Previous issues:
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.
Tuesday, June 19, 2001Today is the last day of spring.
Things have been quiet in the studio while I've taken some time to organize my thoughts and gain some perspective. I've had an amazingly productive spring season, but an overview of the work shows an exploration into increasingly subtle nuances of an ongoing series that I've been working on for almost exactly one year. I do see validity in what I've done, and I've experienced some magical moments in many of these studies. I'm sure that I will return to several of these motifs again, but at this point I feel that I should strive to find some notable variety as I continue to push the boundaries of my work and my perception.
An artist should embrace the sensibility of being a subversive element, even to the point of overthrowing one's own standards of process and expression.
We'll see what happens.
Read on...to Summer of 2001
Sunday, June 17, 2001 Father's DayAfter almost two weeks I'm finally back to work in the studio. At the Rittenhouse Square Art Show I won first place in painting and I also took the award for the best of show. After the grueling five day exhibition I feel that I needed a bit of a break.
While taking this time off I couldn't help but to take stock of where I am with my work, and the need to reinvent myself is feeling stronger than ever. I started back to work executing a tiny painting of a single granny smith apple while I re-evaluate what else I may be doing in the upcoming weeks. I may still execute several more pieces within the apple series, but at this point I am looking for other avenues of study.
Several more shows have been added to my summer season, and I've found some new homes for a few more paintings. As always I'm excited to see what happens next.
Tuesday, June 5, 2001I finished the small painting of granny smith apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Now I'm racing to pack and get some sleep before heading into Philadelphia in the morning. I may be back at some point during the show, but I will not be painting again until Monday the 11th at the earliest.
Monday, June 4, 2001I'm back from a relaxing weekend in Florida. We visited the Salvador Dali museum in Tampa, which turned out to be more than what could possibly be absorbed in only one visit.
I started a small canvas of granny smith apples, just to sum up all I've learned in the past three weeks before I start the five day Rittenhouse Square Art Show in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Thursday, May 31, 2001I finished the painting of three granny smith apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I'm leaving for the weekend to visit my father in Tampa with Heather, and I'll return on Sunday night.
Wednesday, May 30, 2001Day two of the newest granny smith painting was solid and productive. This is very close to being finished. Tomorrow I will push even further to finding more light and space within this arrangement.
Tuesday, May 29, 2001I started one more giant painting of three granny smith apples, this time against a deep violet backdrop. It is so refreshing to work large again, and I am thoroughly enjoying the giant actions and motions that accompany the large format. I can barely lift my arm from mixing paint, but I'm happy with the outcome of this first day's session.
Monday, May 28, 2001 Memorial DayI finished the painting of the daisies. Tiny brushes, tiny marks, tiny decisions, culminating in a tiny painting. While I do feel that this turned out to merely be a distraction to make me realize how much I would rather paint big, it is a successful and cohesive piece. I signed the painting and it will become part of my inventory.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Sunday, May 27, 2001Just to toss things up a bit I decided to start on a small canvas of colorful daisies. I will hopefully be making short work of this piece, and I'll be moving on to possibly yet another giant painting of granny smith apples.
Saturday, May 26, 2001I finally finished the painting of three granny smith apples. Today was one of the toughest days of painting I think I've ever experienced. After hours of slamming out paint I feel that I've finally come to an acceptable level of finish. Some paintings seem to happen almost on their own, but this one was nothing but an ongoing trial of effort and focus. I've learned many more things in this final day, and I'm looking forward to finding even more levels of understanding of the many elusive elements of this subject.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, May 25, 2001I did not finish the painting of three granny smith apples today, but I did have an excellent painting experience. Despite a fairly dim and overcast day, I managed to make some excellent color decisions. I feel that I've made some strong inroads toward finding some great richness and depth in the rendering of this subject. Tomorrow should be a short day, with a few broad sweeping color adjustments as well as a few select details that still need to be addressed.
Thursday, May 24, 2001I continued work on the giant painting of three granny smith apples. It seems that the more I paint these apples, the harder it gets. I'm leaving early to jump on a train to Philadelphia to have dinner with Heather and her extended family. I should be able to finish this tomorrow.
Wednesday, May 23, 2001I'm finally back in the studio after a long and exhausting weekend. The exhibition in Raleigh was all of the good and bad things that an exhibition can be. I found homes for some more work, saw some old friends and made a few new ones. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with my brother Darren, as well as the rest of his family and my mother as well. I slept well, ate too much, and was generally quite comfortable despite the early and long hours working at the exhibition.
I decided to get back to work on yet another giant painting of three granny smith apples. I've set them against a different colored background, and there is a subtle spacing difference that already seems to create an interesting sense of intimacy within the spaces between the apples. I'd like to see this piece finished with the same bravado and flourish of some of my faster and easier works, as the last painting seemed to go a little too far into the realm of being overworked.
Thursday, May 17, 2001I finished the painting of three granny smith apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Tomorrow I'll be leaving early in the day for my show this weekend in Raleigh.
Wednesday, May 16, 2001I spent most of the day racing around the Philadelphia area, and as a result I was not able to finish the painting of three granny smith apples. I believe I will easily resolve this piece tomorrow. Thanks to Heather taking me to Pearl Paint this morning, I was able to avert a yellow emergency. Yesterday's session was starting to feel as though I were avoiding yellow, and today I quickly snapped many of the colors back into place by having giant tubes of lemon yellow and cadmium yellow on hand. And I am now being represented by the DeBottis Gallery in West Chester.
Tuesday, May 15, 2001I continued work on the second giant painting of granny smith apples. It is developing well, and I should be able to wrap this piece up tomorrow if I can maintain this same high level of productivity.
Right now I'm racing out the door to visit my little friend Heather in Philadelphia, and tomorrow I'm dropping off some work at the DeBottis Gallery in West Chester, and then meeting Jeff Schaller for lunch before racing back to the studio to paint some more. I'm hoping that tomorrow my new shipment of paint arrives, specifically my yellow paint. To avert a possible yellow emergency, I may stop by Pearl Paint on South Street tomorrow morning. It is important that I have more than enough of every color so that every color decision is made hugely and brightly, in order to maintain momentum and liveliness.
Monday, May 14, 2001Just to see if lightning could possibly strike twice in the same spot, I started another huge canvas of the three granny smith apples. The slight difference is that in this composition the apples are crowding the picture field a little more, allowing me a little more room to explore some of the colors that make the shapes turn and reflect the different qualities of light. I would ultimately like to see if I can achieve a similar success as yesterday's painting with even more brevity and simplicity.
Sunday, May 13, 2001I brought the painting of three granny smith apples to a powerful and decisive finish. Today's session was a rush of positive color decisions and adjustments, and I feel that this is one of my strongest paintings to date. It would have been nice to have had a little more time to finish exploring many of the transitional colors of the darker greens as they turn around the different sides of the apples, but I knew that this painting was to be summed up at the end of today's session. All in all I feel that just about every one of my marks and colors were right on the money, and the energy and momentum of this painting is obvious in the final result. I may attack a similar size and setup in the next day or so, just to gain a stronger understanding of the building blocks of such a smashing piece of work.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Saturday, May 12, 2001I continued work on the painting of three granny smith apples. Tomorrow should see the conclusion of this piece.
Today is the birthday of my brother Daniel and his wife Lisa, as well as the day they leave for a ten day trip to China. Happy birthday, Daniel and Lisa.
Friday, May 11, 2001I continued work on the painting of three granny smith apples. I made some excellent progress in these initial stages of the painting. I'm looking forward to tomorrow being a productive session as well.
Thursday, May 10, 2001I finished the painting of yellow apples today.
Click on the image to see a larger versionI wasted no time and immediately started mixing colors for a huge painting of granny smith apples. It will be refreshing to be working on such a grand scale again.
Wednesday, May 9, 2001I continued work on the painting of bright yellow apples. It is almost finished and tomorrow should bring it into a final focus. I already have some nice granny smith apples standing by for my next painting.
Tuesday, May 8, 2001I'm finally back in the studio after my show in Richmond this past weekend. I started a mid-sized canvas of three bright yellow apples as a warmup before I start working on some much larger pieces. Right now I'm still fairly exhausted, and I'm hoping that I continue to gain some more momentum for productivity in the studio.
Thursday, May 3, 2000I finished the small painting of three evenly spaced gala apples. Two consecutive late afternoon sessions yielded a surprisingly warm overall color. I enjoyed finding some of the washed out colors in the shadows that introduced a rich and reddish glow of light into the entire painting.
Click on the image to see a larger versionI'm leaving in the morning for the weekend in Richmond.
Wednesday, May 2, 2001I'm finally back to work in the studio. I decided to execute a small version of the same three evenly spaced gala apples from last week. I will only have tomorrow to finish this painting, as I'll be leaving on Friday for this weekend's show in Richmond.
Thursday, April 26, 2001I finished the painting of three evenly spaced gala apples. Although it is a strong piece, I am not totally thrilled with it. This same sense of unease that I always feel when a painting is finished is amplified a bit today. I'll just try to work my way through it. Tomorrow may be spent in preparation for the first show of the season in Lancaster this coming weekend. If I can spend the day painting, I will.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Wednesday, April 25, 2001I continued work on the painting of three evenly spaced gala apples. It is just about completed, and I will take a look at it in the light of day tomorrow to make the final decision. I've been fairly aggressive in working and reworking the color with huge amounts of paint, and there is a raw quality to the brushwork as a result. In my last few paintings I've been finding more and more color within the white background, and it is yielding a very powerful dramatic quality to the colors of the subjects.
Tuesday, April 24, 2001I started a mid-sized canvas of three evenly spaced gala apples. This is an effort to start back at the simplest and most basic beginning I could find, and from here I will attempt to work my way back up through the creative block that almost happened. This was a solid start, and I should be able to finish this painting tomorrow.
Monday, April 23, 2001The weekend was quite difficult, with poor weather compounding my difficulties with painting. In the past week or so I've received rejection letters from three major exhibitions. On the heels of my last series of strong paintings I've started to second guess myself. Self doubt is an insidious force that can undermine your confidence and conviction without warning, and these failures to be accepted into some of the most
prestigious shows in the country have me somewhat flummoxed. Yesterday I spent the day arranging and rearranging objects, and I started and stopped several paintings. Today I started a small painting of a dish of three olives and a tabasco sauce bottle, only to scrape the almost finished piece back down to a blank canvas. At one time a few olives and a tabasco sauce bottle had enough color to satisfy my course of study, but at this point I'm interested in embracing more of the bold and brutal colors of flowers and fruit. I'm not sure if what I'm doing is valid in the eyes of the professional world, and at this time it's ever so important to maintain my focus on the subjects that interest me, and not the subjects that make a statement about myself as a painter. This is a difficult stage for any creative person, and all I can do is keep hammering away on the canvas and make something happen. It was with great optimism that I started applying to shows in the past few months, and this series of setbacks is just another test of my conviction.
Thursday, April 19, 2001I finished the painting of three bartlett pears. I feel that this is a strong and simple piece. Tomorrow I will be back on the search for another subject, unless I decide that there is yet more to learn from these colorful pears.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Wednesday, April 18, 2001I started a small canvas of the three bartlett pears just to sum up all that I've learned over the past few days. I should be finishing this painting tomorrow without any problem.
Tuesday, April 17, 2001The sky finally brightened enough for me to finish the painting of three yellow bartlett pears. The lack of continuity of these sessions has resulted in this painting being somewhat overworked, although it still seems to maintain a fairly loose and lively feel. The colors are bold and brilliant, and I feel that this is a strong piece.
Click on the image to see a larger versionI wrapped up the session in time to catch The Old 97s performing in Towson.
Having her on my brain's like getting hit by a train....
Sunday, April 15, 2001 Easter SundayI continued work on the painting of three yellow bartlett pears. The painting would have been completed if the day hadn't grown progressively more overcast throughout the afternoon. I turned the center pear slightly, and was able to find a nicer balance of colors within the three objects.
Saturday, April 14, 2001I started a painting of three brilliant yellow bartlett pears. After the session was over I decided that the center pear should be turned slightly to expose the pink on the back side, just to provide a transition from the one bright yellow pear on one end to the vivid pink and orange pear on the other. Tomorrow should prove to be productive as I integrate these changes and bring the entire painting into another level of focus and resolution.
On a side note, Eric Pope came by during the session to spread some holiday cheer.
Friday, April 13, 2001 Good FridayI finished the painting of daisies in the clear glass vase. I feel that I've taken several steps forward in my education by focusing specifically on daisies for the past week. I've found more color within the brighter whites, as well as learning even more about the articulation of the yellows of the centers. I'm also managing to consistently find color within the shadows of the backdrop to continue the sense of light from the subject to the surrounding space and air.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Thursday, April 12, 2001Yesterday was dark and miserable, and today was overcast until 3:00 in the afternoon. As soon as the sun came out I started another large canvas of the margueritte daisies. This time I arranged them in a clear glass vase in front of a dark violet background. I managed to get a good foundation down despite the late start, and hopefully tomorrow will see this piece resolved.
Tuesday, April 10, 2001I finished the painting of margueritte daisies in a blue glass vase. Like the last painting, this is a fairly rough piece, but I feel that this is a very strong painting with many interesting areas. For the first time I believe I've captured some believable colors within the blue glass vase. I feel that I'm finally able to stop seeing the vase only as rich cobalt blue glass, and instead I'm seeing many of the dull grey colors found within the different reflections. Some of the marks capture a profound simplicity of shape and light.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Monday, April 9, 2001I started a fairly large canvas of the brightly colored margueritte daisies today, against the same vivid pink background as my last painting.
Saturday and Sunday, April 7 and 8, 2001I found some nice margueritte daisies at the Central Market in Lancaster, as well as some brilliantly colorful yellow delicious apples. Unfortunately it was dark and overcast all weekend.
Friday, April 6, 2001It rained all day, so I spent the day in Philadelphia assisting my brother on a photo shoot. I met with the director of the DeBottis Gallery in West Chester about the possibility of having some of my work represented in that venue. I spent altogether too much time on the road.
Thursday, April 5, 2001I finished the painting of daisies. This is a strong piece, and the session progressed well with efficient and decisive marks. Some of the final decisions helped to create a nice sense of air and light within the dark side of the bouquet, and I stopped myself from rendering any more detail than was absolutely necessary. The piece still feels fairly rough, but I enjoy the lyrical movement created by the brushwork within the solid and centered composition.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Wednesday, April 4, 2001I started a small canvas of the bouquet of daisies that my little friend Heather picked up for me at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia last weekend. I should hopefully be finishing this painting tomorrow without any problem.
Tuesday, April 3, 2001I finally finished the painting of three red pears. I was fairly surprised that I was able to bring this to such a solid resolution after so many days of struggle.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Monday, April 2, 2001The day was once again dark and cloudy, but I managed to work for a few more hours on the painting, bringing it just one step closer to completion. For several days this piece has been spinning madly out of control. At this point it's well on its way to being a forcefully awkward painting with a series of corrections and adjustments being made over several layers of drying surfaces. Ultimately I would rather see the resolution reached in a fluid and cohesive series of sessions, but I will stick with this and see what I can learn from carrying it through. Hopefully one more day should do it, as I have a large and lively bouquet of shasta daisies above my sink for my next painting.
On a side note, I've been toying with the idea of recycling (and in effect, destroying) a few of the last paintings of the year 2000. While I can take comfort in the fact that I bravely attempted some different approaches to the same subjects, I have to accept that not all experiments will spawn good paintings. I am open to any input on this subject, and the paintings in question are specifically three red peppers, three tangerines and two tangerines and an apple.
Sunday, April 1, 2001 April Fool's DayI had a nice opening reception, and five pieces were sold from the collection. I'm anxious to continue work on this current piece, and then to move on.
Saturday, March 31, 2001After several terribly dark and miserable days I was able to work for a few hours on the painting this afternoon. Unfortunately I had to cut the session short to dash off the Lititz to hang my show for the opening tomorrow afternoon.
Wednesday, March 28, 2001I started another painting of the red anjou pears, this time a much larger canvas. On the suggestion of my brother Darren I staggered the spacing with one pear in front of the other two. This painting has been careening out of control throughout the session, but I may have a handle on it by tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 27, 2001I finished the painting of three red pears. I'm not sure if this painting is successful at this point. It seemed as though I had too few cues for reference in rendering these shapes, and the canvas was too small to really explore my options. I'll put some thought into whether or not I should embark upon a larger version of this arrangement tomorrow. As always, I'm open to input and commentary.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Monday, March 26, 2001I started a small painting of three red anjou pears. I should have no problem finishing this painting tomorrow. If this arrangement proves to be challenging enough, I will immediately start a larger version of this same setup.
It is very quiet in the studio today, the cats are quiet, the sunlight streaming through the windows is quiet, it seems as though my entire world is holding its breath, and waiting, quietly, for something to happen.
Friday, March 23, 2001With bold and brilliant sunlight I finally finished the painting of three bosc pears. At this point I believe I have achieved the education I needed from this subject, and I should be done painting bosc pears for a little while. But the real excitement today was hearing the new Old 97s cd for the first time. It's called Satellite Rides, and hoo boy, what a great album. And in other news, today is my mother's birthday. Happy birthday, Mom.
Click on the image to see a larger version
Wednesday, March 21, 2001I started off the spring season by diving into a mid-sized painting of the same three bosc pears. The day was aggressively miserable and dark, and the roar of the wind and rain was oppressive. I will attempt to continue with this painting tomorrow as well, although another wretched and dark day is in the forecast.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Winter 2001 for the previous season's struggles.
