"Following Along" - a few recent pieces

 "Following Along"

8x10; oil on panel

 "Orchard"

10x8; oil on panel

"Juicy"

8x8; oil on panel

White Rock in shadow

"Wilson Mountain"
8x10; oil

Not as easy as it sounds.....

No revelations -- when I get one about this, you'll be the first to know

Plein air study: "Wilson Mountain"

Near Home.....

"Home Away From Home"
8x10 study; oil

In need of a break from red rock madness, I looked around for something a little different. At this point in my fledgling painting life, I'm just looking to paint anything from life....but in this case, after four days baking in the Arizona sun, I was being a wimp. What I was really looking for was: what can I paint without leaving the cover of my patio?

Since we live full-time in our RV in a beautiful park on the banks of Oak Creek, the most obvious choice was: an RV. Not all that exciting...but it made for a good exercise.

A friend and I always talk about critical elements to paintings. In landscapes, it seems important to me that someone viewing the painting should feel that it would be someplace they might like to spend some time. Several months ago, I saw a painting of an RV park in American Artist magazine that had exactly that feel to it....I tried to capture a modicum of this as best I could in this little sketch. It will definitely be a guiding concept when I do some future paintings from the comfort of home....

sketch: "Home Away From Home" 8x10; oil

Things change.....

"Eastern Hills"
9"x12" acrylic on panel
Click here to bid on this painting

So here I am, breaking one of my cardinal rules....blogging/emailing after drinking a bit. Didn't I learn anything from watching "The Social Network?" On the other hand, the whole idea of a blog is that it is a forum where we can present ideas without being constrained by the normalities of many other venues in society.

That said, here's my radical revelation: I love masonite! Shocked? I can understand that. Maybe it's just the margarita talking...After all, does anybody really understand the difference between this stuff and other engineered wood panels? For instance, did you know that it's one of the only wood panels produced that doesn't use formaldehyde...I didn't. I mean, what was the chance that anything used for desktops and roofing in the 1940s was going to be naturally based and environmentally friendly?

Anyway, aside from it's unique quality to piss off the likes of James Watt, Christine Todd Whitman, and Stephen Johnson, it makes a very fun painting surface...It might also be pretty effective in the banging-the-head-against-it category should the need arise.

"Eastern Hills" 9x12 on masonite panel is a slightly different attempt at folding a bit more realism into the imagined landscape.

Moving Forward

"Morning Field"
8"x10" acrylic on canvas panel
Click here to bid on this painting

Even though I'm ashamed that I've been away from the blog for a couple of weeks - mainly because I promised myself this wouldn't be one of those things I'd be hot on for a short time and then drop after a few weeks - I've been pretty diligent in the studio. Several still-lifes, lots of sketching and studying, and some new landscapes have managed to emerge amidst ArtWalk preparations, and puppy neutering rehab. Lucas managed to be more spastic and silly while he was stitched up, collared up and drugged up....in a word, he was the quintessential Corgi.

Again it feels like every day in the studio brings something new that six or eight months ago I wouldn't have dared to attempt...to some they may seem to miniscule, but to this wandering saxophone player, they're beyond huge.....

On familiar ground, "Morning Field" is the last of the small acrylic studies that I plan to re-visit in larger oil format...

Poplars

"Poplar Trio"
9"x12" acrylic on panel
SOLD

Truck back home (please see aforementioned Grand Canyon accident).....Lucas recuperating from surrendering his manhood....everybody finally healthy.....

New paintings! Yes!

Stormy Weather

"STORMY DISPOSITION" 12"x16"
acrylic on panel
SOLD

No insights today; just a new painting....peace

Back at the easel finally; and for sale....

"BACKLIGHT" 10"x10" acrylic on panel
SOLD

Sometimes it's not about art. Sometimes it's nice just to have a forum in which to vent. Like this time...

Unrelated to painting, over the last week or so, I've been unfortunate enough to have several drivers pull out in front of my car on a highway between Sedona and Jerome (AZ). And all of them have been at the same intersection/side-road. Now granted, we're not talking about I-405 in LA here; most of the time, there's barely another car around for more than a mile. But...it is a highway. Those of us traversing it lawfully are usually doing so at between 65 and 70 mph....others are often proceeding at a somewhat more brisk clip.

Anyway, being a four-lane highway, when a mid-tone sedan with one or more octogenarians -- did I mention that the majority have been a bit on the elderly side? (I don't want to generalize, but...) -- suddenly pulls onto the the highway at 7 mph with less than 1000 yards warning, and in my lane; well, it's more than a little distressing. Now understand, by necessity, I drive a very large pickup...it checks in at around 12,000lbs.

I just can't comprehend what these yutzes are thinking when they do this....did mom and dad never tell them to look both ways back when they were little ones? Anyhoo...to move this anecdote along...because I was forced to reduce my speed by nearly 90 percent as I moved into the VACANT adjacent lane, I got a good look at the offending driver. Oblivious, unaware, vacantly staring straight ahead, hands dutifully at ten and two on the steering wheel, and apparently applying equal pressure to brake and accelerator -- brake lights illuminated, but neither slowing nor accelerating.

Three hours later, he walked into my studio...same expression. Didn't look at the paintings, photography, or even the excessively cute puppy bouncing up and down in front of them. Walked out without uttering even a grunt.

I've always known that most people go through life asleep, I just wasn't aware that the dead had now started to arise and were driving imported sedans.

Fear

The concept of an open studio is an interesting one. The idea of course being that while you are working in your studio, anyone can walk in and watch you while you're in the midst of your process -- in this case, fencing with a canvas. Painting can be such a solitary pursuit, especially for those that seek the solitude of outdoors and the tradition of plein-air.

Being new to this, the fact that at any time, a stranger can walk into my studio and look over my shoulder as I put paint on the canvas, mix paint on the pallet, or just stare at the spot where I intend to place paint while I'm figuring out the next move in this game of chess, can be very disconcerting.

Today, a nice gentleman walked into my studio, and unlike most visitors that linger at the front of the room and tentatively tip-toe about so as to not disturb "the process," this fellow greeted me very boldy and walked right up to the easel. I was in the middle of mixing several different values for an attempt at a Bosc pear. As I placed my first value on the canvas - darkest dark, of course - he shook his head and said, "I just don't know how you guys do that...I'd be terrified...I'm just not creatively inclined."

I thought...well...I am terrified...trust me...but I have to finish this painting ....cause, you know, it's what I do now...and in order to finish it...I have to start the bloody thing....so take a deep breath and....after the first stroke, it gets instantly easier...and before I know it, it's fun....(not to mention, being new at this, I don't really feel like I know what the hell I'm doing half the time)...

...and this is the way I've always worked. In music, I was always fearful when starting a new composition. I just had to get that first note on the page and then it became about the fun. That's when the real creativity begins.

In truth, I could just close the door and work in privacy...but what fun would that be?

Offered: Pansies and Vase; 8x10 oil on canvas

Age and energy

The topic of age was in the air the other night. Listening to NPR, the programs "All Things Considered" and "Fresh Air" were discussing artists and age. A question posed was this: does an artist create more lasting and meaningful works of art because they are advanced in age?

One person mentioned was Monet, who arguably created his best work during his advanced years in his garden at Giverny. Also J.S. Bach, who completed singular works including the B Minor Mass at a point in his late fifties -- advanced age for the 18th century.

While the list of aging geniuses is long, so too is the list of highly accomplished youngsters creating their seminal works before the age of forty.

Does then, the maturity and experience of age surpass the energy and risk-taking of youth when it comes to art? Ironically, the question may be itself a victim of infancy. Consider that only in the last 80 or so years has the average life expectancy increased beyond fifty. A relatively short amount of time in the history of human artistic endeavors. In short, we maybe haven't been living long enough yet to arrive at an accurate evaluation.....and does it even matter.....

I suppose I found this interesting because it hits so close to home for me. Here I sit in front of an easel, embarking on a new artistic life at the age of 46. I sincerely hope my best work is in front of me.

"Watermelon and plums" 9x12, oil on canvas panel