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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, March 20, 2001I finished the painting of three bosc pears and started mixing colors for a larger version of the same setup. This marks the end of a productive winter season. We'll see what happens in the upcoming weeks of spring, and as always I'm looking forward to what excitement may be just around the corner.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Read on...to Spring of 2001
Monday, March 19, 2001On Saturday I was in Trenton with my mother for the bat mitzvah of the daughter of a distant cousin. It was a good chance to see two of my great aunts and a great uncle, not to mention all of the other aunts, uncles, distant cousins and my brother Daniel and his wife Lisa. On Sunday I started mixing colors for a new painting of three bosc pears. As of the end of today this painting is very close to being finished, and I should be wrapping it up tomorrow without any problem. Other news of the day is the pregnancy of my friend Lucy in Dallas, and the birthday of my brother Darren. Happy birthday, brother.
Friday, March 16, 2001I completed the painting of five strawberries. Most of this painting was executed in extremely dim light, so I have yet to feel that I've reached the point where I wanted to be with these images of strawberries. I may return to this subject again in the next few days, unless I find another suitable subject to satisfy my need for study and exploration.
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Thursday, March 15, 2001I continued work on the new painting of five strawberries. As well as the furthering my education on how to find color on these dark and overcast days, I am continuing to learn about the many shapes and colors of strawberries.
Wednesday, March 14, 2001I started another small canvas of five strawberries. I've been scrambling to shoot slides and meet some more show application deadlines, and several cloudy days have made it difficult to maintain a consistent level of productivity. Hopefully things will smooth out in the next few days.
Sunday, March 11, 2001I finished the small canvas of five strawberries.
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Saturday, March 10, 2001I started a small canvas of five strawberries.
Thursday, March 8, 2001I finished the painting of irises, or at least in my frustration I decided to stop working on it. I'm leaving shortly for New York City for the ArtExpo tomorrow at the Javitz Center, and will not return to the studio until Friday night.
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Wednesday, March 7, 2001I started what seemed to be the insurmountable task of painting a bouquet of irises in a glass milk carafe. For some reason I struggled horribly with this arrangement and at the end of a day of slashing and slamming out paint, I feel that I am still no closer to a resolution. If this painting doesn't snap into shape in the beginning of tomorrow's session I will trash the canvas and move on to something else. This never comes easily to me, and today it feels almost impossible.
On a side note, I just switched the entire website over to a new server, so there will probably be more than just a few kinks to be worked out over the next few days.
Sunday, March 4, 2001I finished the small study of five strawberries despite the muted light of the snowstorm. As far as a rough and rude little rendering I feel that it is lively and colorful.
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Saturday, March 3, 2001I picked up some irises today at the Central Market in Lancaster, and just as a possible accent color I bought a small carton of strawberries. For some strange reason on the drive home I decided to stop by the studio/gallery of the famous Lancaster County artist, Suk Shuglie. I am quite familiar with her work, and it turned out that she was very aware of my own work as well. I had a chance to meet her husband as well, and we all spent some time discussing the business of art and the art of business. They then invited me to exhibit at a small show they have in late September. In the name of integrating myself deeper into the network of successful local artists as well as pursuing success wherever it may be found, I accepted. Details of the show will be posted on the Upcoming Exhibitions page as soon as I have them.
And rather than start a painting of irises, I decided to spread out a few strawberries and try something a little different. I should be finishing this small canvas tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 28, 2001 Ash WednesdayI finished the painting of daisies in a blue glass vase.
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Tuesday, February 27, 2001 Fat TuesdayWhat an exciting and energetic day of painting. I'm impressed with how such a simple and understated arrangement now has so many exciting areas of brushwork and detail and color. Tomorrow will be a final inspection and probably a few minor adjustments, and then I'll sign it and move on.
Monday, February 26, 2001I started a mid-sized canvas of white daisies in a blue glass vase. I arranged the setup so I am looking down on the bouquet, so I will have the added challenge of rendering the extreme foreshortening of the vase. This is also the first time I'm using a single color between the foreground and background on a flower arrangement to further simplify the composition. Once again I feel that I'm pursuing a fairly narrow and subtle range of color.
Sunday, February 25, 2001I finally finished the painting of three bosc pears.
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Saturday, February 24, 2001I believe I am finished with this painting of three pears, although I will take one last look at it in the light of day tomorrow to make the final decision.
Friday, February 23, 2001I'm finally back to work in the studio. I decided to start a mid-sized canvas of three fairly brownish bosc pears against a white background. At first I only struggled with the gradation of subtle earth tones, but by the end of the session I had carved out a fairly believable sense of light and weight. I should be able to finish this painting tomorrow after addressing only a few weak areas.
Last weekend's opening reception was a mixed success. There was a fairly small turnout, but those that did come had an enjoyable time. There were no sales, which causes somewhat of a wrinkle in my otherwise smooth plans for an active summer show season. In the next few weeks I may be taking on a day job to meet some of my upcoming expenses. It is endlessly challenging to find a balance between making ends meet while continuing my work.
Thursday, February 15, 2001I finished the small painting of three granny smith apples, despite it being a fairly overcast day.
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Wednesday, February 14, 2001 Valentine's DayIt was dark and raining today, too dark to get any painting done. I spent the day alone, I framed a few more paintings, I waited for the sky to brighten. It never did.
Tuesday, February 13, 2001Today I started a small canvas of three granny smith apples for a commission. I am continuing preparations for my upcoming one-man show this weekend, and I still have much to do.
Monday, February 12, 2001I finally finished the painting of red tulips in a clear glass vase. I was able to find some points of impact and tension when the tulips gradually splayed open to expose the deep red insides, and two of them actually exposed a jolt of brilliant yellow in the very center of the flowers. I don't feel that this is one of my stronger paintings, but it stands well as a step forward into another approach to composition and color. Regardless of how it stands up to many of my other recent paintings, it was both challenging and educational.
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Sunday, February 11, 2001I continued work on the painting of red tulips in a clear glass vase. It has been a very frustrating session, and I am having great difficulties with understanding how to see the setup and simplify my marks. At this point it seems as though every time I attempt something different my struggles appear clumsy and amateurish. I will make a final attempt tomorrow to tie this piece together.
Saturday, February 10, 2001I started on a 24 by 30 inch canvas of the red tulips in a clear glass vase. I'll believe I'll be continually racing the opening of the flowers and the curling of the leaves. At the very least it will result in an energetic capture of a quite lively and lyrical arrangement.
Friday, February 9, 2001
I started mixing colors for a larger painting of tulips. I'm going to attempt to capture the spread of flowers from a shorter vase in a horizontal format. It will be interesting to be able to focus on an entirely different sense of dynamics within the composition. I will be giving the tulips a chance to bloom and relax a bit more before I start committing to a specific arrangement, hopefully tomorrow if I have enough sunlight.
Thursday, February 8, 2001I finally got back to finishing the painting of tulips after a day of interruptions and distractions. At this point I'm ready to start a much larger version of this painting, hopefully where I can really slam out some really bold marks and colors.
On a side note, this painting was immediately sold online only minutes after I signed it.
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Tuesday, February 6, 2001I started a small study of some red tulips in the blue glass vase. I'm striving to maintain a light hand in finding articulation within the fine details of flowers and leaves. My intent is to capture a more lively interpretation than what I typically would find with my last few floral paintings. I should be finishing this piece tomorrow.
Sunday, February 4, 2001I completed the painting of three yellow delicious apples. I easily brought this to a solid finish with little more than some subtle articulation of a few important details. This has been a surprisingly potent series of painting sessions, and I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the concept of relative brightness within some fairly brilliant and saturated colors.
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Saturday, February 3, 2001I continued work on the painting of three yellow apples. In several large sweeping moves I brought the entire background up into a much richer and more developed color, allowing me to find more depth in the vivid bright yellows of the apples. The entire range of color was changed as I managed to hit almost every single part of the painting with another level of decisions and adjustments. This painting is almost finished, and tomorrow I will only fine tune certain areas before signing it and moving on.
Friday, February 2, 2001 Groundhog DayI started on a 30 by 40 inch canvas of three yellow delicious apples. It has presented another entirely different challenge for me to find the colors within the backdrop that will allow the brilliant yellow of the apples to glow several levels brighter than the surrounding white. There will still be some large areas to be adjusted tomorrow while I continue to carve out believable space and light.
Thursday, February 1, 2001I stopped by the florist and found nothing, but at the grocery store I found some of the first brilliant yellow delicious apples of the season. Throughout the fall and winter they wind up being too big and shapeless, or a little too green, or not enough red, but these were virtually perfect. The yellow is almost neon bright, and the apples practically glow against the white backdrop. I started mixing colors for a 30x40 canvas. Hopefully I will continue to have sunlight to commence work on this painting tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 30, 2001I finished the painting of three red apples. This has turned out to be a fairly lively little painting, and I've taken my understanding of saturated reds even further than with my last painting of three red apples.
Click on the image to see a larger versionThis is the sixteenth painting of three apples I've done since last spring. Again and again I come back to the trio of apples, and each time I have managed to rediscover some subtle quality to this repeating motif. At one point I thought it was somewhat of a limited plateau of accomplishment, but now it feels almost like a mantra, or a prism through which one subject can be understood in a myriad of perspectives and approaches. I can even see where this same subject can evolve over the upcoming weeks and months and years to capture another level of understanding, both through the brevity of marks and the efficiency of observation. It is with a certain sense of purpose that I believe what I am doing is more important than why I am doing it.
Monday, January 29, 2001Unfortunately I was not able to finish yesterday's painting, although I did make a good bit of progress developing it further. Hopefully tomorrow will see this painting finished.
Sunday, January 28, 2001Yesterday was overcast, and today I started a small version of last week's painting just to do a final summation of all that I've learned from the series of fairly productive sessions.
Friday, January 26, 2001I am finally finished with the giant painting of three red apples. I thought I would only be adjusting a few areas, but I wound up reworking many of the dark and saturated colors within the reflected light of the shadows. I feel that this painting developed well, and the finish is a good balance of raw brushwork and a few key details that snap it all into focus.
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Thursday, January 25, 2001I am all but completely finished with this painting. I will need to see it in the bright light of day tomorrow to make the final decision.
Wednesday, January 24, 2001I continued work on the giant painting of three red delicious apples. I made some bold strides forward in developing the colors, and I believe I should be able to easily wrap this up tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 23, 2001Today I started a giant 40 by 60 inch canvas of three red delicious apples. These apples are so shiny and angular I believe this will become more of a study of reflected light than anything. This first session was fairly strong, and I'm excited to see how this comes into focus with further development.
And on a side note, it's amazing what a thrill it is for me to hear a certain woman's voice on the telephone. I am only a victim of my own heart, and I will continue to destroy and reconstruct myself in an ongoing effort to find out what it is I really need. There is no mirror for us to hold up and see what is inside, we can only attempt to decipher our own motives and actions to discover who and what we are.
Monday, January 22, 2001I finished the small painting of three red plums. There is only so much I can learn from this arrangement on such a small canvas, but I did attain my goal of a short warm-up painting before sinking my teeth into something really serious.
Click on the image to see a larger versionTomorrow I shall start a huge painting using several large and angular red delicious apples.
Sunday, January 21, 2001Finally, the first sunny day in almost a week. I decided to start another small painting of three red plums just to get things moving. We'll see what happens.
Wednesday, January 17, 2001There was no sun yesterday or today. I took the opportunity to visit the big city to drop off some paintings at the Sales and Rental Gallery of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Hopefully on Thursday there will be sunlight, as I'm ready to dive into a new painting.
Monday, January 15, 2001I completed the small painting of three red plums. Throughout the day the light was fairly poor, but I could not justify having such a small canvas continue into another session. As with all tiny paintings, I spent too much time working with tiny brushes, tiny amounts of color, and tiny decisions. Essentially this was executed as a study to see if I wanted to embark upon a larger version of this setup. I don't believe that this subject would carry well as a larger piece, at least at this point in my development.
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Sunday, January 14, 2001I started a much smaller canvas of three red plums. Once again I decided to arrange one slightly in front of the other two, just to see if I could push and pull the sense of space with a broader spread from front to back.
Friday, January 12, 2001I finished the painting of three granny smith apples. As always, the final strokes were just on the verge of being overworked, but I feel that most of the energy of the foundation of the painting remained visible.
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Thursday, January 11, 2001I continued work on the painting of three granny smith apples and at this point I am very close to being finished. There are still a few areas of color of the table surface that should be blocked in to help expand the space from front to back within the setup. The apples themselves have come together nicely, and without rendering any more details I believe I can take this a few major steps forward in a fairly short amount of time.
Wednesday, January 10, 2001In a recent correspondence with the retro-pop artist Jeff Schaller the point was made that my recent series of vertical format paintings may seem weak due to the loss of a certain intimacy with the subject. This would be due to the apparent distance from the subject necessary to include the foreshortening effect to stack up the subjects on the picture field. I started wondering how I might take this sense of intimacy one step closer than merely zooming up on the close up view of an even row of objects. I decided to attempt to have one object sitting one level closer to the front of the arrangement than everything else, to almost crowd the viewer, rather than take a step further back to fit more into the composition. The granny smith apples from over a month ago seemed to have maintained their color and shine, so I decided to recruit them one more time to study this further. I made a good start on what could be an interesting painting.
Tuesday, January 9, 2001Now I am totally finished with the giant painting of three gala apples.
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Monday, January 8, 2001I am almost finished with the painting \par of three gala apples. While I did manage to continue making some huge sweeping decisions right up to the final strokes of the session, I still feel as though it can still go even further. The areas that seem to be in need of development are the same areas that help the painting to have a fairly loose and energetic feel. It is perhaps the most challenging aspect of finishing a painting is to appreciate the power of the marks left from the raw and fleeting observations of the subject.
Sunday, January 7, 2001I continued work on the giant painting of three gala apples. I'm very close to being finished, but I would still like to block in a few more areas of color to help push and pull the sense of space in front of and behind the apples. I will also need to find some of the colors that occur within the transitions of the edges of the objects themselves. I feel that this painting is developing well, and although there are only a few areas that need more work, it will probably take an entire session to complete it.
Saturday, January 6, 2001I made an energetic and productive start on the giant painting of three gala apples. As usual after a first session with a painting of this size (48 inches by 72 inches), I am exhausted. Tomorrow I will redefine some of the areas of color, but as usual I will strive to have this piece finished only with the level of detail that should be synchronous with a painting of this size and presence.
Friday, January 5, 2001I started mixing colors for a giant painting of the same three gala apples. It continuously snowed throughout the day and the sky was fairly dark. As a result, I'll be treating these colors as departure points for the final adjustments before I attack the canvas tomorrow. I am interested in discerning the subtle differences between the colors of the countertop both in front of and behind the apples. If the sun does an appearance tomorrow, it should be a fairly exciting and productive day.
On another note, I've started having some serious second thoughts about the painting of three peppers that I finished on Christmas Eve. I had to put it somewhere I couldn't see it, as it has started to haunt me. All of the the weak areas and shortcomings are seeming to become more and more obvious to me with each passing day. It was a long shot to try something different, but I'm feeling that it was less and less successful each time I look at it. This subject was addressed in this week's newsletter by Robert Genn (and scroll down to "Bonfire of the Vanities"), where a questionable painting resurfaces and finds its way back to his studio to haunt him. Once before I painted over a bad painting, and I found great vindication in the resulting success.
Thursday, January 4, 2001I finished the painting of three gala apples, the first piece dated 2001. It still seems fairly rough and undefined, but I feel that it is successful as a bold and fast effort. I will attempt a huge version of this same setup tomorrow, probably a 48 by 72 canvas. I'm surprised with how much color I was able to find in what seemed to be fairly dark and brownish apples. I'm not sure if omitting a separate color from the background was successful or not, but just as a strong overall image I feel that it works well.
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Wednesday, January 3, 2001I kicked off the new year with a return to a trilogy of gala apples. I believe I've learned a few things from the foreshortening effect of the higher point of view from my last two paintings. This has resulted in my decision to reproduce the effect to exclude the backdrop entirely from the picture field, while returning to a horizontal format. I believe that much of my struggle with the last two paintings was the difficulty in simulating the gradation of light and space without the broader expanse of the horizontal format. Our eyes naturally see in a wide screen format, and the spaciousness and character of my work would typically embrace this panoramic view. My last two vertical format paintings have a quality of having been abruptly cropped at the expense of breathing room for the subjects. They were educational for this reason, but I feel the need to make successful paintings that fit within my framework of creating believable renditions of space rather than come up against a wall of challenges that may not have acceptable solutions.
Tuesday, January 2, 2001I'm sitting on the plane, flying back from Dallas. There is altogether too much noise, and not nearly enough room. I'm looking forward to getting back to the silence and space of the studio.
The adventures of the weekend culminated with the Old 97s performing on New Year's Eve. They even played their own rendition of Auld Lang Syne after the stroke of midnight. What a blast. Lucy and I had so much fun as we enjoyed an endless tour of the bars, clubs and restaurants and coffee shops. Our friendship has developed even more in person after having been started over the impossible distances and separation of the internet. The world is both a little smaller and a whole lot bigger at the same time.
I've come to some new decisions concerning the recent vertical format paintings. Even when zooming back from the subjects I don't feel as though I'm able to include enough of the cues that help suggest space, and at best I wind up with a laterally cropped rendition of the setup. My cues for the dissipation of shadows are too confined to properly suggest the different variations and gradations of light. I will once again embark on a series of horizontal format images, although I will attempt to mix up my subject matter, with trios of different objects, or odd spacing, or staggered placement from front to back. We shall see.
Friday, December 29, 2000I'm exhausted. I spent all of last night in the emergency room watching over a very sick friend. Everything worked out, she will be fine, I was able to see a spectacular winter sunrise from the inside of my van, and one of the final days of the year 2000 has been colorful and lively.
And on another note, I'm finished with the painting. The light is gone, the time is gone, and the year is now over.
Click on the image to see a larger versionIf the weather allows me to make it to the Philadelphia airport in the morning, I'll be leaving to visit the legendary Lucy's World in Dallas for a few days of rest and relaxation, as well as to see the Old 97s performing on New Year's Eve at the Gypsy Tea Room. Yee haw. This will be a fitting end to a solid and productive year. I'll be back on the evening of Tuesday, January 2nd.
Until later...
Thursday, December 28, 2000I continued work on the painting. I covered the canvas and even managed a second layer of resolution and development before the end of the session. I will be finishing this painting tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 27, 2000I started mixing colors for a variation of yesterday's painting. I will continue to seek an understanding of the different approaches to a vertical arrangement of subjects.
Tuesday, December 26, 2000I finished the painting of three tangerines. I'm not sure if this is a successful painting or not, but I will continue to study it in the upcoming days and weeks and see what I can learn from this effort.
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Monday, December 25, 2000 Christmas DayIn an attempt to try something different, I decided to set up a vertical arrangement of three tangerines. I'm still not sure if this composition is sitting well with me, as the skewed and top heavy design feels precarious and unsettling. Tomorrow I will further develop the colors to describe the broad space from front to back and only then will I make the decision to continue with this or to stop and reassess my next move. I'm anxious to break out of what is starting to seem like a formulaic approach to my compositions. I do realize that I am pursuing education through subtle and sometimes not so subtle variations on a theme, yet I don't want to be guilty of missing out on some crucial strides forward in what should be a productive and investigative course of study.
Sunday, December 24, 2000 Christmas EveI finally finished the painting. I decided to move the third pepper closer to the two on the cocktail napkin. For some reason the detachment of that pepper didn't seem to support a cohesive sense of unity with the other elements of the painting. The change is subtle, but I feel that it helps to create a better rhythm and eye movement. I enjoyed exploring my way through some of the lost and found edges and colors within the napkin, and for the first time I feel that the objects appear to have weight and contact with the surface of the tabletop.
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Saturday, December 23, 2000I continued work on the painting of three red peppers. It is interesting how many cues I'm finding to describe the light and space with the added element of the cocktail napkin. Hopefully tomorrow I will be completing this painting.
Friday, December 22, 2000I kicked off the beginning of the winter season and the final days of the year 2000 with a mid-sized painting of three small red peppers. I decided to add the element of a cocktail napkin to dynamically break up the negative space of the foreground.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Fall 2000 for the previous season's struggles.
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