Safari...

A Flair for Drama   oil/canvas   20 x 16 x 1.5

is a Swahili word that literally means "long journey".  I would like to think that its implications include a finding, a journey of the self, which is pretty much inherent in the notion of a long journey.  Our friend Pat recently returned from an African safari, not in search of hunting game, but in search of a knowledge of the world at large, and, of course, in search of self.  After years and years of the nine-to-five in support of his family, this was his treat to himself.  Likewise, each and every work of art is a journey....some longer than others.  The slide progression shows my journey in the painting of my rooster friend.  I yearned for my paint and my stroke-making to be all-things-rooster, in order to avoid the stagnancy of rooster-for-decoration.  And, a journey it was!  Each of my works has always included a problem area.....in this work is was the rear leg...the one that should be not-so-dominant and fading into the ground area.  However, as I work abstractly at the same time, the overall design seemed to be fighting with the notions of reality.  Originally, I had planned to discuss my decisions at each pass.  Unfortunately, those explanations have faded with two exceptions.  I always recall the feeling of unrestrained joy at the beginning, the first pass, and the openness of possibility.    I can also recall the thrill I felt as the cool green was added to the mix....that was, perhaps, the most exciting moment in the process.  As you can see, I played with many solutions and came to an agreement of sorts.  Is it finished?

I do not know at this time.  Perhaps the journey is over.  Perhaps not.

Fright Night...

Shocking   Mixed/Paper   34.5 x 22

I am a mystery-lover.  After all, isn't making a painting somewhat like solving a giant mystery?  Each October, I have a bit of a film festival for myself....mysteries, thrillers, haunted houses and the like.  Things that go bump in the night.  Things that jar us away from the day-to-day, the status quo that can become ever-so-monotonous.  When I hoisted the work "Shocking" onto its notch on the wall recently, I was reminded of how much fun it was to create this work.  I assembled photos of shocked and surprised friends and family:  my friend Concepcion, friend Brian and his two sons Oscar and Casper, son Seth and friend Cheryl who for many years, ran the now-defunct Brimfield Post Office.  Cut linoleum blocks printed onto the paper's surface provided the "look" of a film strip.  (which has indeed become an antiquity) The work continued by arranging faces and drawing with pastels in my favorite spooky colors.  I tried to keep a vague darkness going on....as if these were faces in a darkened movie theater.  My friends had fun posing for this work, I think.  And I had a great deal of fun making it.  "Shocking" is the title.  I am slightly hidden in the upper right hand corner.

Ah....Middle Age...a profile...

Middle Age   oil/canvas   16 x 8 x 1.5

In our youth- and diet-oriented culture, we seem to cringe at the the notion of middle age.  My work was painted from a detailed sketch made during a live model situation.  There were those who really didn't want to participate, as this gentleman's body veered quite a ways from  the beautiful norm that we admire.  As I have never appreciated or enjoyed the notion of physical perfection, nor likewise the notion of ugliness in order to make a statement, I thoroughly appreciated the opportunity before me.  (I much enjoy the French term jolie-laide, which incorporates a bit of both)  Middle age...the period where gravity takes its toll, where backs laden with fatigue become curved...where support is welcome...where plumpness becomes the norm.  Yes.  I relished the opportunity to reduce this drawing to a few simple shapes and lines that would tell the story of middle age.

P.S.  A simple look around the studio revealed similar bodies, even among those who scoffed.  Life is interesting.

Bold versus Sublime...

Pumpkin with Twisty Stem   Watercolor

I would have to say that I prefer bold paintings....those that pull you in from across the room and beckon you to come closer.  But I also believe that we need to learn to play all of the notes:  loud and soft; quick and slow; rhythmic and not-so.  These are the tools that allow us to solve all (or almost all) visual problems.  It seems to me that great musicians are masters of all kinds of notes that lead us into varying moods and feelings....they need to be able to manipulate their listeners.  Same with great actors.  And so, from time to time, I present myself with a painting problem that requires a more sublime presentation.

"Pumpkin with a Twisty Stem" was begun as a watercolor monoprint.  I painted tender strokes onto a piece of plexiglass then transferred it by pressing onto a sheet of hot press watercolor paper.  I continued to coax the image into being.  The sublime is more easily accomplished with this versatile medium.  I am pleased with these results.

Torrit Gray...in praise of neutrals

I am in love.  With Torrit Gray.  No, not a guy... a paint from Gamblin.

I am a value painter.  But I do appreciate neutrals a great deal, especially when laid next to pures and sparkling brights.  I have always mixed my own grays.  It is usually quite an ordeal, searching for a particular neutral nuance, while adding and adding and subtracting with my palette knife.  This summer I found in my color box a promotional tube of Torrit Gray from Gamblin.  I have absolutely no idea where it came from.  But I now hail its unexpected arrival.  Because it is such a beautiful gray, in my opinion, I found myself simply mixing the pure hue of my choice to get it to lean in a particular direction.  The tube says " In honor of Earth Day, we make this oil color from recycled pigments collected by our air filtration system".  Wow.

There is a special link on the Gamblin site that explains this pigment and its making.  I found it fascinating.

Torrit Gray is quite a guy.

Here’s the secret of being a great colorist: it doesn’t matter how well you combine the bright, obvious colors, it’s the so-called dull, closely related shades - gray-greens, pewters, tans, muted browns, umbers, ochres, stormy blues and charcoals - that determines whether you have an eye for color.

Dorothy Shinn, April 14, 2005 review of Yves Saint-Laurent, Akron Beacon Journal

Hanging Around...

Boston Beat   oil/canvas  40 x 30 x 1.5

is a term that implies a bit of laziness, without particular goals.  Hanging around was something we did as teenagers.....waiting for some excitement to stir us.  There are paintings that hang around in my studio.  "Boston Beat" was one such work.  I trusted my intuition as it resided there against the wall.  I was not ready to hang it, to wire it, to consider it finished.  It was just fine....all the pieces were in their places.  The forms interrelated to my satisfaction.  The color pleasing.  Still....I found it a bit boring.  Too much reality.  Values that, to my irritation, whispered.  Not to mention that dreaded green triangle in the upper left.  Painting is a process that requires continued learning and questioning.  I love work that has an immediate impact with its shapes and values.  There was only one thing left to do............surgery.  What it needed took its time to infiltrate my brain.  I am happier.

Resolution is always sweet.  Sometimes attainable.  Sometimes not.