Donuts for Wayne

Donuts for Wayne   oil   11 x 14 x .5

 

Laden

Laden   oil/canvas   20 x 20 x 1.5

is perhaps the best word to describe the peak of winter joy for me...trees weighted down with snow, their shapes achieving completely different personas.  We take notice.

This is my front yard.  Foreground drifts are thickly described using few strokes and a palette knife.  The trees are fairly accurately described.  The warmth of the background has been amped up to achieve a more dynamic relationship with the foreground.  

An older painting with plenty of texture was covered over in this work.  I am finding that I really enjoy the layering over of canvasses....more surprises, more character, more chaos.  What a rush!

I am pleased.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes   oil/canvas   11 x 14 x .5

This work painted itself before I began...knew what I wanted.  No table. No bowl....and no pretty tablecloth.  Very minimal with warmish white background.

Back in the day, I shot my work on an old school camera then loaded the images onto my computer.  These days, my I Phone does the job.  A great job...almost too good.

This is not what my painting looks like.  Trust me.  My phone camera has the ability, it seems, to see through layers of paint.  And brushstrokes are almost super-humanly visible.  The white background is invisible because former layers are poking through.  Oh, yes, I fiddled with the controls and color adjustors until my attention to the task had evaporated.  My entire day is focused on finding the hours I need to paint.  And I resent clerical hours, although they are necessary.

So..........................what you are seeing is not the true picture.  Just imagine a wispy white background.  Wabi Sabi. 

Gerbera

Gerbera   oil/canvas   14 x 11 x .5

 Painting flowers is not for sissies!  So much information...so much detail...and so many relationships!  Painting them leads down the path of itty-bittiness that is not in my nature.  Although they are definitely not my favorite subject, I do paint them from time to time in order to stretch my brushwork as well as my mind.  My goal of simplification of shapes and of brushwork is put to the test.  

This is my latest effort...a single large bloom, single stalk, single leaf, and single pot is all I could muster.  

There be it...until next time.  

Diss-Guise

Diss-Guise   watercolor   13x 10

 

Reboot

Reboot   watercolor   10 x 13

Nothing is a more lively still life subject than an old pair of boots or shoes that still hold the forms of the wearer's feet! After all, Van Gogh did it, right?

My subject is a thrifted pair of Fiorentini Baker boots that I have worn for many years.  These are the boots that are so comfortable that you don't notice them at all.

After exploring a multitude of ways  to arrange 2 boot shapes in the picture plane, I settled on this, which seems to created a circular movement to me.  I am a layerist.  Layering paint creates complex color, complex neutrals specifically, as well as a feeling of the passage of time.  Pure sparkling watercolors are not my thing.  At one point, the color was actually "power washed" in my basement laundry tub.  This procedure removes paint, disrupts the surface and creates texture as well as SURPRISES!  (Note:  I never scrub or touch the surface.  The force of the water as it hits the surface can be controlled by the amount of water used as well as your fingers over the nozzle.  

I am pleased and feel that my  intentions were achieved.

Ode to Dangling

Ode to Dangling   oil/canvas   20 x 16 x .5

 "Having your feet on solid ground", "being grounded"...those phrases indicate a sense of safety, of certainty.  OK.  Opposing those are thoughts of flight, of taking off, of uncertainly...but including thrills, newness, and a willingness to try the untried.  In this case, our young daughter is trusting and feeling the excitement, the exhilaration of  the lift-off.  That, to me, is an indication of spirit, of braveness.

This composition was severely pared down to its essential elements of the group gesture.  Two adults are leaning outwards to support the weight of the adventurous child.  For me, this scene was burdened by the woods, the hiking path and the horizon line.  The gesture resembles the letter M.  Simple. Sweet.  Simply read.  Impasto strokes add to its simplicity. The shared colors and strokes support the sharing of the moment.  This painting was an adventure to me, as well.  

The beauty of flight.  I am pleased.

Golden + 2

This small but brisk portrait was done in fun as a surprise anniversary gift for some dear ones.  The reference was a selfie shot by the two of them that they had posted.  The photo was so much fun that I just had to do it!  

The surprise was well received.

Then...the surprise came my way when we received the holiday greeting below.  

I was soo happy to be a part of such a fun experience!  

Golden + 2   oil/canvas   9 x 12 x .5