Everything is Looking Up

Scolding Crow

2012-02-10T10:09:00.000-05:00

Picnic House

2012-02-06T12:29:00.007-05:00

Picnic House

9"X5" acrylic on Paper

I was born in the Bronx, NY in 1950. By 1955 everyone was making plans to get out of there.
The Cross Bronx Expressway was then a huge trench that was being cut into the end of my street and Bryant Avenue was made into a dead end, with us on the wrong side of it.
There were many problems in the Bronx, but all was of little concern to me. I loved it. I played on the sidewalks, rollerskated and went to the Bronx Zoo, all the time.
If you wanted to leave, you had two choices, go to NJ or Long Island. My parents chose NJ and we moved to Winfield Park in 1957.
Winfield was a conveniently located community, within computing distance to Manhattan for my Dad. My parents did not want to lose their NYC connections, family and friends, etc..
I started to enjoy this new place with a woods and a river that nearly surrounded the town. This wooded area was all County property. During the WPA era they had built ball fields, parks, bridges and dams (waterfalls), and these picnic houses, throughout the system. Winfield had two picnic houses and waterfall.
My two paintings are of the same picnic house that still stands, next to a little-league baseball field that is gone. Most kids in town spent some time in and around these structures. Teenagers found them an ideal dry place to hang-up, just far enough way from adults.

Carved Beech (Picnic House)

9"x5" Acrylic on Paper

Both of the paintings are gifts.
The first painting is actually payment for an Astrology chart that my friend Forest M. did for me in 1971. He did a great job on the chart and I never got to return the favor till now.

The second painting is for my friend Leo L. Leo's nickname then was "Buddy" and it is his named carved into that tree, though long grown over, I was still able to see it and then enhance it. He was one of the older guys in the neighborhood and was also my summer camp councilor one year. In High School, Leo was really big, 6'8". He was an excellent guy to have as a friend... especially if there was any trouble.

First New Web-site

2012-02-03T10:11:00.004-05:00

www.gliubizzi.com

My friend Alex and I launched my web-site last week and as with all challenging projects, things happen to make it go... easier (?), so my computer fries the video card. UGH! $$$, and of course, 6 months past apple care.

Oh Well! We were unstoppable and here it is. I still want to tweek it a bit, but I am happy. Please visit when you get a moment, I posted a link in the sidebar

Complaining Crow

2012-02-03T00:16:00.000-05:00

10" X 10" pencil in sketchbook

Owl Study

2012-01-19T10:14:00.002-05:00

10" X 10" pencil in sketchbook

I am beginning to think about a new painting.

I have a murder of crows in the neighborhood. A small group that hangs out behind my house and then they all get together up the road, about a half mile away. Most of the time I see them harassing the Redtail hawks that live across the field, but somethings they go crazy, just inside the woods and when I can get close enough to see what is exciting them, it is usual an owl. This can be the best time to see an owl. We have several kinds and I have spotted Barred Owls and Barn Owls, Screech Owls and everyone's favorite The Great Horned Owl. The Great Horned Owl is here, but not a common visitor to my property. They like sycamore trees and the small stream about a 1/4 mile behind the house. I can hear their distinctive hoot.

Little Christmas Gifts

2012-01-05T21:21:00.001-05:00

Holly and I get to go to a big, sit down, Christmas dinner for 30. My group has allot of grown children living their lives on their own now, so it is really nice to all be together and sharing the event, later in the afternoon, after all the phone calls and presents.
Our host, Annie and Murdock did an amazing job with Turkey and Duck and everyone else was assigned a side dish. We also do a Secret Santa event. This year a couple of friends (guests) asked me to produce small paintings for their two gift assignments and I was happy to do it since I knew the receivers.
Above is "ManFriday", my friend Diana's Lurcher and below is Wes's Gloves. Wes is a Dressage rider and coach. The paintings are 6"x 9" acrylic on paper.
Both are slices of bigger images that were in my collection.
I do not think that Diana's hand was the original focus, but became most important and Wes's hands were everything.

The Glorious Mr. Handsome

2011-12-10T11:37:00.004-05:00

There are many people in my area that free-range their chickens and as you drive around you can often catch a glimpse of one or several scratching by the side of the road.

My friend, Diana has a small flock and I noticed that they like to hover on the edge of the woods and the field. Diana has lost many to Fox and Coyote and Hawk, but does not get too upset about it, knowing that the Vixen is also in the woods with hungry kits to feed.

What I have seen is this back lit rooster that made him rather hard to spot. I have always been interested in camouflage and the behaviors that go with it. Maybe I will do a post on that next.

Mr Handsome is a Black Maran hybrid owned by my friend Ilana. I took several dozen photos at her farm one day and as I reviewed my work, one rooster seemed to always appear in many of my shots. Later when I showed her a drawing, she identified Mr. Handsome for his ability to be an attention getter.

Oil on Canvas 36" X 36"

Morning Roo

2011-12-07T09:20:00.000-05:00

Sky No Clouds

2011-12-02T09:22:00.001-05:00

Sketchbook, Study

2011-11-30T09:29:00.004-05:00

Another Sketchbook Rooster

2011-11-23T00:20:00.000-05:00

Sketchbook Roosters

2011-11-23T00:18:00.000-05:00

From The Sketchbook

2011-11-18T14:35:00.001-05:00

Sketchbook work with a pencil

2011-11-17T11:39:00.001-05:00

From Above The Clouds

2011-11-09T19:20:00.005-05:00

On a recent trip to New Orleans I had some great art conversations with a friend. One of the subjects we touched on was Georgia O'Keeff's clouds. I have seen them and I love the pattern that she created.

On the way home, we were in the air for only a few minutes and traveling over the Mississippi coast when I saw this. I saw several patterns in the clouds. It interested me very much and had to remember it till I got home.
I do not think I have ever painted clouds from this view.

From Above

acrylic on paper

20" X 7.5"

Have you ever thought about all the new views we have in our lifetime, both very large and very small. This is one. All the people that ever lived up to 1960, never saw this! Think of Galileo, in prison for "believing" that the world looked like this.

Scary Wash Over

2011-10-17T20:09:00.003-04:00

One of the techniques I use is a transparent "wash over". It can be done as a oil/medium wash and then paint right into the wet, or as in this one above, a turpentine wash with some ultramarine blue added and then let it dry.
The goal is, first to drop the value down a step or two. Second, and really the most important, to create a color edge that will stay with the painting and harmonize all the tones, in all the areas.
The scary part is that I can, for a while, completely hide (or ruin) the entire painting and I just have to trust myself that I can get it back.
In the last few years, I have also been working in acrylic, it's just so easy to wash over, wait 20 minutes and start painting again, but oil washing this way means that I do it at the end of the day and go home. UGH!
The reason I did it this time was to get a "depth of darkness" in the forest.

Two at a Time

2011-10-04T13:36:00.001-04:00

This is the first day at the easel, working on these roosters. They are in oil on 36"sq. canvases.

They are a combinations of sights that I have seen several times while driving around the area.
I live in the woods. This area was once completely deforested for farmland. Then when that industry declined the land was left to regrow the trees. Now the entire area is a fractured forest mixed with horse farms. Most of the back roads have trees growing right to their edges and in the late afternoon the light comes through the trees. It can look like a strobe that keeps your eye from completely grabbing the scene.
Some people keep chickens and work small farm plots This maybe closer to the way it was when this area was first developed in the mid 1600's. Many properties, including my own, have stone walls, some that date back to Dutch, and then English settlers.
There is great enthusiasm for "free range" chickens and eggs. I love the eggs and we will buy my friend's Blue Moon Farm eggs even at 3x the price.
Free range poultry like the edges of the woods and fields since they must worry about foxes, coyotes and hawks.

Flying

2011-09-22T18:58:00.005-04:00

This is the second of the two paintings, posted below, that I started simultaneously. (60"X36" acrylic on canvas)
One was a commission and as I got closer to completion I asked my client to chose one of the two paintings and I put the contrail in that one. The contrail was a requested element.
I live in an area where there is a contrail in the sky all the time, most of us do. In the evenings, right now, as I write, there are a half dozen.
Since having these commissions I have paid closer attention to these contrails and the fact that they are a consistent element in my visual landscape, so in this second painting I have included one, but not without the juxtaposition of another flying element.
When I look up at a contrail I often think of the people on board, and all the things that they are planning to do on arrival to wherever!
I have a similar thoughts when I see my local hawks soaring. What are they thinking, so high in the air? What does it feel like to really know the wind?

Summer Treeline

2011-08-16T20:58:00.002-04:00

Today the sun is out again after three days of heavy rain. This is the view that I have again today.
I believe that these last two paintings are the closest I have come to capturing this summer sun. It has become an obsession, similar to Edward Hopper's desire to paint the light on a wall. In that desire I have tried to add, in this painting, something beyond the classic compositions. To add the mundane and the repetitive! Not very positive words for a painting. Maybe someday I will have someone who can write something more eloquently, but I hold to this idea.
There is something interesting and even visceral about our new view, our 40-60 mph, out the window view of life.

White Pine in the Summer Sky

2011-08-04T23:33:00.001-04:00

It is a great summer, some are complaining that it is too hot, but this is how I like it! I should post some of the gardening work I have been doing. We did finally need help and hired a guy to weed the 200' of rock wall.
This white pine is one of my favorites in the yard. I actually chose this portion because the top was so damaged in the winter storms, but I can already see that it is repairing itself and does not look so bad anymore. My local crows hang out in some of the lower branches and I have shared some winter paintings I did of them. The crows have gotten very comfortable with me and they have even brought the new young ones to the lower yard when I am outside.
I have been following all my blogger friends and enjoying all your efforts. If it ever rains again I will visit and comment.
Enjoy Your Summer

On The Way to Dublin

2011-06-23T09:38:00.001-04:00

Here is the finished and selected painting, 60"x36".
This is a commissioned piece and I chose to do two at the same time. Now I am pulling it off the stretcher and putting it into a tube and flying to Ireland to give it to him... and then I am going to travel down some canals with my son-in-law and family on his boat. This could be the ultimate Pub-Crawl!

Adding Contast

2011-06-17T14:10:00.002-04:00

With A tree

2011-06-16T21:19:00.000-04:00

Some Progress

2011-06-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

In-Process

2011-06-09T10:57:00.001-04:00

Getting Green

2011-04-14T00:17:00.003-04:00

This is a panoramic photograph I put together, in PS of the farm where I have my studio. I do not have to go too far for a view! Today I spent a half an hour watching a Fox mousing in the field in the upper right corner. Several time he did the hop, hop, dive into the dried grass and came up with a mouse or vole.

Figure Drawing Night

2011-04-13T23:24:00.002-04:00

I have works in progress in the studio and nothing is finished enough to post.
It felt good to work in the studio all day and then go and draw for three hours.
We had a very "Voluptuous" model tonight. Interesting to look at, but a challenge to draw.
She kept wanting those easy reclining poises, when Botero style poises would have been much more dramatic.

Further Along the Road

2011-03-24T22:07:00.002-04:00

12"X 12" Oil on Canvas

Locust Trees Along the Road

2011-02-28T11:16:00.002-05:00

Acrylic on Paper

20"X 7.5"

I just finished this. I have Locust trees that line the road about 20 yards from the house. I do not think you have to go to exotic lands to get inspiration...but right now that would also be nice.

Just a few steps from the house

2011-02-24T15:54:00.003-05:00

"The End of the Day"

12"X12" Oil on Canvas

Sketching During a February Thaw

2011-02-21T14:54:00.009-05:00

Last Thursday and Friday was so warm in Manhattan! It was too cold upstate and I just had to escape to the city. I scheduled Dr. and Dentist appointments during the week and had the sketchbook in my bag when the weather got really good.
I, along with everyone else, was able to be outside, in the parks, in the sun.
Union Square is on 14th Street and has a very young crowd, skateboarding, playing music and hanging out, some, even without a shirt, it was so warm. Union Square reminds me of Washington Square Park in the 70's. Then, old beatnics and new hippies, and now this variety of post-punk skater/hipster
The Park has steps and statues, and a very beautiful subway entrance. Also, an assortment of quirky types, some homeless, that would stop in to see what I was drawing, but really only long enough to see if I might have any spare change, which I usually do.

On my 48th birthday I had an epiphany about giving money to homeless people. I was at dinner listening to one of the diners at the next table talk about it. He was so adamant about their worthlessness, and how they would only go and get liquor or drugs with the money anyway, and why didn't they just go and get a job.
It all sounded very Nancy Reagan.
I completely went the other way! I thought of all the ego and emotional difficulty involved in begging. I thought of what amount of pain I would have to have, that would exceed the pain to beg and decided that if a drink or something else helped, I would not judge. Some pain I have not had to live!
It does not matter what sex, color or age, or even if they are aggressive (some are) or not thankful. If I am asked, I usually empty my pocket. I sometimes keep $20. in quarters in my pockets.

Bethseda Fountain is in Central Park and it had an entirely different crowd. Half were tourists, half of them from NJ. Many couples, holding hands or just sitting next to each other.
There was an Opera singer and a Mardi Gras band vying for air time on the same breeze, all very pleasant!
I think these urban sketches are more about the dialog in my head, then the quality of the drawing...which I will enjoy seeing improve as I fill this book.
Celeste B., one of my fellow bloggers, asked, "What are we drawing? (above) and reading?
I am listening, on my IPod, to "An Object of Beauty" by Steve Martin.

"The Beautiful Nude" Competition

2011-01-31T22:27:00.005-05:00

"The Stretch"

Oil on Canvas

28" X 24"

I just entered this painting in the Odd Nerdrum, "The Beautiful Nude" competition on Facebook.

It is being hosted by Helene Delmaire.

We all had to censor our paintings with little squares, but here is the actual painting.

If you have a Facebook account, please check it out.

I did this painting a few years ago when I worked exclusively in oil. Tonight I touched it up.

I am working in oil again, on new paintings and the turpentine aroma in the studio in heavenly. When I have had studios in my living space, I have a special affection for the smell of oil paint and Italian food!
I was looking closely at how I painted this. We all change from painting to painting and a few years later find ourselves in a very different place.
The paint is very thin. A series of washes over a pencil drawing. The pencil drawing is not really about capturing the figure, though I am drawing from life. I am looking for relating curves and spirals. Mentally trying to find and maintain an abstract design for as long as I can. When the figure final appears and I identify it, in this case a female form, then I allow myself to connect to the power of the image.

Snow Day

2011-01-13T22:46:00.005-05:00

My last post was titled "Rhetoric" and I was all prepared to go into a political rant. I spared you and mellowed as the evening wore on. Maybe it was the cold and snow and being shut in that got my mind going. I finally arrived at the positive in all of it.
Maybe we are at the beginnings of a dialog about how we are casually glorifying violence. Maybe? Thank goodness we have clueless politicians and celebraties that say stupid stuff often enough for us to see both the power and meanness of our words.

I really did have a great couple of days at the easel. My crows have been sitting on this branch since we bought the house 4 1/2 years ago. It isn't that I particularly love crows, actually they are loud, and ruckus, and bully other creatures and you just can't say "cute crow", but I have become more fascinated with them, as I have paid attention.
What I do love is that negative shape! That black hole in the universe, that moves!
In these two paintings, it is the crows that helped me to see the winter sky, (often described as colorless). It has the most interesting play of gray, yellow and pink. In that light, are my childhood memories, of sledding till dark, so hungry and cold, but not wanting to stop and go in the house, because it would all be over.

Rhetoric

2011-01-12T23:32:00.003-05:00

A new painting of my crows that hang out of the branch outside my bedroom window.
I did two of these paintings today and I will post the other tomorrow.
As I painted today and occasionally stopped into a TV news channel during the day, it was filled with this tragedy in Tucson AZ. Pretty sad stuff.
It is the side issue that has become interesting. The power of words and images!

Actual Painted Panels

2011-01-09T21:05:00.000-05:00

Acrylic on Ceiling Tile

(2) 24"X 24" tiles

Sketch for Second Set of Panels

2010-12-29T18:10:00.000-05:00

I have been feeding the local Jays, black oil seed in the Droll Yankees squirrel-proof feeder. The Blue Jays are almost too heavy for the weighed perch, but the squirrels now have to feed off the ground. The Jays have been coming in groups like this and making their usual ruckus and also that rare yodeling call. I thought the flurry would make some good ceiling panels

The Branch Outside My Window

2010-12-29T15:54:00.001-05:00

A Little Different-Ceiling Panels

2010-12-27T14:45:00.003-05:00

Happy Holidays to all of you! Today is a most amazing "after storm" I have not experienced this since I lived in Illinois many years ago. Last night it snowed, and shortly after that it got colder and the wind started to blow. Now today it is sunny, but the wind has not stopped. We are drifted in.

Fire in the stove and Christmas leftovers...all is good.

I am working on some ceiling panels for a children's surgical center in NYC.
I have two more sets of panels, that will have more birds.
I want to create the effect of "looking up" and them "looking down".
It is just the perfect day to be at the table with sketchbook, trapped in the house.

Looking Up-Miami

2010-11-21T22:32:00.003-05:00

48" X 60" Acrylic on Canvas

I wanted to post this before it traveled. It was delivered to the art mover in NYC on Monday morning to go to it's home in Miami. I have been working on it all month.

Drawing Session November '10

2010-11-21T11:22:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday I went to the drawing session again. This time, and on purpose, I left my charcoal and pastel and conte' at home.
I only packed pens, brushes and ink and some 70# Bristal paper.

The session is run in the usual way, with the fast gesture pose and then longer and longer poses. I feel that to get the most out of the time I should push my own envelop, but since it is only the second time, I am not completely in the groove yet.
I was hovering over the paper as the 30 seconds were ticking by when one of my fellow bloggers came to mind "Firefly Workshop".
I splashed some ink wash around in a random, but educated manor till I could find her, then took the pen to it. As you can barely see, I even rotated the paper through some of these fast poses.

This second one I fell back to the way I would draw with conte', but the marker fought back! I quickly went for the brush and ink. Interesting, but if not for this blog entry I would likely file it, maybe in a round file.

Now that I had the brush and ink in hand and I was intent not to fight it. I think some enjoyable things started to happen. The model took one of those poses like a Michelangelo "Sibyl"

Life Drawing Oct '10

2010-11-01T14:18:00.007-04:00

Here are a few of my drawings from a life drawing session. I have not drawn in a group for a couple of years. I used to do it all the time.

Life drawing is a very physical activity. I like to draw standing up at a drawing table. This session was three hours.

I think of it more, like going to the gym, than as art making. I know many artists that can take figure drawing out to a high level (Phillip Pearlstein).

My eyes feel differently after even one session. I am normally right handed, but after several sessions, my left hand will start to hold chalk and draw, even without my realizing it.

I have heard that many art schools have eliminated their life drawing class. It is a changing art world!

If you think about drawing as a tool, then I remember what my Dad's tool box looked like with wrenches, a hand saw and no electric drill. My toolbox has battery operated drivers, saws and cutters and a laser level!?! So I do understand.

An artist now produces art with new tools and skills.

But I really enjoy drawing like this! It has been an important part of my training. (I can give credit to Anthony Droege for teaching it to me, and in one intense semester). I feel it is necessary, for the way I see, and think.

Something will be a lost when no one draws the human form from life anymore.

This is really just a short entry on a subject that could be pages.

I will continue to post my drawings from these sessions.

Admiral Bird and The Fox

2010-10-18T20:16:00.004-04:00

My friend Diana K. commissioned a painting of her "Admiral Bird", a Cochin Rooster.
Diana had seen some of my chicken paintings from earlier in the spring. She told me how the Admiral had protected her free-range chickens against the fox on several occasions.
When I first saw the Rooster, he had no tail at all, having lost it in his latest encounter with the fox.
I live in Up-State NY, in fox hunt country, mostly an equestrian event, chasing fox and coyote on horse back. There is a lively market for sporting art on this subject including many fox paintings.
I liked the idea of presenting the fox in a different role, but one that it is really known for. The fox in the hen house, the bane of the farmer!
The interaction between any two individuals, be it animals or humans has always fascinated me. You can use the distance between glaces as a real compositional element.

When I finished the painting, I thought it would be most enjoyable to present the painting to Diana at my studio, and invited some of my friends.

My studio is not a public place or an art gallery. I really had to think about who I would invite and decided that I could only have friends who have been to my home or people that already owned some of my works. They are the only people I could feel comfortable showing those unfinished or unbaked works that live and linger around the studio.

Sharing the finished Admiral Bird, before it went to live on Diana's wall made for a great day.
My wife Holly put out a most beautiful spread of wine and cheese.

Old Drawing

2010-10-07T21:54:00.000-04:00

In the summer of 1971, as a beginning art student. I would draw portraits outside, at fairs and festivals. I drew in vine charcoal, on newsprint and sprayed them with hairspray. I think $3. - $5. was my going rate. I really loved to draw and I could stand and draw for hours, without a break.
A portrait, from that time, has resurfaced. A very special drawing too. This is John K., my best friend through High School.
It is the best I could draw at that time. What I am most pleased about, is that I did capture the "likeness" and "spirit".
Later I moved away from the pressure of "likeness" and concentrated on trying to draw the best "head" that I could, but spirit is and will always be the most important.
Speaking of spirit; This drawing was sent to me by John's son, who I have never met.
John died of kidney failure in 1977 after a life with Nephritis.
I really could go on and on...

Concours d'Elegance

2010-09-13T21:05:00.002-04:00

I know I have been talking allot about cars lately, but since I bought the Porsche 944, it is the current interest (the new tires arrived today)!
It was a delightful coincidence that I have gotten to go to two amazing car shows, two weekends in a row. This weekend, we were at the Concours d'Elegance in Westport, Connecticut.
Holly and I are venders at these events, with our "Tailgates" business. We sell high-quality picnic stuff.
After we set up, I set out with my sketchbook.
The first problem I experience is the Sun, I just cannot sit or stand in the Sun for very long, even with hats and sunscreen. Most of the wonderful cars are parked for viewing in a big field. Saturday was beautiful,
The next issue is the crowds, I am actually shy and drawing in public is initially difficult, fortunately, once I start to draw it goes away.
I was busy drawing, when a man asked if I could just turn around and take a look at his Indian motorcycle, and would I draw it. It had been a New York City Police motorcycle that he had restored.
The last piece is a Maserati Ghibli SS and was owned by the chairman of the Concours event.
I am pleased that I am able to draw what I see and in a reasonable time. These drawings each took about forty-five minutes or less.

A Drawing From the Limerock Race Weekend

2010-09-09T22:21:00.001-04:00

Last weekend was spent at Limerock Raceway for three days. One of the attractions was Vintage Race cars! On Saturday, the park was filled with amazing cars, old and new. I wandered around with my pad and sketched the Lotus and Cobras and of course some Porsches! The park had Porsche only parking too!

I struck up a conversation while standing next to this old delivery truck and sketched the truck while talking. As I drew, the owners of the truck showed up and stood behind me, watched me finish the drawing and then bought it. That made a good day better!

Plein-Aire Painting Today

2010-08-16T21:03:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Holly and I went to Limerock Raceway, across the state line in Connecticut.
It is very close to my house, only a half hour away, but in all the time I have lived here, it has been off the radar. Somehow, now that I have this Porsche 944, I seemed to have permission. I was delighted to see that on the very day, the 944's were racing. Actually, I have never been to an Auto race track, ever. Porsche, Lamborghini and Corvettes at 100 plus miles an hour. Wow!
So back to being an artist. I get to the studio this morning and parked the car next to the barn and looked at it for moment and decided that it was the perfect subject to combined the enthusiasm. I went in and brought out my flash paint (vinyl base Gouache) and some 70# bristle board. I had to work fast as a thunder storm was threatening.
I want to do more of this.

Crows Over Goldenrod Meadow

2010-08-04T20:12:00.005-04:00

I had a opportunity to buy this 10 acre plot a few years ago.

It was beautiful and cleared and had Goldenrod growing in the fields and as I walked it just before sundown all the crows were returning to their roosts and flew over, and of course, cawing all the way.

Their presence seemed like an excellent element to tie together earth and wind

Bounce!

2010-07-28T14:13:00.002-04:00

Sorry that it has been awhile since I could write!

I got through the car adventures and everything is either fixed or sold and now I have something new. Well! Not that new.

I often do, or have things happen on the 9's. So while I was 59, with only a week to the birthday, I bought this 1983 944 Porsche. It is more of a "Bucket List" item than a mid-life crisis. LOL! Already having fun on the local twisties.
During all of this, my wife and I started a new business supplying high end Picnic and Tailgate gear. We launched it this past weekend. Included in the line is the top piece.
It is an interesting new direction for me and is one of a pair of trays that I painted and worked over with gold and copper leaf, painted over that and then did an epoxy pour over all of it.

Challenging Day in the Country

2010-06-08T15:01:00.008-04:00

Some feel that they are in control, or need to be in control of everything in their life. Some believe that fate, luck and chance are really in charge.
I tend to believe in a balance of both of these ideas, so long as "in control" is really an act of intention and fate, and luck are connected to Karma. This morning I am sorting out just how easy and/or difficult this belief is to understand.
At 9:00 AM this morning I hit a deer at 65 mph on the NYS Thruway. I broadsided it in the center lane! I was not hurt, and managed to get the car to the shoulder without getting hit by any other cars. I regret that I have probably totaled my wife's car! I was able to drive it back home, though the front of the car is a mess
I was on the way to see a client that I have done some design and production work for, and though I cannot turn down any work right now. I have expressed my intention to develop my fine art career and limit my commercial work. I did not expect to be so forcibly stopped!
It was a bad day for critters! The trooper told me that three deer and a bear were killed, this morning, on the same stretch of road, but I still feel singled out!

I am also aware that the "Trickster", "The Coyote" may have a hand in this. So right now, as I type, alive and unhurt, and NOT at the meeting with the commercial client, I am asking myself, "What do I need to rethink and rededicate"? What can I create that is new?

"How high can you jump Dan?"

The painting start, above is one of my views, usually with several grazing deer.

A Beautiful Morning

2010-05-25T08:22:00.002-04:00

I had trouble titling the entry this morning and it is indeed a beautiful morning. One of my bird feeder broke and spilled all the seed on the ground, but that has brought Turkeys into the yard and six of them are working of the pile.

Do any of you read Robert Genn?
http://www.painterskeys.com/about_robertgenn.asp
He is a Canadian artist, a landscape painter and I will admit that I never heard of him till a friend subscribed me to his newsletter. It isn't really a newsletter, he writes you a personalized note twice a week. This morning's note was brutal;

Hopeless?

May 25, 2010

Dear Dan,

Yesterday, Keith Wright of Melbourne, Australia wrote, "Nothing is as hopeless as trying to justify a lifetime as an artist. I have painted for over thirty years and have little to show for it. I have a studio full of paintings and a wife who denigrates my career. I have no money, no sales, no hope. You may even say, 'His paintings are bad.' But I have no ego and little belief in my abilities. I always thought one day my work might be in demand. I know I don't paint for others--it's an addiction within myself. But the indifference to my work has gradually worn me down. I'm now being treated for depression. I can no longer believe in myself because no one else believes in me. A lifetime wasted. I should feel bitter but I'm beyond even that. I have loved my art but it has destroyed me."

Thanks, Keith. We've taken the liberty to put a few of your works at the top of the current clickback. I'm sure some of our readers will pass along their opinions. As in all cases where artists mention depression, I encourage them to seek help. Looks like you are doing that. While I'm deeply sorry for your predicament, I also recognize that it is, in degree, universal. While feelings of hopelessness may be part of the game, there is still the blessing, the power to create. At times like this, we can think of Vincent van Gogh.

"One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul and yet no one ever comes to sit by it," said Vincent. "Passersby see only a wisp of smoke rising from the chimney and continue on their way." This statement--even though his letters are often full of flights of optimism and joy--is the grim outlook of many of us. Success or no success, joy or no joy, we are alone. And it is to this private struggle that we must consign our energy, our focus, and our lives.

Vincent tells us that one needs only to listen to the voice of nature to be fulfilled. That only the beautiful mind is needed. The idealist in us finds this to be true. The pragmatist doesn't. Vincent himself could not live up to his own standards. He too was depressed. "What am I in most people's eyes?" he asked. "A nonentity or an eccentric and disagreeable man." Truth is, when we're able to kiss off the expectations laid on us by ourselves and others, we have the chance to overcome.

Best regards,

Robert

I could have written Keith's Hopeless paragraph! Whew!
I choose not to! I could wax on about it for a long time and I also choose not to do that to you.
This morning, while I drink my coffee. I am taking inventory of those choices I have made, the successes I have had, and outcomes that are still unfolding, while watching my birds enjoy one seed at a time.
The top Pepper painting is heading to a show/sale next week.

Looking at Spring

2010-05-11T22:47:00.004-04:00

I have been paintings these small long landscapes for more than a year with the idea that I would paint all the seasons. I will continue with this plan, but it is interesting to see the challenges that can present themselves. I just finished this one.
Spring and Autumn change before your eyes.
Once the leaves fall off the trees, Winter can look the same for months. Summer can also remain the same if you do not including specific blooms of flowers. Georgia O'Keeffe thought that summer in the east was green from her toes to the sky. She did not care for it.
Spring changes by the minute! Everything is so accelerated! Fall is the same, one days temperature change can make a huge difference.
This spring has been crazy! Half a week in the 80's, now I have been stoking the wood stove for the last two days.
In this painting, I tried to get that new leaf leanness and shimmer, there for only a day

"Practice"

2010-05-08T09:38:00.000-04:00

72" X 72" Oil on Canvas

Swords and Art

2010-05-04T16:43:00.008-04:00

Reading things Japanese, remind me of how difficult it is to think differently.
I have enjoyed reading Yukio Mishima, till I got to "Sun and Steel". I realized I was in a very alien mind. This was fascinating to me, after I got over feeling stupid!
I have had more success with "A Book of Five Rings". A manual for the swordsman. I may die in my western life, never truly understanding the "Void"
What I do love about Musashi's writing is that instead of making it real, from metaphor as we do in the west. Musashi gives it to you real, then you get make your own metaphor.
If I replace the sword with my paint brush in this paragraph, it still works!

The new sword holds interest for me greater then some macho weapon to fantasize with... OK! It also does do that too!

New Acquisition

2010-05-03T22:38:00.002-04:00

Today I made a trade. My friend had admired several paintings over some time and I had made note of that. In turn, I had admired a sword that was hanging in his study. I have trained with Japanese weapons and can handle a bokken sword, but in the most elementary way.
I have had and lost several opportunities to own a good Samurai Sword. When my friend moved, I found out that he had put the sword on consignment! Both of us respect our individual need for cash and the best price, so there was no conversation about the sword. Then I found out that the sword did not sell. I felt compelled to make him an offer of trading it for the painting that I knew he liked and he accepted!
The story is that the sword was recovered from the wreckage of a Zero after a kamikaze attack in the pacific. A great provenance, but not a pre-war sword.
The painting is a small acrylic on paper and I am very comfortable with the mutual values.

I am curious about the quality of the blade. It is extremely sharp and I could not resist taking a swipe at one of the branches of a shrub. An effortless cut! Wow!
I want to have it x-rayed and take off the sheath. I have promised my friend to renegotiate our trade, if the blade proves to be more than the standard Japanese army issue, but right now I am delighted.

Roosters and Chickens

2010-04-27T11:52:00.001-04:00

Here are the first of several paintings about Roosters and Chickens that I will produce till Friday. I do not own any and it would change if I did, because I know I would see more of their nuance. I spent a half a day at my friends farm with her chickens. I produced five right away and I like these three. They are drawn from a life, sort of, I did get a hold of a stuffed Rooster, tried to give'em some life! I also like that they remind me of Richard Scarry drawings from his childrens books that I read to my kids.
So I see that they have an animated and illustrative quality that I often see in my work and is strongest when I am first beginning.
Today my neighbor came over with the gravel for my driveway...and now it is noon.

Pastel Drawings

2010-04-22T22:40:00.004-04:00

I have not been drawing portraits for awhile, but I thought I would post some of the most recent and favorites

A Little More about Melancholy

2010-04-22T22:35:00.001-04:00

I did not sign or date this drawing, but I know that it is at least 15 years old. It is pastel on paper.
I have drawn several hundred of these and I have managed to keep many and I have a box full of them. This drawing was supposed to be a gift for a friend, of his wife. Upon completing the drawing I saw such sadness in it, this melancholy, that I have been talking about.
I did not SEE it, it came out of my hand. I was not able to give the drawing to him. I am aware of this effect in my drawing, I just did not expect it from this sitter. I was surprised, (or maybe not surprised) when I heard that she was recently separated and is seeking a divorce. The story seemed to have been there, years before.

Melancholy

2010-04-15T09:18:00.002-04:00

Good Morning! It is a beautiful morning, sunny and bright and I feel great. I have allot to do and I am happy about it.

So why in the middle of my morning chores, am I compelled to stop what I am doing (did not even make coffee yet) and sit here and write about melancholy?

It is about NOT knowing the answer to this, that I am writing!

Melancholy might be called "functional depression" It is a sadness that you can hide, you can walk around with it, somethings for years. In truth, you cannot hide it and you cannot function well. The Greeks built Saturnine Gardens, to acknowledge it and let the soul rest from it. I heard a definition of depression was "being stopped", but you do not stop with melancholy, you just carry it around with you.

I have always been tuned in to OTHER people's emotional states. I had a mother that could do this and trained me, UGH! It is a good skill for an artist, but rough on the "day to day". Sometimes I do not need or want to know what people are feeling, in a restaurant or grocery.

I have had to re-train myself, to be able to press the mute button. When I was younger, I did it with drink. That works, but the cost is high and the effect is short. I have found my solution through mediation that is built into martial arts training. I have learned to use that mental mute button, but that does NOT stop all that emotional info from pouring in anyway.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed. The studio is where it all comes out, I often see the studio as a battlefield, a place where it all gets processed. It can make my studio a highly charged and scary place. I do not think it matters if I am painting in an expressive way or a still life with a Lemon. I acknowledge this and would not have it any other way!

The Last Moment

2010-03-31T20:19:00.000-04:00

Saving Stuff

2010-03-18T11:18:00.002-04:00

In the last few entries. I was talking about how I have made a living being an artist.
I have also posted current, finished work.
The work I am posting today is in the realm of the "process". I made these yesterday.

I have been going through my old work. I have noticed that there is a theme inside the portfolios. They are filled with all my ideas, many more ideas than just my old drawings of limited skill, they are in there too.
Most of these idea pieces, never reached fulfillment, for a thousand reasons. When I did have that idea I would go immediately to the studio and make it. Painting it or do a drawing or something. I am revisiting this crow idea now. I pulled out a painted sketch of crows from 1988 after a particularly vivid dream.

I save odd things. I am not a hoarder and I am generally neat, but I like interesting stuff and often create small dioramas on window sills or secret corners.

When my parents were alive, they loved to go to estate sales and garage sales and then send me boxes of stuff! Arriving with love, most of it was junk. In one of the boxes were some ill-cut gold place mats. I kept them (12+ years), did not know why, till yesterday.
I started to paint right on the gold vinyl with flat paint, black and interference blue.
Like a crow going down after some shiny thing, I am a sucker for metallic, iridescence and dayglow. Crows are dream elements for me, so the more visual candy, the better.
These photos are not showing the gold edges gleaming through.
Painting crows right now, come from a renewed interest, after reading "Crow Planet" by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. My break time spent watching crows in flight and, as they constantly chase the resident pair of Redtail hawks across the field.
This is all building up to something, so back to the studio with better paper and gold paint.

Good Bye Winter

2010-03-15T17:55:00.000-04:00

I think that last snow just wore me out. So even though the current storm is raining and the wind is howling, trees are fall down. I believe it is spring. I saw the tips of the tulips coming up.

Jan's Summer View

2010-02-17T20:34:00.005-05:00

Last summer, in July, a friend from Mexico came to visit.
July in Up-State NY is clear and lush. My birthday is on the 25th, the Cicadas have just started their welcome buzzing a week before and it is usually hot. Mexico is also hot, but really dry.
My Mexican friend lay in the grass, walked on the grass and reveled in the "green" that went from his toes to the sky. When he came into the house and saw my paintings, he got what I was trying to do and commissioned one for his home in San Miguel Allende.
Here it is finished, 60"X36".
I am a studio painter, but I do enjoy my plein-aire painting time ...and I have put in my time, but it was so nice to put my mind and heart into summer, while the snow was falling.

The Alice Characters

2010-02-16T12:56:00.002-05:00

Alice in Wonderland (The Cut Outs Story)

2010-02-16T12:10:00.002-05:00

"Macy's exhibits a flower show for spring which invovles an elaborate display of flowers through out the first floor and the windows are decorated with themes which change each year.

Crowds gathher each spring to veiw the spectacula, much as what occurs during the Christmas season on Fifth Avenue.

One particular year, My friend who was the chairman of the music department of City College told me that her colleague David Del Tredici, who is famous for his Alice music, amoung other compositions was having his Alice music piped onto the street for the onlookers of the Alice themed windows.

The sheet metal sculptures were the focal point of the windows. They depicted various characters and segments of the Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

As a member of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, I asked the president if they wanted the sculpture and they said they did.

I contacted Macy's and they said I could pick them up in Hoboken at their warehouse. No charge.

One rainy and windy day I got a station wagon and some help and we brought most of the sculptures back to my house. Two pieces I brought to a lady who had contacted the society and wanted them for her daughters bat mitzvah. I dropped them off in the cty before storing the others in my garage. There they stayed for at least 5 years. Finally the society realized that there was nothing they could really do with them so I decided to line my backyard with them. I so enjoyed them for awhile until I discovered that they were not waterproof and they rusted and peeled.

Enter Dan.

Dan came for a couple of years and scraped and repainted a couple at a time.

I gave the Society another year to see if anyone wanted them and when no one did, Dan did a total refinishing of them and they now reside on a beautiful piece of property in Bedford, New York"

Elinor H

P u p p i e s !

2010-01-05T20:13:00.004-05:00

I live in Hunt Country, in Upstate NY, about 1 1/2 hrs north of Manhattan
People think it looks like England. I have not yet been to England. They ride beautiful horses and chase fox (coyotes too) on horse back following Foxhounds. They do not kill the fox and it is all about formal English riding skills.
They also chase rabbits with Beagles and Bassets on foot. On these hikes there are no guns or hunters. Sometimes the hounds do catch a rabbit. I am told that this is not supposed to happen.
It is a nice walk across private land and a chance to see part of the countryside that is usually not available. It is a good excuse for a social time with friends, with their own dogs on lease. I do not own a dog at this time.
Going out with hounds is like going back in time, when farming had the need to control fox and rabbit. It is a completely different energy. It is also formal, with a Hunt Master in proper clothing and a horn!
I do not hunt. I regret that I was a trapper when I was young and I now do not approve of wearing fur unless you are an Eskimo. I did enjoyed reading "Where the Red Fern Grows" because I was a "boy in the woods". Most often, I am happy with a quiet nature walk with my binoculars and camera.

My friend took me to the kennels to see the new pups. The kennel is home to two packs of about 20 Beagles and 20 Bassets When we arrived, two sets of older pups (3 month & 6 month) were out in the field. As they returned I lay on the ground with my camera and you can see how I was greeted!
I took over a hundred pictures during a second walk out with the young hounds. I was watching closely. Noting a creature that is not quite a pet and yet not wild. These dogs had different priorities than what a dog owner is usually familiar with. Total attention to Betsy, the Hunt Master, but only within the context of the pack and the hunt. When they are hunting they show little to no interest in the human presence, but when back at the kennels, they are responsive, well behaved and delightful to be around. These kennels are also immaculate.

Below is a painting that I just finished from my day out. It was the concentration and readiness to Betsy that became my interest. Betsy returns the same level of attention, by knowing all 40+ dogs by name.

Livelyhood

2010-01-04T11:49:00.005-05:00

If I had a New Year's resolution it would probably be to write more. I am enjoying the blog since I started earlier this year. It began slowly and the interest has accelerated as I read the comments and visit and read other blogs. Thanks for the encouragement!

In my blog I want to talk about my fine art work and meet others doing the same. I am maintaining that.
This year, I thought it may be of interest if I shared more of my projects and the way I make most of my income. Here is the latest!

Soon the carpet will arrive and it will be clearer that I matched my mural panels to the carpet, the ceiling and the dance floor. The 8 art pieces are spread over 2 doors each, so actually, I produced 16 A & B panels measuring 140" X 96" together.
I designed and hand painted only one and in half scale.
It was then "printed", full size, and with some added over-painting.
This is new territory for me and I am excited about the potential. The year before, I was involved with making panels like this. We (a crew of artisans) hand painted 14 panels, for hours and hours ($)!
Tomorrow I am going for a site survey for a "Sky and Clouds" mural ceiling and later today I am back to work on refurbishing "Alice in Wonderland" cut-outs. I will post them next time.

Ivy

2009-12-16T20:06:00.006-05:00

From 37 Years Ago

2009-10-13T00:15:00.007-04:00

My son emailed a note to me, sent to him from Richmond Indiana. I used to live there.
The writer had purchased one of my painting at auction. She wanted to know more about the artist. My son and I have the same name and he is an artist also...and has a much better internet presence than I do, so she found him first.
The painting has been sitting in my (ex) father-in-laws house, in the basement, all this time, till his death at 96.
I returned the response email. I was happy that even an old painting would be out and hung and enjoyed again. I think paintings and drawings go to sleep in portfolios, or damp basements!
I chose not to ask what she paid for the painting. I can imagine it was dragged out onto the lawn with old tools and dishes, etc.
I was interested in seeing it again. I can see the roots of my current work.
Heighten color, unique angle, and a touch of drama always interested me.
It was a student painting. I am glad it was not destroyed and glad I am still painting

Scale

2009-10-08T20:44:00.006-04:00

I made several large canvases to the dimensions of 92" X 58". This is the closest size I could purchase stretcher bars that would make a Golden Rectangle. I missed it slightly. I wanted to enjoy the benefit of some portions that have stood the test of time. I also needed to be practical and not exceed 96" or I would not be able to move them in and out of elevators. Here is a photo of the installation of one of them to show the scale. What seems to be a large painting in the studio becomes a modest size work in this office environment.

New Paintings

2009-10-07T19:49:00.006-04:00

These two new paintings (92" X 58") are the literal expressions of "Everything is Looking Up".
I enjoy the blog title for the metaphoric context also, but sometimes it is just about the view.
Last week, both paintings were half finished, sitting in the studio.
I can leave a painting in this state for months.
I was approached about some interest in these large works based on the last smaller Tree Tops paintings that were just completed. Actually I was strongly (butt kick) convinced to completely them!
So I went to the studio, and no! I did just start painting. I cleaned the studio, I washed brushes and generally orbited and circled (like Sammy the Golden Retriever, that occasionally visits my studio) till the pressure to complete the paintings overrode the fear to begin.
The first brush stroke hit the canvas at 7:00 AM and I did not stop till the following morning at 7:00 AM. They were loaded on the truck at 8 and they drove away.
Let me say that there were hours of contemplation and planning that had already been done. I had walked the fields till I found the right trees, came back on the right day, in front of the right clouds. I had the sketches. I had done the preliminary work.

I am pleased that I have the energy to get this out of myself in this way, but I do strive for a more routine work style. I am also athletic and do understand the benefit of the regular scheduled workout.
The paintings were well received and have been purchased.
Right now I miss them, like meeting someone new, at the end of a party and only having the pleasant memory the next day.

Crows

2009-08-21T12:20:00.003-04:00

I have often had dreams that include crows, flying crows.
I like the hole that is torn into a scene when the blackness of a crow enters. I do not mean this, exclusively on the painted picture plane, but also on a branch, in my backyard. The blackness acts as a "negative space" element. I feel as though I should be able to see something in that blackness.
In the natural world animals choose color and shade with intention.
I do wonder why the blackness works so well for the crow. Since they did not migrate and live in winter climates, maybe this negative effect that I see, is what aids them. To be the space and not the object.
The dreams are something else. Maybe burned into my consciousness by Alfred Hitchcock or something more.

I have always lived in areas with crows, not that difficult since they are everywhere, but there has always been a crow, in a tree, to wake me, like it or not.
This painting is a usual scene behind my house.

Summer Treescapes

2009-07-27T18:42:00.005-04:00

Summer is moving at light speed, so I thought I would work on that, as a theme.

These two paintings, 24" X 48", are of the same tree, only just a few hours apart and a slightly different angle. I think I could spend the rest of the summer doing this painting over again several times. So many elements change in extremely short times.

I painted both of them, all in one night, about thirteen hours straight, wasn't even tired...till the following mid-day.
It was really good to get it out of my head. The vision from studying the scene during the day, stayed with me all evening.

#7

2009-06-16T20:03:00.000-04:00

Sycamore View

2009-04-14T00:38:00.008-04:00

So finally I get to write something about this!
In southern Dutchess County grows a very impressive Sycamore tree. It is probably 200 years old and 100 feet tall. The trunk is as big as a king size bed. It stands in the middle of a field, alone. I am struck by how well it has been maintained over all these years and surely several owners. They have cleaned around it and cut out the broken stuff. It has a couple of rope swings and even a knotted rope for climbing up into it.
It is also the view of my friend Dini. Her house was for sale and that I was able to include in the lower horizon. The painting now lives in the house with the new owners.
I had to produce this painting very fast as the property was changing hands. I did it in three days. It was total potential energy turned into kinetic expression.
When Picasso was asked how long it took to paint one of his works, he answered, "Twenty years and twenty minutes". It was very enjoyable to use all those years at my easel to produce what I saw, fast!
The scale was the big challenge. Without any objects to use as a point of reference, the tree looked big, but not "really big"! If you moved back too far, then the tree looked like a stalk of broccoli. I chose a canvas size 36" X 28". This gave me a square to fill with the tree and some extra to still have a "look up" view into the sky.

I am still working on my series of "Winter" paintings, admittedly it is hard when the daffodils have started to bloom and spring has begun.

#6

2009-03-15T19:11:00.001-04:00

Dear Robert Genn

2009-03-06T09:10:00.006-05:00

I have decided to write to you here on my blog and I may or may not send it to you.
I have enjoyed your twice weekly letter to me (and many others).
Last week you presented a "just started" painting to your audience, for comment. A courageous thing to do.
I did not comment, but I did think about it for the rest of the week. 3000 people did comment.
The internal dialog that it started was about "composition". It seemed that by presenting a painting that had only just begun, the only thing that was available for comment was the composition. The thought that started to form for me, was "composition, so what!"
Last week, I saw a comedy special that interviewed Steve Martin. He was discussing the change in humor that did not wait for the punchline and was funny on the way. Humor that may never arrived at the punchline (Andy Kaufman). I have read books with no plot (Eat,Pray Love). I listen to music with no melody (Steve Reich).
What about paintings with no composition? Humor still has to be funny, Books still have to be interesting.
Good composition may aid in completing a piece of art, but it may also act as an abrupt ending to a thought.
Eric Fischl's compositions have an awkwardness that always leave the story ongoing.
I see that my current landscape project has continued to distances me from compositional issues and as I write this I see that I am, and have always been more interested in something that includes pattern and decoration (a word that needs more definition). I have often placed the point of view "off the canvas" and given the viewer the peripheral view. On two occasions I found my painting adorning personal Buddhist altars. I was very pleased by this.

Dangerous Landscape

2009-03-03T11:23:00.004-05:00

Last week I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. I seem to have been very lucky.
I had no bulls eye mark to tell me that I was bitten and I have not been sick. I went in for a physical and in a discussion with my Doctor I mentioned the Dutchess County property, so we added Lyme disease to the blood test list
I am not one to complain about aches and pains, so the slight malaise that I felt was pushed aside. There are two possibilities for not getting very sick, that I contracted a lesser strain or that I have a strong immune system.
Our landscape here is a second growth mixed forest, Maples, Cherrys, Ash, and Locust in my area, with Birch and Oaks entering down the road. All crowded with saplings and perfect for Deer to hide, feed and be a resource for ticks.

#5 is a painting that interested me for being the "Wall O Trees". A dense pattern of limited color that reminded me of early Jackson Pollack paintings.
The abstract expressionists were busy breaking down the landscape to find the basic forms and here I am, coming out the other side, carrying their vision back to the landscape.

#5

2009-03-02T19:28:00.001-05:00

The Camera

2009-02-25T15:31:00.009-05:00

I love my digital camera. I think that it is a great tool. The first one I had was a 2 megapixel Sony.
I am not a photographer. I have felt "obligated" to have a camera for all the usual reasons like taking slides and pictures of your kids. I just did not get into to it and the camera was big and I did not like carrying it. When I would take it out I was always aware of the cost of film and development and the shoe boxes full of duds.
So with a big chip in the digital and my Mac, the entire experience changed!
This is really what I want to talk about. I now go out with an 8 megapixel Canon and just shot and shot. Often I have had to remind myself to just keep clicking. I can do with the camera, what I do with the sketchbook. The first twenty minutes I find that I am framing, and using those years of looking at art. Using the classic compositions, then I get bored!
I actually wait for this. I wander aimlessly and even think about going home, but I do not.
I trust that by staying out there something new will happen.
A little kid stuck in a car seat will make anything into a toy and I am using the boredom to find something new in my mind, as well as in the scene.
A guitarist friend of mine once had a private lesson with the rocker Robert Fripp. He ask Fripp what he should do when he just did not feel like playing guitar? Fripp's response was, "That's OK to not feel like playing, but do not stop playing"!

I do not like the reduction that is inherent in the one eyed camera. I prefer to translate the image into paint, because I am a painter. I do like using the camera as a thinking tool.

#4

2009-02-25T15:29:00.001-05:00

#3

2009-02-19T18:00:00.002-05:00

#2

2009-02-17T22:21:00.001-05:00

Still in Winter

2009-02-17T20:35:00.005-05:00

This is the beginning of 13 paintings 19"X 6.5" of what I have recorded from this winter in this country house. Some are photo reference combined with my memory and standing outside, painting and seeing. I am always surprised that I do not get cold when I am in this act of seeing.
I will post them as soon as I complete them. I have chosen the number 13, a baker dozen. I will sell 12, but I will kept my favorite.

Monday Morning

2009-02-16T09:54:00.002-05:00

I spotted this of the web. Nice image right after Valentines day.

Selling your best stuff!

2009-02-04T10:16:00.007-05:00

Andy Warhol mentored many artists. I remember reading some advice that he gave to Keith Haring.
Keith had become a very financially successful artist and Warhol told him to buy real estate and that was sound advice and probably still is. He also made another suggestion, that he NOT sell his best! H-mmm! Interesting!
So many times you work really hard and strive to do your best and then when you have an exhibition opportunity you want to show your best. Even choose that particular piece for the announcement card or have it chosen by someone that also thinks it's the best. It has been my experience and I have observed this many times, that that piece sells. Sometimes before the show opens. We smile, and for some this is a successful marketing strategy.
So what is Warhol suggesting?
I am going to segway for a moment to a comment by Robert Genn and the frequency of sales. He mentions a wildlife artist that died with a half completed painting on the easel and no stock. He had sold everything he ever did. Bravo!
Genn admitted that that was not his own experience and that he had to produce 10 paintings to sell 4, then some time later he would sell a few more, and the rest would pile up in the shed.
I completely relate to this model. My equation is to paint 6 and sell 2 and 2 more maybe later. The end result is that I have sheds full of stuff, of questionable quality.
If you are successful enough to have significant price increases during your life time you are not the one that directly benefits from those after market sales.
This maybe what Warhol was getting at.

Of the two paintings I have posted today, They are my favorites of the six that were produced. I managed to keep "Goose Chase", but "Brick House" got away.

In addition to the investment potential, it is also a joy to keep your best effort!
These were my first attempts to go out with the idea of looking up.

Sumac

2009-01-28T15:33:00.007-05:00

This is my newest painting. It is 42"x 34" acrylic on raw canvas.
It is nearly the view outside of my studio, but with the Sumac added over the top. There is a beautiful stand of them at the edge of this field by the side of the road. Sumac are at their best in the winter. The red pods dance together. I think that many people see them, but do not see them, thinking that they are just roadside shrub. This group is on a curve that I pass as I leave my studio so they are up close and you can see right through them to the field beyond.
My purpose for this blog is to explain and become more articulate about my paintings, but some quote about "Writing about Art is like Dancing about Architecture" comes to mind. Still, I will go into it!

I like the depth that is created by a landscape. The curve that is created by the ground moving toward you at the bottom. The sky moving toward you at the top.
Now put an object right across the front! Press the eye into following the pattern, but tease with the desire to look through it!
I have often wondered why I use the colors and values that I do. When I have studied landscape painting I can see that neutrals are the way to go to achieve levels of naturalism. I guess naturalism is not what I am shooting for.
I am looking for something much more contemporary and trying to get it out through what I see around me.
As I post my work to this blog, I know that I will appear to be jumping around, a landscape, a portrait, a still life and more.
A consistent thread will emerge.

Winter Light

2009-01-24T16:45:00.004-05:00

Today is cold , but sunny in the upstate NY house. Already the light is fading. I like the winter landscapes better than autumn. Winter trees show their gesture enhanced by long shadows.
The deer have decimated my shrubs. There was an ice storm over a week ago and then more snow and it is impossible for the deer to break through the ice to get anything to eat so they are desperate. I should have been more vigilant about netting and fencing
Still, I love the activity, the layers of tracks.
The turkeys were at the feeders again today. Usually a Tom and three hens, but today there were 8 and sometimes as many as 40. I spent some time watching the feeders today hoping to see the Cooper's hawk come in to take a song bird. I have seen that once. It comes in fast and is gone in less then 20 seconds.
I will include these thoughts and observations as a way of explaining how I think and what excites me.
Painting can be several things. It can be an illustration. It can be an illustration of your life. mixing the actual with the imagined.
A painting can also be it's own entity. An act of creation that draws from an experience, but exists independently, even from the artist that created it.

Fire

2009-01-13T14:33:00.002-05:00

Sometime ago I started looking at fire as a subject. I notice that everyone looks at fire. It is fascinating. I am contemplating why?
What is it about fire that is worth looking at, sometimes for hours! Ok! So the obvious is that it moves and if you are close enough there is heat. It is brightly colored and that always can attract us, but fire is interesting even on TV, in B&W! I can remember Christmas in the 60's and watching it. Now you can get a HD video of it. I watched it at the Doctors office!
What I see about fire today is that it moves in an organic way with no hard angles.
(Is it organic? Scientifically, it is a process of oxidation).
Fire is also it's own light source. Most everything we see is the subject of light cast upon it.
The painting I have included is an attempt to look at the movement. I have excluded the source, no burning log, of burning house.
George La Tour painted his figures illuminated by a flame to show fire as the light source. I have tried to see if I could paint it as self-illuminating.

Quote Credit

2009-01-13T14:08:00.003-05:00

"Condensing Fact from the Vapor of Nuance" is a quote from Neal Stephenson's Sci Fi novel "Snow Crash"
It is a quote that struck me because so many things in life do not reveal themselves 100%.
If you are a scientist you strive for the highest percentage, but artists often must do with far less. Sometimes it is with only a vapor, or a shape in your peripheral, or a two note squeak from the brakes of a bus that herald a larger story.

The Beginning...again

2009-01-11T18:24:00.002-05:00

Welcome! Only a very small group of people know that I am writing this right now and this is the first post. I hope to quickly develop a nice look for the page, but today I am starting this the way it is.
I am going to write all about my painting and my thoughts and feeling about painting, art and life, though I will try to talk about life, as it pertains to my work.

The title of the blog is as much about my views on life, as a specific view I am taking in my paintings. I expect it will evolve.