Previous issues:
Summer 2004 | Spring 2004| Winter 2004
Fall 2003 | Summer 2003 | Spring 2003 | Winter 2002/03
Fall 200 2| Summer 2002 | Spring 2002 | Winter 2001/02
Fall 2001 | Summer 2001 | Spring 2001 | Winter 2000/01
Fall 2000 | Summer 2000 | Spring 2000 | Winter 1999/2000
Fall 1999 | Summer 1999 | Spring 1999 | Winter 1998/99
See the Gallery for some exciting detailed images of the artist's work.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004 Winter SolsticeThe first day of winter slammed down like a frozen hammer. This morning the geese were walking on the ice on the lake. I'm running on only 30 minutes of sleep, from staying up all night trying to get on top of paperwork and organizing a massive database of client information. This morning we dropped Frank off to be neutered, and I'm leaving shortly to pick him up. It would have been a perfect day to paint, but in my exhaustion the light seemed to be turning colors, and the sunlight felt like it was glaring through my retinas, and burning little after-images in my brain. I'm losing an entire day, hopefully to be ready to hit the easel tomorrow with a running head start, plowing headlong into the icy depths of winter like a goose hitting the surface of a frozen lake.
This wraps up the fall season, and pretty much the whole year. Looking back over the past few months, I didn't get as much painting done as living, but life has continued to prove to me how precious it really is.
Read on...to Winter of 2004/05
Monday, December 20, 2004I'm back to work mixing colors for a new painting of white tulips against a dark red background.
Today I got the notice of acceptance to the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival in April. It would be nice to continue to get accepted to every show worth doing. I'll be sending out a slew of applications, hoping for the best. This year I'm ready to drive across the country at least once to pursue a full schedule of top shows.
Saturday, December 18, 2004I decided the Amaryllis flower was too far gone to continue the painting, so I decided to scrape it out and start something else.
Before I could even begin to figure out a new subject, we made the difficult decision that Schwartz was ready to go. After doing some research we realized that he was suffering from kidney failure, and that the most we could hope for was to only prolong his life with extreme and aggressive medical intervention. After all he's been through over the past two years, we decided he should go while he still had a sense of happiness and dignity. He had always been right there by my side, since I was a much younger man, only 28 years old. I remember picking out the biggest, striped, blue-eyed male from the litter of kittens. Immediately his stripes faded to all black, his eyes turned green, and he quickly became a huge and charming cat. He would have been 15 years old in only a few weeks.
Schwartz 1990 - 2004
Friday, December 17, 2004I set up a potted Amaryllis, and started mixing colors and throwing down paint on a large canvas. On this first day of such a strange new subject I'm very agitated and unsettled. I'll have a look tomorrow and see if I'm going to press on or scrape it off and try something else.
Thursday, December 16, 2004I finished the painting of apples. I'll post an image of the finished painting in the next few days.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004I would have finished the painting of three gala apples if I didn't get sidetracked by other projects. I wound up taking time to shoot one final image to apply to the Lakefront show in Minneapolis before the deadline in two days. And of course Frank started going nuts, so I ended the session early to take him to the dog park so he could run and run and run. I'm sure he'll be sore tomorrow, but he's happy tonight.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004I started throwing color down on this newest painting of three gala apples.
I should see this painting finished tomorrow, hopefully in time to dive into a new and exciting subject, the Amaryllis flower in a pot. I planted some bulbs today, so hopefully in the next 4 to 6 weeks I'll have a few more to work on as well. In addition, I'm expecting a shipment of even more in the next few days, so if things go well, I should have a nice exploration into this subject over the course of a few months.
Monday, December 13, 2004I'm finally back to work in the studio, getting ready to slam down a small commissioned painting of apples. So far I've mostly been cleaning the palette and wrapping my knife handles in fresh duct tape, but I did manage to actually mix some colors by the end of the day.
I've been gaining a crash course in the Amaryllis flower, for a large commission I'll have in the next few weeks. I'll be cultivating some flowers from bulbs for a huge canvas, but in the meantime I picked up a ragged plant in full bloom for a possible quick study. I also found a few nice bouquets of white tulips, which are now on standby in the refrigerator.
Schwartz seems to have gained a renewed interest in food, so it seems as though he'll be with us for at least a little while longer. Toward the end of last week, Frank started limping, getting progressively worse until he could barely walk, and was in obvious pain just sitting still. The vet ascertained that he had a sprained shoulder, and prescribed rest and pain killers. He's going nuts, not being allowed to run and jump and go airborne, but he does seem to be improving day by day.
Tuesday, December 7, 2004We're back from a great weekend in Chicago. On the drive out, we stopped in Ohio and met up with some clients and picked up a rejected commission, so that painting is now available again. We had a chance to relax with the charming family for a bit and have dinner before we were back on the road again. The Merchandise Mart show was a great chance to meet up with many of our good friends from the show circuit, including David Gordon and his wife Sue Brown-Gordon, Pete Zaluzec, Luca Battaglia, Michael Ireland, and we went out to dinner with Heather Gentile-Collins and her husband Patrick and their new infant daughter Lilly, and we made some new friends in furniture maker Joshua Height and his wife Kate, our neighbors for the weekend. Among other things, I did find a home for one of the greatest paintings I've ever done.
It's nice to be home. Frank is becoming a full-sized dog right in front of us, and O-ji-san is now a full-sized cat. Schwartz is continuing to wither away, but he snuggled in between us last night and his purring almost kept me awake.
Monday, November 29, 2004The paintings are all wrapped, the van is loaded, and we're packing suitcases for the next week in Chicago. With all of this preparation, you would think this was the biggest show of the year. We shall see.
On a side note, little Frankie lifted his leg to pee for the first time. We're so proud of him.
Sunday, November 28, 2004For the entire week, I thought I might start another painting, but it never happened.
The Thanksgiving holiday came and went too fast, and we're eating our way through a mountain of leftovers as we prepare for the upcoming Chicago trip. I'm busily wrapping paintings in cardboard and padding to prepare them to be thrown around by union workers in the great chaotic load-in at the Merchandise Mart. I forgot how grueling of a task this was last year. It just goes on and on, for hours and hours.
Over the past two weeks Schwartz has seemed to lose almost all interest in eating, and he's now a skeleton wrapped in fur. He's still active and affectionate, but it's scary to see and feel how thin he is. He'll be 15 years old in a month, and we're open to the notion that he may just be ready to go. He spends every day outside, from early morning until it gets dark, stalking through the yard for prey. I'm not sure if I should be taking him to the vet and trying to save him, or just accept that he's an old, old cat, and he's ready to wrap things up. He's not suffering, but I can't imagine he'll last much longer with the way things are going.
Just as everything is rising, everything is falling.
Monday, November 22, 2004The painting is finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Sunday, November 21, 2004The weekend has been a blur of activity. Friday night was the opening reception in West Chester, and Saturday and Sunday were marathons of preparation for the upcoming week. On Saturday morning I managed to finish editing the digital images, and with a few mouse clicks I applied to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival and the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival. I also planted 100 tulip bulbs on Saturday morning, and had fun on Saturday night when a friend of ours stopped by for a nice visit. Today we hung curtains, picked up some new plate ware, cleaned, organized, consolidated, and on and on. Throughout it all I continued to take quick stabs at the painting of gerber daisies, and I think it's finally finished. I'll have a final look in the morning. In my exhaustion I can't tell if it's resolved or completely out of control.
Thursday, November 18, 2004I was barely able to work on the painting of gerber daisies today, as I was scrambling to keep up with several other projects. I dropped off the last two paintings at the DeBottis Gallery in preparation for the opening reception tomorrow night. I then I set up and shot digital images of my show display, as well as a few of the individual paintings for my upcoming show applications. I'm looking forward to using the new digital online application process, although I feel a little overwhelmed with all the technical details. Of course I should just be handing this off to a professional, but I always need to figure things out and prove I can do it just as well myself. Damn me.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004I started throwing color down on this new painting of yellow gerber daisies against a teal background. This is a very different and exciting piece. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be finished with this, or at least very close to being finished. Or at least a good bit further along than I am today. We'll see.
I just discovered a climbnasium treadmill at my gym, and yesterday and today I've been clawing my way up the giant rolling wall, hand over hand, with no grace or rhythm whatsoever. My wrists and hands are going into shock from the amazing exertion, but it does make the easy things like mixing paint seem just a little easier.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004Today I picked up a bouquet of yellow gerber daisies, and started mixing colors for a small painting. Tomorrow I should be throwing some paint around. It will be nice to work a little larger than my last series of tiny works. On the upside, doing those stupid little paintings did give me some ideas of subjects to pursue on a larger scale.
Sunday, November 14, 2004I'm just getting caught up from a brutally busy weekend. On Friday the two little pear paintings were finished and hurled like frisbees into the darkness of the garage. The big project of the weekend was to finish painting the basement and to start setting up the home theater, and freeing up the living room for, well, um, living. On Saturday morning I picked up more frames, and came home to practically break my back moving our monstrous television into the basement. I then spent the remainder of the day rewiring outlets and running some new cable, network and telephone wires. We spent Sunday moving very slowly, in the afternoon I taught Heather how to skip stones, ending the day with the two of us valiantly trying yet another pumpkin pie recipe in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner.
Today I got an email, from Emma, stating simply, "i love peppers and birds in a sexual way."
Cheers.
Thursday, November 11, 2004I continued to work on the two little paintings of yellow pears, but I wound up getting sidetracked by some other projects around the studio. Tomorrow I should be finishing these, and possibly starting on one more set of tiny stupid paintings.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004I finished the two little paintings of coffee cups, and immediately started two more little paintings, each of a single yellow pear.
Tuesday, November 9, 2004I continued to paint these two ridiculous tiny coffee cup paintings. I feel my anxiety level skyrocketing when I attempt to work on such small things. Nothing about this feels substantial, and I can hardly wait to start working large again. It's strange to see how much angst and frustration surfaces as I struggle with these tiny brushes, and these tiny marks, on these tiny paintings. Suddenly so many elements of my life seem to be covered with sharp edges, and everything seems to scratch and irritate me. All because of these damn little paintings.
Monday, November 8, 2004I am indeed finished with the two tiny paintings, and as though I really don't know any better, I immediately started two more tiny paintings, this time of a coffee cup.
Sunday, November 7, 2004I finished the two tiny paintings, although I'd like to see them in the light of day tomorrow to make the final decision.
Right now there's just so many distractions, the weather is perfect, the evening was calm, and we all sat on the deck and watched the sun set.
Saturday, November 6, 2004The painting of yellow tulips is finally finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started on two tiny paintings, of an apple and a bosc pear against the yellow background. I figured I had so much of this color left over that I should make some use of it.
Friday, November 5, 2004The painting should be finished, but I was blinded by the afternoon light and barely made any progress.
This morning I saw Schwartz far down below at the lake, perched on a rock that jutted out into the water, while a few geese sat motionless in the water a few feet away, watching him. Sometimes this world seems so surreal.
Thursday, November 4, 2004Today it was dark, and it rained all day. I continued to paint despite the poor light, and this painting is now almost finished. It was actually becoming pretty tight by the end of yesterday's session. I guess after a few hours of throwing paint, it's hard to see the painting through all those pesky brush strokes.
Wednesday, November 3, 2004I continued to throw color down on this new painting of yellow tulips. Things are still fairly rough, but the surface is fattening up nicely. Tomorrow should see this starting to come down the home stretch.
Tuesday, November 2, 2004I started slinging paint onto the canvas today.
My driveway is finished, and I wrote a whopping check that totally cleaned out my bank account. This morning Heather and I did our part and voted.
Monday, November 1, 2004I continued mixing paint, and unpacked the tulips from the refrigerator. Once they relax I'll arrange them and start throwing paint tomorrow. A paving crew started working on my driveway this morning, making good progress by the end of the day. Schwartz was so proud to show me the chipmunk he killed this afternoon. Tomorrow my mother leaves for a week in Italy.
Sunday, October 31, 2004I started mixing colors for this new painting of yellow tulips against a yellow background. I should be throwing some paint around tomorrow.
Saturday, October 30, 2004I'm finished with the painting of three yellow apples against a yellow background.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Tomorrow I'm going to stretch a large canvas, and finally get started on a large painting of yellow tulips against a yellow background.
Friday, October 29, 2004I continued to throw paint down on this newest painting. I didn't really think it was going anywhere until I saw the image through the view screen of my digital camera, and suddenly I realized that it's solid and exciting, and could turn into a slamming piece.
Thursday, October 28, 2004I cut linen and stretched a canvas and immediately started throwing down color on this large painting of yellow apples against a yellow background. Tomorrow should see the surface get fattened up as I attempt to make a fast and lively conclusion to this piece.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004Today I started to regroup my thoughts in preparation for starting another painting. While cleaning up my palette, I started to mix some colors for a large painting of yellow tulips against a yellow background. At one point it occurred to me that I still had the yellow apples in front of the yellow background, and that this would make a great painting, and that I was willing to put the tulips on hold one more time to do one more painting of these yellow apples before retiring them for once and for all.
Sometimes I don't feel that I have any rhyme or reason to my decisions, and that I'm being led along by what pretty shapes and colors happen to appeal to me from one fleeting moment to the next.
Monday, October 25, 2004The painting is finally finished, after a few more pounds of paint and way too many more hours of work. It's still a solid and colorful painting, despite almost going over the edge of being overworked.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Sunday, October 24, 2004Of course the painting is not yet finished, but I have made some excellent leaps and bounds forward in fattening up some of the colors.
Something appears to be a little wonky with my website, so I haven't been able to update the journal or post images. Hopefully things are straightened out soon.
Saturday, October 23, 2004I continued to work on the painting of yellow apples. This is now very close to being finished.
Friday, October 22, 2004I continued to throw more paint down on this new painting of yellow apples. Things are taking shape, and tomorrow should see this piece starting to come down the home stretch.
Today I'm adding a new website to my links page, for the California artist Rebecca Bailey. Her website features a live studio cam, artist's journal and an online gallery of her exciting multi-media work.
Thursday, October 21, 2004I mixed huge amounts of paint today, and proceeded to sling it all down on the canvas. From this early stage of development, it's easy to see that this will be a bold and exciting painting. I'm looking forward to laying some more paint down and building up a surface.
The kitten is showing a great fascination with my painting. He sits for long amounts of time, carefully watching my brushwork. Who knows what's going on in that little fuzzy head of his.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004After great angst and frustration, I finished the small painting of yellow apples against a teal background. I'll post an image of the finished painting at some point several days in the future, when I'm able to look at the painting again without flinching.
Fast forward to one week later, here is the painting.
Click on the image to see a larger version.In the meantime, I'm going to start on a large painting of the same arrangement, and the same colors.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004I'm almost finished with the painting of yellow apples against a teal background. The sun never even came out today, and the life and color seemed to be drained out of everything. It rained steadily through the day, stopping just long enough for us to take Frank to the dog park, which was more like a swamp than a park.
Monday, October 18, 2004I continued to throw paint around on this new study of yellow apples against the teal background. Things are looking lively, and quickly snapping into shape. Tomorrow should see this piece finished. I'll put some thought into possibly pursuing a large canvas of this same subject, because it's just so damn exciting with these brilliant and popping colors.
On a side note, I figured out how to make Adobe files from Word documents, for another website that I'm putting together. I'm thinking that at some point I'll put some Adobe files on my website, so people can print their own invitations to my openings and other various events.
Sunday, October 17, 2004I decided to scrap the idea of the coffee cup and saucer for now, and instead I set up three of the yellow apples against a teal background. And instead of another one of these ridiculous tiny linen canvas boards, I'll be taking a break by painting on a mid-sized canvas. It's good to throw around substantial piles of paint again.
And then tonight at the grocery store I found a nice bouquet of yellow tulips. Right now they're in the refrigerator on standby for another large painting later this week.
Saturday, October 16, 2004I finished the third painting, and started arranging and rearranging objects for another still-life. This time I'll just be painting a single coffee cup and saucer.
Friday, October 15, 2004I finished the second small painting, and started another.
Thursday, October 14, 2004I'm almost finished with the second small painting.
This morning Schwartz and Frank both raced down the steps to the lake to harass the geese.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004I finished the first small painting, and immediately switched colors and started on another. I'm not sure how I want to deal with this body of work, if I want to post it in the gallery with all of my other finished pieces, or create a new section for paintings that are being done specifically for this show. These small sizes are something I hope I'll never be doing again. Everything about them feels so constrained and subdued, although they will be some nice quick sketches with odd colors and subjects that I might otherwise not pursue with larger works.
The repairs of the driveway are starting to shape up, although it looks like it will wind up costing me a big bunch of money to do more than just smooth out the rubble and lay down some blacktop. I'm not looking for more ways to spend money, but this is one of those things that I really have to address.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004I started on a tiny painting of a single yellow apple. This will be the first of a series of tiny paintings I'm doing for an upcoming one-person show in West Chester in November.
Saturday, October 9, 2004I'm finished with the painting of yellow tulips.
Click on the image to see a larger version.We're heading out the door to go to New York City, to kick around for a night with the legendary H. Philip Lauer. I'll also be procuring a few gallons of my favorite gum turpentine from the hardware store a few blocks up the street from Phil's apartment in Brooklyn.
Friday, October 8, 2004This painting is all but finished. I'll nail down a few more details tomorrow before yanking it off the easel and hurling it across the studio.
Thursday, October 7, 2004I continued to slam some paint down on this newest piece. Things are tightening up, and tomorrow should see this piece coming close to completion. Afternoons are quite pleasant these past few days. I almost wish I wasn't painting all the time so I could actually enjoy them.
Wednesday, October 6, 2004I started throwing paint down. Tomorrow should see things start to take shape.
This morning I met with a paving contractor, to go over some solutions to the wreckage that used to be the entrance to my driveway. If things go well, it should be very nice. Hopefully it winds up not costing me a dime. We'll see.
Tuesday, October 5, 2004We're back from our weekend in Armonk. Many paintings have been placed in some of the spectacular homes of Westchester county, New York. In addition to being so busy racing all over to make deliveries, we did have an enjoyable time. It was good to see so many of the artists from the show circuit in one place, including Larry Preston, John Harris, Marshall Burns, Phillip Singer, Michael Patterson, David Gordon and his wife Sue Brown Gordon, and all those other artists that we see all of the time, at shows all over the country.
I started mixing colors for another large painting of the remaining bouquet of yellow tulips. Once I pull them out of the refrigerator I'll be racing against the flowers, as they spring to life and then quickly wither and die in the warmth of the studio.
Thursday, September 30, 2004The painting is finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.We're leaving for Armonk tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004I continued to build up a nice surface on this new painting of yellow tulips. I should be finished with it tomorrow, just as they're completely wilted and useless.
I spent most of the day trying to track down a paving contractor to start repairs on the driveway. And tonight I watched Frank almost get swept away by the current in the stream at the dog park. He was going nuts after being stuck inside yesterday, and trying to keep up with the big dogs in the rain-swollen creek definitely knocked the stuffing right out of him.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004I attempted to paint despite the sky growing increasingly dark with the remnants of the hurricane.
I drove out to pick up Heather at the train stop at six in the evening, but upon my return only 30 minutes later we found the entire end of the driveway washed out. There's a four foot deep gully running along the side, and several tons of dirt and stone were washed into the street from the lake overflowing. I can't get my utility van back into the driveway for now, but more importantly, I can't get my show van back out of the driveway for this weekend's show in Armonk. Fortunately I have a few days to arrange for some repairs.
Fast forward to midnight, I just got back from watching a bulldozer push all of the rocks and gravel back into my driveway. There's still an insanely deep ravine on one side, but I think it might be passable with the truck. Strange thing, standing on the bank of the lake with a flashlight in the pouring rain, looking down on this big machine, grinding its tracks on the pavement while scraping the stones from the street. I'm fairly overwhelmed by the destruction, but it's nothing compared to how many people that lost their homes in the past few days. I was daunted by it all a few hours ago, but now I'm able to understand the problems and visualize the solutions. I keep pondering what steps of prevention I can take in the future. It's a man-made lake, fed by a small stream, with a levy that puts the surface of the lake about 10 feet above the surface of the street. A drain pipe maintains the surface level, and a large spillway handles a certain amount of overflow. If the original stream was still wandering through the valley, this same downpour would have flooded the valley and turned the creek into a raging river with just as much destruction as the overflowing lake. I'm open to suggestions.
Monday, September 27, 2004I started throwing some color down on this newest large painting of yellow tulips. It always amazes me, to see how quickly the quality of light and atmosphere is captured in this rough early stage. These tulips have grown very quickly since yesterday when I first cut them. I already cut off another two inches to make a more reasonable bouquet out of them. Hopefully by tomorrow I should be coming down the home stretch on this painting.
Sunday, September 26, 2004I started mixing colors for a large commission of yellow tulips against a yellow background.
Yesterday I was in Lancaster to make a delivery of a painting and to pick up some yellow tulips. While I was at Central Market, I discovered that my flower lady is pregnant, and Heather noticed that our good friend Omar, the purveyor of fine Middle Eastern food, seems to be wearing a heart monitor. Life continues to thrive, and time continues to take its toll.
Saturday, September 25, 2004I finished the new painting of sunflowers.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, September 24, 2004I think this painting is finished, but I'll have one more look tomorrow and make the final decision.
Thursday, September 23, 2004I continued to slam down some paint on this new painting of sunflowers. Suddenly things seem to be very difficult. I'm having a hard time getting an overview of this arrangement, and I'm spending huge amounts of time just staring and trying to understand how things work. It's important to keep seeing how all of the composite areas have to be properly sculpted out of light to make the overall composition gain the necessary components of cohesion to, um, well, whatever the hell I was talking about. I'll figure it out somehow.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Autumnal EquinoxI kicked off the fall season by throwing some paint down on this newest painting of sunflowers against a mauve background.
The light is changing quickly with each passing day. My window of prime time sunlight is growing shorter and shorter, and the afternoon sun is becoming rich and golden. The room is alive with the reflections from the lake on the walls and ceiling. It's a spectacular lighting effect, although it does make getting any work done just a little difficult.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Summer 2004 for the previous season's struggles.
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