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See the Gallery for some exciting detailed images of the artist's work.Here is the short travelogue of my recent trip to Thailand.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006I'm back from Chicago, moving very slowly, spring is now over. I had a nice time, and a few more paintings found good homes. I saw some old friends and clients, and made a few new ones, including the multimedia artist Kate Barrere and her husband David.
Read on...to Summer of 2006
Thursday, June 15, 2006The painting of Packham pears is finished. Click here to see an image of the finished painting.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006I decided to start another study of Packham pears, this time in an even row. In the final minutes of the painting, suddenly things become really exciting. I'll have to see this resolved by the end of tomorrow's session, as I'll be leaving for my upcoming show in Chicago later in the day.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006The painting of three Packham pears is finished. Click here to see the finished painting.
Monday, June 12, 2006I'm back from visiting my father in Tampa, after a nice and relaxing trip. We had so much to talk about, and so much food. It's nice to be home.
I pulled the palette out of the freezer, and started slamming paint down to start on this study of Packham pears. Things are taking shape, hopefully I can nail this down without too much angst and frustration. I need something to be a little closer to easy for a change.
Sometimes all you need is an image of someone's face, to look into their eyes, and find yourself wondering what you ever might do to make them smile again. To do no harm is the first thing, to make things better is the next thing. We all have such an agenda ahead of us, it's all so huge, time is so short, there is just so much.
Wednesday, June 7, 2006I made the executive decision to not start painting today, as the day was dark and overcast, and I would only have one day to work before taking a trip tomorrow. I felt that it was a smart thing to do. I'll be visiting my father in Tampa for the weekend. It should be fun.
Tuesday, June 6, 2006 The Day of the BeastThe dust is finally settled from the Rittenhouse Square show, the central air system in the house has been replaced, some paintings found some new homes, my guests came and left, everything is quiet again.
I started mixing colors for a mid-sized study of Packham pears. The forest is so still and quiet today.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006The painting is finished, tonight I'm setting up for the big Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show, guests are arriving, the weekend is about to begin. Click here to see an image of the finished painting.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006Today I continued to attempt to paint, but I was soaked with sweat, and the heat made the paint thicken up like chewing gum. On the upside, I did finally manage to build up a really solid painting, as I scrambled to stay on top of the hardening paint. This will be finished tomorrow. On the downside, it seems that my central heat pump and air conditioner has reached the absolute end of its useful life, and I'm going to be replacing the entire house system in the next few days. Frank tried to pee on the serviceman's tools, so apparently it's too warm for Frank too.
Last night I had a few friends stop by, and we escaped from the heat of the house on the outside deck, under the stars, watching the very first fireflies of the season, and hearing the orchestra of frogs.
Monday, May 29, 2006 Memorial DayI started throwing down paint on this new study of three gala apples. Around the midpoint of the afternoon, I realized the temperature in the house started skyrocketing, despite the air conditioner being on. When the temperature climbed to 85 degrees in the house, I decided that something is obviously wrong, and I made a phone call.
Sunday, May 28, 2006I started mixing colors for another study of three gala apples. I'm not sure why, I'm not pausing to think too much about it, just mixing colors.
Saturday, May 27, 2006The painting of three gala apples is now finished. Click here to see an image of the finished painting. I'm not sure what I'm doing next, possible another study of the same three apples.
Friday, May 26, 2006I continued to throw paint down on this newest study of gala apples. Things are quickly becoming resolved, and at this point I believe I only need to block in some big areas to see this finished.
Thursday, May 25, 2006I started slamming down paint on this newest study of three gala apples. It's fresh and exciting at the end of this first session, and I moved a huge amount of paint. Tomorrow may see this painting come close to being finished, unless the forecast for thundershowers also includes no sunlight for the day.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006I stretched a big canvas, and started mixing colors for a giant study of the same three gala apples. A big canvas feels so huge after a few weeks of working on smaller sizes.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006I finished the study of three gala apples.
Monday, May 22, 2006Today in response to realizing how much I don't know, I decided to just throw some paint around on a small study of apples. I'll mix some colors, see how things look, and just lay it down while I clear my head. We'll see what happens next.
Sunday, May 21, 2006Somehow David Bielick talked me into going back into the painting of a coffee cup and saucer and resolving some problem areas. After hacking at the canvas for a few more hours, it's no closer to being resolved. I don't want to look at this painting again, I'm up against so many amazing challenges with this piece. A smaller study of the same subject allows me to fudge over certain cues that help support the image, this larger study exposes my shortcomings in draftsmanship and rendering, and it has been an endlessly frustrating exercise.
Click here to see an image of the finished painting.
Friday, May 19, 2006The painting of the coffee cup and saucer is finally finished.
Thursday, May 18, 2006Today I should have been done with this simple study of a coffee cup and saucer, but for some reason I'm struggling with things. I'm laying it down, then scraping it off, carving it up, then breaking it down. For the final hour of the session I debated just scraping down the whole thing and starting something else, but another part of me knows that pushing past this might be good for me. I felt like I had steel cords wrapped around my heart while I worked, studying and mixing paint while thinking that scraping it off might not be enough, that I might need to break the stretchers and fold the whole thing in half to really destroy it. I'm still not done, tomorrow we'll see if I can pull this through or just put it down. It's times like these that I feel that I can't really paint, and I'm just hacking my way through studies of familiar subjects, and that I'm barely capable of any actual growth in my study of new and different objects. Once again, painting is the hardest thing I've ever attempted to do, and this is one of those days when I think it's killing me.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006For lack of any better ideas, I started another study of the coffee cup and saucer.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006I'm back from a fun weekend in Bethesda, which unfortunately ended too early with a violent thunderstorm closing the show on Sunday afternoon. More paintings found homes, I met with some new clients, had some entertaining talks with some old clients, and had a great time meeting the general public. I spent most of the weekend trading ideas with the legendary multimedia artist David Gordon, and saw some other old friends and made a few new friends, including the charming photographer known only as Zim. Today I started mixing paint, looking at things, cleaning my palette, thinking about stuff, and getting absolutely nothing done.
Thursday, May 11, 2006Today is dark and overcast, the sky is heavy with the impending rain. It's supposed to rain straight through the weekend, straight through my upcoming show in Bethesda. I'm getting psyched to be cold and wet again, yeehaw.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006I finished the small study of a coffee cup and saucer. There is so much color in the forest around my house now, it's almost too much. Click here to see an image of the finished painting.
Tuesday, May 9, 2006I started a small study of a coffee cup and saucer.
Monday, May 8, 2006I'm back from the show in Richmond. I had a great time, meeting with some old friends, and making some great new friends at the same time. I'm learning to really love going to Richmond, year after year. Some of my fans proclaimed their obsessions with me and my work. I was deeply flattered, and a little intimidated by my growing fame and notoriety. Today I'm exhausted, Sunday was spent in a cold rain all day, and I'm aching all over, trying to tie up loose ends.
I can feel wanderlust moving me to see more places, more people, more of life. I'm looking forward to throwing some paint again.
Thursday, May 4, 2006The painting of tulips is finished, getting ready for my trip to Richmond this weekend.
Click here to see an image of the finished painting.
Wednesday, May 3, 2006I continued to tighten up the study of white tulips on a pale blue background. Everything is snapping into place as the tulips are starting their final plunge into being pale and withered husks of the life that once was. I struggle to create something and bring components together, as entropy separates different things back into even more different pieces.
As it all rises, it also falls.
Tuesday, May 2, 2006I started throwing down paint on this new study of white tulips against a pale blue background.
Monday, May 1, 2006I started mixing colors for a new study of the white tulips that will just barely make it through to the end of this painting.
Saturday, April 29, 2006Today I started and nailed down a tight little study of two yellow bartlett pears. Click here to see an image of the finished painting.
I have no idea what I'll paint tomorrow. I'm sure the tulips on standby in the refrigerator are too far gone to sit for a portrait, but we'll see.
Friday, April 28, 2006I finally finished the new study of yellow tulips. The painting was right on the verge of spinning out of control, but I managed to tie it up and keep a lively sense about the brushwork and paint application.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Lately the afternoons have been just spectacular, the breeze is blowing through the studio, Ojisan is chattering to all the wildlife, Frank is staring at me waiting for the sunset run to the dog park.
Thursday, April 27, 2006For the past few days I've been hammering away on yet another large study of yellow tulips against a pale yellow background. One week seems to run right into the next. I'm about to be finished with this painting, hopefully tomorrow. We'll see.
Sunday, April 23, 2006The painting is finished, I'm mixing colors for another large study of yellow tulips.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Saturday, April 22, 2006For the past few days I've been hammering away on a second large study of yellow tulips against a pale yellow background. I thought I'd be finishing today, but the sun never came out, so I couldn't nail down the last big fields of color.
Monday, April 17, 2006Today I finished my taxes, and stretched a canvas. Frank went swimming in the lake, and I'm glad my paperwork is done.
Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006I mixed colors, and started putting together paperwork for my taxes.
Black Saturday, April 15, 2006Today I drove my mother to the airport, sold my green van, and finished this painting of yellow tulips.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Good Friday, April 14, 2006I'm all but finished with this painting of yellow tulips. It's about to spin out of control, but I'll have a final look in the morning and see if I can move on to something else yet.
Thursday, April 13, 2006Today David Bielick and his fiancé Theresa stopped by. I'm letting David B use my extra building by the lake as a painting studio. Theresa took Frank down to the lake to run around while David and I caught up on things. She found Frank chewing on a dead turtle at one point, probably just to impress her.
I managed to almost finish the painting of yellow tulips today, while David B got back to work after an absence of a few weeks. Maybe he was chewing on the dead turtle too, I just don't know.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006I continued to slam down paint on this new study of yellow tulips on a pale yellow background. It's coming into focus, and the surface is quickly becoming oh so rich and creamy. Tomorrow should see this piece start to come down the home stretch, and I have two more bouquets of tulips on standby in the refrigerator.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006I started throwing down paint on this newest study of yellow tulips on a pale yellow background. It's rough and rude today, and it will start taking shape soon. Tomorrow should be a good day.
Monday, April 10, 2006Yes, the two small studies of bartlett pears are done. I yanked them off the easel and hurled them like frisbees into the darkness of my utility room. I immediately started mixing huge piles of paint for a large study of yellow tulips against a pale yellow background. Tomorrow should be a good day.
Sunday, April 9, 2006I think I finished the two small simultaneous studies of bartlett pears, but I'll check again in the morning to make sure. Things are nice and quiet here for a change.
Saturday, April 8, 2006I started throwing paint down on two small simultaneous studies of two yellow bartlett pears. The sun finally came out late in the afternoon, and tomorrow should see these paintings finished. Maybe I'll sleep soon.
Thursday, April 6, 2006I'm still totally scrambled from jetlag, time is a great fluid cycle of daylight and darkness, unbroken by intervals of sleep. I should be totally crashing any day now.
Wednesday, April 5, 2006I finished the new study of pears.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Tuesday, April 4, 2006Dropping out of the sky, through the clouds, the patchwork of green and brown rushes up to meet me, heavily landing on the runway, sudden deceleration, pulling into the terminal, I'm home again. I'm compiling my notes, stay tuned for a brief travelogue of my adventure, as seen though the burning eyes of a man maddened by fever and exhaustion.
I decided to hit the ground running, stopping on my way home from the airport to pick up tulips and pears, and immediately started mixing colors for a few quick small studies of pears before starting on some bigger projects.
Thailand for a few days.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006Of course I should be getting some rest, but instead I've been racing all day on almost no sleep last night. I finished the painting of tulips.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately set up and started and finished a little painting of two bartlett pears.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Tomorrow I'm jumping on a plane, back to Bangkok. I'm bringing my French easel and some paint, I'm going to learn to cook, I'm going to learn to breathe, and somehow I'm going to learn how to live again.
Everyone behave, I'll be back, on April 4th.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006This painting is finished, I think. I'll have a look tomorrow and make the final decision. Today's session ended with me suffering from great aches and a crushing fever. I should have just stopped painting, but I couldn't.
Monday, March 20, 2006 Vernal EquinoxThe painting is almost finished, and I'm becoming increasingly ill with each passing hour.
It is silent, and I'm losing my balance, the floor feels like it's starting to sway, and the entire tabletop of everything I'm doing starts to cant to the side, first a pencil rolls off the table, then all the cups and plates start sliding, I reach to catch them in my arm, then the entire room is tipping up, and I'm holding onto the table as my chair slides out from under me, suddenly the table and the chairs and everything is crashing across the floor as my entire world flips up on its side.
And now it is spring.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Winter 2005 for the previous season's struggles.
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