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Winter of 2006/07
Fall 2006 | Summer 2006 | Spring 2006 | Winter 2005/06
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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.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007Instead of painting today, I had a visit from none other than Michael Lang himself, along with his companion, the delightful Miss Dean. It was great to catch up and compare notes while eating and drinking and enjoying the last day of spring. In several short months Michael has built up a body of work and defined a work ethic that has gained both my respect and admiration, and the world has gained another bright and shining light with what he has to offer in both his work and his words.
Read on...to Summer of 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007I'm back home again, mixing some colors, and finding my balance again on solid ground. I had a great time in Chicago, made some new friends, met up with some old friends, and many paintings remained in the northern suburbs in their new homes. Tulips arrived today, and tomorrow I will start moving some paint.
Thursday, June 15, 2007Suddenly two days are smeared into one, without intervals of food and sleep, everything is just a great rush of light and sound. Another painting is finished, and I'm throwing my bags into the truck to start my long drive to Chicago for the show this weekend. On Tuesday, tulips will arrive, for a series of commissioned paintings.
Tuesday, June 13, 2007I'm back from Florida, and back at the easel, mixing and slinging paint again. I'm not really thinking at all, just moving paint. Maybe something will happen
Thursday, June 7, 2007I started and finished another study of the same cut lemon, accompanied by an uncut lemon.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I'm starting to find some interesting things in these colors, and I may continue to explore this subject in the future. This weekend I'm off to visit my father in hot and sunny Florida, returning on Sunday night.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007The small study of a cut lemon is finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I started on another study of the same subject, and the big side project right now is building a second tier of cargo storage in my big truck. I have a few shows coming up where the van will be too loaded for me to have a space to sleep, so I figured out a way to build a removable second level. I'm always figuring something out that has almost nothing to do with painting.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007I'm finally home and settled from the big show last weekend. Several paintings found new homes, and I had a fun time. The house was full of guests and commotion all weekend, and I met up with many clients from past years as well as some of the greatest artists from all over the country. The show ended in a torrential downpour, so I've been dragging everything out of the truck to dry it out and repack it.
Just to get things started again, I cut a lemon in half and started a small study. I should see this finished tomorrow.
Every year, the first few paintings after the Rittenhouse Square art show always feel like a low point, and I've kicked out some really odd and weak works in this difficult period. Right now, this cut lemon feels like something new and interesting, and I'm wondering how I'll see it when some time passes and I see it in a better perspective than from this position of mental, physical and emotional exhaustion.
Thursday, May 31, 2007The painting is done, and there are just too many things to do.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007Today I started throwing down paint on a large study of apples against blue. Trying to keep my focus on this painting while the big Rittenhouse Square art show looms up this weekend is challenging, but I'll have one more day to see this through to completion. Suddenly there are so many moving parts in my world, picking up frames, having guests from all over the country arrive for the show, getting work framed, finishing this painting, and maybe even washing the truck and cutting the grass just to really stretch things out. On and on, it just keeps going.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007I started mixing colors for a new painting. It will be large, and it might be apples, but right now I'm not sure. So many exciting things are going on for me right now, sometimes it's hard to focus on painting, sometimes it's hard to just calm down enough to sleep at night.
Monday, May 28, 2007 Memorial DayI finished the painting of an apple and a slice of watermelon. I discovered some interesting things, but I was somewhat challenged to find some depth and light within the odd surfaces of the cut watermelon. It still looks like it's made of plastic, but overall I think it's a strong painting, with some new and exciting shapes and colors.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Sunday, May 27, 2007Today I started a painting of an apple and a slice of watermelon. It's hard to not see the watermelon slice painted with wetness and luminosity. Instead it looks like a piece of plastic, but I'm learning some interesting things while I struggle with this.
The website is coming together, although some of the strange quirks of Dreamweaver are surfacing, like the way it loses spaces between words and punctuation here and there, across only about six hundred pages that have been so carefully constructed and spell-checked over the past eight years. I'll continue tweaking things, and I'll see if I can't find ways to correct all the goofy little errors it introduced. As always, I'm open to any suggestions.
Friday, May 25, 2007Today I made short work of a large painting, finishing it off quickly and easily.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I'm trying to learn my way around Dreamweaver, to make some big adjustments across the entire website. So far I'm finding nothing more than frustration, many things start to work the way they should, and then crucial pieces of code are scrambled or rendered non-functional. Maybe someone could explain how I can edit pages in Dreamweaver without having it turn my neatly arranged blocks of code into one giant dense scrolling mass of html crushed together so tightly it makes my eyes blur to look at it.
Thursday, May 24, 2007Today I started on a large study with the same colors as yesterday's piece, and I made some excellent progress, almost finding this piece finished by the day's end. It feels good to be working large again.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007I finished the study in robin's egg blue.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I'm not sure what I'm doing next, possibly a larger version of this same study, or I have a big piece of watermelon on standby.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007While paging through a popular home furnishings catalog, I noticed that many of the rooms seem to be painted a pale robin's egg blue. I found a new backdrop board that was close enough for me to discover that it's actually a very interesting and complex color. I started throwing down paint on a quick study just to explore this new color and all of the colors that occur in the reflections and shadows.
Monday, May 21, 2007I'm back from the show in Norfolk, totally exhausted, but back to work mixing colors, and thinking about what I'll do next. The show was fun enough, and some paintings found new homes. I met up with some old friends, and made a few new friends, including the artists Sean Taylor, Will Coor and his wife Cindy, and the plein air painter Brian Murphy, who is now the proud owner of a old classic David Oleski painting. In one short weekend, the forest is closing in on the house and yard like a seething jungle.
Thursday, May 17, 2007I slammed down one more study of apples. This one is really rough and rude, but something about it is very nice.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007I made short work of yesterday's study of apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.For lack of a better idea right now, I started and finished another study, also of apples. Why apples? Good question, I've been thinking about this.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007I'm back from the show in Bethesda, and finally back to work at the easel. Several paintings found new homes, and my inventory is quickly being thinned out. I had a chance to catch up with many of my friends from the show circuit, and made a few colorful new friends at the same time. There was some very memorable conversations and social interactions, and so much of it smeared together in the haze of exhaustion and sleep deprivation. If only I have a week to enjoy those two days. I'm too tired to think, so I'm just throwing some paint down in a quick study of green apples. There is something magical about the first layer of paint, and I'd like to keep some of that magic alive in the subsequent layers that shall follow, if I can.
Friday, May 11, 2007The painting is finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Thursday, May 10, 2007I finished the study of green apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.For some crazy reason, I decided to start another study of the same subject, only this time I'll really put some skank on it.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007What should have been a quick study is now a big and solid study, and tomorrow I should be resolving this. I have been able to narrow down exactly which motions cause my right arm to fail, essentially anything that looks or feels like any part of a reverse curl. It's not easy for me to accept that I can't do anything I want, this is not part of my nature to find the baby steps around every obstacle. For years I'm familiar with hammering through anything with enough stamina and resolve, and my right arm has become unstoppable in everything from wielding a stone carver's mallet to slinging around giant framed paintings with care and precision. I guess this is just another part of age and entropy, and I will probably have no choice but to accept that I am getting older.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007While reeling from exhaustion, I did manage to start throwing paint down on a what should be a quick study of apples. The brain isn't working, the hands aren't working, and I believe my right elbow may be suffering from overuse. It's never a good time to have a repetitious motion injury to start causing jolts of pain, so I'm going to start finding ways to baby my right arm with these tasks that I have.
Monday, May 7, 2007One week later, and I'm back at the easel, mixing paint for my next series. Last week was spent tying up loose ends before my show in Richmond this past weekend. Richmond was nice enough, despite the rain and the wind and the cold, and several paintings found new homes.
Monday, May 1, 2007So much more paint, layer after layer, scraping it away and laying it back down, mixing and remixing and hammering away, and finally I'm finished with this study of two yellow pears against a dark umber background. I can't say I'm pleased with the result, but it was educational.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I'm in an odd state of agitation with each painting I complete, as though I'm creating more tension and frustration with each piece I finish, and only the next piece I start can put the struggles behind me. Nothing is sitting well with me right now, so tomorrow I will start something else.
Sunday, April 29, 2007I'm not sure why, but this new study of yellow pears against a dark umber background seems like a foolhardy thing to have undertaken. As I slug more and more paint onto it, I realize how little I really know about painting. Maybe I'll make something happen here, or maybe I'll crash and burn, like the rag doll skier spinning off the end of the ramp in the agony of defeat, clutching knives and brushes in my white knuckled hands as I spin off into the blinding whiteness.
Saturday, April 28, 2007The new study of orange tulips is indeed finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started mixing colors for a large study of yellow pears against a dark umber background.
Friday, April 27, 2007This painting is almost finished. Tonight I got a call from my mother, from Boston, where she's attending her 50th high school reunion. All I can say is wow, and go Mom.
Thursday, April 26, 2007Everything still feels free and easy as I cruise into the final stages of this study of orange tulips against a teal background. Tomorrow should see this piece finished, and maybe it will even be finished easily and with the thrill of bravura and panache.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007I started throwing paint down on this newest study of orange tulips against a teal background. In this early stage, everything feels free and easy, the paint is flying, the colors are alive, and the painting blossoms like dogwood trees in the spring. The sense of freshness and atmosphere is rich and solid.
I sometimes find myself staring out the window at the lake, watching the water change as the clouds roll past. The colors of the forest are changing every day, and the tulips along my sidewalk are coming up nicely. Ojisan sits in front of the window as though he was in the front row of the movie theater, watching the endless wildlife show outside.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007It's rude and hoggish and nasty, but the study of tulips is indeed finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I decided to attempt one more study of orange tulips against the same teal background, just to see if I can't finish one that doesn't challenge my sanity quite so much. In the final light of day, I mixed some colors.
Monday, April 23, 2007Just when I thought I'd make short work of this new study of yellow tulips against a teal background, the painting seems to be getting the best of me. In the final dying light of day, I'm almost finished, but not quite. Tomorrow will see this piece resolved, and a new study begun, or I'll go totally insane and go running naked through the forest like a madman.
Saturday, April 21, 2007For some reason, nothing is coming easily to me. Suddenly the weather is warm and wonderful, and everyone is rallying to drag me outside, into the sun and the fun of life. I'm fighting and kicking to stay right here in the dark studio working out this study of yellow tulips. As though to further frustrate and challenge me, the backdrop suddenly cut loose and crushed the bouquet, snapping off a few flowers. Suddenly I have things wired together, held up and bound into place, just so I can keep working on this. The loose and chaotic energy of a desperate hand is evident across this entire canvas, but possibly tomorrow will see some cohesion start to evolve and show itself, just as everything grows dark and withers under the glare of the bright spring sun.
Friday, April 20, 2007After a series of false starts, I'm finally throwing paint on a study of yellow tulips against this same bold teal backdrop. I keep setting up different objects and thinking about them. I feel that I'm ready for something else, but nothing sits well with me lately. There are some ideas, but nothing is being built with paint just yet, so in the meantime I'm just throwing some paint. We'll see what happens.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007I'm back, after a cold and dismal Saturday show, ending in the downpour that would continue for two more days. I had one short day of rest and recuperation before diving into the blizzard of paperwork that is my income taxes. The bad news on Monday morning only got worse and worse as it unfolded. There is so little to say about any of it, it's just horrible.
For lack of any better ideas, today I slammed down a quick and lively study of a coffee cup and saucer, just to challenge myself with some dismal and neutral colors. Just when I thought I might not be finished today, I just kept pushing and hammering away, and finished it. I reminded myself that some colors have to be found, before you can actually see them. So much muted gray, pushed and pulled and scraped off and laid back on again, and again, and again.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I thought I might find some sunflowers to continue the momentum into tomorrow, but so far it hasn't happened. I'm not sure what I'll be doing, but I'm sure I'll be doing something.
Thursday, April 12, 2007No painting today, I drove through the dismal gray rain to deliver a painting, after reading the dismal news this morning. Last night, one of the great lights in the universe has gone out with the passing of Kurt Vonnegut.
"There was a sound like that of the gentle closing of a portal as big as the sky, the great door of heaven being closed softly."
-Cat's Cradle
Wednesday, April 11, 2007I finished the painting of a single pear without the calamity of stabbing myself in the heart or imploding back in on myself. Nothing about this simple and easy subject was simple or easy for me. I'm not pleased at all with the completed painting, but I think it's important for me to do this, and to call it finished and move on.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I'll be shifting gears over the next few days to take care of some business, and then I'm preparing for the first show of the season this coming weekend.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007On one hand, I think I'm actually making some progress, and learning some interesting things from working on such a large and simple scale, not unlike some of the simple and profound studies of my colleague and cohort Michael Lang. And then on the other hand, I've never experienced something so confounding and unnerving, and I only want to break my brushes and stab the jagged broken ends into my dark and twisted heart. Tomorrow this will either be finished or I'll implode back in on myself, creating such a gravitational vortex that not even light can pass through, and time and space will become warped and twisted within the black hole that was once me.
Monday, April 9, 2007Today I decided to engage in one last study of one single pear, on a mid sized canvas, big enough to figure out if I can really even paint at all. So far I've moved a huge amount of paint, but I'm still not sure if this is something, or if it's not something. Tomorrow should see this piece finished. For once there is so little to do, on only one large yellow pear, so I will learn how much can be found in what appears to be so little to see.
Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007As though I haven't learned my lesson yet, I hacked and butchered my way through yet another study of three bartlett pears.
Click on the image to see a larger version.As I throw down one study after another, I become very familiar with a certain impasse that occurs, just at the point of a passing peak of accomplishment. Usually at a culmination of several unbroken hours of focus the painting seems to pivot on the edge of total completion and resolution, and only by the dim light of the fading sun can I see that I'm so close to being finished, that the end is just beyond my grasp for the day. There will be a cohesion to the entire surface, a harmony of color, and a balance of form and definition, but always with one glaring area that beckons the attention of just one more session. The final session starts innocently enough, to only tie up those last few ends, but the illusion of improvement lures me further and further into attempting to "fix" more and more, until I'm only seeing the paint, and nothing else. Attempting to unpaint what becomes overworked becomes a juggling act, to find what is enough for an image, against what I should learn from the session. The study from one day turns into a painting the next day. What I learn from a subject can easily cross the line to painting on a painting, and no longer being transparent to understanding a subject. Needless to say, I ended another session in frustration, and I'm gathering my thoughts on the notion of attacking some aspect of this subject yet one more time.
Saturday, April 7, 2007I continued working on this study of three bartlett pears. I'm very close to being finished.
Good Friday, April 6, 2007As though I haven't learned my lesson yet, I started one more study of these same three ever more ripening bartlett pears. I decided to swap out a different blue for the backdrop, something cooler and darker, just to really make the yellows pop in an ever more difficult juxtaposition of contrast and conflict. I have to admit, these pears sure do smell great.
Thursday, April 5, 2007The new study of three pears is indeed finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Apparently I was not able to make this study look like it was something easy, and once again it seems as though my paintings are more about fester and struggle than ease of observation and execution. I spiral around the problem areas like a moth drawn to the very flame that may end it, and I hammer away at things that are supposed to be so subtle and poetic. My hands shake as I try to trace a delicate curve for the tenth time, pushing an edge back and forth until an ridge of paint rises between the two fields like an ugly and serrated blade. The paint starts to gel up like chewing gum right when I try to lay in some easy marks that can smooth out the angry waves, and the more I try to ease it all back, the more it just keeps kicking up. Is three a charm? I may try this one more time, I'll see how I feel about it tomorrow.
I spent the remainder of the day on the road, to pick up some frames and then stop in the city for a late lunch.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007The new study of three pears is all but finished, but I'll have a final look in the morning just to make sure. Once again this subject has me vexed, it has me very vexed. I did learn some new things about various gradations of fairly bold and brilliant colors, as today I was working in the dark and dismal light of an overcast day. I now understand a new role that white can play in desaturating a color to reveal some of the qualities of reflected light.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007The new study of three pears is indeed now actually finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Instead of accepting that this painting almost spun out of control in the final hours, I decided to execute another study of this same setup, just to see what else I can learn that may have escaped me on this first attempt. I immediately mixed colors and slammed down some paint, and things are quickly taking shape again. For some reason this subject seems to be full of victory and hellfire as it comes out of the gate, but in the endgame it becomes a grueling trial of struggle and angst.
Monday, April 2, 2007I thought this study of three pears was finished, as rough and rude as it was, but on second consideration, I'm just not so sure. Fortunately the pears weren't turned into fruit smoothies yet, so tomorrow I'll throw this thing back up on the easel and nail down a few things that have been bothering me.
Sunday, April 1, 2007 April Fool's DayThe day was overcast, so the bold and brilliant start I made on this study of an offset trio of pears was stifled a bit. In the final thirty minutes of yesterday's session I did some really exciting work, but without the rush of the colors of the sunset it was difficult to maintain the same momentum today. I'm looking forward to seeing this piece brought to a resolution tomorrow.
Saturday, March 31, 2007The new study of green apples is now finished. The background continued to be fairly high voltage, and I even found some of the same popping colors in the shadows. To create such a saturated color I introduced some pthalo blue/green (which is actually green/blue) into my palette.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started laying down color on a study of an offset trio of bartlett pears against the same bold blue background.
Friday, March 30, 2007I continued to develop this newest study of green apples against the blue background. I'm allowing the background color to be fairly bold just to see what happens.
Thursday, March 29, 2007The new study of green apples is now finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started throwing down paint for one last study of this exciting color combination, on a smaller size, just to see if I can't nail one down with all of the fleeting observation that can be captured in two short sessions, with no distractions, and no interruptions, and maybe even a cherry on top.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007The new study of green apples is suddenly very close to being resolved. I may be on the road tomorrow to take care of some business stuff, but I'm excited to see this piece finished and move on to my next study.
Monday, March 26, 2007I worked for an hour this morning, before racing out to Philadelphia to retrieve my work from the Commerce Square buildings. After a quick side trip to the art museum to do a quick inventory of my work, I met with Keiko for a late lunch and too much coffee. I wound up telling my entire life story, the whole way back to the Great Wall of China and the lost civilizations of South America.
Sunday, March 25, 2007I started throwing down paint on this newest large study of green apples against a blue background. It becomes increasingly difficult to focus on painting as the weather continues to be so magnificent. Frank sits outside on the deck overlooking the lake while I'm working, and I find myself drawn to just taking a nap in the sun on the wooden floor next to him. The forest comes alive with sound at night, as the spring peepers are being joined by larger frogs, creating the beginnings of a symphony of jungle sounds. And every day, I keep mixing the colors, and laying them down.
Saturday, March 24, 2007I finished the large study of green apples against a blue background. This is a strong painting, full of snap and sizzle.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, March 23, 2007After a particularly frustrating morning, I continued to work on the large study of green apples against a blue background. I made some good progress, and tomorrow should see this piece all but finished.
Today is my mother's birthday. Happy birthday, Mom.
Thursday, March 22, 2007Today I finished the small commission of green apples against a blue background. I had so much fun with this exciting new color that I decided to attempt a large version of this same configuration.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007And on this first day of spring I did so finish this newest study of dark plums. Ah yes, can you smell the victory?
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started mixing colors for a small commission of green apples against a blue background. The light was fairly dim and muted, but I made a good start on this new study.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Winter 2007 for the previous season's struggles.
