From June 2021

Remington Accounting Machine

Last week, I mentioned that I had spent much time painting typewriter keys in the past few months. So here’s an example of more typewriter keys.

Repetition, continuity, rhythm, symmetry and balance — these are all elements that drive my paintings. But also, they drive my studio practice. For centuries artists have repeated subjects, returning to the same thing repeatedly to improve upon their last iteration.

Remington Accounting Machine / 30 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / on the easel

I have seen artists entirely give up on the idea of a career doing what they love because they get bored with the notion of always returning to the same subjects. The not-so-secret secret, it would seem, is to keep coming back to what you know.

Cézanne paintined Mont Sainte-Victiore dozens of times. The same view, over and over. Monet did a series of Rouen Cathedral 30 times. The precise same position and composition.

And so today, I return to painting yet more typewriter keys and other intricate details of the mechanisms that make these machines so interesting to me.

Off to France

I wish I were boarding a plane to France, but alas, it is just my paintings that live exciting lives.

This new commission will soon be in the hands of a collector. Over the last several months, I have painted so many typewriter keys.

Underwood No. 5 with Books / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / on the easel

25¢ on a Grand Scale

A recent commission that turned out great — which makes me happy as it is huge at 60 x 40 inches. Crated and shipped off to clients on the East Coast of the USA.

It looks simple enough, but a large amount of white space is several thin layers of paint that took days to dry while I anxiously waited and hoped no specks of dust or marks would ruin the smooth surface I work to achieve. The effect is a luminosity that changes with different light throughout the day and the change of seasons.

25¢ / 60 x 40 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / on the easel

10:10 on 10 x 10

Four more in my ongoing series of single-clock paintings. When I began this series at the end of last year, I was moving the hands along as I went… 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 and so on. It wasn’t long before I was going around again. So I changed the naming scheme. The hands will stay at 10:10 as the paintings are on 10 x 10-inch canvas.

10:10, No.2 & No.1 / each 10 x 10 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / framed

These four are now at the George Billis Gallery in Westport, Connecticut. You can see them closer here: No.1, No.2, No.5, No.6.

10:10, No.5 & No.6 / each 10 x 10 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / framed

10:10, No.3 & No.4

I have completed several new little clock paintings. After having a pretty good reaction to my 10 x 10 inch paintings that I started sharing at the beginning of 2021 and selling a dozen of them, I found time between commissions to send a couple of new ones to the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles.

10:10, No.3 / 10 x 10 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / on the easel

The plan is to continue with an ongoing series of these pieces. Going forward, the time will be set to 10:10. Here we have No.3 & No.4.

10:10, No.4 / 10 x 10 inches / oil on canvas / 2021 / on the easel