a tree will appear to be living upside down in the water. 

 

 "Trees of Life"
32" X 24"
Oil on Panel

#4 Trees of Life started when I made a drawing of a tree. Well, actually it is considered a bush, I think.  The Crepe Myrtle is a flowing bush that grows to heights of 15-20 feet, (maybe more, I'm not a botanist or arborist or even a gardener).   If desired, they can be cultivated and pruned so that the grow into what looks like a tree with multiple trunks and limbs that weave and wave about. 

The drawing I did was of a whole crepe myrtle tree.  I took just a section of the branches for this painting. Before the painting was complete and still in its first layer, someone remarked "Looks like vessels and veins.  That was all it took to find the story of this painting.   

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