Cherries and Scribbles

Cherries and Scribbles   oil   8 x 24 x .5

Visual people seem to pay attention to what they like...or not.  For me, I feel that there is a perceptual "lift" in my spirits when shapes, colors and rhythms arise to the surface, a bit like a runner's high.  I definitely zone out when there is too much clutter, too many things.  So, rather than a complex still life, I prefer honing in on one particular.  Usually, I would be tempted to paint this small crock of cherries on a square canvas.  In this instance, I used a format that would stretch my imagination...a split screen with a bit of texture.  Simple, yet complex.  The darker layer of red violet was painted over a light ground and scratched into, almost immediately.  The color palette of light blue and burgundy (or oxblood or cordovan) recalls the oxford shirts, penny loafers and madras fabric of my early teenage years, the time of "coming of age", when colors, songs and experiences seem stronger than anything else experience up to that point in time.  It is a palette I have always loved.

So, I guess it would seem that this work satisfies me on so many levels....aesthetically, of course.

Lemons and Merlot

Lemons and Merlot  oil   20 x 10

Banquet   oil   20 x 60 x 1.5

is a slice created from reference photos taken for a larger work created in 2010.  The challenge for this work was a call from a Cleveland cooking school to create works that would be auctioned as a benefit for their school.  We artists were led to believe that our works would bring a fair market profit.  Of course, my imagination ran wild with possibilities.  On a blistering summer day, I created the set-up on my patio, with items purchased and from my cupboards. (Whoa....fish on a hot platter on a hot table on a hot patio)  I photographed the work from left to right in sections.  This work took a couple of months to complete.  And, as artists' luck would have it, the auction was attended only by employees and students of the school.  There were few benefactors and even fewer sales.  "Banquet" was sold at a far lower price that even I had imagined possible.  Love's labor lost.  Unfortunately, I still harbor a bit of resentment.  These memories are quite painful, actually. And, once again, that horrible grown-up lesson that there will always be those who take advantage of artists.  I learned a lot.  Again.

Luckily, I still have all of those reference photos that make my set-up that summer all too real.  There are many possibilities.  I guess that is what I thrive on...possibilities.

Jane

Jane   oil   30 x 24

This past month I had the privilege of painting Jane, a woman whose beauty (inner and outer) and strength will put her in my personal trove of women to admire and to model myself after.  She is witty...a coiner-of-words as she herself describes it, personable and enthusiastic.  She has flown planes and piloted boats. She is a photographer who understands composition and visual lingo. She is well-traveled.  As I painted her, I pictured her as a modern-day Amelia Earhart.  Her life has been spent in several parts of the country but is recently transplanted and blooming in northeast Ohio.

Painting a portrait only works out well for me when I am able to feel an emotional connection to the model.  For that to happen, the sitter must be open to the silent visual conversation and intimacy that must take place.  For me, all of the pieces fell into place.

And her name?  Jane is simple, direct and feminine.  Thank you, Jane, for a wonderful experience!