These stacks of typewriters are framed and up on the gallery wall in New York today. I’m travelling to New York to attend the artist reception for my solo exhibition on March 28.
Artist receptions are always a bit of an anxiety-inducing experience, but I am bringing my both of my teens with me this time. I hope they provide enough of a distraction so the two hours of the reception passes a little quicker.
“Imagine a desk, a working desk, from somewhere around 1900 through the early 1960s.” That’s what I usually tell people when they ask what my favourite subject is to paint. Set in a clean, minimal composition there is a timelessness about them.
The top image shows an Underwood No.5 typewriter. Sturdy and classic. In production for over 30 years because why would you change something that was perfect?
Below is a Corona No.3, a foldable portable typewriter for when you’re on the move.
When I set to work thinking of the paintings that will be included in an exhibition I always make sure that each painting has a companion — the narrative becomes stronger when I make a few scenes depicting my subjects.
These two paintings are at the George Billis Gallery in New York City and ready to be hung in the main gallery space starting on March 26.
Here’s a glimpse of a recently completed painting – a Corona No.3 typewriter. I’ve used this in the past but it needed a bit more of a grand composition so I added some pencils and books.
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.
Typewriters seem to embody ambition. They represent the tools to document thoughts, ideas and stories – you literally hammer your words on to paper.
They’re familiar to us, but distant enough to be obsolete. As with all the man made objects I use as subjects the compositions are simple and straight forward. But they become more complicated with the repetition of the keys and the mechanics of the machine.
I’ve painted many typewriters and without fail, every time I start working on the keys, I think “what did I get myself in to?”
Above: Underwood Leader
Below: Remington Quiet-Riter II
I found this Smith-Corona Clipper typewriter at Everything Old and now it is honoured in a simple and clean painting.
It can be found hanging at the Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, South Carolina along with the other typewriter in the case I posted last week.
This piece is fresh off the easel and awaiting varnishing before it heads off to the Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, South Carolina.
I’ve got several commissions in the works and a solo exhibition in Los Angeles in April 2018, so I have my work cut out for me this winter. It’s good to be busy.
This Remington Quiet-Riter painting is like all of my paintings – simple at first glance, but full of detail once you look a little longer. The straight forward composition is easy to read, but the repetition in the numerous keys creates complexity. The layers of paint to bring the depth of the inside of the case was a joy to paint.
This is the sister painting to the baby blue Royal typewriter in a simple vignette. A red Underwood Standard Portable Typewriter to be featured in my October 2017 solo exhibition at the George Billis Gallery in New York City.
This is another painting that left me very pleased with the outcome. It’s the culmination of years of work and dedication.
This is hands down my favourite painting that I have done in the past few years. It’s a Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter in a simple vignette. It feels good when a painting comes together in all the right places.
This will be one of 18 new paintings showing at the George Billis Gallery in New York City from the beginning of October through to the beginning of November.
This is the culmination of plenty of work and focus. I painted all throughout the summer months and a huge sense of relief and accomplishment has come over me. I have kept busy boxing up and shipping the paintings, but also stepping back from an intense period of painting and now I’m gearing up for the fall months spent following the momentum I built up this past summer.
