a preview of new work on paper…
* click on thumbnails, (up to two times), for larger view *
These pieces are painted on paper with pastel.
Sizes are 30″ x 28″ framed, with the painted surface approximately 16″ x 16″.
More work will be posted on the website under “work on paper” when it is photographed.
(these are my own studio-snaps)
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I love the first day/evening back in the studio after the holidays. I took this shot of the easel tonight, just before stopping for a dinner break.
It feels great to be back to work…. starting a new year.
Here is a corner detail of the piece, (24″x 24″ on panel), I am working on this evening, (easel shot above).
These days I am noticing all of the bits of debris suspended in ice and in the snow. On my walks with Oli I am mesmerized by the beautiful textures and colors formed in frozen ponds and ice-patches. Pine needles, broken branches and bits of leaves trapped in the layers of ice form the most beautiful tapestries in blue, rust, turquoise and honey.
I have a few pieces going now, (oil washes and layers built with oil paint and waxy oil bar), and they seem to flow from the “surface tension” series into this new group inspired by the ice…
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This 24″ x 36″ oil on panel is part of the “surface tension” series I am finishing up.
The group includes oil on panel and oil on paper.
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So, what have you been doing lately?
Have you ever noticed things floating beneath the water… and things floating on top of them… held by surface tension on the water? It seems to me that life can be kind of like that in general. You might have something deep going on, but there are always distractions near the surface and/or right on top.
These are 24″ square panels. Right now I am working on the things beneath the surface, and starting to build the tension for what will ride on top. As always, I find that the natural world provides me with plenty of metaphor for my internal emotional process.
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Vernal Pool I / 2008 / oil on panel / 16″ x 32″
(sorry this piece has been sold)
Yesterday I had the nicest studio visit with Rob and Katherine Silvan, (and their beautiful nine month old son). Katherine absolutely thrilled me with her reaction to this painting. Every once in awhile, someone will say or do something that just knocks me out with happiness. This was one of those times. Katherine really connected with my boggy experiences, (the moment of inspiration was timed to spring peeper season earlier this year), in and around vernal pools. To her, this piece was all about amphibious creatures, and she couldn’t help but express herself in the most spontaneous way. I love it when someone looks at one of my paintings and gives me the unexpected gift of an open and unguarded response.
Thank you Katherine !
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My interest in the slow-dark-water continues…
The Bayou Series
Bayou I 2008 / oil on panel 12″ x 12″
Bayou II 2008 / oil on panel 12″ x 12″
Bayou III 2008 / oil on panel 12″ x 12′
to be continued…
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Broken Flowers III
16″ x 16″ oil on panel
(this one is nearly complete in this shot)
Heavy rain has given me more time in the studio today. I started work early this morning in an effort to complete the first three pieces of the “Broken Flowers” series over the next few days of inclement weather. The color quality of these images is of course limited by screen capability, but in general, they are pretty accurate representations of the work.
Raw umber and burnt sienna dominate the under-painting in these pieces. My second layer of work from the weekend, in hues of mars red and violet, built structural forms. Today, loose drawing, brush work and washes in carmine red, naples yellow and buff titanium began to breathe life and movement into these pieces.
Some of the debris I encounter in gardens at this time of year is jagged and linear. Other remains have delicate and ghostly blossoms, leaf skeletons and hollow pods bleached by winter. The more fragile remnants become animated with the slightest breeze. You will find evidence of this delicate motion in the buff and naples yellow hued points on the right in the piece above. Stems and hulls are represented by the broken angles and arching geometry on the left hand side, sweeping through the composition in mars violet, orange and carmine red. In other pieces, the uppermost colors shift to buff and chalk tones as I draw in lines to represent dry, boney-hulls, stalks and tattered blades of grass.
Below, Broken Flowers I and II still in progress:
Broken Flowers I
16″ x 16″ oil on panel
(this one too, is nearly complete in this shot)
Broken Flowers II
16″ x 16″ oil on panel
(this one is still coming about)
With more rain forecast over the next few days, I should be able to make headway on the second part of the series as well.
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The second group of paintings in the Broken Flowers series are awash in chartreuse atop the raw umber and burnt sienna under-painting.
This group reflects some of the rebirth I am seeing in the natural world along side the decay.
All of these paintings are in progress… only in the second of maybe five stages. This is a peek at part two in progress. I will post again when it is complete.
Broken Flowers, Series II, i
16″ x 16″ work in progress
Broken Flowers, Series II, ii
12″ x 24″ work in progress
Broken Flowers, Series II, iii
16″ x 16″ work in progress
The two pieces below are at an even earlier stage in their development…
Broken Flowers, Series II: under-painting
16″ x 16″ work in progress
Broken Flowers, Series II: under-painting
16″ x 16″ work in progress
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Today I continued work on the series I started last weekend… the panels are now in a second under-painting phase.
In my “other” life I tend to gardens. When springtime comes around, I use my pruning shears and rake to clear away the debris left behind from last year’s growing season. The decaying and often skeletal remains of the year gone by are pulled back to expose new life emerging from the ground. Although there is much rebirth and beauty revealed in this process, my job brings me face to face with death as well. The broken and crumpled flowers I remove each year are a stark and hauntingly beautiful reminder of endings in the midst of all new beginnings.
I am calling this series of paintings “Broken Flowers”. I will post more as the series continues to progress…
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remnants of sedum and spurge… some inspiration for the series.
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A new 16″x16″ series, “Broken Flowers”, began today;
here pictured with the raw umber under-paintings drying in the sun…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the terrace…
This tarp has lead an active life this week.
It has hauled debris out of several gardens, and now it protects stonework while I gesso panels outdoors….
Later… the 12″ x 12″ panels hard-off in the studio entry….
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These close up shots really show the surface texture of my oil paintings. They also show the under painting and subtle washes of color beneath the surface.
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The process….
Create. Destroy. Create. Repeat.
It is always all about the journey.
works in progress, 3′ x 3′ square
Red Oxbow 2007
oil on panel 32″ x 32″
finished and drying
