Saturday, March 31, 2007

"Sycamore Canyon Afternoon"



We love going up the coast to Sycamore Canyon, a ways north of Malibu. It has a beach on one side of Pacific Coast Highway, and a campground and a whole network of hiking and mountian biking trails on the other side. We took the mountain bikes up for the day and rode about 8 miles into the canyon, all uphill with a mostly gradual slope, then up the steeper hills at the end where the fire road climbs up into the mountains. Then we rested, and turned around and zoomed down for a few miles, then coasted a lot of the way back. It was hot, but a great ride, and we went down to the beach and watched the sunset. The hillsides are the typical California gold. This is a 6"x8" inch oil on canvas, and the darks are lighter than this and the colors brighter, but someday I will have a better camera.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

"Alpha"


I mention on occasion my previous 20 plus years of sculpting. Here's another small bronze from the archives. This is the male wolf mate to the female wolf "Nocturne" posted earlier. I don't remember the dimensions exactly, maybe about 9" long. It's a foundry cast bronze, sculpted in the round, patinaed and polychromed lightly with acrylic. This piece is in a number of collections, and the edition is still open. Retails for $1250.00.

Fifty.

Okay, so I made it to and through the half century mark yesterday. Some gnashing of teeth was involved, but I layed low. Vacuumed. Walked the dog. Gently demanded that my SO order pizza and had a real beer, and watched some vintage footage of Aussie skateborders on Fuel. Watched National Geographic. I'm not a big tv watcher at all, I'd rather read, but I was indulging. Interesting show about Hogzilla. Worked on the pc, tried to order a lot of Michael Harding paint and some Winsor & Newton Monarch filberts (synthetic badger, lovely brushes) on the Italian Art Store website, and when I was ready to check out, they decided to go down for maintenance. But that's okay. I counted my blessings all day, and I'm still not done, and I don't plan to ever stop counting my blessings while I'm on this planet in this body of illusion. I saw a 100 year old woman on a commercial, she looked about 85, and I ruminated on what if I was only halfway done with my life? That's another 50 years to paint. I don't want to waste any of it! Even if it's only another week. Just to not waste the gift of life, I think that's a good overall goal for anyone.

Did I mention how peeved I was that AARP hit me up about 3 weeks early? ;D

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Art Shows Revisited

I had a great time with the Art Show for which the flyer is posted below. It was with a truly wonderful group of people, it wasn't expensive, everyone involved contributed their time and effort as well as their work in a spirit of community, and it was a lovely venue, set up with care and class and a great spread of food! There was a cellist and a harpist, there was performance art and poetry and a lot of people showed up. It was generally a wonderful success. Create with all your heart in it, and your love will shine through in the work.

Monday, March 19, 2007

"Thorny Situation"


SOLD


I love macro photography because it helps us see things we would normally miss. This was from a luminous close up view of a lovely aloe type plant in the gardens near the monastery in Santa Barbara. It's not quite finished, but I'll replace the image when it is. 6"x8" inch oil on canvas.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Just Paint!



My better half says "JUST PAINT". It seems so easy, just squeeze some paint onto a palette, grab some brushes (and maybe some medium), throw a canvas up on the easel and start spreading that stuff around! BUT. If a painter doesn't have an understanding of the materials, the results can be something like a backyard mechanic pulling the pieces off an engine without knowing how they go back together. There are basic mechanics involved in any art form, and the more the artist understands the materials, the sounder the process in general. For painters, specifically OIL painters, it's necessary to know a number of rules relating to the support (what the painting is painted on; wood, canvas, hardboard) and how it's prepped (sealer or sizing, oil or acrylic ground, how many layers, what kind if any texture); whether to use an underpainting and how complex it should be if so; how much and what type of medium to add and it's composition; which paints are transparent, which are opaque, which dry faster, which are very slow; what kind of brush to use for a particular paint application, how thick or thin the paint goes on, what kind of brushstroke.. you get the idea? Now let's go deeper, into all the different pigments and types and their characteristics, how they blend and interact, which are archival and which are suspect, and who makes the best paint, which is always good for a rousing discussion!
It's like the world of coffee home roasters, where type of bean, specific varietal, where it's grown, how it's processed, how it cupped, ect. is just the beginning before we roast. Then we have degree of roast (first crack, second crack, and how long into it), what type of roaster, how to ramp up and control the roast cycle, etc. to consider. I have enough experience to roast by the seat of my pants, and it's always good if I keep a careful eye on it. (As in never walk away from a roast in progress, lest you hear the dreaded third crack, which is the glass of the roasting chamber!) But we don't want to go there, I can bore anyone who isn't also a home roaster to beyond tears, and have.
I paint by the seat of my pants now and then too; some paintings beg for bravura brushwork and experimentation, but it's better to have that basic experience and knowledge from which to pull when doing so, or one can end up scraping off lots of wet paint! (Though sometimes that can make for a lovely resurrection of the work).
So good painting requires study and knowledge of a tremendous number of art related areas. One method of direct study is to do paint tests and comparisons, one of which I have posted here to share some of the behind the scenes process. It may look like I'm not painting when there are no new canvases up, but it often means I'm busy doing some homework!
This was a study and comparison of Vasari, Michael Harding, Puro (and a 30 year old tube of Brera, by Maimeri, who makes the Puro) with some 25 year old Grumbacher Pretested earths I have. The top of the color swatch is straight from the tube, the middle is thinned with turps to check pigment load and luminosity, the bottom is mixed with my standard medium. (I am also doing a drying test with this panel). They all have their own strengths, and this panel is now part of my reference tools for what colors I want to favor, and for how I want to use them.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Dharma Art


It's a lot of fun when a group of Buddhists work together to put up an annual art show, with work that reflects the principles of the dharma within art. I put the Jumbo Rocks painting in, and the Queensland Native painting. This is the flyer, you will have to click on the image to get it full sized. It was hard, but it was fun working with a group of kind hearted, funny, talented and spiritual people!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

"Saddle Peak Sunset"


My favorite urban cowboy takes his snorting Suzuki DRZ dual sport out regularly to carve the canyons up above Malibu. He took his camera and brought me back some vistas from Saddle Peak Road. It looked pretty cool up there! So the next time I took my own not so snorty but very sweet Yamaha supermoto up there with him. What a ride! We stopped at several vantage points, and from one we could turn in a circle and see 100 miles worth of So Cal from way up high. It was red flag windy, and it pushed us around a bit, but it was worth it to see the ravens playing with the powerful currents. They hovered at a perfect station, then rolled over into side slips and rolls, throwing themselves with total trust in their own acrobatic ability into the gusts. I did this little 6"x4" oil on canvas as a small way of remembering that ride.

Monday, February 19, 2007

"Small Pan, Big Egg"


SOLD


I used to be in the antiques business on the side, and this is a leftover small collectible toy cast iron skillet. 100 years ago and more, little girls had replicas of their household's big cast iron wood fired cook stove, complete with all the cast iron cookware, and they could actually cook with them to a small extent. I also deal in vintage and antique images, and I had a marvellous photo some time back circa 1900 of 5 little girls cooking around one of those stoves. I love cast iron, especially for cooking; I suppose for the same reasons that made me a sculptor in my previous life and a car and motorcycle and bicycle buff now. I like metal! So I cracked an egg into this neat little skillet for a still life. It's actually brighter than this, I'll need to add it to those paintings that need to go outside to be photographed over. This is a 6"x4" oil on canvas.

Friday, February 9, 2007

"Red Eyed Tree Frog"


This painting is still wet, so I apologize for the glare. This is a 6"x6" oil on maple panel. I love tree frogs, I think it's that they have a gem like quality, like some reef fish, that is dazzling to the eye. There is a fun family collection of these frogs in the form of molded plastic toys in our bathroom window. I figure it's humid there, they'll be happier. We always have to look at museum stores to see if there are any color variants that we don't have yet. There was a show at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History last year, and this guy was on exhibit. I took a photo of him just before he jumped. It was tough to capture his glow, but I think when I varnish this piece, it will pop the colors more.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

"Nocturne"


I used to be a sculptor. About 20 years worth. Here's one small piece to fill some space, til some paint dries!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

"Friesian Afternoon"


SOLD

Another 6"x8" oil on canvas study of Phantom trotting by on a warm summer afternoon. His mane has a long braid in front with the rest swept back in movement, and his gorgeous thick wavy tail was so long that when he stood still it had six inches on the ground. The breed standard for Friesian horses requires that the mane and tail not be cut. This horse epitomized "Poetry In Motion". It was his middle name.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

"Friesian Morning"


This is of course Phantom, my Muse, in a 6"x8" oil on canvas. This Royal Friesian had a bigger and brighter personality than many people I have come across! He was kind and brave and supremely intelligent, with a wickedly sharp sense of humor. I like how this photo captured him in a quiet and relaxed mood. We had turned him loose in a big arena and he blew off a lot of steam, and was his usual brilliant and magnificent self. Later when he was tired, he was cooling off and just walking by the the six or so people in the center of the ring. Three of us were photographers slung with wildly expensive equipment and long stalker lenses like paparazzi, and he exuded the confident, untouchable and distant air of a Broadway star who knew he was being recorded by admiring fans and was above it all, and I got this image. In actuallity he was a "people person", so we had to shoo him away from the party he thought we were having. I loved the backlit morning light. I need to reshoot this digital, it does not show the soft lavenders and cerulean in the background, or the luminosity of the colors.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

"Point Dume Sunset"


This is a 8"x6" oil on canvas from an image I took at Point Dume. This is a lovely beach and the point is a popular rock climbing spot. I did the painting completely with a painting knife just for practice in using the tool. I do use a knife when painting for some effects, but haven't done a knife only painting since college, and it was a fun exercise. It was getting close to sunset, so the sand was dark, but I loved the light on the cliff face.

Monday, January 22, 2007

"Carp, I Dig 'Em"


I love Koi, which are just carp with attitude. I found this one in a murky pond, and he came over to see if I had anything for him to eat. I pointed my camera, thinking everything was just too dark to "catch" this character, but when I downloaded the images I was tickled to see that I'd even got that he was sticking his nose way out of the water, begging. This is another WIP, 8"x8" oil on canvas, it will need to dry for awhile before I go back in and finish it, I'd say it's about halfway. (My canvases are stacking up like jets at LAX, so I have new medium material on the way that will speed drying time.) His expression is wonderful, and that's what I want to really capture, and I like that his fins look like wings. Actually, I think this may be a lady carp.

Friday, January 19, 2007

"Goddess Of Compassion"


I started this 8"x6" oil on canvas at the beginning of the month, it is posted below as a WIP, and have worked on it probably 6 different sessions, and now it is closer to done. Paintings often go through an "ugly duckling" phase in the process, it's pretty common as some elements shift and colors come into harmony. I wanted this piece to convey serenity and contemplation. It's taken from a macro photo I took of a lovely soapstone sculpture I own and am fond of; she reminds me to be compassionate toward all beings, as that is the key to the salvation of this world. I specifically wanted the deep warm tones in the original photo, but then I decided to add some bold color to keep the painting from being static, and to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. I think it is working well so far. My studio space is cold and that slows the drying of the oils, or I would have more work up, but I'm hoping you will feel my pieces are worth the wait. I just started a red eyed tree frog on wood panel, he will be fun!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

"1770 Thir Violin Scroll Study"


SOLD


This is a study of the scroll top of the violin my Mom used to play as first violinist with my Grandpa's NBC Orchestra. "Joannes Georgius Thir Facet Viennae Anno 1770" reads the label inside. It's a size 7/8. It amazes me to think of all the music it has made in 237 years! It fills the house with a brilliant sound perfect for orchestra, and an amazing volume when she winds up her ambition and decides to break it out of its case and play it a few time a year. It's understandable that she doesn't want to play often, as she was giving recitals at age three! Her other violin is even older, and I will do it the next time, in full body, when I next want to do a fussy study. The violin is propped on the edge of its case, and I like the composition of the lines and colors. I posted it on 1-02 below as a WIP and was waiting for it to dry for a couple of weeks. It was fun, I learned some new tricks with it, and I'm glad it's done.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

"Floating Phantom"


SOLD

I have been painting every day, but everything is in drying mode between finishing layers, and I didn't want to keep showing WIPs. So I painted this 6"x8" oil on canvas last night, and did a bit of touch up this afternoon. I'm happy with it, it was supposed to be a quick, bright color study, and was fun. Plus I love this horse. His name is "Phantom Of The Opera", and he was a Royal Friesian imported at age four from the Netherlands. He was one of the Queen's royal carriage horses, and he was a truly royal horse in every sense, with a grand sense of humor, a great intelligence, and a truly stunning way of going, with incredible action. He was trained in Dressage and High School (think Spanish Riding School) movements. I had the privilege of riding him a few times, and was his very happy groom for awhile as well. His heart belonged to my dear friend Davida Oberman and her friend Smokey Robinson, and he was well loved by a huge number of people. Everybody knew Phantom! He was even in the Rose Parade. Sadly, he was lost to colic at age 17 some years back, but he lives on in the hearts of many people, and I for one will always celebrate him! He was my best and brightest muse! Soon I will be painting his blood nephew, "Music Of The Knight". Get me those photos, D!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

"The Pollinator"


I took a photo of this single minded little honeybee in the gardens at El Alisal, home of early newsman and dedicated cultural photographer Charles Lummis. It's a hand built river rock building nestled in the Arroyo Seco area south of Pasadena, CA. I took a lot of different photos inside and out, but was charmed that I caught this one tiny bee in flight so clearly. It's a 4"x4" oil on hardwood panel, and the image continues around the edges so no frame is needed. This piece is much more vibrant and rich than the photo shows, I may need to fuss with my digital camera. settings and reshoot it. It looks like a jewel on the wall. I probably need to come up with a nicer name for her. Suggestions are welcome! This icon of sweetness will be for sale later when she is dry.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

"Jumbo Rocks"


I finally made it out to Joshua Tree, and it was fabulous! I took lots of photos, some of which will also show up here in the future in the form of "Faux Plein Air", in that the work is done from my own photo reference on my laptop screen instead of painting on the spot in open air, but the work is done quickly and with as much of the characteristic simplicity and boldness of plein air as I can currently obtain. As I am a "fussy" painter, this is new for me. Did I mention I had to scrape it back twice before I was happy with it...? I loved the shadows on the back side of this group of huge boulders. It will be for sale later, when it is dry.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

"Far East Trader"


This is an early portrait I did in oil on canvas of a thoroughbred racehorse. He was a lovely and refined bright bay, with an elegant and sensitive face. This is a scan of a photo from an old slide, so the colors are all washed out, especially in the eye. I am looking for the original slides in storage soon. The canvas size is 22"x28".

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Goddess Of Compassion




Another 8"x6" oil on canvas work in progress. I thought it would be done last night, but this one has a mind of its own, apparently! I'm off to work on it now. The lovely soapstone sculpture posing for this painting is of the Buddhist goddess of compassion or mercy, variously spelled Quan Yin, Kuan Yin, or Kwan Yin, also AKA Tara.