Saturday June 29th

Well, Summer is here in a big way as the temperatures rise to degrees of discomfort. Keep cool, as Lulu reminds me. I came across, quite by accident, an Austrian artist by the name of Jakob Kirchmayr and was blown away by his work on paper and thus discovered Arches paper. Made in France and it's very heavy-140 lb press. It's labeled as water color paper that can also "take" acrylic. I wanted to see if it could hold oil pastels and oil sticks and also gesso. What is below is testament that it does so very well.

This is titled "I Carry My Landscapes Around With Me," which is a quote from Joan Mitchell. 16" x20" Arches paper- oil pastels/oil sticks/gesso.

June 24th, 2019

I really do need to figure out how to take better photos. The problem is that my space has no natural light- should probably take the pix in the Gallery where there is natural light. Bad photography notwithstanding, I wanted to post this...still lacking context to bring it all together but getting closer.
Thanks for looking.

June 18th, 2019

Painting is solitary ...full stop....I go to places and literally paint myself into corners but what I love is the forgiveness. "Bless The Weather" as brother John Martyn said. This is a melisma of different paints and effects that somehow all merge into a meaningful image... Titled "Lean In And See"

Sunday June 16th "Happy Father's Day"

Times does run away..wishing all friends who are fathers best wishes particularly my own- Branko, Stevan and Ron Gerber...paint with the Angels.

This past week has been a blur with prepping for Decatur's Sculpture Tour and ACE 40.8 Open House and studio tours. Cleaned my joint up and got to hang some current work. We are getting closer and closer to the new space. I'll try to post photos of the space under construction. In the meanwhile, enjoy theses pix. And many many thanks to all the out-of-town sculptors who are always a blast to hang out with. See you next year!

This is the view out of the studio into the Gallery- two pieces above are recent. The Color Field study is oil on photo paper-never gonna dry.

That's "Sibelius" in the center who has a home with my sister, MaryAnne in Michigan. Lulu and I look forward to seeing her soon.

The three Color Studies  (yellow, black & white)are in very early stages but will be framed as a Triptych. Thanks for looking and seeing.

Monday, June 10th, 2019-

Lulu's home and all is well- we got to spend most of the day yesterday in our studios. I went back today and "solved" a painting which had been perplexing me.

Lots of acrylic layers (5-6 undercoats) but I just couldn't get a handle on it. Switched to oil stick and oil pastels and wiped them and I think it finally "revealed" itself to me---"Red Hexagram (#1)

Not the best photo as it doesn't capture so many of the subtle textures and color bleeds. But, I'm happy with it. 

Friday, June 7, 2019

Lulu's away at a workshop and I'm the archetypal old man who can't find his way...so, the only place I feel grounded-studio. Following up with the acrylics and offer up this:

24"X36"- mostly acrylics with some spot oil...."Turner's Sea"

Gonna live with it and see if it still feels done. Come home Lulu....

Wed. June 5, 2019

I don't think I've ever really given acrylics a proper "work out." Invested in some really good tubes and gave them a spin last night. I like the movement of the paint and appreciate how quickly they dry allowing for layering and texture. This is first pass...

Has a really nice Monet feel to it and so I thought it needed some "overdubs" and that's when shit went south really fast and a for a couple of hours I felt that I had lost the painting. In this process, I discovered the beauty of acrylics- the ability to "stack" paint and play with it's "plastic" nature. The result is below. Size is 16"x20" Winsor & Newton tube acrylics.

Working title is "Summer Storm At Sea."

I think I want to push this onto large format paintings and play with using oils on top. As my beloved Lulu sez all the time, "All that matters is the work."

Late Sunday night (for an" alte kacher") June 2nd.

Lulu and I were able to tuck into the studio for some real time. I love, I mean really LOVE Jazz and particularly Bebop and in that spirit, I offer this. Oil pastels on photo print paper. As Django Reinhardt, the greatest guitarist of the 20th Century said, "Take me to Dizzy" when he disembarked in NYC in the late 1940s.

"Bebop" 2019 8 1/2 x 11 photo paper/oil pastels

If you can, zoom in and grok the textures and blending of the oil pastels. God bless you Dizzy Gillespie. Bird Lives!

Sunday, June 2, 2019---sorry for the crickets but life has been infringing on my good time. School is over-today was Graduation- congratulations to my niece Hope and all my wonderful seniors. On to my next life.

NEW WORK: So, the problem I have is- no space. I have truly outgrown my sweet little spot and am in "in-between" land. Trying to be patient as my new space is being completed. I had posted a color study entitled "I Ching" a tri- color  study that is now a triptych. It requires some detailed finishing work that I can't do in my space. I have a bunch of wonderful new canvases that I am anxious to attack but...so I've been doing "small work"- lots of oil pastels and experimenting with different papers and have discovered photo print paper and it reacts really well with the oil pastels. Enjoy...

Not a "grotesque" but  also not representational. Who are these people?

"Green Boy" Oil Pastel and medium on paper. 8 1/2/x11

Oil pastel on linen paper. "Pastoral." 8 1/2 x 11

This is on 8 1/2 x 11 photo paper using Sennelier oil pastels. Bloody expensive but oh so good. If they were good enough for Picasso, Monet and Matisse then...  creamy and smooth.."Jeune Filles."

Much like "Green Boy" not a "grotesque" but from deep somewhere. "Blue Boy" 8 1/2 x 11 oil pastels on linen paper.

Sennelier oil pastels on 8 1/2 x11 photo paper and medium. "Yellow Color Field" Thanks for looking and fingers crossed, new studio gets finished. Enjoy!