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See the Gallery for some exciting detailed images of the artist's work.
Wednesday, March 20, 2002I made some more progress on the new painting of two royal gala apples. I'll be up against the wire to finish this painting before I have to leave tomorrow night for this upcoming weekend's show in New Jersey. Typically I would take advantage of the time between the close of one session and the beginning of the next to gain a fresh view of a work in progress. I might repeatedly work over the same problems throughout a day's session, but I can easily pick out the problem areas when I first approach the painting in a new day. I will not have that luxury tomorrow, and I'll be hammering at this throughout the day to finish it.
Today marks the conclusion of a massively productive winter. As always, I'm looking forward to what challenges lie in wait in the upcoming weeks and months.
Read on...to Spring of 2002
Tuesday, March 19, 2002With the day being reasonably sunny I finally got started on a new painting of two royal gala apples. It is almost the same painting as last week's rendition of two green apples, with some different colors and an entirely different character to the subject. Tomorrow will see this piece come into focus.
And a happy birthday to my brother Darren.
Sunday, March 17, 2002 St. Patrick's DayToday was dark, and snow fell lightly throughout the day. I started mixing some colors for my next painting, and decided instead to just give my hands a break. I can barely grip the knife at this point, and I'm coming closer and closer to just duct taping the thing to my hand when I'm working.
Saturday, March 16, 2002Shazam, what a day. I worked straight through the entire day to resolve a painting that was supposed to be almost finished yesterday. Few times have I put so much thought into so few marks, and I spent most of the day with that horribly constricting feeling of not knowing how to wrap things up. At one point the strength in my hand totally gave out, and my palette knife snapped into the air. I typically will never get even a small smudge of paint on my clothing, but somehow I managed to spray the back of one pant leg with hundreds of tiny ribbons of white paint, not to mention the mess on the floor around me. So much for cleanliness today. In the fading light of the late afternoon I finally finished this painting. This has turned out to be an exciting piece, and I'm glad I had a chance to finally break in some of my giant brushes.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, March 15, 2002One thing I'm learning about this giant and simple painting of two granny smith apples is that even though I'm trying to complete this with the fewest number of brush strokes, there is twice as much thought that has to go into each one. I did finally reach a point in the last hour of today's session when I could start having fun again, hacking and tearing at the painting and taking some big steps toward seeing this piece almost finished. Tomorrow this will be done.
Thursday, March 14, 2002I had a productive day today, slamming out some huge amounts of paint on this new painting of only two granny smith apples.
It is important for me to realize what it is that I'm attempting to accomplish with this overly simple arrangement. I should be more specifically aware of the capture of the image, as opposed to being overly obsessed with how many brushstrokes can typically be found on one of my paintings. The object of this painting is to find the fewest possible number of marks to capture a giant image in the same loose and fast manner that I would employ to capture a much smaller component of a more complex arrangement. Ultimately I'd like to be able to have the finished painting display more of the thought process that goes into seeing the arrangement, as opposed to only being a painting of an object. I'm not really sure if this makes any sense, hopefully somebody understands what I'm trying to say.
Wednesday, March 13, 2002It was too dark too paint today, but I did run Eric through some exercises in mixing, as well as some basic lessons in color theory. It was an educational day for him, and a chance for me to review some crucial information about color theory as well.
Tuesday, March 12, 2002I spent part of today preparing for tomorrow's arrival of Eric, the new sorcerer's apprentice. When the sun decided to come out I decided to start another painting. Just for a change I'm going to see if I can make a bold and lively image of only two apples. I'm going to break out some of my giant brushes and see if I can't step up the scale and energy of each mark and decision. Tomorrow should be an exciting day.
Monday, March 11, 2002It was a fairly rough day. Today marks the six month anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Last night Heather and I watched the documentary film done by the two French brothers in New York City, who inadvertently found themselves in the shadows of the World Trade Center on that day. The footage of the towers in the weeks, days and even the night before the attack was haunting. It was early evening on September 10th, they formed an amazing sparkling backdrop over the city, almost part of the sky itself, lit up from the inside with thousands of office lights, it made me sick. That night was one time, the next day was another.
I did manage to completely finish the painting of eleven granny smith apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Sunday, March 10, 2002I'm almost finished with the painting of eleven granny smith apples. Today was productive, although it barely seems like much of a step forward from yesterday's session. Tomorrow should see this easily wrapped up by hammering in some of the transition colors in the negative spaces and shadows. It seems as though I've effectively nailed most of the modeling of the apples, and for the most part I've completely resolved the detail work.
Saturday, March 9, 2002I continued work on the painting of eleven granny smith apples, despite the day being fairly dark and overcast. If tomorrow is as sunny as the forecast predicts, I should be almost finished with this piece by the end of the day. I've found some interesting qualities of light throughout today's session, and I discovered how to make the apples sit solidly on the counter top by losing some of the edges where the colors approach the same values. For some reason the muted sunlight made some of these transition areas a little bit easier to see.
Friday, March 8, 2002I continued work on the new painting of eleven granny smith apples. It's coming along nicely, and tomorrow should see this piece starting down the final stretch to completion.
The past two days have been fabulously warm, and I've had the door to the roof wide open for the entire day. In addition to the fresh air, it's nice to hear the sounds of the great outdoors. The cats are enjoying watching the world as well, like three little kids sitting in the front row at a movie theater.
Thursday, March 7, 2002I slammed down the first layer of paint on this newest painting of eleven granny smith apples. I just started working my way across the surface with the second layer of resolution when the light started fading. Tomorrow will see this painting start to really snap into focus.
Wednesday, March 6, 2002The painting of eleven granny smith apples is definitely done. Click here to see the finished painting. I wasted no time in stretching another canvas and shuffling the same eleven apples for another painting.
Heather and I were laughing about how the arrangement of eleven apples has the character of children on a playground, with a strong sense of interaction and personality within the varying spaces between the apples. The dynamics of that same playground are now dramatically different, with the new arrangement displaying a whole new sense of group dynamics and dialogue. Or maybe I just don't have enough ventilation in here.
Last night I lined up my good friend Eric Pope to spend a day in the studio next week, acting as my assistant. I will be directing him on mixing large amounts of the general colors of paint, while I continually make the adjustments to bring the colors up to exactly what I need for each mark. I'd like to see if I can streamline the creative process by removing one of the biggest time and energy intensive phases of the painting process. It will be interesting to see if and how my paintings change when I'm no longer running myself ragged with prep work before the first marks are made. Ultimately I'd like to be able to embrace that evasive quality of technique that smacks of bravado and panache within the brushwork, without losing that exacting quality of light and color that I demand of my work.
Tuesday, March 5, 2002This newest painting of eleven granny smith apples is, for the most part, finished. I will have one last look at it with a fresh eye in the light of morning and make the final decision. At this point I just need to make sure that the details all sit well. It's nice that no matter how far a painting like this is developed, it will always maintain a certain looseness that keeps it from ever being stale. Having two days away from the studio just when the painting was starting off proved to create some difficulties, but as usual it was nothing that couldn't be remedied by slugging out some massive amounts of paint.
Part of last Friday's discussion on the drive to New York City with Jeff Schaller was concerning the lively quality of paint work on each apple when I'm attempting to capture eleven of them, as opposed to the tendency to overwork the painting of an apple when there are only three. I would like to see a simple arrangement captured with the same life and brevity of each component of a more involved arrangement. I'm not sure if this is a limitation of the scale of how much effort it takes to mix each amount of paint, or if it's only something as simple as the size of the brushes I use. I'd like to bang out a few more paintings like this to immerse myself in how to say what I need quickly and decisively and then see if I can't apply what I've learned to a simple arrangement of three objects again. Of course one solution would be to come up with a way of making up large amounts of my base colors, and then use these as departure points to make adjustments by hand. I'm always trying to visualize different ways to accomplish this, from a mechanical device attached to a drill to just having an assistant shadowing me on a separate palette. I have many things to consider, and of course I have to acknowledge that part of what makes my paintings what they are is the effort involved in every step of the process. Of course I wouldn't want to make anything too easy for myself either.
Monday, March 4, 2002I'm on the verge of being really run down, yet with great effort I'm almost finished with this painting of eleven granny smith apples. It is developing well, and really is very close to being finished. I'm not sure if my lack of energy is the reason I could not push it over the top to resolution, or if there really was no way I could have snapped it all into place by the end of today's session. We'll see if I can't nail this one down tomorrow.
Sunday, March 3, 2002Despite it being an overcast day I resumed work on the painting of eleven granny smith apples. As always with these more detailed ventures I never feel as though I'm making progress, even though I keep circling the canvas again and again with more and more brushwork. Tomorrow I will start carving in some of the negative spaces around the apples, and hopefully there will be better light so that this definition will continue to be fairly warm and bright.
Saturday, March 2, 2002The day was dark and overcast. This is just as well, as I am totally exhausted from a long day in New York City. Jeff Schaller and I had much to discuss on the two hour drive into the city. We toured the hundreds of displays at ArtExpo with very little comment. Once again, the business of art grossly overshadowed the art of art. After seeing everything and stopping for an espresso we met up with his friend, the renowned pop artist Burton Morris and his posse. We sat for a bit to get acquainted, split up and then met again to attend a party at the studio of the pop legend, Peter Max. The artist himself actually stumbled through as we were preparing to leave. In his odd and befuddled way he acknowledged Burton, who inexplicably could only blurt out his congratulations. We escaped into the street and then made our way to one of the legendary mob hangouts in Brooklyn, Peter Luger's Steakhouse, where they serve such specialties as Steak for Three, and Steak for Four. I had a piece of broiled salmon the size of my head, and then we talked nonstop for three hours until the place started emptying out. Burton and his accountant Howard and his assistant Alan are each a great wealth of information and insight, and Jeff and I really had a blast. We went back to Trump Plaza to get our briefcases and say good-bye, to the garage to get the truck, two hours back to Jeff's house where I jumped into my van and continued on to arrive home at 4 am.
An excellent day.
Thursday, February 28, 2002I made an energetic start on a new painting of eleven granny smith apples. Tomorrow I'll be spending the day in New York City with the pop artist Jeff Schaller as we tour ArtExpo at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center. My visits to ArtExpo always prove to be a source of great inspiration for me, while at the same time reinforcing my focus and determination with what I am doing. I will continue work on this painting on Saturday.
Wednesday, February 27, 2002It took me all day, but I finished the painting of three yellow delicious apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I picked up two bags of granny smith apples in preparation for my next few paintings. I'd like to study some varying arrangements of large numbers of objects over the next week or so, just to explore some different things.
Tuesday, February 26, 2002I spent most of the day at the Dodge dealer going over details for a new van. What a strange new world that is.
I made it home with only an hour or so of sunlight to work on this newest painting of yellow delicious apples. Tomorrow should see this piece finished, and hopefully another piece started.
Monday, February 25, 2002I continued work on the painting of three yellow delicious apples. I'm hoping to see this piece finished while it still has this such a nice simplicity and freshness.
Sunday, February 24, 2002I managed to throw a lot more paint down on this new painting of three yellow delicious apples. I like the stark quality of having no backdrop for a change. The sense of air and light will be strong with so much white.
The website is back online as of the middle of this afternoon.
Saturday, February 23, 2002I spent most of the day on the road, still on the search for a new cargo van. If nothing else, I've gained a great education on the subject.
I managed to work for a few hours just to make a start on this newest painting of the same three yellow delicious apples. The website appears to have been down for most of the day.
Friday, February 22, 2002I finished the painting of three yellow delicious apples, but not without first overworking it, scraping it back down and then overworking it again. This is not one of those paintings that came easily. Regardless of my struggle, it is a strong painting with many nice areas.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I managed to get most of the website back up and running, although it seems that some people still can't access the site at all. And it was only this morning that my email addresses work again, so if anyone has been trying to contact me, try again now. I've already been through all the pages of the journal, and everything works. I'll try to make it through the gallery this weekend and see if everything is in order with that as well. Once again, if anyone finds any problems, please let me know. Thanks.
Thursday, February 21, 2002I'm back from the auction but without a new van. I managed to get a little bit of work in on this painting of three yellow delicious apples in the last two hours before sunset. I should be easily finishing this painting tomorrow, and hopefully starting another.
It seems that at some point this morning my website was switched to a different hosting server, so the entire website has been down for most of the day. Upon returning home I've been busy uploading the hundreds of pages and files and images. It's amazing how much information I've created since the beginning of this project three years ago. As I'm sure there will be many missing images and broken links, I'll do my best to get everything back up and running as soon as possible. If anyone finds any problems, please let me know. I would really appreciate the help.
Wednesday, February 20, 2002I continued work on this newest painting of three yellow delicious apples. It seems to be going well. I think this is because I'm forcing myself to continue making some broad and sweeping decisions while not being afraid to scrape out some fairly large areas. Bit by bit I've managed to capture a sense of the perspective that sometimes gets scrambled for any number of different reasons.
Tomorrow I'll be meeting with Heather's father to go to an auction to possibly bid on another cargo van. Hopefully I'll wind up with a shiny new van, and even better yet to be home early enough to continue work on this painting in the afternoon.
Tuesday, February 19, 2002I made a strong start to a new large painting of three yellow delicious apples. It seems like a nice way to wrap up an eleven apple painting to apply what I've learned to a simpler arrangement of only three. For some reason this subject always seems to be fairly difficult for me, and hopefully I can capture a lively rendition in the next few days without any major struggle.
Monday, February 18, 2002 President's DayI finished the painting of eleven yellow delicious apples and immediately started on the companion piece for this painting.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Yesterday was a long and rewarding day. Heather and I had the wonderful experience of having several of our clients become friends, while my paintings became integral parts of their homes and their lives. There are now two more potent collections of my work in distant cities, and I've once again felt that odd sensation of watching some of the best pieces of myself being left behind as I move forward.
In some ways I am now less, and in many other ways I am now more.
Saturday, February 16, 2002As hard as I tried, I could not bring this painting of eleven yellow delicious apples to its conclusion. I made a huge amount of progress, but there were just too many details to address for me to be able to call it finished by the end of today's session.
Tomorrow I'm spending the day driving to Washington, DC and then to Philadelphia and back to deliver paintings to several clients, so I won't be able to get back to this painting until Monday.
Friday, February 15, 2002I continued to build up the surface on this newest painting of eleven yellow delicious apples. There is a certain charm to the rough nature of this stage of the painting, and I will strive to preserve some of this by trying to wrap it up with tomorrow's session. At this point that seems like a stretch, but I know I should try to reach this goal.
Thursday, February 14, 2002 Valentine's DayI made a nice start on the large painting of eleven yellow delicious apples. As always with such an ambitious undertaking I feel a bit overwhelmed at this early stage of the project. Things are fairly loose and sloppy right now, but it should quickly start coming into focus tomorrow.
This is a private message for Heather, so don't anyone read this: Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetie.
Wednesday, February 13, 2002 Ash WednesdayI started the day taking care of a mid-sized project downstairs, to install a new deep fryer in one of the kitchens. The main challenge was to cut out a large portion of the existing heavy gauge stainless steel enclosure. When nothing else was working I raced out and picked up an angle grinder, and amid a huge shower of sparks I managed to do a fairly clean job of cutting through several layers of stainless and galvanized steel. After hooking up the gas line for the new fryer I was finally able to make it back to the studio to mix colors for this newest painting. And of course now I own a new angle grinder.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I won't have to leave the studio for any reason, and I can finally start throwing some paint around.
Tuesday, February 12, 2002 Fat TuesdayI finished the painting of three granny smith apples. I spent today bringing up the consistency of the surface, and I avoided reworking the subjects themselves. It's a strong piece, but this last day bordered on being a bit redundant. Click here to see an image of the finished painting.
I immediately set up an arrangement of eleven yellow delicious apples. This should be a fun piece with some really lively colors.
Sunday, February 10, 2002I continued work on the newest painting of granny smith apples, despite it being a dark and overcast day.
I'll be driving to Philadelphia tomorrow to deliver some more paintings to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I should be able to finish this painting, depending on what time I make it back to the studio.
Saturday, February 9, 2002I continued work on the newest painting of granny smith apples.
Friday, February 8, 2002Without thinking very much about it I started on yet another painting of three granny smith apples. With a certain sense of purpose I mixed colors and hammered out the foundation. I'm feeling pretty exhausted from these last few long days of painting. Toward the end of the afternoon I started running out of steam, and now I can barely lift my arm. I will sleep well tonight, and hopefully I'll be ready to attack this again tomorrow.
Thursday, February 7, 2002I finished the painting of three granny smith apples. I wasted no time in immediately mixing colors for another painting of the same subject.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Maybe on some level I'm thinking that if I paint enough apples, you won't be able to see them anymore, the apples will become invisible, and you'll only see the spaces between them, the light around them, and the slightest variations from one painting to the next. Like a cat that can watch an entire forest but pick out the one thing that is moving, through a long series of paintings of apples my viewers will be able to pick out the slightest differences of gesture and personality and poise and presence. A painting of apples will only be a painting, a painting of light and space that only uses an apple as a reference point. I'll be painting the air around the apple. I'll be capturing the effect the apple has on my eye and the lack of light on one side of the apple and the abundance of light on the other. I'll continue to find great fascination with the displacement of molecules in the relative shape of an apple, and the effect of the light spectrum as seen in the reflection from the skin of an apple. I'll capture the lack of any other subject but an actual apple. Absolutely anything but the apple itself.
Wednesday, February 6, 2002I continued to develop the painting of three granny smith apples. It's very close to being finished, and tomorrow I should be able to wrap this up. It's strange how sometimes a painting seems to evolve so easily, to the point that I almost believe I could just throw down another canvas and do it again.
Tuesday, February 5, 2002I started early today and made great progress on this newest painting of three granny smith apples. Tomorrow I will continue to carve out even more light and space while I zero in on some details. This is one of those rare paintings where every step is a solid step forward. I can only hope that I might have such productive sessions more often.
As the session ended I received an invitation from my friend Mike to accompany him while he took his Harris hawk out for an early evening flight. So strange, to see something so wild and powerful being called back from flight to a glove on his arm.
Monday, February 4, 2002I started slamming out paint on this newest canvas for a commission of three granny smith apples against the yellow background. The first day's work is always productive and lively. I can hardly wait until tomorrow.
Sunday, February 3, 2002I finished the painting of granny smith apples and a strawberry. This is a lively piece, with some real charm hidden in some of the more hoggish and sloppy areas. I think it's great.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started mixing colors for a commission for yesterday's visitors, a simple arrangement of a trio of granny smith apples in front of a yellow backdrop. It is not a great leap from what I've been doing, but I will enjoy immersing myself in carving out yet another intimate dialogue between the three apples.
Saturday, February 2, 2002 Groundhog DayI continued to work on the painting of three granny smith apples and a single strawberry. At the end of the session I was suddenly impressed with a certain rude and crude quality to the brushwork and interpretation. I decided it was very close to being at that particularly evasive level of brevity and flair that few of my paintings ever reach. Tomorrow I will hit a few key areas just to wrap it up.
Today's session ended with a surprise visit from a nice couple from Philadelphia. Once again I realize the need for more space and a showroom to have an ongoing exhibit of my work here in the studio.
Friday, February 1, 2002I stayed up late to shoot some slides last night, and then I raced out in the morning to drop off the roll of film to be developed. The heavy fog and slight drizzle showed little promise for a good day of painting, and as I approached Mount Joy the darkness that hung over the town looked like a special effect from a movie. The closer I got to the brewery the more the drizzle turned into a downpour. It was a solid black wall of rain by the time I pulled up to the building. Then strangely the sun came out late in the afternoon, accompanied by a pounding wind. I managed to get in less than two hours of painting before the sun went down. As always, I'll look forward to a better session tomorrow.
As it turns out, Jeckyl hasn't been injured, he only has a severe mouth infection due to poor oral hygiene. He'll be taking antibiotics to reduce the swelling and then it's off to the dentist for the little guy. I'm hoping for the best.
Thursday, January 31, 2002Despite it being overcast today I continued to develop the painting of three granny smith apples and what has become only one strawberry. There's always a different feel to the paintings that get changed and twisted around from one session to another. This piece is finally coming along well, although the forecast is for yet another cloudy day tomorrow, so this will be all but finished in fairly poor light.
Jeckyl's face seems to be a little less swollen today, but he'll be starting to take antibiotics over the next few days anyway, on the recommendation of an experienced veterinary assistant. It's amazing how much the dynamics of your world can change when a pet is sick or injured. I find myself trying to get his attention as though he'll turn to me and tell me it's not as bad as it looks. Of course when he finds out that his antibiotics will be mixed in with canned food I'm sure he'll immediately bash his face into the window again just for a little more of the tasty chow, that treacherous and evil little vermin bastard. Just kidding.
Wednesday, January 30, 2002Today was overcast and only grew darker as the afternoon progressed. I spent the day pushing and pulling edges with my palette knife in an effort to find a better balance of objects. The strawberries were scraped out with the plan of reintroducing them to another location for a different dynamic effect. In almost total darkness I finally reconstructed the rough images of the apples. For some reason I get the feeling that nothing about this painting will come easily.
On another matter, my cat Jeckyl has me worried. One side of his face is fairly swollen, and I suspect he may have smacked it on the window frame one of the times he made the near impossible jump from the back of the futon to the shelf on the window sill. Research tells me he may have injured a tooth, with would cause his face to swell. If it doesn't seem to be improving tomorrow I think we'll be going to visit the vet. He eats and carries on as usual, but I'm still concerned for the little guy.
Tuesday, January 29, 2002The beets from yesterday are wilted today, so at this point they're going to my mother's house to be made into borscht. I played with a package of brilliant orange chipotle peppers but I couldn't resolve anything. I finally gave in and ripped open a fresh bag of granny smith apples. I decided on an arrangement of three apples with an accent of a few strawberries. The setup isn't finalized, and things may be moved around again tomorrow before this painting continues to develop. On some levels I feel that I've become stagnant, and I know that I'd like to find some more variety in my subjects. It seems as though very few things interest me lately, and I continue to find great challenge in these subtle variations despite the obvious repetition. I should find my way through this.
Monday, January 28, 2002I spent today arranging and rearranging a bunch of beets. I started mixing colors even though I don't feel totally committed to pursuing this subject. The shiny, violet stems are an exciting combination of colors, but the beets themselves are the color of dirt, like potatoes. I guess it's odd that the part of the subject that excites me most is only what occurs between the floppy dark green leaves and the flat and neutral brown beets. If I can pull it off, it will be a very different piece for me, but at this point I'm planning on spending some time wandering the isles of my local supermarket in search of other possibilities.
I've put so much thought into this that my head hurts. Such is life.
Saturday, January 26, 2002So much for the idea of not overworking a painting. In a dizzying rush of brushwork I slammed out several more pounds of paint to bring this piece to a dramatic finish. I'll be spending tomorrow in Philadelphia to serve as a juror for the Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Show. We'll have several stops to make afterwards, returning in the evening.
Click on the image to see a larger version of the finished painting.I'm already anxious to get home, and to get back to work on a new painting. Heather and I went to Central Market today, and I found myself transfixed by a large bunch of beets. We'll see what happens.
Friday, January 25, 2002I'm very close to finishing this painting of two granny smith apples and a bosc pear. There is quite a thick and lively surface developing on this piece. Tomorrow I'll be going over some of the large areas and just a few more details. My past few paintings of bosc pears have helped me to better understand how to capture the curves and colors. Of course there's always more to learn about capturing the sense of light that surrounds any subject, and once again I'm gaining some excellent education on creating depth and volume within a simple arrangement.
I correspond with my younger brother Daniel almost every day, and he regularly suggests that I should stop working on a painting days before I normally would. I can't argue that the early stages of a painting sometimes (or I should say usually) capture a more accurate quality of light and space than the same painting several sessions later. It's as though I only create more problems the more I work on a piece, and the solutions sometimes take even more steps away from the solidity and simplicity of the first layers of resolution. When I capture a fleeting rendition of what I see in a rush of brushwork and haste it seems as though there are gems of observation intertwined with areas of poor resolution. I could attack canvases with a whole new fervor, knowing that each piece would stand on its own less as an individual piece than as an entire body of work. I always toy with the idea of carving my name into the wet paint days earlier than I do, and moving on to another canvas. My target is always to nail the image with the fewest and most decisive marks, yet here I am, planning yet another session on a painting that has already gone on for three days. All of my knowledge and experience should be evident in each mark that I make, yet I continually second guess every mark that I make by stepping back and deciphering what could be an improvement on what I've already done.
I guess this is as it should be, for now anyway. Of course I'm always open to input.
Thursday, January 24, 2002Today wound up being dismally gray and overcast. I started mixing some colors until I realized I would only be setting up obstacles for myself by trying to reinvent this piece by painting in darkness.
I just got an acceptance letter for the Arts in the Park show in Richmond, Virginia in May. This is just the beginning of what should turn out to be an exciting show season.
And last night I decided to create a technical information page, listing all of the things I use to do what I do. I hope someone finds this information to be useful, if not at least entertaining.
Wednesday, January 23, 2002I continued to develop the painting of two granny smith apples and a bosc pear. The surface is coming up nicely, although tomorrow will be when things start to really snap into place with weight and volume. I'll need to clarify the sense of reflected and indirect light while developing some of the details. I'm making some nice progress, partially due to my mixing huge amounts of paint with each area that I work on. Mixing the exact color is important, but having more than enough of it is just as crucial to maintaining a generous feel to the application.
On a side note, I finally managed to get the streaming video studiocam working, with the help and patience of Spencer Voorheis from Surveyor Corporation. If anyone wants to set up a webcam broadcast, I highly recommend Webcam32 for its extensive features and the assistance of their skilled and personable technical support staff.
Tuesday, January 22, 2002I attempted to polish one of yesterday's pears to give it a little more of a shine, and overnight it turned black. Maybe someone can explain to me why that happens. I raced out and found more pears. I try to stay away from the overgrown monstrosities that seem to be the standard ay most supermarkets. The stunted and discolored little runts tend to have much more character, as far as painting subjects go. I first set out my standard departure point of three of the scrawny little things, but I wasn't satisfied with any arrangement. In a brilliant flash of artistic angst and passion I found a nice combination of mixed fruit; two granny smith apples and a single bosc pear. I hammered out some massive amounts of paint for a strong start to a large painting. It was odd, finding the center of balance to be somewhat lower than what I typically would set up, but it will provide a nice variety for study. I can hardly wait until tomorrow.
Monday, January 21, 2002I'm back to work in the studio, mixing colors for what will tentatively be yet one more painting of three bosc pears, this time a 40 by 60 inch canvas. If I have a chance I may scout around for another subject in the morning, but at this point it looks like I'll try to apply what I've learned over the past 2 weeks from this same set of pears.
Saturday, January 19, 2002It snowed all day, but I was still able to bring this painting to a powerful and decisive finish. After only a few hours of working I realized I was very close to the end. It's pretty exciting when that happens, almost as though you've allowed a vague and intuitive sense to take control and achieve something that deliberate thought and action could not accomplish.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, January 18, 2002I've been racing all day to finish a punch list for an early morning deadline for the brewery downstairs. I managed to get a few hours of painting in the last of the afternoon light. Supposedly a small blizzard is being forecast for tomorrow, but I'm hoping I have at least a little bit of sunlight to get this painting back up and running.
Thursday, January 17, 2002I'm taking advantage of overcast days by continuing to get caught up on projects downstairs in the brewery. For some reason my back hurts so badly I can barely breath. It must have been the way I slept, or something I ate, or maybe something I ate in my sleep. Despite the dizzying pain I managed to make some more progress on this newest painting of three bosc pears. I'm learning more and more to have trust in the process of laying on the colors to develop the image one layer at a time, although coming back to the same subject always makes me feel as though I'm struggling with impatience to see the painting come to shape. At this point the most important thing is to keep taking deep breaths and work through it.
The streaming video studio cam is still not working. I've exhausted all possibilities of aspects of the software itself that may be causing the problem. My only other suspicion is that there is something in the dynamic IP address assignment of the main computer that manages the online connection. I'm not sure how to even start to figure out how to explore or change these settings. I'll keep trying.
Tuesday, January 15, 2002I'm finally back to work in the studio after a short but pleasant break. I just started mixing colors for my next endeavor which will be a larger version of my last arrangement of pears. Unfortunately I spent the bulk of the day taking care of several things around the building, so I only just got started preparing for the new painting before it grew dark.
As always, I look forward to tomorrow.
Friday, January 11, 2002Yesterday was spent running around and trying to do too many errands, and by the time I got back to the studio it was already dark. Today I finally finished the painting of three bosc pears. It's strong and lively, and I threw a huge amount of paint around in the final hours of this piece.
Tomorrow Heather and I will be going to New York City to meet up with the legendary H. Philip Lauer for a few hours of mayhem. I'll be returning on Sunday, possibly in time to get back to work in the studio.
Click on the image to see a larger version of the finished painting.
Wednesday, January 9, 2002I continued work on the new painting of three bosc pears.
Tuesday, January 8, 2002I finished the painting of three bosc pears. I was on the verge of overworking this piece, but I think I managed to reel it back in before it became too stale. It's fairly solid, and I believe I described a nice sense of weight and volume to the shapes.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started on another painting of a new set of bosc pears. These have some fairly lively curves, and this should be a fun piece.
Monday, January 7, 2002The weekend was totally overcast, culminating with a good bit of snowfall that lasted from Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon. The painting of three bosc pears screeched to a halt for the weekend until the sky brightened a little bit today, but I still didn't have a chance to completely finish it. Tomorrow I will make short work of this painting and move on.
I met with clients on Saturday and Sunday, and managed to find homes for a few more paintings. I even received a small bag of shapely bosc pears from one of my clients which will be the subject for tomorrow's painting.
Here's a short video clip of my cat Agatha.
Friday, January 4, 2002I'm almost done with the painting of three bosc pears. I believe I'm finally learning some rules about the qualities of shine. This is a good subject to use for this study, because the difference between shading and shine is so subtle. The gradation across the curve of the pears refers to an entirely different color range when it reflects the color of the sky. I'm sure that this understanding will apply to many different situations in similar ways. Hopefully I'll have an easy time wrapping this up tomorrow.
Thursday, January 3, 2002I continued work on the small painting of three bosc pears, quickly building up a nice surface with all of the paint that was left over from yesterday's painting. I'm hoping that this effort doesn't follow the same course as most pear paintings as far as the amazing struggle I usually have trying to render the shapes with such muted earth tones. The trick is to learn how to ignore the shape and paint the light instead. Ultimately, the shape should follow the rendering of the light. Ultimately this wouldn't be such a maddening struggle.
Wednesday, January 2, 2002I finally finished the painting of three tabasco sauce bottles.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started on a painting of three bosc pears for a possible commission. I spent the remainder of the day mixing colors, and tomorrow should see this new painting start coming to life.
Tuesday, January 1, 2002 New Year's DayI started off the new year the same way I ended the old year, with alternating episodes of struggle and futility and the triumph of discovery. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'm finished with this painting yet. I'll have another look in the morning.
There's something about the organic curves of fruits and vegetables that easily leaves my eye with a sense of "rightness", and each shape can easily be seen as a varying degree of roundness. Edges always roll away evenly and catch certain transition colors depending on the surrounding surfaces. The hard lines and strict proportions of these tabasco sauce bottles continually challenges my draftsmanship, and that correctness continues to evade me on this painting. The way the cylinders are described can impart the illusion of curves and bulges that do not exist. Making the label lie down flat on the glass is especially difficult, and suggesting the print on the label that should be flat on the glass is even harder. And the blue green foil around the specific width of the neck seems to be almost impossible. And the opacity of the dark red sauce within the translucence of the glass with the considerations of the light reflected up from the countertop and back from the next bottle and the way the light penetrates the contents played against the curve of the bottle and, and......and on and on.
I'll hit it again tomorrow.
Monday, December 31, 2001 New Year's EveI spent the last day of the year 2001 coming up against the brick wall that represents everything that has ever challenged me and my abilities. This newest painting was so close to being finished today, but I struggled to find the final marks that could resolve this study.
With each new painting that I finish, I raise the mark against which I measure myself. Each painting is not necessarily an improvement upon the last. Instead, each painting teaches me more about the mechanics of my own thought process, and I feel that I should always become more in control of how I work. In some ways I've reached a higher plateau in my abilities, while at the same time I feel that there is no consistency in my work other than the fact that I do keep working. Sometimes the basis for a new painting is only to be able to execute the same painting a second time with more fervor, with more life, and with more panache. As the sun sets my heart is repeatedly wrenched with the urgency of yet another day slipping away, of another golden moment that could have been either captured or lost forever.
This is the stuff of life that weathers me.
Happy new year.
Sunday, December 30, 2001I started throwing some paint around, but I'm really not sure what I'm doing. What was originally a trio of tabasco sauce bottles and two red fresno peppers and a granny smith apple has become only the trio of bottles. I'm carving out some things, working up to details, but I'm really just stabbing in the dark trying to find something of meaning within it all. We'll see what happens.
At this time last year I had just finished a series of fairly weak paintings. This may be due to the time of the year, being the end of one year and the start of another, or maybe it's the cold, or maybe it's the lack of light. I don't know.
Saturday, December 29, 2001After a relaxing visit in Florida I'm finally back to work in the studio. I spent today arranging and rearranging several objects, possibly to settle on an odd assortment of different things. I spent most of the day mixing colors, so tomorrow should see some interesting development as the paint goes onto the canvas.
Here's a short video clip of my father's cat walking on a treadmill.
Sunday, December 23, 2001What initially started out as me only looking at the painting turned into another whole day of developing the painting even further. I brought the surface up to a greater richness in many of the larger areas, and I punched in a few more definitive details throughout the entire painting.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Heather and I are leaving in a few hours to catch a plane to Tampa to visit my father for Christmas.
Saturday, December 22. 2001With only a few more minutes of sunlight I would have been able to ascertain that this painting was finished. I'll take one more look at it in the morning to make the final decision and post the final image.
Friday, December 21, 2001 Winter SolsticeI kicked off the winter season by continuing to develop this huge painting of granny smith apples. Despite it being the shortest day of the year it was amazingly bright and I made good use of my time. I should easily have this painting finished tomorrow.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Fall 2001 for the previous season's struggles.
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