I’ll be calling this one “All the Time in the World”. It’s a bit challenging but that’s a good thing. Clocks are a subject I’ve worked with over and over again for many years. Rife with symbolism and ideas – it’s an ongoing process to perfect technique. Layers of paint over several days, I keep entering the studio throughout different times of the day and seeing areas that need reworking.
A new piece, almost complete. It’ll be featured in my March 26 – April 27, 2019 exhibition that will be very heavily on my mind for the next several months.
I just finished this commission and now I can start focussing on new paintings for my early spring 2019 solo exhibition in New York City at the George Billis Gallery.
For the third year in a row ITOYA has issued a calendar featuring a dozen of my paintings. The calendar is made exclusively for the Japanese market, and ITOYA is in charge of all the sales.
The calendar is large, measuring at 23.5″ x 16.5″ and printed on sturdy, heavy weight paper, the images are big and colorful.
If you’re outside of Japan, try using tenso.com to import the calendar. You can find the calendar on the ITOYA website here.
This past week I spent some time with some do-overs.
These two paintings are from a few years ago and although they don’t look too unusual for my work, they did before I repainted the backgrounds.
Before these pictures were taken, the backgrounds were what I call explosion blue. They were a vibrant, unnatural, unfamiliar, chemical blue.
They were complete and even hung in a gallery for some time, but I was happy to get them back to correct them. I was pleased with the balance and geometry of the compositions, but the blue was so peculiar to my eyes that I had a hard time looking at the paintings.
I removed the varnish and added some layers of a much more subtle and neutral tone — a white/grey with only the most subtle, barely perceptible hint of blue. Immediately it felt as though my own personality returned to the paintings.
I did the vibrant blue backgrounds on the suggestion from a friend who was giving some opinion on changes they thought would add some “pop” to my work. In a moment of weakness and confusion, I took their advice. It was as though my own signature was removed from my work.
The opportunity for the do-over has been very therapeutic.
Imagine if life were like a painting. Imagine if you could literally get a moment or an event back, remove the varnish and make your corrections.
I’m calling this one done. Finding the point of completion is always satisfying on a painting. This one is going to hang in my house for some time while I move on to the next stack of books to paint.
This painting is available as a 12 x 12 inch print. See it in my print shop → here.
There is a great preview in American Art Collector magazine for the October 2018 Souvenir group exhibition at the Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, South Carolina.
It’s always an honour when my work appears in slick publications along side so many artists that I admire.
I’m happy to announce that my painting, Brownie Hawkeye, will be part of the Robert Lange Studios October 2018 group exhibition in Charleston, South Carolina.
It’s an exhibition with a take-away. The collector also gets the actual camera.
The opening reception is this Friday, October 5.
I made a smaller version of this painting last year and thought that it deserved another composition and a larger canvas.
After The Sun Sets II is at the George Billis Gallery in New York City.
