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Summer 2000 | Spring 2000 | Winter 2000 |
Fall 1999 | Summer 1999 | Spring 1999 | Winter 1999
See the Gallery for some exciting detailed images of the artist's work.
Wednesday, December 20, 2000Yesterday someone challenged my efforts concerning the day's painting (you know who you are), saying they didn't believe I had properly applied myself to that day's effort. Not one to balk at a challenge, I decided to execute yet another miniature version of the painting of two red peppers.
click on the image to see a larger versionAnd this technically ends the fall season of the studio journal. In the past three months I've worked consistently at building up my inventory as well as pursuing my education into some subtle details of study. While watching the days grow shorter and shorter I've stayed very busy here in the studio. I've been through many dramatic episodes, from friendships that have been seasoned, challenged and tempered, to my mother being stricken and thankfully recovering and as always, continuing the struggle for a balance within my work and my course of study. The upcoming weeks and months hold great promise for success, hopefully both personally and professionally, and I am always looking forward to what may be just around the corner. The support of my family, clients and friends both new and old has been priceless, and I'm always reminded of how powerful and positive of an influence they can be for me.
The winter solstice is a time when the day is darkest, yet we turn to the hope and warmth and compassion within each of ourselves to to find our own personal beacon of light. And for that, we can all be thankful.
Read on...to Winter of 2000/01
Tuesday, December 19, 2000I received a commission on short notice today for yet another tiny painting, this time a miniature version of the piece from last fall, two red chili peppers. I raced out as the snow started falling, and picked up some tiny bright red peppers and slammed out a colorful little painting while the day grew darker and darker.
click on the image to see a larger version
Monday, December 18, 2000I started and finished a small study of yellow tulips for a commission. If I can help it, this will be the last tiny painting I ever do, as it is too constraining to work on such a small scale. Tomorrow I will attempt a larger canvas of a similar setup.
click on the image to see a larger version
Saturday, December 16, 2000Despite the sun never coming out today, I was able to finish the painting. This morning I managed to pick up some yellow tulips for a series of upcoming pieces, as well as a tentative commission.
click on the image to see a larger versionAnd take a wild guess at what I'm doing for New Year's Eve.
Friday, December 15, 2000I am almost finished with the painting.
Many of my visitors today came from the website of my friend Lucy, a charming and lovely young woman who runs the LucysWorld website which also features a daily journal and a live cam. It is like a parallel universe where her personal diary chronicles her own daily struggles with her ongoing pursuit of happiness and fullness for herself and her daughter. And when I heard that the Old 97s are going to be playing a New Year's Eve show in the little town of Dallas where she lives, I couldn't help but to think about that magic moment when two different worlds could collide.
I welcome any input, should I go to Dallas, or should I just stay home and get some more work done? Of course I can't afford the money or the time for such a trip, but I'm not planning on living forever either.
Thursday, December 14, 2000I managed to make some progress on my third painting of the brilliant and colorful gala apples.
Wednesday, December 13, 2000I had only just started mixing the colors for my next painting when the sky grew dark. Hopefully the forecast of snow and rain tonight will include having the sun coming out at some point tomorrow so I can continue on this painting. As we approach the shortest day of the year it is becoming obvious how small of a window of opportunity I have for that sweet spot of afternoon sunlight.
As I look back I can't help but appreciate the liveliness of yesterday's painting. The zest and energy of the brushwork is exciting, although I was particularly exhausted after those fast and furious final moments. It feels as though I'm careening along the very edge of control and mayhem when I'm finishing a piece with such speed and fluidity. The mindset necessary to juggle so many elements within the final strokes sometimes feels like a kind of madness, the rush of decision and indecision is almost scary. Yes, sometimes it really does seem like madness.
Tuesday, December 12, 2000I brought yesterday's painting to a bold and lively finish. I believe I will attempt an even larger painting of the same setup tomorrow to see if I can once again apply what I've learned from the small studies. I was able to maintain a boldness and looseness to my brushwork that seems to have been lost a bit in the last few larger paintings. It seems that the main factor in this kind of work is speed, quantity and spontaneity with the color mixing and application. I'll be interested to see if I can maintain the necessary energy level to execute larger and larger works with these same sensibilities in mind.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Monday, December 11, 2000I started a slightly larger painting of the same three gala apples from Saturday. The day started as overcast and only continued to get darker, but I at least got a foundation of color down before wrapping up for the day.
Saturday, December 9 2000I slammed out one more tiny study of apples. If I have sunlight tomorrow I will probably be starting on a larger painting. Hopefully I can apply what I've learned over the past three days from working on these small quick studies.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Friday, December 8, 2000I started and finished another tiny painting of two apples despite the fairly overcast skies. Tomorrow is supposed to be even darker, but I will do at least one more of these small studies before getting back to some larger pieces.
Click on the image to see a larger versionI believe that the diminutive size that illustrates the power of simplicity is also seriously affected by the use of comparatively larger brushes. I should find even more massive brushes to maintain a similar bold simplicity to my larger works. Part of the charm of the tiny painting is how forgiving the eye is toward rough and rude areas, whereas these same areas are so much more obvious when they are allowed to be huge. Efficiency, productivity and the confidence to slam out a painting and move on will be the secret to embracing these same sensibilities with bigger paintings. Sometimes I can do this, and sometimes it escapes me.
Thursday, December 7, 2000I started and finished the first of several tiny paintings which will be executed for a series of commissions. I'm hoping that tomorrow I will be able to finish two more. It is helpful to see a composition in a smaller format to understand the brevity and simplicity of the marks necessary to create the forms.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Wednesday, December 6, 2000I believe I have finally finished the painting of three granny smith apples. I had the luxury of working and reworking just about every last area that has challenged me, and at this point I feel as though I've just about reached the end of what I can do. I will take one last look at this in the morning to make the final decision to pull it from the easel and set it aside to dry. I do feel as though the painting careened into the realm of being overworked, and the surface has been built up just a little too much in certain areas. Overall, it is a bold and colorful painting, and the sense of light and space is rich and powerful.
Click on the image to see a larger versionIt is still too quiet in here, the music fades to an uncomfortable hush, and the walls seem to be closing in. I can barely stand it.
Tuesday, December 5, 2000Once again I continued developing the painting. I'm finding some amazing qualities of green through experimentation with almost every color on the palette other than green.
Monday, December 4, 2000I continued work on the painting, despite a series of disheartening developments in my personal life. In the silence of the studio I can almost hear the pain and heartache. I keep mixing and applying paint, at this point it seems that it is only the substance of the paint itself that can cover the emptiness.
Sunday, December 3, 2000I started a huge painting of three granny smith apples. There is a certain comfort and balance within a series of three objects that seems to be lost with a series of four objects. Maybe I'm just spending too much time alone, but four objects seem to project a certain volume level that seems to clash with what perceive to be a certain serenity within the composition. Aside from learning more about painting, I will hopefully learn more about this subtle issue.
Thursday, November 30, 2000Finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Wednesday, November 29, 2000I was so close to finishing this painting when the sun was snuffed out by a solid wall of clouds. I'm having an excellent painting experience as I continue to discover great depth and richness to the various shades of green. Tomorrow I will easily resolve some of the final issues of this painting. I feel that the colors of the negative spaces around the subjects will need to be further defined to create a cohesive sense of air and light within the setup.
Tuesday, November 28, 2000I continued to develop the painting of four granny smith apples. I've been reminded of how many different shades of green can be found between light and shadow and glare and reflection. The painting seems to be coming along nicely, and if I have any sunlight tomorrow I should have no problem finishing this piece. I'm learning some of the crucial elements of observation with this painting. It is quite challenging to see and understand enough to capture form within these rich colors.
Monday, November 27, 2000After a great weekend in Chapel Hill with my family I'm back to work in the studio. I blocked in the rough areas for a new painting of four granny smith apples. It feels good to be working larger again, and I will be wrapping this piece up quickly as a study for another canvas twice this size later in the week.
Wednesday, November 22, 2000I am somewhat surprised with how well this painting has turned out. I was not expecting to find so many cues of light and space, and I will probably revisit the close cropped composition of roses again in the upcoming weeks, as I feel that I've had a good painting experience and once again I can see a course of study within that subject.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Tuesday, November 21, 2000I continued work on the painting of roses. I'm very close to having developed this painting far as I believe it can go. Tomorrow I will wrap this piece up in the morning before leaving for Chapel Hill to spend the holiday with my family.
Monday, November 20, 2000I managed to make some headway on my painting of roses. I feel that I'm stabbing in the dark trying to define shapes and forms within this fairly neutral pattern of colors. This is not a composition that will describe space, yet rendering the details of these flowers will result in the desired image for this commission. I'm pleased that it is finally coming together after several hours of blocking in areas of color.
I received my rejection letter today from the Coconut Grove Arts Festival in Florida in February, just in case the day wasn't already dark enough. To remain standing in the face of such adversity and challenge is becoming yet another colorful element of my world as an artist.
Sunday, November 19, 2000I started work on a painting of roses for another commission. I only managed to get some colors mixed before the sky grew dark. It's becoming quite a challenge to find even a few hours of sunlight each day. I'll probably start earlier tomorrow and work with the less direct late morning sunlight, as each afternoon seems to be cut shorter and shorter by overcast skies.
Wednesday, November 15, 2000Finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Tuesday, November 14, 2000I started a larger painting of the sunflowers today. For the first time in a week I had some bright sunlight, but I will have to wrap this piece up efficiently tomorrow. I'll be ending the day early to drop off paintings at a gallery in New Hope before heading on to New York City to kick around with my buddy Phil for a night. Hopefully the sunflowers will make it just one more day, and hopefully also that I will be quick and decisive with the finish.
And by the way, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I had almost forgotten.
Monday, November 13, 2000I completed the small painting of sunflowers despite it being a fairly dark and overcast day. It seems that whenever I'm painting sunflowers, the one thing I don't ever have is real sunlight. What I discovered with my last painting of sunflowers was that I was able to find more gradations within the brilliant yellows than if everything were glowing with bright sunlight. I'm not sure if it's a limitation of my eye's ability to see variations in such bold colors or if everything being washed out with higher contrast and less gradation is how it really looks, and how it should really be portrayed. If the sun comes out tomorrow, I will hopefully learn more about this.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Sunday, November 12, 2000Despite the day being fairly dark and overcast, I made a good start on a small painting of sunflowers. The clear glass carafe always forces me to keep my observations pure and accurate. There is nothing that can be rendered without paying close attention to the gradations of colors within the diffraction and reflection. Hopefully I will be wrapping up this painting tomorrow, and if the sunflowers survive I will immediately attempt a larger canvas of the same subject.
Saturday, November 11, 2000I picked up a handful of sunflowers at the Central Market for another commissioned piece. I only just started mixing some of the colors before the day grew dark. I will hopefully have more light tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 7, 2000I finished this painting today.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Monday, November 6, 2000I continued work on yesterday's painting. I'm having a hard time with maintaining sensitivity with this piece, and the colors are being pushed and pulled with my palette knife as I attempt to find a shorthand method of summing up the image with brevity and simplicity. There are some interesting things developing within this painting, although tomorrow I will be racing the clock as the flowers continue to wilt.
Sunday, November 5, 2000I started a larger painting of another bouquet of daisies. Everything feels different to work in such detail after such an aggressive and powerful series of monstrous shapes and bold strokes of color. Hopefully I will be able to integrate what I've learned while still capturing the air and delicacy of flowers.
Ah yes, I have spent time with several of the women of my life in the past week. From some of my very best friends to the women that still have major pieces of my heart, and on to learning and reviewing all of the odd details about my more recent acquaintances. All of this feels like an endless scroll of the history of my heart spreading out in front of me. Everything I was, could have been, and wanted to be is occurring to me. As the days of another November grow shorter and colder, I'm so aware of how far I've come, and I realize how age is something that has happened to me from the outside. I still feel like the same person in here, seeing the world through my eyes as the moments and memories of my life pass by like images seen through the windows of a moving train. To be lost in the depth and darkness of a woman's eyes, the thrill of her voice, her mouth, the way she moves, the familiar scents, the familiar sensations of being close. Being alone feels like an ongoing voyage into a vast dark ocean, but these memories are like having a sheltering sky of stars overhead, reflecting on the endless waves.
It is all so real, and so dark and so cold.
Saturday, November 4, 2000I finished the painting of daisies.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Friday, November 3, 2000I continued work on yesterday's painting. My session had to be cut short, so I will continue this piece tomorrow, and hopefully finish it.
Thursday, November 2, 2000Today was my first day back in the studio in almost a week. I decided to start off with a painting of daisies in the legendary blue glass vase for one of my upcoming commissions. It is a rude and rough start, but at least I finally got things moving.
Last night I was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the exhibition of Van Gogh's portraits with my friend and fellow artist, Eva Wittlinger-Pichl and her lively little daughter Jessica. As always, seeing his work is both inspiring and disturbing. After we had dinner on South Street I found a florist with Marguerite daisies. I had been searching for these flowers locally for almost a year now. Apparently they are considered a rarity in Lancaster. The brilliant yellow centers will provide excellent accents of color, and after this first small study I will continue with a similar series for as long as the flowers last.
Thursday, October 26, 2000Finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Wednesday, October 25, 2000What should have been the final session on this painting was productive, but there are still some areas in need of further development. Tomorrow I will be wrapping this up. At this point, I feel that I need to block in some of the larger foreground and background areas to tie the development of colors together, and I will be creating some bolder unifying marks across the pears themselves. As most paintings that go into a third and fourth day, the rendering has a tendency to defy the cohesion and unity of the shapes and forms, and I will strive to rough it up in the final strokes. I am not striving for realism in the marks I use, but only in my interpretation of the objects themselves. The marks should follow the interpretation, and not the other way around. I am hopefully coming closer to understanding and executing this issue with greater brevity and efficiency with each new painting.
Tuesday, October 24, 2000I continued work on the giant painting of four pears. It was fairly overcast today, so I was unable to develop much of the bolder colors without introducing more muted tones. I did apply a huge amount of paint and continued to build up a rich surface while carving out some definition within many of the shadows. If I have stronger sunlight tomorrow I should be able to bring this to a colorful finish if the session goes well.
Monday, October 23, 2000Today I started a 40 by 60 canvas of the same four pears. I only managed to finish blocking out the large areas of color before the day's session was over. Some of the elements will probably be pushed and pulled around a bit in my next session. For some reason the larger size doesn't feel right with what appears to be the exact same proportions as the painting I finished yesterday at exactly one half the size. I will have another look in the light of day tomorrow to see if I'm comfortable with the pears crowding the composition as they do.
Sunday, October 22, 2000I finished the painting. As a rough study, it answers many of the issues I had hoped to resolve before I moved on to a larger version of the same painting. The fourth object was successfully integrated into what still feels like a well rounded composition. In addition, I was able to apply many of the things I've learned about saturated reds into rendering what I feel are believable yet brilliantly colorful pieces of fruit.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Saturday, October 21, 2000I continued developing yesterday's painting of four pears. I replaced the far right pear with another that seemed to provide more gesture to that side of the canvas. Everything was pushed and pulled a bit, and I feel that the subtle changes help guide the eye from the right side of the canvas back into the composition, rather than merely halting the movement when it finishes reading from left to right. Many of the colors are developing nicely, although I will have to make some bold strides forward tomorrow if I want to finish this piece while it is still fresh.
Friday, October 20, 2000I decided to proceed forward into new and unfamiliar territory with the cautious and trembling first steps of a fawn moving delicately from the cover of the woods. In a true pioneering spirit, I decided to start a painting of four objects, this time I've selected red pears. I've always liked the balance of three objects, but I believe that there is an almost rhythmic musicality to the extra repetition, and the lyrical turns and twists of these gangly shapes and their whimsical stems can provide a different kind of a pattern across the canvas. We shall see what happens as this painting develops. If I find this to be successful, I will treat this painting as a study for a giant canvas of the same setup.
Wednesday, October 18, 2000I finished the painting of three gala apples. At this point I really do feel as though I've done almost the exact same painting two times in a row. I can justify this repetition when I know it is being done for a possible commission, although I now need to get back to setting some new and exciting challenges ahead of myself again. This represents the end of three weeks of painting nothing but gala apples.
We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 17, 2000I continued work on yesterday's painting. Not much else to report. The sun never came out, and it rained all day. Hopefully I will be finishing this painting tomorrow.
Monday, October 16, 2000I'm back in the studio painting yet one more composition of three gala apples.
The piece that was done tentatively for a commission over a week ago was sold this past weekend at the Friend's School Arts Celebration in New Jersey. The show was fun, as I had time to spend with many of the new friends I've made over the past year. I stayed with the coordinator of the show and accomplished sculptor Marshall Burns, and we were joined by the coordinator of the Rittenhouse Square Art Show, Russell Ketch. All in all it was very informative, from Marshall's sharp insight and playful humor to Russell's amazing capacity to get lost in his own wandering and colorful tangents. I had a chance to make even more acquaintances through the tightly knit group of parents and teachers at the Friend's School.
Thursday, October 12, 2000I'm finally back in the studio for only one day before leaving for my last show of the season in New Jersey.
Click on the image to see a larger versionOne thing that I never address in these journals is the impetus and momentum that starts and sustains my work. When the realization of all that I've done and not done catches up with me, it's hard to see beyond who and what I am. Struggling alone here in this one room in the middle of nowhere I try to avoid taking stock of what I've become. My reclusive lifestyle does not always seem to be by choice, and focusing on my work only seems to justify it, as though it weren't actually the cause of it. In my inward spiral I'm attempting to teach my cats English, I pace the room, my thoughts almost become voices in the silence. Dialogues that may never happen will come to life between the subjects of my paintings. An artist sees the world around them and filters this input into the product of their work. From this they spawn color and beauty and insight. Yet like a filter, they retain so much of what passes, the solitude, the silence, and the full gamut of emotion that anybody else would merely purge through healthy human interaction. Like a defective part they spin crazily, creating rhythms and tempos that seem magical and important. I fixate on a precious detail and explore it, illustrate it, I set it on a pedestal and immortalize it. Right now I keep coming back to the recurrent theme of three, the trilogy, the trinity, a more perfect pair, like the jackpot on a slot machine or the concept of two people and the strange relationship between them, a perfect match from an imperfect triangle. My counter is covered with green apples, yellow apples, gala and red delicious apples and pears and radishes and flowers both living and dead. From the mayhem I can generate one painting at a time, step by step I come closer and closer to some overall resolution to who and what I am.
Of course, it's better if I don't think too much about it.
Friday, October 6, 2000The sun never came out today. I am loading the van and getting ready to leave for this weekend's exhibition in New Hope.
Thursday, October 5, 2000I finished the painting from yesterday. I had only just started mixing colors for my next endeavor before the overcast day turned completely dark. I've decided to do a variation of the same arrangement again on a larger canvas before moving on from this series of gala apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Wednesday, October 4, 2000I finally was able to get back to work in the studio and I made some headway on yesterday's painting. Once again I feel that my work is capturing the warm glow of light in this setup. I should easily be wrapping this piece up tomorrow, and hopefully starting another one before the end of the day. The apples are obviously growing darker from the previous painting, but they are still exhibiting some nice color.
Tuesday, October 3, 2000I had too many things going on yesterday and today for me to have productive studio sessions. This afternoon I started a miniature version of Saturday's painting just to sum up all that I've learned thus far, and tentatively as a commissioned piece. Tomorrow I should be a little more focused on my work.
I did have an exhibition on Sunday in the impressive space of the Lancaster Trust Building. Here are some images from that show.
Saturday, September 30, 2000Finished. The brevity of the painting session was compounded with several other issues today, but I resolved the painting with a dizzying rush of energy and focus. I feel that this is one of my strongest pieces to date. Of course I will always see where another stroke or detail could be added or changed, but I feel that this accurately sums up all that I've learned up to this point. And of course, 24 square feet of drying oil paint gives the studio a fairly heady aroma as well. The cats will enjoy the door to the roof being open for the night, despite how cold it's supposed to be.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, September 29, 2000I am having a excellent painting experience as I continue to resolve this piece. I decided to set up a reflector on the right side of the arrangement so the shadows are more filled with light. This is enabling me to find more color within the areas that would typically go from dark to muddy. If I can maintain just a few more broad and sweeping decisions across the entirety of the canvas, I should be able to finish this tomorrow.
Thursday, September 28, 2000I started a new painting of three gala apples on a 48 by 72 inch canvas. This painting is immense. The bulk of the day was spent mixing colors, and in the final two hours I roughed in the fields of color. I will continue to carve out the shapes tomorrow, and I'm sure this will go into a third day. It really is fun working so large. I'm happy that I've been able to allow the objects to have a little more breathing room, while still making each apple well over a foot tall. My challenge will be to continue making all of my decisions on the same grand scale as these initial stages. At this point I am exhausted.
Wednesday, September 27, 2000I finished the painting of the three yellow apples. I feel that it is now a rich and solid painting, although in retrospect I'm finding that I would like to have had more of a study of space, than only of apples. My next venture will zoom back from the subject a bit, so that I may appreciate the air of the composition, and less of the objects. I just put a 48 by 72 inch canvas up on the easel for tomorrow. I'm not sure if I will attempt such a massive painting at this point in time, but it gives me something to think about.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Hopefully I will be shooting a new image of this painting in the upcoming week without quite so much glare.
Tuesday, September 26, 2000I decided to forge ahead with yesterday's painting. I had a little more sunlight throughout the day and as a result I was able to carve out a little more space and color from the arrangement. I feel that it finally started to come together, and by day's end I believe I'm coming down the home stretch. At this point I feel that I only need to adjust some of the edges, find just a few more transition colors, and address the counter top. The reflections of the apples onto the countertop as well as the different colors along the back edge and front field will help the entire arrangement to find weight and solidity.
Monday, September 25, 2000This painting has been started and continued through two fairly dark and overcast days. I'm having a hard time finding the excitement within these apples, and I have mixed feelings about continuing work on this piece. I shall give it one more try tomorrow and see if I can't extract some color and light from this composition. I have wanted to execute a large painting of yellow apples for well over a month now, ever since I've graduated to these larger formats. The yellow delicious apples from earlier in the season had a more piercing and vivid yellow, and faded to a more brilliant red than anything I've been able to find in the past month. There is a subtlety to these pieces of fruit that initially spoke to me, and I will keep trying to make this painting come to life. I may be looking through the supermarket tonight for replacement apples, although typically I would rather the painting evolve in its entirety, and not as a summation of components.
Sunday, September 24, 2000To kick off the fall season I started a massive new painting of three yellow delicious apples. It is dark and overcast today, and my session is ending early because of it.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Summer 2000 for the previous season's struggles.
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