Pearly Whites

Tempus Fugit For Real Dude!

2012-01-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

I looked at the date of my last entry. I can hardly believe that it was almost a year ago??? Hello? The painting "Differences"certainly is not that long in the making. Maybe it is some mix up in the Time continuum. Maybe I momentarily jumped back a few months when it came time to post that last group of paintings. I need to start looking over my shoulder to see who is sneaking up on me so that I don't get abducted by aliens again.

This is another set of recently completed painting that might have been completed more than recently. The first one is actually the sixth one. "No. 6 A Patched Tree" is the latest in the series of paintings of trees. When complete I will have nine all the same size on panels.

No. 6 A Patched Tree - Oil on Panel - 32" X 24"

The next painting also has a tree as its primary subject. In the books by J.R.R. Tolkin about middle earth, there is a rather significant section in "The Fellowship of the Ring" about the Hobbits adventures with "Old Man Willow" and Tom Bombadil. Old man Willow had swallowed up Merry and Pippin and the only rescue was from Tom. The painting has a bit of a whimsical or fantasy feel. One viewer stated that she thought I was suggesting the look of a Dr. Suess world. Not a bad observation but it is Old Man Willow that is framed on this canvas.

Old Man Willow - Oil on Canvas - 20" X 16"

For quite a different inspiration for a painting, "Mary and Joseph" below has been painted with the same technique that I used for Slow Set. Painting 1/2" squares one at a time until a painting depicting the Holy Family emerges.

Mary and Joseph - Oil on Canvas - 20" X 16"

It is not uncommon for a painting to start off with an one intention and end up quite different, even something not imagined. Shapes, color and light fascinate me. It is what I see when I look at a scene. "Behind and Beyond" took several turns in its development and I almost gave up more than once. Yet the outcome is pleasing to me.

Behind and Beyond - Oil on Canvas - 48" X 36

Going back and painting again to create a paining very much like I have done before has been a challenge. But I realize this is something I need to cultivate so that popular paintings can be remade, although each time different enough to be an original it their own right. "Sidestepped" was a painting very much like the one below that was done in deep reds and purple reds with random light spots. "Blue Steps" was organized the same way with shades and tones of blues. The spots that look to be black are very deep blue.

Blue Steps - Oil on Canvas - 20" X 16"

When I painted "Stimulus" it was the time when the government of the United States decided that throwing a lot of money out into the masses of people would result in an economic revival. The painting was in no way a political statement, it was simply something that came out of some emotional turmoil and an unsettled feeling I was experiencing and I believe all of us were feeling to some degree. "Re-Stimulate" has a completely different story. Those that know and understand me are aware of its timing and meaning.

Re-Stimulate - Oil on Canvas - 36" X 12"

I painted "A Red Wood" almost three years ago. It was a great deal of fun working that painting into a piece of art and it received immediate attention. When it sold, it was missed and some told me to paint another one. Yet how can you have another of an original, I thought. Eventually I got over that silly thought and this painting was finished about 45 days ago in time for Art Walk Longview. "A Red Wood Too" has enjoyed the same positive reaction. Now, if that special buyer will please step forward, I might have a change at Three Red Woods.

A Red Wood Too - Oil on Canvas - 28" X 22"

What happens when I stare at a blank canvas is that I normally will cover it with some under-paint, white or other color. This time I resisted and allowed the painting to happen of its own will. A simple arrangements of curves ad twirls in yellow and golds without a hint from the title. Not to worry, there is no secret, I just have not yet been told if it does have a proper title.

Untitled Gold - Oil on Canvas - 16" X 20"

And finally for this set of nine paintings we close with "Mr. B". This is both similar and dissimilar to the painting just above. The dissimilarities are much easier to see than the similarities for you, I am sure. This painting started with a full canvas of yellow with a fair touch of red but not enough to call it orange. Then, when the under paint was dry, I simply say a part of a room that belonged very much to the bowling ball. It reminded me of a time long ago when I had an encounter with a bowling ball kind of thing that I called Mr. B for lack of knowing it or his name. Really though its a careful painting of threes. three lines to build the corner, three holes so the bowling ball can be held and manipulated as it is either carefully or aggressively heaved down the planks to the pins; and three legs with three supports. 3 -3 -3 might have and be a better title?

Mr. B (or 3-3-3) Oil on Canvas 20" X 16"

Hopefully it will not be another 11 1/2 months before we visit again. This is no way to win and keep friends in the blog-O-sphere. (Apologies to Shepherd Smith)

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A Real Mix

2011-01-30T16:33:00.000-08:00

This posting is a real mix of paintings. Some have been done for a while waiting for the opportunity to get good photographs of them. We managed to get photographs of three paintings today. All complete until otherwise determined to be incomplete. The first is "Differences", a bright and vivid painting using blues, greens, reds and yellows in a stark contrast of the cool and hot colors. A large canvas 48" X 30". The painting was done finished with knives.

"Differences"

48 X 30 Oil on Canvas

The second posted here is a paining just for fun. It started out to be part of a diptych which never managed developed. Considering that it actually had a different future in mind for itself, we let it show us what that was. To our amazement, it captures the moment that the Gingerbread Man escaped from the circus. An historical moment indeed. A lot of fun with color and whimsy.

The Escape of the Gingerbread Man
48 X 24 Oil on Canvas

The third posting is the fifth in our series on Trees. We set out to create nine paintings on panels, with each painting representing in some way a tree or trees but in an abstract or non representational style. This is number five with four to go. Each painting makes an effort to represent the tree in distinctly different way. Number five is drawn significantly from fantasy books we have read. Trees have such significance in literature and the Bible.

The Rainbow Tree
32 X 24 Oil on Panel

We have started work on Tree Painting #6 - a patchwork tree it will be.

Side By Side

2010-10-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

Side By Side
48 X 36

Oil On Canvas

As I am still pretty new in my career as an artist, the sale of a painting is an exciting moment. This is especially true when it is a painting that has significant meaning to me. Then, I want to know more about who bought it and why they like it. My painting Goliad sold this past week. It was sold by P's Gallery and we all were so very excited. Paula Davis, owner of P's Gallery had my painting "4 Sided Triangles" ready to put up in the space. That meant I needed to bring another painting to the Gallery.

"Side by Side" was recently finished and dry enough to varnish and hang. When Paula saw it she put it up in place of Goliad in the the Gallery. "Side By Side" is the result of my wanting to apply some of the same techniques I had been reading about in my study of Sean Scully. The simplicity of the design and the layers of colors resulted in a painting that I am very happy with. My normally compulsion is to cover every bit of the canvas and see no canvas or under-painting colors. Sometimes that will distract me from what I am actually trying to accomplish. I managed to keep my mind off that compulsion and accomplish what I wanted. The painting went through three phases, each with a different group of colors. Perhaps I was simply looking for the group that pleased me the most and held my eye on the paining.

The Furlough

2010-09-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

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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Two Paintings +Two Mediums = Three Paintings

2010-03-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

I finished two paintings today, two paintings I needed to get done for the show this Saturday. This first one is a remake of Stormy Weather. The first version I damaged beyond repair and learned a good lesson...never varnish before you absolutely know the paint is dry...or oxidized.

Replacing the painting was important because there are several who are very interested in it. That, however, makes doing the paining again very difficult for me. I put it off for a very long time. I finally painted half of it. After another long pause, I painted the second half. I finally finished it about three weeks after that. It is not that difficult a painting except I was constantly bugged with the thought I could never really recreate it.

Finally believing that I was not really making a reproduction I was able to add the pieces that make it what it is today and I like it better than version 1.

Stormy Weather 2
56 X 56
Oil on Canvas

The next story actually has more of a story. The meaning of the painting is below. This is the process. I first did this piece as a digital painting. Seeded by a painting I saw hanging in a restaurant in Goliad, Texas the concept took some time to develop and I'm glad I worked it out in digital medium first. Once the digital was done, I knew I had to put it on a support in oil. The first one is the digital and size is what ever up to 60" wide if produced as a giclee print. Both are designed as a triptych. The oil on panels is 72" x 36". This painting pays special homage to the 342 Texians who were massacred by the Mexican Army on March 27, 1836.

Goliad

Digital Painting

Goliad

72" x 36" - Triptych
Oil on Panels

The first declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas was signed in Goliad on Dec. 20, 1835.

But March is the most significant month for those who live in Texas in respect to historical dates and events. March 2 is Independence Day when the Texians declared themselves Independent from Mexico. Mexico responded by sending their army commanded by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. On March 6, the Mexican Army moved against the Texians in Mission San Antonio de Valero, more commonly known as the Alamo. Santa Anna killed as many as 250 men that day. Only two Texians survived the battle.

From other battles over the next days Texians were captured. 342 who surrendered when promised safe passage back to their homes were being held in the Presidio La Bahía in Goliad, Texas. As they waited their release, Santa Anna sent orders to execute all the prisoners. The officer who negotiated their surrender and gave them the promise of freedom, would not have any part in this treacherous order. General Urrea, left Goliad with Colonel Jose Nicolas de la Portilla in command and made a written plea for clemency to Santa Anna.

Early on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Portilla had the 342 Texians marched out in three columns on the Bexar Road, San Patricio Road, and the Victoria Road. Mexican soldiers in two ranks on one side of the captives then fired on the Texians at point-blank range only a few hundred yards from the fort. The wounded and dying were then clubbed and stabbed.

The battle cry "Remember the Alamo" which has been made famous by movies, television and historical books had with it the battle cry "Remember Goliad. The next month Santa Anna met Sam Houston's meager forces at San Jacinto. The Texians defeated the Mexican Army and captured Santa Anna forcing surrender and capitulations. The Mexican army and Santa Anna were not treated in the manner their enemy had treated them at the Alamo and Goliad.

More Than One Way to Do Things Over

2010-03-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

It has been a long while since I last posted anything on this blog. With all the various sites I try to get my art on, this one seems to be the most neglected. It should not be so. This is the only site that I comment extensively on about my art.

So I will say that it is time to do a little bit of catching up.

Another Turn

48" x 33"

Oil on Canvas

Another Turn is another painting that has its idea from a painting by John Karl Claes. Claes' painting called "Main Canal Turn" and considerably larger. The compsition was copied but the colors used are significantly different. From the moment I first saw the painting by Claes, I was captivated by the dominant canal and the sky. My effort included a very different sky.

3 X Over
(Three Times Over)
48" x 24"

Acrylic on Canvas

3 X Over is made with acrylic paints. I do not paint with acrylic because I do not like the way it works compared to oils. I'm frequently told by other artists that use acrylic paints exclusively that it is the only way to go. Why? I ask. Because they dry so much faster. Exactly why I do not like them. I'm not a slow painter but I'm not a fast one either. So much of my paintings are created during the process of making them. I need the time to work with the paintings for some time. Acrylic will dry on my pallet before I've even finished with a color requiring me to remix the color several time. Just not suited for me.

When I decided to do a painting using acrylic paints I was faced with the challenge of limiting the number of paints I would buy since it was an experiment for me and not and investment in materials. The concept was first a vertical bar graph. It did not end up that way as it turned into more of an abstract city skyline. I painted this three times building upon each layer.

Maybe I'll try to do another painting in acrylic sometime but not sure how soon.

Elephants Are Gray

2009-11-01T15:47:00.001-08:00

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

2009-09-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-03T01:52:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

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

Aproaching Storm

2009-04-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-06T20:24:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-04-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

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

New Photos of Paintings

2009-02-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-19T11:45:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

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

Rumble in the Jungle

2008-10-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

I have finished another painting and have a second one in a state of pause. That being I know I will work on it more than it looks to day.

Journey (2008)
16x14

2008-08-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Some House Cleaning

When I realized the large gap that existed between my early posts and my more recent posts, I recently cleaned up a good amount of old posts on this blog. My intention for this blog is a place to display some of my art - both photography and paintings.

So, I play a little catch up here bringing some I posted some time ago into this one that will have several pieces done more recently. The are presented pretty much in the order that I painted them.

Standing Along - Inspired by an original I have by John Karl Claes
8" X 10"

Moon Over Columbia
8" X 10"
SOLD

Inflation
8" X 10"
SOLD

Caddo Lake
11" X 16"
SOLD

An Apple, A Pear, An Orange
8" X 10"

Still Life
16" X 11"

Pansies
16" x 20"
SOLD

Mr. Bull
20" x 16"
SOLD

Kilimanjaro
6" X 4"

Knock Out Pink
10" X 14"

Bulls Eye
5" x 7"

I Still Miss Someone
20" x 16"

The next post contains paintings that were done AFTER the one posted here.

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