morning rituals

 So after we pour coffee, what do we usually do?  My muse, Jezebel, after many distinguished years as a model, promptly takes a morning nap.  Today her toes were too adorable to ignore!
Off and on, I make the habit of sketching early in the morning.  It opens my eyes to seeing instead of looking.  What does this mean?  To me, looking is a way of deciding and defining visually what is around you.  Seeing is observing and accepting.  Seeing is my first step in drawing.  It is important that I see my subject more than I look at my paper.  This is how I capture the energy (or the snoozing).  It is a certain frame of mind, focus, or concentration that allows me to translate onto the paper.  An important part of the morning ritual is to be able to see what is around me.  Observing is safe and accepting is the challenge...

Petey in Profile

Petey in Profile is showing at TECAC for the remainder of this month.
He has caused quite a bit of interest and I am a bit surprised.  This is oil on artboard and I have found a lot of enjoyment painting animals on this type of surface because I can create the delicate  fur and whiskers very nicely.  I laugh at people's reactions to Petey because he looks so aloof and sophisticated, but he is really quite a mama's boy!  When he cries, he can hold a note longer longer than a record breaking prima donna opera singer.  Whenever I am talking, he will just interrupt with whatever he needs to say, and usually he needs to say that I need to pick him up, hold him, adore him, then promptly feed him. Good thing he's cute...
 His nicknames include "wick-a-petey", "sassquash", "petey-pie" "spanky" (who doesn't know lil Rascals?) and "baby-fang"which came about because as a kitten, his right fang used to stick out. Some days Petey is so naughty there is talk of including him in the sale of his portrait. Again, good thing he's cute...

and now for something completely different...

A few weeks ago, at our co-op, TECAC, we had a fun meeting where our mosaics artist, Dotti Stone, gave us all a  chance to experiment and experience her medium.  In her typical uber-efficient manner, she carted in everything needed including plastic plates to carry the finished pieces home in.  The lesson was to assemble a design on paper then transfer it onto the adhesive prepared tile.  However, you are sitting in front of all these dishes of yummy bits of color!  and listening to the sound they make as everyone sorts through them! Large and small, reflective, iridescent, organic, and so cool to the touch, I was completely distracted away from the objective.  Intellectually, I understood that I needed to fit the tiles together, but artistically, as a painter, I couldn't understand how to use pieces of color in this kind of physical way.  It was a real brain-teaser.  I wound up randomly selecting colors and tossing them like dice using where they landed as my design guide.  I found there is a lot of dexterity and finesse needed to manipulate these tiles and an ability to work in abstract as well.  It was a lot of fun to pick up something I had no real understanding of and get pushed out of my comfort zone. I believe it is good to be a novice from time to time to remind myself of how far I've come.  It also helps me to free up my thinking and find fresh perspective. It was a good day.

Memories of Kingston, NY

 

Hoping these cold winter days are over.  My home faced West, when I lived in NY.  Sometimes in winter, the front would be shining for those few moments before sunset even though the sky was quilted and heavy with snow.  Some days I miss that light.  Orange Kitty used to wait so patiently for breakfast and dinner. Between me and my neighbor, he ate at least four times a day.  She also had a sanctuary made for him under her porch.  I was never able to get close to him, but we had an understanding.

This is light washes and drip techniques using oils. I used galkyd to make the house and front lawn snow shine (can't really see that here).  It is painted on 11in x 14in art board and is completely experimental and nostalgic. Some days your mind just looks away from what's in front of you...

Just Plain Silliness

No No Puppy!

This painting was done with great fun as I explored using the paint as a kind of stain and created textures and lights by removing layers of color.  Someone had decided to give me the unsolicited advice that using oils in such a way was considered a "no no".  I immediately thought to myself "did he just say no no?"  He actually did say "no no".  If you say it enough times, it becomes as funny as Jezebel's expression ~ and so  this painting was born. 
Then I thought of how else this phrase might have been used...
"....monsieur Monet, that is a no no..."   "...Vincent, you are crazy! That is a no no!!"   "....chickens?! really? Chagall, that's a big no no..."
I think I'm okay.
There is somewhat of a point to be made for understanding the history of art, and techniques in order to develop skills and such. I'm not sure someone who can blurt out "no no" understood enough past their own point of view to really say such a thing. (Say it with me~ no no!)  For me, the question is what do you do to continue growing toward being able to master something? I believe you explore.  So many contemporary artists have roots in traditional realistic rendering and representation~ and then they explored all kinds of new possibilities. I think it is important to understand point of view when discussing art~ meaning the other person's point of view.  So much is subjective and relative.  I feel the more you know, the more you must explore! It's compulsive! It's obsessive! What else can you do?
No No Puppy! is 20in x 24in oil on canvas. It is a playful look at the idea of home ~ good memories that can only come from that kind of place. It is named all in good fun with no malice.  Contact me for sales inquiries.

Secret

This is the least disastrous attempt at "Secret".  I don't even know where to begin. Part of the challenge is that I am starting where the lips and ear meet and I'm working outward from there.  This element is the key for the whole painting.  Right in that space is the secret!  Normally, when I draw or paint a face, I start with the general shape of the skull and work from the eyes out.  I'm stretching long unused muscles of observation here... 
A small painting, only 6in x 6in (oils on artboard), I think the tight composition is successful~ not happy with the color, but I think the texturing works.  I think the man's mouth and hand are also successful, but I wanted the woman to be more ethereal, and I feel she is a little too much "murder victim"...
I actually couldn't decide if she should be a ghost or real, and that indecision is showing.  All my good paintings, I have found, are driven and furiously painted~ there is no ponderance, no debate.  By the time I get to the canvas, I seem to already know what needs to be done.  It's a convergence of ideas and application that sometimes hits and many times misses.
Obviously, this painting is not for sale.

Visions of Man

In dreams and in drawings, I have watched this face for over twenty years. Observations of his curving cheek and impervious jaw formed into an archetype of sorts, of the masculine form.  Sometimes contentious. Sometimes a mystery.  Sometimes just simply sweet.
This painting is pushing concept and abstract techniques in ways that are very challenging for me.  Painted in oils on a gessoed, solid wood panel, it is 40in x 14in.  I am finding it difficult to write about.  It feels finished, but I am unsure what it is telling me...
The panel was salvaged many years ago when I drove a calypso green Ford Escort and challenged its' hatchback interior on every trip through the neighborhood in search of old windows and doors to paint on... those of you who remember that car~ give me a shout out!
Contact me for any sales inquiries.