Garden Shed

Garden Shed   oil/canvas   14 x 11 x .5

 This painting of our garden shed is, for better or worse, the image that greets me on an almost daily bases.  In it are tools, pots and potting soil as well as remnants of dried and drying herbs and vines.  It is moody.  It is crooked.  

I am satisfied with this painting, as far as painting from direct observation goes.  

The peeled layers, the cracked glass and the rusty roof provide charm.  This is where scraping and gouging into the work have a direct usefulness.

Don't forget to close the door.  The chipmunks might get in.  

Architectural Delights

Fenn  Corn Crib   oil on canvas   20 x 20 x 1.5

abound here in Northeast Ohio...and they never cease to interest me.  Yin Yang.  My figurative work is composed of organic forms, organic line.  Perhaps the geometric forms of old buildings help my sense of aesthetic balance.  The Fenn Corn Crib is on the grounds of The Kelso House and Museum in Brimfield Ohio.  I chose to accentuate its symmetry by choosing a square format and by placing it plop in the middle.  The uneven hand cut boards, the seen-better-days lumber and the peeling paint thrilled me almost as much as the Gothic window on top, which, by the way, has a mirror window on the other side.  No drive-through corn farms for the Fenns.  Painting such a building fills me with respect for the folks of earlier times whose life was certainly no walk in the park.

Hidden Symmetry...

Hidden Symmetry   oil/canvas   48 x 24 x 1.5

For the past 20+ years we have lived in a large-in-area-small-population farmy area....room to breathe. There were two steeples on a charming but decrepit barn on the way home that beckoned to me. Not just to me, but to everyone. Rumor had it that the owners were going to restore the barn. In fact, I believe that at one point, it was jacked up. The years passed and the rumors persisted. Although I am mostly a figurative painter, I am attracted by architectural detailing and those pieces parts that are handmade. So my motive is not so much nostalgia, but the desire for communities, as well as individuals, to celebrate their diversity. Walmart and other retail giants are slowly but surely creating communities that are homogenous. Any road trip will tell you that. Finally, Rick shot some photos for me and I painted both spires individually, a bit like figure paintings. Three weeks hence, the spires were removed from the barn and laid in the yard. I don't know where they are now.
My goal was to complement the extreme textures of the slate roof tiles with the smooth quality of the sky. Rooftops for me represent a conjoining of the earth and the sky, a puzzle piece that symbolizes also the metaphor of finite/infinite; man-made/nature; imperfect/perfect; and the list goes on. As I painted the steeple, I also realized that this damaged element was still upright, still under the influence of gravity, still vertical. I liken this to the resiliency of so many people I know. So many people I respect. Hidden symmetry.