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Fall 2000 | Summer 2000 | Spring 2000 | Winter 1999/2000
Fall 1999 | Summer 1999 | Spring 1999 | Winter 1998/99
See the Gallery for some exciting detailed images of the artist's work.
Saturday, March 19, 2005On this last day of Winter I didn't paint at all. Instead I spent the day in Philadelphia with Heather, taking care of business, and spending time with Frank at Rittenhouse Square Park.
And today is my brother Darren's birthday. Happy birthday, Darren.
I'm having a hard time taking stock of what I've really accomplished in the past few months. I did manage to get a lot of painting done, but more than anything I think I valiantly struggled with continuing to learn how to paint. Some things made sense, other things I barely pulled together. I always thought that this odyssey would start to get easier at some point, but I guess I was mistaken. On the upside, we made it through our first winter in the new house, celebrated our first year in the new house, and made it through blizzards and blackouts and floods and chaos and mayhem. All is good.
Read on...to Spring of 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005I started on a new painting of red and yellow tulips. We'll see if this turns into something over the next few days.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005I started mixing colors for a mid-sized study of red and yellow tulips against a light blue background. Hopefully I can make this come together while I'm still excited about painting tulips again. We shall see.
Monday, March 14, 2005Somehow I finished the new painting of Amaryllis flowers, but to save my life I can't really figure out how. This subject seems to evade my sense of space and logic, yet somehow I am managing to resolve the studies in reasonable amounts of time.
Click on the image to see a larger version.As lively and colorful as these flowers still are, I'm hesitant to see if I can finish another study before they start losing too much color and withering.
Sunday, March 13, 2005I started on another painting of the Amaryllis flowers. The colors of the flowers started losing some saturation and intensity, and everything has started to droop. I wired some parts back into place, and tomorrow should see this painting all but finished.
Saturday, March 12, 2005I finished the painting of Amaryllis flowers. I'm not sure how I feel about this painting. Everything snapped together almost without effort, and I felt strange calling it finished without ever agonizing over any part of it. Maybe I should have tried to paint it blindfolded or something.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, March 11, 2005Today was too dark to try to resolve the Amaryllis painting.
Thursday, March 10, 2005I started throwing down paint on this new study of an Amaryllis flower. The painting came together very quickly, and might actually be finished by the end of tomorrow's session. This is an exciting new subject, and the architectural nature of this flower is proving to be very challenging for me.
Wednesday, March 9, 2005Today I started mixing colors for my first painting of an Amaryllis flower. I finished making a rough reference drawing, and tomorrow I'll be throwing paint, once I get home from a late morning dentist visit.
Sunday, March 6, 2005I finished the painting of yellow tulips on a yellow background.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I was done in time to take Frank to the dog park for the first time in over a month. He was immediately attacked by a pair of large German shepherds, who took turns rubbing his face in the mud. After about an hour of being repeatedly mauled, he was thrilled and exhausted and bleeding, and I'm sure he'll sleep well tonight.
Saturday, March 5, 2005For the past two days I hammered relentlessly at this new painting of yellow tulips. It is now a very solid piece, and after a few more pounds of paint, it should be finished tomorrow.
Thursday, March 3, 2005I thawed out my frozen paint and spread out a new bouquet of yellow tulips to get started on this large commission of yellow tulips against a butter-yellow background. It's nice to be working large again, and tomorrow should see the color and surface start to build up quickly.
Wednesday, March 2, 2005I finished the small painting of three green apples. I'll post an image of the finished painting in the next few days.
On a side note, in the past week I received acceptance letters for the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival in Maryland in May, and the Wells Street Arts Festival in Chicago in June. And yet another gallery will be representing my work in Charlevoix, Michigan.
Tuesday, March 1, 2005I started on a small painting of three green apples, just to get warmed up before I attack a more ambitious painting. This afternoon the wife of Chicago furniture designer Joshua Height stopped by to talk about the upcoming commission of a tryptic of Amaryllis flower paintings.
Monday, February 28, 2005Today it grew dark, and snowed heavily.
Sunday, February 27, 2005I finished the set of three granny smith apple paintings.
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Click on the images to see larger versions of these paintings.
Saturday, February 26, 2005After several stops and starts, I finally began work on a series of green apple paintings. I should see these finished in a day or two, and then I'll get back to my discontinued yellow tulips painting from over a week ago.
Today marks one year since I bought this property. Nothing has created such a deep and profound sense of cohesion in our lives as being here, in this house, in this forest, above this lake, under these stars.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005We're back from our weekend trip to Vermont, as of late last night. I learned how to snow board over the weekend, and now every part of me hurts. I almost figured out what I was doing, before smacking my body down onto the hard packed snow, again and again and again. It was good for me to attempt something that didn't come easily to me at all, correction, didn't even start to come easily to me. I'll stop limping in the next day or so, and should hopefully be back to work soon. Aside from that, it was a great weekend. Frank especially enjoyed himself, having a new place to call home for a few days, and a few nice long walks in the deep untracked snow of the wooded hills of Vermont.
What a happy dog.
Thursday, February 17, 2005One dismal day after another helped decide that I wouldn't get any painting done this week. Today the sky brightened up nicely in the early afternoon, enough that I started coming up with an alternate plan for what painting I should start working on. Suddenly the sun was blotted out by clouds, and day turned to night, and there began a thick dark blizzard. An hour later the setting sun was shining through the falling snow from under the canopy of clouds, but I had already decided to scrape off my palette and store the paint in the freezer for the next few days. Strikingly beautiful finish to an unproductive week.
Tomorrow we're throwing Frank into the car and driving up into the great white north with a friend of ours, to a ski lodge in Vermont for the weekend. Hopefully a little time away from the studio will help me get the perspective I need to get back to work next week.
Monday, February 14, 2005 Valentine's DayToday was horrifically dismal and grey. The snow turned to rain, which came down in sheets by mid afternoon. It was almost completely dark by 3:30. I packed the tulips in plastic and put them back into the refrigerator. Tomorrow I'm attending a tax seminar for artists in the city, so I won't be back to work on this painting until Wednesday. So be it.
Sunday, February 13, 2005I spent the day mixing colors for a large painting of yellow tulips on a pale yellow background. Tomorrow I should be slinging paint onto the giant blank canvas.
Saturday, February 12, 2005I finished the large painting of three green apples and gosh darnit it sure is a nice painting.
Click on the image to see a larger version.The sun is always so dim by the time I'm finishing these past few paintings that I wind up throwing them into a dark corner of the garage and starting on something else before I get around to documenting them. I'll get caught up at some point. I immediately starting building up some colors for tomorrow's large painting of yellow tulips against a pale yellow background.
Friday, February 11, 2005I continued to build up a surface on this new large painting of three green apples. Tomorrow should see this piece all but finished.
Thursday, February 10, 2005Yesterday I started mixing colors, and today I started throwing down paint. Tomorrow should be a good day.
But the really exciting news is that I just got a new cell phone with a built in camera and many obnoxious ring tones.
Here's a picture of our cat Ojisan. His name is Japanese for "old man".
Tuesday, February 8, 2005 Fat TuesdayI finished the painting of three green apples.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Tomorrow I think I'm going to hammer down a larger painting of the same subject. I suppose it seems as though I'm skirting the issue of attacking new subjects, but staying busy with these simple studies is relaxing for my head, in a strange non-relaxing way. I'll work my way through this somehow.
Monday, February 7, 2005I'm almost finished with the painting of three green apples. Tomorrow should see this piece finished, and hopefully I'll be starting on another painting. And hopefully I'll figure out a subject for that painting. And hopefully I'll be able to paint that subject.
Sunday, February 6, 2005One of our clients who has become one of our best friends came out to visit last night. We all had quite a blast, enjoying all of the very finest things life has to offer. Heather and I had so much fun we're looking forward to doing it again soon. So anyone that owns one or two of my paintings and is thinking about buying another, come on out, spend the weekend. Make your reservations now, dates will fill up quickly. Bring pajamas, plan on staying for breakfast.
Of course nothing about painting has been coming easily to me as of late. I should probably be taking a break from painting and clear my head a bit, but instead I immediately started mixing and throwing down color on a painting of three green apples.
If I keep pounding my head against this wall of mental exhaustion I have, I'm sure I'll eventually break through to the other side. Or maybe I'll just break my head. Either way should be interesting.
Saturday, February 5, 2005The painting of white tulips is finished.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, February 4, 2005I think this painting is finished. I'll have a final look in the morning to make sure. Heather feels that I've risen to a new level of keen observation and adroit execution with this painting. I feel that I've completely crashed and hit bottom. I'm sure by light of day it won't be so bad.
Thursday, February 3, 2005I managed to get in some more time on this painting of white tulips. I should be finished with this piece tomorrow, or the flowers will be completely wilted, or both at the same time in one great congruence of creation and decay.
Today I received notice of my rejection from the Ann Arbor Street Art Festival, for the third year in a row.
Wednesday, February 2, 2005 Groundhog DayI continued to build up a surface on this newest painting of white tulips. I'll be out of the studio tomorrow afternoon, so I'll try to hit a few things in the morning before picking up where I left off on Friday. Hopefully it will be finished soon.
Tuesday, February 1, 2005I decided to dive into yet one more painting of white tulips, this time against a dark yellow background. I managed to mix colors and block everything in before the end of the session.
I've been reading Art News magazine for the past few weeks. In many ways it makes what I do seem pale in comparison to artists that really skate across the thin ice of true creativity and exploration. Making a mark that reverberates through history seems to be something that is attained only through the default of spinning crazily through a series of discoveries and triumphs and struggles and pitfalls. When I set out to paint another study of tulips, I can feel fairly safe that the end result will be a decent painting of tulips, and it will probably wind up being sold to adorn somebody's home before it's even a year old, sometimes as soon as it's dry enough to frame. No great single collection will ever be amassed, and the only thing that shapes what I do next is what I just finished. I know that, in many ways, what I do does have great validity, but I can't help but feel that I should be in a state of creative emergence within the realm of these sensibilities of discipline and production. I guess knowing that I have these wheels within myself is the first step in getting them to start turning.
Monday, January 31, 2005Yesterday we had company, and although I was planning on getting started on a painting, I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing with our guests instead. Today I started mixing colors for my last tattered bouquet of tulips, but I think I'm a little burned out on tulips. I may continue with this subject, but tonight at the grocery store I picked up a few things that might be a nice diversion for the next few paintings. I'll see how I feel tomorrow.
It's hard to believe January is over already.
Saturday, January 29, 2005I finally finished the painting of red and yellow tulips.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I cleaned my brushes and palette and cut some more rags, in preparation to start a new painting tomorrow.
Friday, January 28, 2005Of course I didn't finish the painting of red and yellow tulips. Heather tells me it really is done, but I'll have one more look at it tomorrow. It's amazing how much angst and frustration I find over fairly simple paintings, even after revisiting a subject time and time again.
I received notification that I've been accepted to the Arts in the Park show in Richmond in May.
Thursday, January 27, 2005I continued to build up a surface on this painting of red and yellow tulips. Right at the end of the session I started finding some bold and brilliant colors, and I should be wrapping this up without any problem tomorrow. I have two more bouquets of tulips on standby, and then I have a trio of potted Amaryllis flowers that will be ready for a series of studies. It's all so very exciting.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005I threw down some paint on this new study of red and yellow tulips. Tomorrow should see things tighten up, and I'm hoping to be wrapping this up before the flowers start to wither.
Today I received notification that I was rejected from the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, for the sixth year in a row. Of course most of the artists I know were also rejected, so I'm in good company.
Ojisan chased a new mouse toy into the unreachable void underneath the stove tonight, so I prodded around with a piece of wood and retrieved an amazing number of things, from a handful of pens and twist ties to a paint tube cap and his new mouse toy.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005I started mixing colors for a new painting of red and yellow tulips against a light blue background. It seems that my tulips started to freeze in the cold garage, so I'll have to see if this bouquet is withered in the morning before I decide to continue on this painting.
Monday, January 24, 2005I finished the painting of white tulips against the light blue background, just as the sky grew dark and snow started falling again. I was going to start mixing colors for another painting, but my right hand is almost useless from shoveling snow yesterday.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Sunday, January 23, 2005For some reason we were never able to find someone to plow the driveway, so Heather and I got busy and shoveled the entire driveway by hand, about 100 yards or so of winding blacktop, with over a foot of snow on it. I'm sure I'll have a hard time moving tomorrow. Of course the entire event was just a huge adventure for Frank. It's strange, how we wear so many layers to be warm, and he's as naked as if he's just lying around the house, with nothing but dog fur. At one point he came careening down the driveway, completely out of control and unable to stop, so he just launched into a snow bank, tail wagging happily. Heather called it our runaway dog ramp.
After all this, I managed to almost finish the painting of white tulips. Assuming my hands still work tomorrow I should be easily wrapping things up and signing it.
Saturday, January 22, 2005Even though the snow storm made it a fairly dark day, I managed to get a good bit of work done on the new painting of white tulips. It's actually on the verge of coming down the home stretch, and tomorrow should see it all but finished. My new espresso machine arrived five minutes before the snow started falling, and just in time to help me start hammering away at the painting.
Late in the afternoon we took Frank out for a long walk in the deep snow. Needless to say, he loved it. Tomorrow we figure out how we're going to dig out of our long driveway.
Friday, January 21, 2005I threw down paint to get this newest study of white tulips started. Tomorrow I'll continue to build up a surface and push and pull the colors to get something exciting happening.
We're bracing ourselves for what might be a major blizzard tomorrow, our first snow storm in the new house. Hopefully the snow doesn't completely obliterate the sun, so I can continue painting.
Thursday, January 20, 2005I started mixing paint for a large study of white tulips against a light blue background. It helps to actually have the big canvas up on the easel, just to make me keep in mind I have to mix huge amounts of paint to keep up with all the surface area. Tomorrow I'll be throwing paint down to get things started.
Tonight little Frankie graduated from his advanced obedience class. He's now one step away from taking his test for the Canine Good Citizen certification, which is only one step away from training to be an assistance dog or a seeing eye dog. Of course I wish there was an artist's assistant dog program, and then he could really be helpful.
Heather is feeling better, and will be back at work tomorrow, so I'll be able to commence hammering and banging to stretch some more canvases and blasting music and yelling and chasing the animals around the house. Yeehaw.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005I finished the painting of white tulips.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I was going to get started mixing colors for my next painting, but I decided to spend some time outside with Frank. It started snowing this morning, and by noon everything was blanketed in white. It was Frank's first experience with snow. He ran out onto the porch and suddenly stopped, looked one way, then the other, and then back at me with an expression of total astonishment. Heather was home from being very ill all night, so I also took time to take care of her.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005I think I'm finished with this newest painting of white tulips. I'll have a final look in the morning and sign it before moving on to a new painting.
I saw that I was rejected from the Lakefront Art Show in Milwaukee. At this early point, one rejection doesn't make a big difference, but last year I wound up having no shows at all between mid June and the end of August. It was a great chance to work on the house and get a lot of painting done, but I'd rather have shows all summer than time off.
Monday, January 17, 2005I continued to work on the painting of white tulips against a pale yellow background. This combination of colors seems to be particularly challenging after the series of bold and brightly colored painting I've been working on over the past few months.
Tomorrow should see this painting all but finished.
Sunday, January 16, 2005The red tulips were too far gone for me to start painting them, so I broke out a bouquet of white tulips. I managed to throw down some color to get things started, and tomorrow should see things start to really take shape.
Not that I'm one to post every insipid piece of drivel I stumble across, but this is pretty damn funny.
Saturday, January 15, 2005Yesterday was just too dark to get any painting done. Today I was part of the jury for the applications for the Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Show. The grueling session just went on and on through the entire day. Every few slides we would all wind up in an argument about some aspect of the work, or some aspect of the criterion of judging. My head was spinning by the end of the day. After all was said and done, I think we did well.
As I drove home, the sun was setting in a blaze of color.
Thursday, January 13, 2005I started mixing colors today for another painting of red tulips. Tomorrow I'll start throwing some paint down to get things started.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005I finished the painting of red tulips. I tried something completely different, and stopped before I beat the thing to death.
Click on the image to see a larger version.Last night Frank and I found a pile of half eaten goose by the lake. Apparently the fox has been busy.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005I continued to build up a surface on this new painting of red tulips. I'm discovering some new and exciting challenges in these dark red flowers. There is a certain level of iridescence that I'm seeing in the transitional colors between light and dark, with a shimmering mix of actual light and reflection creating some tough issues to address. Tomorrow should see this painting finished, unless the flowers suddenly shrivel or I suddenly forget how to paint.
For some reason I barely slept at all last night. I tossed and turned for hours, and tried reading a few pages of historical accounts of barbaric tortures and deaths throughout the ages. For some reason that didn't help me sleep at all either. This morning I ordered an industrial strength espresso machine. Of course this won't help me sleep either, but it sure will help me make good use of being awake.
Monday, January 10, 2005I started throwing down color on this newest painting of dark red tulips against a pale yellow background. Tomorrow should see things start to tighten up, and hopefully start coming down the home stretch.
Sunday, January 9, 2005I finished the painting of white tulips.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started mixing huge amounts of color for a commission of a mid-sized painting of red tulips against a pale yellow background. Tomorrow the paint will be flying.
Saturday, January 8, 2005I continued to throw down paint on this newest study of white tulips. At the very end of the session I found myself at that magical place where everything just falls into place, and the painting is suddenly very close to being finished. I'll have a final look at the painting tomorrow, and address one or two areas before wrapping it up and moving on.
Friday, January 7, 2005I made good use of the first sunny day of the year, and made some good progress on this new painting. The surface is coming up nicely, and tomorrow should see this painting start to come down the home stretch.
Thursday, January 6, 2005All week the weather has been dim and grim, and I've been putting off getting started on this newest painting of white tulips against blue until I actually had some light. Seeing how I may not have any light until some time next spring, I decided to start painting in darkness. I roughed in the entire canvas, and just started building up a surface until I realized the room was lit up more from the computer screen than from the sky. Tomorrow is another day.
This afternoon Frank had his stitches taken out, and his little deflated testicle sack is no longer an angry color, and is instead covered with a two week growth of soft white fur, like freshly fallen snow. That was probably more information than anyone really needed, but there it is. He seems to no longer be limping, although he hasn't been practicing his flying lessons at the dog park for two weeks either. On the upside, the stinky little dog is finally ready for a bath.
Sunday, January 2, 2005I finished the painting of white tulips in a clear glass vase.
Click on the image to see a larger version.I immediately started mixing colors for one more large painting of white tulips in a clear glass vase, this time against a light blue background.
Saturday, January 1, 2005 New Year's DayI kicked off the new year by still not finishing this painting of white tulips. I have to block in just a few crucial areas, but I should be able to wrap this up tomorrow without too much duress.
Friday, December 31, 2004 New Year's EveOn the final day of 2004 I continued to slam down paint on this newest study of white tulips.
This past year has been nothing short of wonderful. The biggest and most exciting thing is that we found ourselves in this fabulous new house, after 20 years of living in the world of the Brewery in Mount Joy. I continued my odyssey of exploration in painting in a new studio, with different light, different distractions, and different thrills. We traveled all over, from upstate New York to half a dozen different places in Florida, and west to Chicago on three separate occasions. Many paintings were placed into many homes, and we've made many more friends from our many new clients. For the first time since I've been doing these shows, I can hardly wait to get back home, here on top of this hill, in this forest, overlooking the lake. I finally got my first dog, and he continues to teach me all of the tricks I never thought I could learn, and we've added a new kitten to our little menagerie. And lastly, I said goodbye to Schwartz, my companion of the past 15 years. Heather and I continue to embrace the world around us, both close and far, and feel compassion and humility in front of the vastness of it all.
Thursday, December 30, 2004As the year spirals down to a close, I'm still just getting started on building up a surface on this painting of white tulips.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004I started throwing paint down on this new large study of white tulips against a dark red background. It's hard to focus on anything, but I'm making a go of it. Part of my brain feels totally numb from watching the disaster continue to unfold.
I managed to get a bunch of show applications out, with a bunch more to go. I'm quickly becoming swamped with paperwork as I try to compile all of the different components for each show application.
On a side note, out of 12,678 possible matches, this website comes up as number TWO in an MSN search for websites containing the word "horsewhip". Have I ever referred to "horsewhip" at any point on this website?
Monday, December 27, 2004I started mixing colors for another large painting of white tulips against the dark red background.
It was a sad and troubling day, to see the death toll from the tsunami steadily rising throughout the day. It's just an ongoing nightmare to think about the enormity of it all.
Sunday, December 26, 2004Today was nice and quiet. My mother arrived late yesterday, and stayed until late this afternoon, so we all had a nice relaxing time together. Unfortunately it seems as though Frank's suture is not healing well, and we're very concerned about the poor guy. I'm probably taking him to the vet tomorrow, and hopefully they can do something without knocking him out again.
Throughout the day, more and more information unfolded about the earthquake and tidal wave in the Indian Ocean. We were on a beach in Thailand only a few years ago, in a bungalow only a few yards from the water on Phi Phi Island. I realized that just about everything we remember from that visit is probably gone, including the bungalow where we stayed. We were floored to think of how many foreigners stay in bungalows clustered along the water's edge, and the reality of such a disaster really hit home for us. It's just horrible.
Saturday, December 25, 2004 Christmas DayToday I finished the painting of white tulips against a dark red background. Things strangely look a little better the next day, and all of the horrific issues I imagined yesterday didn't seem quite so serious today.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Friday, December 24, 2004 Christmas EveI thought I was about to finish this painting, when before I knew it the sky lit up with a brilliant blaze of fuscia and violet and the studio grew dark. I'm having great frustration, as this piece is so close to being resolved, yet I know there are some large issues that must be addressed. I'm struggling to find the cues that will create an ellipse in space described by the gradations of colors of the white flowers. Needless to say, it hasn't happened yet.
Thursday, December 23, 2004I continued to slug down paint on this study of white tulips. The light was fairly poor today, so I mostly circled around, developing the peripheral areas. Tomorrow I should be able to focus on the real crux of the biscuit.
Today was so amazingly grey and dismal, with the rain becoming so heavy at times I couldn't even see the trees just beyond the railing of the deck. When the lake started brimming over the spillway, I went down to check the overflow pipe. It was nothing but the viscosity of the water that kept it from flowing out of the overflow pipe fast enough. It's strange, to see water standing up four inches thick, waiting to rush down the pipe by some limitation of its ability to flow fast enough.
Frank continues to improve, no longer limps, and is just waiting for me to allow him to start running again.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004I kicked off the winter season by throwing color down on this large painting of white tulips against a dark red background. Tomorrow should see the surface fatten up as things start to come into focus.
Throughout the day I've been taking care of Frank. For some reason I didn't think that getting neutered would have laid him out the way it did. When O-ji-san the kitten came back from being neutered, he literally hit the ground running, and was sprinting around the house as though nothing had changed. Frank can barely walk, and we're feeding him boiled chicken and rice to help his stomach get over the effects of the anesthesia. Hopefully he's back to his old self soon.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Fall 2004 for the previous season's struggles.
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