Previous issues:
Summer 2002 | Spring 2002 | Winter 2002
Fall 2001 | Summer 2001 | Spring 2001 | Winter 2001
Fall 2000 | 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. Read about his recent adventures in southeast Asia in The Travelogue of Thailand.
Saturday, December 21, 2002The sun finally came out long enough for me to make some more headway on this newest painting of a trio of mixed apples.
Today also marks the final day of autumn of 2002. We've finally finished the long plunge into the darkest days of the year, and I'll be excited to see brighter, longer, and more brilliant sunlight, starting tomorrow.
Read on...to Winter of 2003
Thursday, December 19, 2002I threw some paint down on a large canvas, once again embarking on a study of the same trio of mixed apples. I only managed to get the entire canvas covered before it grew dark. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 18, 2002I started mixing colors in preparation for a giant painting, and I started getting some giant canvases prepared. If all goes well I should be slamming down some paint tomorrow afternoon.
Tuesday, December 17, 2002I'm finally finished with the painting. If I can get a big canvas stretched for tomorrow, I think I'll start a giant version of this same setup. That should force me to loosen up a bit and learn how to really slam it down and make a point. Sort of.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Monday, December 16, 2002I'm almost finished with this new painting of three apples, and this has suddenly become a fairly exciting piece. Unfortunately I'll have to cut tomorrow's session short, so it will be a race to see if I can finish this before I have to leave.
Sunday, December 15, 2002Finally the sky brightened for the first time in days. I decided to try a painting of mixed apples, just to integrate some different colors together. I had just managed to cover the canvas with color before the sky became overcast and dark again.
Friday, December 13, 2002I started mixing colors for a small painting, but the dismal day only grew darker and darker.
Wednesday, December 11, 2002I finished the painting of yellow tulips in a clear glass vase.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Tuesday, December 10, 2002The painting of yellow tulips is finally coming into focus, bit by bit. Tomorrow should see this finished.
Monday, December 9, 2002I continued to work on the painting of a bouquet of yellow tulips. Things are coming together, although it will be a challenge to capture a final resolution on the details of the tulips while they continue to writhe and change.
Sunday, December 8, 2002I continued to work on the painting of a bouquet of yellow tulips. As though it's not hard enough to paint as it is, the flowers continue to bloom and flex and change with each passing minute, just to add to the challenge. I'm keeping the bouquet in my unheated storage room upstairs to preserve them from one day to the next. I have a feeling that this painting will get fairly crazy before it's finished.
Saturday, December 7, 2002I'm finally back in the studio trying to paint after over a month off. As I expected, nothing is coming easily. I spent the day mixing colors for a mid-sized painting of a bouquet of yellow tulips. Tomorrow will hopefully show a little more promise and productivity.
I am continuing to compile my notes for the journal of our adventures in Thailand.
Thursday, November 28, 2002 Thanksgiving DayWe're back, just in time for Thanksgiving dinner with my family. My head is totally skewed with jet lag, on top of barely having slept for three days or so. I was barely able to drive back from my brother's house this afternoon, even the bright daylight seemed to be turning strange colors. I have a stack of notes I've been keeping during the trip, so I'll be compiling everything into a travelogue over the next few days. Tomorrow I have to take care of business and start getting ready to paint again. Right now everything feels quite surreal, and the components of my life seem a bit foreign and detached. Once I get my sleep back in order I should be able to make better sense of it all.
Monday, November 4, 2002I was supposed to be jumping on a plane bound for Thailand this morning, but a mix-up in scheduling had us arriving in Denver an hour after the connecting flight would be leaving. The solution was for us to leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning instead. We're flying into Bangkok, and then spending the next three weeks exploring the north and south of Thailand. There is a remote chance I may be able to post an entry or two from the road; otherwise stay tuned for the full travelogue when we return on Thanksgiving Day. We're both excited and a little bit nervous. Too much time with our feet on the ground and our heads in our schedules, I guess.
I hope the rest of November is good for everyone.
Until later, David Oleski.
Saturday, November 2, 2002I finished the painting of three royal gala apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, November 1, 2002We spent the bulk of the day racing around trying to tie up loose ends before our trip, and of course working on this painting was the one thing that almost completely slipped through the cracks. I did manage to spend almost an hour bringing the surface up a bit more before dark. Hopefully I'm able to come closer to wrapping this piece up tomorrow.
Thursday, October 31, 2002For the first time since last weekend the sun actually came out and the sky was bright. After so many days of not painting I've had some time to think about some different courses of study. Today I decided to start with an exercise in creating a more pronounced quality of disintegration of form and color. Ultimately this should add up to a believable sense of light and space through a network of interlaced spots of color, requiring even more of an effort on the part of the viewer to allow their eyes to create the image from the component marks. This approach will embrace the qualities of impressionism, of capturing how the eye actual interprets light and shadow. Tomorrow should be an exciting day.
Monday, October 28, 2002It was dark today, so we relaxed for a change. I dropped off my camera for repairs, we stopped by the bookstore and shared a tall glass of chai tea. I received an acceptance letter to the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts in Tampa in March. Shazam, next year has already started.
Sunday, October 27, 2002I'm just finishing the weekend of my annual Halloween performance here in the building where I live. For two nights I get to be a musician again, with all of the power and energy that comes from the thrill of the live performance. Today there is no part of me that isn't sore from setting up the stage and sound system, and then carrying it all back up to the studio after the Saturday night show.
I'm hoping to finish at least one or two more paintings before my opening next Saturday at my gallery in New Hope, and then on Monday I'll be leaving with Heather for a three week vacation in Thailand.
Thursday, October 24, 2002I finished the smaller painting of a single eggplant. Click here to see the finished version of this painting.
Unfortunately, I couldn't help myself from the need to attack the previously finished painting of a single eggplant. I scraped off most of the paint from the body of the eggplant itself and reworked the entire area. I think I can almost say that I'm finished with it now. It is somewhat disheartening to have such amazing opening sessions, only the have the painting immediately be overworked as soon as the second level of resolution is introduced. I repeatedly dare myself to just leave a painting at the end of the first stage of just carving in the colors with the knife. One of these days I'll just go for it.
Wednesday, October 23, 2002I'm almost finished with the smaller painting of a single eggplant. It's interesting how much depth and weight can be conveyed with such subtle gradations within such dark colors. Tomorrow will see this piece finished.
Tuesday, October 22, 2002I am actually finished with the painting of a single eggplant.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started on a smaller painting of the same subject, and so far it looks like almost the exact same painting, only smaller. I may be easily finished with this painting tomorrow.
Monday, October 21, 2002I continued work on the mid-sized painting of an eggplant. It is almost finished, but the last light of day was too dim for me to make a final decision. It's a fairly rude and rough painting, but there is a nice quality of light and weight and overall it's quite solid. Tomorrow I may start a smaller painting of the same subject.
Sunday, October 20, 2002Shazam, what an exciting day. I finished the painting of three gerber daisies, despite all of them withering in unison like actors taking a bow after a performance.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started work on a mid-sized painting of a single eggplant. I set out to do this painting with an upcoming photo shoot in mind, where I've been asked to provide a painting of certain dimensions and of a vertical format, with the suggestion of the subject being food, specifically an artichoke or an eggplant. The artichoke painting was a failure, but at this early point the eggplant painting is pretty exciting. And as always, I get a crazy urge to just carve my name into the thick paint after only a few hours of slamming down a first resolution of color. I would define myself as a completely different kind of painter, and everything I did would be fast and fun.
Yeah, right.
Saturday, October 19, 2002I'm almost finished with the painting of gerber daisies. Unfortunately one of the flowers completely withered between last night and this morning. I imagine this is because the florist's assistant was slamming the flowers around like they were sacks of potatoes, bless her little heart. This will now be a painting of three gerber daisies in a glass vase.
Friday, October 18, 2002Today I started a commissioned painting of a small bouquet of gerber daisies. I've skirted the issue of approaching this subject several times over the past few years. It was fairly difficult to find an acceptable arrangement of these flowers. Long stems, no leaves, and heavy, oversized flowers presented some difficulty in creating a comfortable and natural arrangement. I guess gerber daisies would typically be used to accent an arrangement of mixed flowers, but there exists some stubborn element within myself that feels that a painting of flowers should not be a painting of an already decorated and arranged bouquet. One of my slender vases helps to create a delicate and graceful arrangement, with the accents of color seeming to hang weightlessly in the air. We'll see how this turns out.
Tuesday, October 15, 2002I finished the small painting of a single gala apple.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Tonight I got a phone call notifying me of the cancellation of this weekend's Bethesda Row Art Show, due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the recent sniper shootings. As much as I was looking forward to this show, I can't help but respect the decision to prevent the possibility of any more incidents. This represents the end of my outdoor show season of 2002. In two weeks I'll have a one person show at my gallery in New Hope, and the next day Heather and I will be going to Thailand for most of the month of November. On one hand I have so much excitement ahead of me, yet at the same time there is so much hardship and difficulty right now, right here. Life is feeling so very real.
Monday, October 14, 2002I started working on a small painting of a single gala apple. Tomorrow I'll go to Central Market and see if I can find any good flowers.
Heather was working in Philadelphia today, and in the silence of the studio I kept feeling waves of the deepest sadness. Members of my family have been having great hardships over the past few weeks, culminating with profound losses over this past weekend. There is very little to say, it is all so very sad.
Saturday, October 12, 2002In crushing debacle of angst and frustration I finished the painting of sunflowers.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, October 11, 2002Today was even more dismal and dark than yesterday, and I continued to attempt to complete this painting of sunflowers. The painting is still not finished, and the sunflowers continue to wilt. As always, I hope I can wrap this up tomorrow.
Happy birthday to my father.
Thursday, October 10, 2002The day started out as dismal and dark, and then proceeded to only get darker throughout the afternoon. I pushed and pulled many areas of this painting of sunflowers, to the point that it's very close to being finished. Tomorrow will be the day to wrap up this piece.
In retrospect, looking over the final images of the past three days it really does seem as though I've barely made any progress on this piece from one day to the next. I would love to be able to figure out the key to making a painting session consist of nothing but positive steps forward, with every mark being a constructive element toward resolving an image. Instead it seems as though more marks are scraped off than are left in place, and each mark is only a reference for what color and brushstrokes will eventually exist in that same place. The lessons I'm learning are subtle and profound, and hopefully it all adds up to something.
Happy birthday to my nephew Tyler.
Wednesday, October 9, 2002I continued to work on the painting of sunflowers. I'm reaching that critical point where layer upon layer of paint still can't resolve this difficult subject. This painting could snap together tomorrow, or I might wind up laboring over this for days until the flowers finally shrivel and wilt. We shall see.
Tuesday, October 8, 2002The sunflowers from last week were in fairly bad shape, so I picked up another bouquet today at Central Market. With great courage and fortitude I started a new painting of sunflowers in a clear glass vase. I managed to cover the entire canvas with paint before the light faded. Suddenly the days seem drastically shorter.
The show at the Lancaster Trust building on Sunday was a great success, thanks to the perfect weather and a good turnout of people. On Monday morning the Lancaster newspaper posted a picture of my display on the front page. I guess I'm finally becoming the big fish in the small pond.
Saturday, October 5, 2002Today I finished the painting of two red plums. In the final hour of today's session it snapped together nicely.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Last night was the opening reception at the gallery in West Chester. It was an odd thing, meeting all those people, addressing constant questions and comments, and the sweltering heat of all the bodies pressing into the small gallery for free wine and crackers. The evening left me with a disconnected feeling toward my work and my audience, as though the anxious crowd of spectators was only on a mission to address every gallery on the first Friday gallery walk, and my work was only another brief visual treat along their trek.
Tomorrow we'll be setting up at the Lancaster Trust Building for the Art Sunday exhibit.
Thursday, October 3, 2002I slammed some paint down on yesterday's canvas to start a new painting of two red plums. So far it's a solid start, and I'm hoping to finish this tomorrow without getting too bogged down with adjusting colors and details. I have some nice sunflowers waiting in the wings as my next subject, just in case I feel that painting becomes too easy again.
Wednesday, October 2, 2002Today I decided to scrape out the painting of the artichoke. On one hand it feels like giving up, and embracing the crushing failure of defeat. On the other hand it feels like an educated decision to do a productive and positive thing, and to take a challenge and turn it into an education. As things developed I came up with the realization that the best representation of an artichoke would not necessarily be a good painting.
Minutes ago Heather and I ate the three artichokes I picked out for this painting.
Tuesday, October 1, 2002I continued to work on the painting of an artichoke. I really feel as though I'm on up on a wire without a net as I delve into the painting of this strange new subject.
Monday, September 30, 2002We had fun at the show last weekend at the WaterWorks in Philadelphia. It was an amazingly picturesque setting for an art exhibition. Read about the history of the WaterWorks here, and see the newly restored building complex here.
Today I decided to try painting an artichoke. I'm not sure what I was thinking as I started sketching it in, but I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing tomorrow when I start laying in some paint.
Thursday, September 26, 2002Despite the day being fairly overcast and the sunflowers being all but completely withered I managed to finish this painting. I slashed and carved out some rude corrections with my knife throughout the day's session, and somehow I managed to find a certain sense of cohesion within the pattern of marks and some fairly strong and believable qualities of light and shadow.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Wednesday, September 25, 2002This painting of sunflowers has barely moved forward despite my working and reworking every part of it. I'm amazed to think of how willfully I pursue such frustration. If things don't start to snap together during tomorrow's session I'll be scraping this back down to a blank canvas. I'll usually work very hard to make sure it never comes to that, but I'm at the point where I can easily admit that it's not working and I should cut my losses and move on. We'll see.
Tuesday, September 24, 2002I continued to work on the painting of sunflowers. As always this subject presents a great challenge for me, and I wonder if I've ever had a satisfactory resolution to a painting of sunflowers.
Monday, September 23, 2002 Autumnal EquinoxDay and night pivot on the edge of the impending downward slide into the darkness of winter on this first day of fall. The cold snap in the air today reminds me of how limited my time is, and how short the light of day will become. I kicked off the season with a mid-sized painting of sunflowers in a horizontal format.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Summer 2002 for the previous season's struggles.
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