Swim

SOLD

This oil/linen panel, 12x20 was a good opportunity to work on several areas I find interesting and challenging. For starters, that would be light, the human figure and water. In this painting that combines all three, I had to pay attention to how how each element affects and interacts with the others... hopefully in a convincing and interesting way.

Sunbeam

    Here is the finished painting, Sunbeam , 20x16, oil/linen. When I took the photo that brought about this painting, I can't deny that all I could think of  was, "What would Vermeer do?"... Well, I am definitely not Vermeer, but his work was in my head throughout this painting... particularly  ' The Girl with the Red Hat' which is, by Vermeer standards, noted for its spontaneity, immediacy and informality.... all three are worthy goals to aspire to in my own painting.

On The Easel...

                                                                    Detail

     This is a detail of the 20x16, oil/linen I started today in the studio. I hope to have it finished tomorrow... so far it has been a great exercise in backlighting and reflective light. I am also being conscious of having a variety of surface textures, using brushwork, washes and palette knife. After taking this photo, I took a palette knife and got rid of some of the excessive brush strokes in her shirt, eliminating some of the hard edges.

Waiting Waiter

                                                                       Detail

     It took me a few days to get back to my larger version of Waiting Waiter, 32x12, oil/canvas... there were potential hurricane preparations and some rest for the eyes in order.  Well, what a difference a few days can make... fortunately Hurricane Ike went further south and this painting that was started with one eye was finished with both eyes opened for business!! It is a great feeling to return to a semblance of "normalcy".

      In my studio, it is not uncommon for me to have books laying open about artists whose work I admire... Sargent, Sorolla, David Leffel and lately, a great book about Vermeer. All are masters in their handling of light and paint. There is so much information available in any painting by any one of them about the act/art of seeing. Of course, there are other books I find valuable, but all four of these kept a watchful eye open during the process of Waiting Waiter. They were pretty good company.

     I will be posting the full painting on my web site once it is dry enough to take a better photo...

A Rosy Disposition

  
                                                              Private Collection

  This oil/linen panel, 8x6, was an  exercise in determination and again, patience, for me yesterday. Thinking I would simply knock it out and move on, it had an agenda of its own... it reminded me that the journey is still ever important. I started out using both eyes, to see what might happen , but the right eye is not quite in synch with its partner to the left just yet... so the patch was put back in place and the "one-eyed painting" continues, for now.