It turns out I have an interest in industrial design. And nostalgia. And strong geometric shapes. And icons and symbols found in everyday objects. The interests manifest themselves in paintings. Paintings that are done with a slight lean on old masters painting techniques with an emphasis on how that light falls on these objects. Recently that light has been the dependable light from a north-facing window in my house.
My muse, the pear. The perfect way to study light and color with a simply beautiful shape. These two pieces will be included in the June show.
This is another piece for my June show. It has pre-sold (along with 1:00, 2:00, 3:00) so I’m sharing them a little early.
Painting these books really lights my fire. I picked up the “It’s Story Time” book at an antique shop near my house. Its red cover and the simplicity of the title really are a great contrast to the heavy, dark books.
This is one of the paintings for my upcoming show in Sacramento, California this June. Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing more completed pieces.
A friend gave me a small suitcase and some old clocks, to add to my collection. Over time I’ll be continuing the series of clocks that I’ve been working on. It’s more than obvious what the next in the series will have to be.
These hunting boots belonged to the father of a good friend of mine. They were used in the 40s and they are spectacular. I imagine it took about 15 minutes to get them laced up.
Today a friend asked me “what’s new?” Ever sit there with a blank stare on your face when someone asks you that? That’s what I did. Then I thought about the “newness” in my life and realized that I’m focused on my work, and although that seems like nothing new to me, it’s new to the person you’re talking to. I’ve got the exhibition in June, which means I’ve got until mid-May to create some newness.
I’m sure that February, March and April will move fast. The work I’ll be doing will be larger, not going under say 20″ or 24″ in size. I’ve come to terms that this is around the size I work best in. It’s comfortable. The smaller I go, the more I struggle.
This winter has been cold. Bitter cold. I know it’s been cold throughout the entire continent, but I’m sure if you were to take a look at the average temperature where I am, you’d fall into stunned silence. I should not feel like this until the end of February, not January. I guess I always have the warm colors in the pears. And radiant heat in the studio.
Where did I go? It’s been a few weeks since I last posted anything. I’m busy. I’ve got an show coming up in June in Sacramento and I think that’s going to keep me very occupied for the next several months. The first half of this year is going to be insane in my studio. Insane and exciting.
I’m calling this piece Second Draft. The first time I painted this old Remington (only a few weeks ago) it appeared on a very dark background. Unfamiliar territory. So I fretted and stirred and resolved myself by painting it a second time in more familiar territory. I’m sure I’ll experiment further with other tones in the background but it’s a slow process.
Goodbye 2008. I’m glad to see you go, you miserable year with your dismal news headlines. I plan on hiding in my studio doing the best work I possibly can for 2009. I’m actually optimistic about that.
Saying “Happy New Year” doesn’t feel empty and pointless this year. I really, truly hope it is a Happy New Year.
This is a small sample of some paintings completed in 2008. I thought it would be nice to make a presentation in video. I uploaded a high quality version to YouTube, so if you have broadband, please click the “watch in high quality” link directly below the video on the YouTube site because there’s nothing worse than witnessing your paintings turn into a fuzzy, washed-out mess in a video. Still, I think it’s pretty cool to have this tool at my fingertips.
Eventually (I stress eventually) I want to make some videos of the paintings in progress. Major hurdles include being a control freak and not owning a camera to record the process.