Everything is framed and shipped to the George Billis Gallery. As I write this, many paintings are in transit, somewhere in the middle of the continent and scheduled to arrive at the gallery in New York on Monday morning.
When the paintings are in transit, I suffer from mild anxiety. It has happened a few times when the heavy-duty packaging has arrived damaged, and I dread to think of how it happens. But 9 times out of 10, everything goes as expected.
The show goes up on the gallery walls on October 3, and the reception is on Thursday, October 5, from 6pm – 8pm.
1926 Royal P Typewriter with Pencil & Black Telephone Receiver / framed
I just completed a series of three paintings for my upcoming exhibition in New York City. Three birds-eye view typewriters.
1928 Underwood Portable Standard Typewriter with Three Pencils / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2023
I love painting the mechanical components of the machines.
1964 Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 32 Typewriter with Pencil & Book / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2023
There will always be something charming and delightful in typewriters. Each piece is 2 feet tall and three feet wide. The typewriters are all depicted as life-size. My goal with these paintings is to have a viewer almost get a sense of being able to touch and use the typewriters.
1926 Royal P Typewriter with Pencil / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / 2023
When I start each painting, it never fails that I end up slightly overwhelmed at the number of keys I’ve locked myself into painting. I once told someone that my ability to sit quietly and do something as tedious as painting 150 tiny circles and squares is probably the key to why I can paint as much as I do.
I have been working in the studio every day for the past three months. Well, I did take four days off to visit with family, but I made up for lost time by working in the evenings because I have an upcoming exhibition in New York City with the George Billis Gallery. The show goes up on October 3, and I have just sent the first batch off to the framers. I’m down to the wire finishing up the last few pieces before I can officially relax and come up for air.
In a few weeks, I’ll share the new paintings. This one here won’t be part of the show. It’s already on its way to a collector in New Jersey, as it was sold before it even went to the gallery.
Three Gumball Machines / 40 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2023
1957 Royal Quiet De Luxe Typewriter / 30 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / installed in a home
Happy to share this photo of my painting installed in a collector’s beautiful home. It is always a great feeling when you see where the paintings end up.
A number of the clocks that I have come from the Ukraine. Last year, when war broke out, I was saddened to see that the sellers I have bought from in the past had to flee their homes, their lives and livelihoods becoming uncertain. However, I kept an eye on things and was excited to see that one of my favourite clock sellers had returned to her home in Kyiv and started her business again. So I bought some clocks from her and was surprised at how fast they arrived.
This is one of the clocks I purchased, and I liked how the face incorporated Roman numerals. It’s a simple breakdown of the simple shapes. An exercise in geometry, if you will.
Green Clock & Antique Book / 16 x 16 inches / oil on canvas / 2023 / on the easel
Like the trophy paintings I shared last week, this one also inspired a more complex composition. Featuring a series of randomly selected books. I like the poetry a group of tiles can suggest, I like the ideas that one can imagine within the pages, like a treasure waiting to be opened.
Green Clock & Antique Books / 40 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2023 / on the easel
These two paintings are in New York City showing at the George Billis Gallery. Happy to report that the large one already found its way to a collector’s home before it had a chance to hit the gallery wall.
I recently completed another small series of larger, more complicated pieces inspired by small studies that I have had hanging around the studio for about seven months. I picked up these trophies a few years ago and painted them a few times because the textures within the tarnished surfaces themselves are what I enjoy.
Antique Trophy & Three Books / 16 x 16 inches / oil on canvas / 2023 / on the easel
Above, we have a 16-inch square study for a much larger 40 x 30-inch piece below. These pieces are currently being shown in New York City at the George Billis Gallery.
Three Antique Trophies & Books / 40 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2023 / on the easel
I am participating in two group exhibitions this month — the first up is with the George Billis Gallery, a show featuring gallery artists in Manhattan. My contribution is shown here in the gallery window.
1957 Royal Quiet De Luxe / 30 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / gallery window in Manhattan
And quickly followed by this exhibition is the same typewriter composed face-in instead of birds-eye with the Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, North Carolina.
1957 Royal Quiet De Luxe & Pencils / 24 x 36 inches / oil on canvas / on the easel
Study for 1957 Royal Quiet De Luxe & Pencils / 9 x 12 inches / oil on canvas / on the easel
This invitational exhibition features study paintings shown alongside the fully realized larger version. The Robert Lange Studios always have interesting ideas for exhibitions.
I found this great little trunk with the heavily tarnished clasps, buckles, and the burst of colour from the trunk’s body. There’s a formula I like to apply that helps a painting become a reality — the repetition of the circles and the repeating shapes of the case’s metallic components, everything is almost mathematically figured.
Seven Clocks / 36 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2023 / on the easel
There is significance in the number seven and the way the circular shapes of the clocks, bells, camera lenses, and flashes seem to be like clusters of bubbles, something I find satisfying. I had fun working on these two pieces. They’ll be shown at the upcoming Art Market San Francisco art fair on April 20-23 with the Billis Williams Gallery.
Seven Cameras / 36 x 30 inches / oil on canvas / 2023 / on the easel
