Unruly Things

Strings   oil on canvas   30 x 40 x 1.5

tickle my fancy.  It is also the name of my son's San Francisco-based band.  Unruly adds spice and character to our oh-so-smooth-and-perfect-wrinklefree existence.  The disobedient strand of hair.  The out-of-sync beat that catches our ears.  The desire to step out of the normal.  Check out Unruly Things at: Unruly Things

I was blessed with three wonderful sons who all possess the artist's soul.  Strings has been accepted into Kaleidoscope 2013, an exhibition near and dear to my heart, here in Akron, Ohio.

Strings that connect.  Strings that weave.
Heartstrings.  The jazz of life.

Don't Give Up the Ship Painting

Rachel   oil/canvas   20 x 10 x .5

It is very difficult when to quit a painting. I really do believe in carrying a painting as far as it will take you. I consider that to be a commitment to the work. The result has swung both ways for me. "Rachel" started with promise but was a rocky road to travel. I started with a failed painting that had been covered over with lots of paint and texture. The speed bump that jarred me initially was the placement on the canvas....I worked and reworked the idea. Such a simple beautiful figure that I had done so many times before, and more successfully! I finally reached the point where the drawing was secure and I could be creative with the paint, which is what I live for. Small painting.....hours and hours of work. My New Year's resolution this year is to turn out fewer paintings, but to let none be released that I am not completely satisfied with, at least momentarily. I believe that my work on Rachel was rewarded.

The subjectivity of Seeing

Mary, Mary   oil/canvas   36 x 24 x 1.5

The varieties of human taste always interest me. I paint with lots of other artists. Each has his/her own way of seeing, of taking in the sight in front of them. Mary was a beautiful model. When she entered the room, I took note of her hair, which had been dyed a kool-aid lime green. That, I thought, would be my "hook", my focal point. Then, as the painting progressed, I thought that her revealing backless dress and the muscles on the back would be my focal area. By the second session, I realized that the thing of interest, to me, was her heel, turned so subtly in those strappy high heels. I wouldn't even had guessed it myself! There, in the left corner, is my center of interest. I guess it is like ice cream..............different people, different flavors. I have always loved rum raisin.