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Tuesday, September 21, 2004I wrapped up the summer season by finally completing the painting of three yellow apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started mixing colors for yet another painting of sunflowers, against a mauve background again. Today marks the end of summer.
Read on...to Fall of 2004
Monday, September 20, 2004The small painting of three yellow apples is all but finished. I'll have one more look in the morning and make the final decision. The light today was brilliant and blinding, and I could barely see with all the glare in my eyes. I find myself wondering if the glare is actually IN my eyes, or if it's just a phenomenon of so much light being so overwhelming. I hope I'm not going blind.
Sunday, September 19, 2004The air is cold and crisp in these final days of summer. I started a small painting of three yellow apples against the mauve background, just to see if I could make something exciting with all of these muted tones. Tomorrow should see this piece finished, and hopefully I'll be starting on yet another sunflowers painting with the nice bouquet I have on standby.
Saturday, September 18, 2004Yesterday I managed to throw some more paint down, but I had to end the session early to run errands and go to a Jeff Schaller opening reception, which was followed by a swanky party in a huge warehouse in downtown Lancaster.
I finished the painting of sunflowers today. It is a one of the more hoggish and rudely executed paintings I've done in a long time. I can hardly wait to do another.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Thursday, September 16, 2004I continued to develop this painting of sunflowers. Things are just starting to come together, and hopefully I'll be coming down the home stretch tomorrow.
Fast forward to 6 hours later.
I just got back from seeing the Old 97s in Philadelphia. Rhett surprised everyone when he came out and played a solo acoustic version of "I wanna be sedated" by the Ramones, in honor of the passing of Johnny Ramone yesterday. The entire audience sang along, and it was somber and festive at the same time. As always, they put on an excellent show, and now I'm exhausted.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004I started slamming paint down on this newest large painting of sunflowers. Of course on this first day back after so many weeks off, everything is difficult, and things are looking pretty rough and rude.
Last weekend I received an inquiry from an art student, to answer some questions about my perceptions of still life. Several times over the past few years I've found myself being a research subject for students of all ages. Some of these questions took more thought than I typically have, so I thought I would I would post the questionnaire for everyone to see.
Please describe 'still life' in your own words - (i.e. what it means to you). Good question, I guess I've never really thought about it. Basically it's the study and rendition of objects that have been arranged, not a naturally occurring configuration. As much as the objects themselves, I think a still life is defined by the content of the studies of the relationships of objects, the space between and in front of and behind them, the patterns they form, etc.Why have you chosen still life as a subject for your own work? My art school experience really took off when I immersed myself in the discipline of the academy tradition of art education. To this day I still value a certain quality of the precision of true observation and understanding. When I decided to start painting again about seven years ago, I felt that I had to start at the beginning, and the purest study of color and draftsmanship is through the simplicity of a still life. Just to get my chops back up to speed I started arranging and rearranging objects, laying in color, scraping it back off, and remixing and laying it back down again. All these years later I'm still interested in the study of the tricks that space and light play on the eye, and how to capture and recreate these things with paint, while still being true to some level of exactness in capturing an image with a strong semblance of reality.
Are you strictly a painter? If yes why? Yes, I am strictly a painter. For now, it is only because it's just so damn difficult. Of course I have to mention that I do exhibit and, more importantly, sell my work, and the medium of oil paint on stretched linen does carry a certain consistency of value to art collectors.
From your experience as an artist, trying to promote and sell your work, how do you think still life is generally perceived in comparison to other genres? (i.e. by galleries, collectors and audiences) I realize that still life is a fairly lifeless and mundane subject matter. The French translation of still life is "dead nature", which I will admit sounds more like road kill than any vehicle of truth and beauty. I typically see most still life paintings as fairly stiff and stuffy renditions of contrived arrangements. There seems to be a great divide between the fans of realism and the artists that value obliterating every evidence of the input of a human hand, and the fans of the off kilter view of the artist that strives to find ways to toss up the elements of reality and interpret them in personal and innovative ways. Of course I subscribe to the latter approach, where I'll put great effort into making every hoggishly scrubbed-in mark retain all of its rudeness and charm. I've had people tell me they don't like still life, and then select four large pieces to buy. Many people don't understand how a simple painting of an apple can attract and captivate them. I guess I have succeeded in elevated the study of an object into an art form that has become a statement of simplicity, and not only an image of the subject.
What do you think affects the way still life is perceived today? I'm not sure how to answer this. I keep thinking about this question, and coming up with a mental block. Do I think that still life is perceived differently today than 10, 20, 50 years ago? I don't know, and I have no basis of reference to know. I'm banking on the fact that it is perceived differently, or at least more strongly, or at least more strongly as pertaining to my paintings. I think that the louder and more colorful and confrontational the world and the arts will become, the more of a focus there will be on the simplicity of a painting of an arrangement of objects. I'm guessing that people have always been brought to silence as they observe the details of all of the still life paintings that fill the world's art museums. I think there will always be a strong response to the defiance of being caught up in the sensational nature of pop media. During a major world war, Giorgio Morandi was arranging and rearranging the same collection of jars and vases for one painting after another. It's hard to imagine that the entire world wasn't bristling with opinion and commentary about the shifting social, economic and political landscape, but here was this artist painting vases and jars. The first Impressionists were met with ridicule, yet these works are embraced as a crucial step in the evolution of art and perception. I can't say that anything I'm doing today will ever be embraced in any similar way, but then again I'm not really keeping track of what I'm leaving behind. Not yet, anyway.
Are there any other comments or issues you would like to raise regarding still life? Sometimes the artistic value of what I do will get lost when I refer to my body of work as "inventory", and the success of a subject or color combination is based on how quickly it is sold. There is a certain reality of the world of an artist that was never addressed in my entire art school experience, and I've managed to carve out a happy medium in creating, displaying and selling my work. Rather than create cohesive bodies of work that might only inflame the words of art show news editors, I've decided to plod forward with one piece after another, with my intense exploration lasting only until I scratch my name into the wet paint of each painting, one at a time. I guess what I am doing is important, although thinking about what I'm doing in the eyes of future historians is the most counter-productive thing I can do when the sun is up and the flowers are blooming and wilting. I hope my answers are useful and coherent, and I haven't made a complete ass of myself.
Monday, September 13, 2004The weekend of the Brandywine Arts Festival is over, and I'm quickly back to work, mixing colors for a new large canvas of sunflowers against the mauve background. I have an amazing pain down one side of my back, but I'm sure I'll get through it. I have a few weeks until my next show, so I'll hopefully hammer down a few more paintings between now and then.
Frank is getting big, and Ojisan is becoming more and more like the spawn of Satan.
Thursday, September 9, 2004I've been trying to get a painting started in the days following the grueling four day Long's Park show last weekend, but all of my sunflowers are withering as I'm buying them. I had hoped to finish at least one more sunflower painting this season, but it might not be happening. Today would have been the day to start something, but the sun came and went and the sky grew dark and cleared throughout the day. Tomorrow I'll be setting up for the Brandywine show this coming weekend, so I might be able to throw some paint around in the afternoon, but I have doubts as to my ability to make anything happen in one short afternoon. We'll see.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004We're back from Chicago. Of course we're exhausted but quite satisfied with finding new homes for several great paintings. I picked up some sunflowers and started mixing colors, but soon I was caught up in preparing for the upcoming show this weekend in Lancaster.
Thursday, August 26, 2004The painting is finished, and as usual we're racing to get out the door.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004I continued to work on the large painting of sunflowers. It's coming together nicely, although tomorrow the pressure will be on to finish the painting before we get on the road for the show in Chicago this weekend. On top of painting I'm trying to frame new work, pack my stuff, and load the van for the first show in over two months.
We're excited to be on the road again. Few things compare to sitting up high in a truck, seeing the whole world spread out in front of your huge windshield, eating up highway, hands on the big wheel.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004My father and his girlfriend came to visit last week, staying through to Sunday morning, so the painting studio was dormant for a few days. Today I kicked off an ambitious start on a large painting of sunflowers. For the first half of the session I slammed down the paint and built up the surface, and then I spent the second half of the session trying to see the entire bouquet of flowers as one large mass in order to understand and capture the overall sense of light and shape. I felt as though I learned some good things, and made some good progress. Tomorrow should see this start to really tighten up and snap together.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004I'm trying to get a bouquet of sunflowers together for my next painting, but in the meantime I decided to hammer down one more small painting of these same two pears. Yesterday I started it, and today I finished it. For some reason I seem to be having an easier time with capturing bartlett pears. I remember in the past how I would struggle for days and days, rendering every curve and gradation until there was no life left in the painting at all. I guess I learned something, somehow.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Monday, August 16, 2004On top of all the other things I'm trying to get done, I managed to start and finish the tiny painting for the commission of two pears.
Tonight Frank graduated from puppy class. Now he knows everything there is to know about how to be a puppy.
Friday, August 13, 2004I finished the painting of two bartlett pears.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Thursday, August 12, 2004Of course the simple painting of two pears that was so close to being finished yesterday is still not finished after several hours of work and several more pounds of paint. In an effort to keep things as simple as possible I'm second guessing every single mark I make. I think I need only one or two more brushstrokes to be finished with this piece, but you just can't be sure.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004Today I started throwing paint down on a mid-sized painting of two bartlett pears. This will be a warm-up for a small commission I'll be doing next. This painting would have been very close to being finished by sundown if Frank didn't start going insane in his need to go to the dog park. Everyone says a tired dog is a good dog, and the last thing I need is a puppy that doesn't have a chance to blow off his excessive energy. Of course I have to wonder how much energy a puppy can burn by merely chewing on the faces of the other dogs and furiously humping anything bigger than him. Go Frank.
Sunday, August 8, 2004I spent all day yesterday on the road, to and from a wedding near Syracuse. Fortunately the sunflowers were still in excellent shape today, so I was able to nail down some big decisions to complete this painting.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I'd love to start another painting of sunflowers tomorrow, but it's doubtful that these will survive more than a day or two at most. We shall see.
Friday, August 6, 2004I continued to work on the new painting of sunflowers. It's coming along in some ways, and in other ways it seems to be just a great hoggish mess. We'll see if I can make some sense of it.
Thursday, August 5, 2004I started throwing paint around on this new painting of sunflowers. From this little image, it seems like a slamming start to a great painting, but in reality I'm totally daunted with how difficult this all seems to be.
Tuesday, August 3, 2004Just when I thought I would be sinking my teeth into a new painting of sunflowers, the sunflowers withered and started turning black. I decided to start mixing colors for a painting of sunflowers anyway, in the hopes that I'll find another bouquet tomorrow morning.
Silly man that I am.
Monday, August 2, 2004After a weekend of false starts and stops, I finally nailed down the completion of this newest painting of three black plums.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I'm going to take a break from digging for subtle qualities of light and color within the blackness of plums. Instead, I'll be diving into a brilliant bouquet of sunflowers, which were a gift from some clients that came to spend a memorable afternoon and evening with us on Saturday.
Friday, July 30, 2004I continued to develop the painting of three black plums against a teal background. In other news, I installed a new ceiling fan high up above the cavernous living room, and I taught Frank how to recognize the word "ball" and select the ball from of a collection of various other items. Next I'll teach him how to finish a painting for me.
Thursday, July 29. 2004Today I started on yet another painting of the black plums, this time against a teal background. It sure is an exciting color combo. I should be almost finished with this painting tomorrow.
Today O-ji-san chewed through my phone cord, and Frank regressed to eating cat litter again. They're both so cute, but damn, are they evil or what? I found myself wanting to go insane several times throughout the afternoon.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004I finished the painting of three black plums, and shazam, it sure is a nice painting.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Tuesday, July 27, 2005I'm almost finished with the painting of three black plums. I'll try to snap the last few areas together in the morning before I have to spend the afternoon and evening in Lancaster.
Monday, July 26, 2005I decided to start a study of three black plums. The last and only time I attempted this subject was in September of 2000, at the encouragement of my good friend Eric Pope. Things turned out well, and he now owns that painting. This should be an interesting diversion from the series of apples and tulips. I can tell it's going to be a brutal struggle, painting the blackest black, modeled only by subtle reflections, and highlighted only by the slightest blue haze. It sure would be nice to have Eric around to cheer me on again with his endless effervescence and enthusiasm.
Sunday, July 25, 2004I finished the painting of green apples against a red gray background.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Aside from finishing the painting, we had a nice lazy day today. The sky was fairly overcast, and it was a good day to kick our feet up and enjoy the house and the animals.
Saturday, July 24, 2004I started throwing some paint around on this newest small painting of three green apples against a red gray background. I'll hopefully see this piece finished tomorrow.
Thursday, July 22, 2004The painting is now finished,
Click on the image to see a larger version.I'm now going to do yet one more painting of this same subject, just to see if I can really nail it down and really put some skank on it. Three paintings of three objects, three's a charm, three is the perfect pair, three for the price of one, three times the pleasure, three, three, three, again and again it's always three more.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004This painting will be finished tomorrow.
Today Frank dove into the lake and swam almost to the middle to retrieve a stick. That little puppy is growing up so fast. Soon he'll be raiding my liquor cabinet and stealing my car.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004I started throwing paint around on a mid-sized painting of the same three green apples, against the same red gray background. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, although I suspect it could just be allergies. With the wonders of modern over-the-counter medical technology I'll hopefully be feeling better tomorrow.
At the dog park it seems as though Frank lost about three or four teeth while engaging in play dog-fights. Strange to see my little puppy smiling with his entire tongue red with blood.
Saturday, July 17, 2004I finished the painting of three granny smith apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, July 16, 2004The painting is so close to being finished that it's painful. Well, almost painful. So far it's a ripping painting, full of great colors.
All day I've been aware of the great menagerie of animals I have running around now. What a zoo this studio has become, It's nice.
Thursday, July 15, 2004The painting is really starting to take shape, and could possibly be finished tomorrow.
And then at about 11:30 this evening Schwartz came strolling onto the porch as though nothing had happened, almost an entire week after vanishing into the forest. Other than his claws being totally shredded, he's in perfect shape. Even Frank was happy to see him, and Schwartz didn't even mind being greeted with a giant wet nose being poked into his face. Of course he was wondering what the new little kitten was doing here, but we'll just roll with the addition of another little person to our home. We're shocked and thrilled, all at the same time.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004I continued to work on the painting of three green apples. The sky was dark throughout the day with passing thunderstorms, and I struggled to discern the varying qualities of green in a dark studio. Hopefully by tomorrow this will start taking shape.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004Today I started on a large painting of three green apples against a red gray background. I can't really think at all, so I decided to just get started on painting something that doesn't take any thought. Today is my birthday, but the stillness in the house is thick and overwhelming.
Tonight I just got back from getting a tiny little kitten. His name shall be Ojisan, Japanese for "old man".
On this day of emptiness, everything rings with deeper meanings.
Sunday, July 11, 2004It is with great sadness that I have to report that Schwartz, my companion of over fourteen years, has disappeared into the dark forest and not returned. His age coupled with his medical condition have dimmed our hopes that he might still return. Heather and I are heartbroken.
Thursday, July 8, 2004I'm having a hard time getting started again. Today I stretched a big canvas, and hopefully I have enough things settled that I'll be able to get started on a work series that can continue through the next few weeks.
Monday, July 5, 2004After several starts and stops, I finished the painting of white tulips.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, July 2, 2004Yesterday it was overcast and on the verge of storming through most of the afternoon, so I didn't start throwing paint down until today. Of course everything seems like an uphill battle on this first session in so long. And of course Frank the wonder dog doesn't help at all either, bouncing around the studio like a lunatic for most of the afternoon.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004I started mixing colors for a new mid sized painting of white tulips against a light blue background. Tomorrow I'll start throwing some paint around, and we'll see how my hand works after so much time away from the easel.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Spring 2004 for the previous season's struggles.
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