Tuesday, December 20th, 2022

 Wishing all the very best this Holiday Season. May you be visited by joy and peace and may the New Year bring us all tranquility.

Two new(ish) images to share. The first is "seasonal" with "Marley's Ghost." 12"x18" Canson XL watercolor paper. The under image is a print transfer of some doodling that my friend, Dale White, did in my studio messing around with oil sticks. I then filled the rest in with oil pastels and graphite with a coat of linseed and bees wax that was scrapped off.

The next image is of a work that I did earlier in the year and was purchased by a friend who had it matted and framed. This really is how I envisioned the work, completed. "Lilacs" from the series, "Lost Textiles- Found Remnants."

Sunday, Dec. 11th

 Been a minute but things have been humming along. The last piece "Possession in Great Measure" continues to evolve and I'm waiting for it to cure so I can varnish it.

Piece below is a study that I'm hoping I can transfer to a much larger format. This is 16"x20" and in acrylics. Titled, "Dr. Roberts." Long story so the title will have to suffice. Thanks for looking and hopefully seeing.

November 16th 2022

 So, to continuing the pissing into the wind and the ether and asking the koan of one hand clapping and if there's no one to hear a tree falling yadda yadda... I continue..Painting (not pictures!) is an insanely isolated process- you-paint-canvas-notion-objective-intent...por moi, it's become simple...what's the question ,what's the response. Painting, for me is a s Socratic process- query- response...objective achieved or not. Samuel Beckett said it best: "Fail Better!" which I will explore by responding. Todays offering is a 48"x 60" canvas paint over of a failure. The undercoat is yellow oil enamel with oil sticks and charcoals. Titled "Possession in Great Measure." Which is hexagram nunber 14 in the sacred Confucian text,  I Ching. There are 14 object des art. Mediums are oil sticks and charcoal and like Robert Frost, I refuse to...explain..

Tuesday, Oct.18th, 2022

 When it rains it pours but in our case here in Indiana, time to scrape the windshields in the morning- as Ned Stark was fond of saying, "Winter is Coming..." Two images and some verbiage to share my work process (what a fucked up overused word but my  internal thesaurus is on strike).

This is what I call a first draft (once a writer...)- it's on a 48"x60" canvas that has 3 or 4 paintings under neath it. My instinct was to use acrylic gesso and realized that was a non-starter as they were orignally oil and so there is a white oil primer (3 coats) and this is the first iteration:

I identify as a Color Field painter for many reasons but have been moving toward representational forms that are "morphic" in feel and the shapes are iconic, for me, and found in my expereince of nature. I also seek balance with these forms and weight. As a stand alone piece, I find this to have too much white space and the overall feel is decorative. I accept that some may find this construct, pleasing. I reject "pleasing." It contributes nothing to the "conversation." Nice is not something I want nor need to hear. Continuing on the theme explored on an earlier piece ("Lucky Eleven") of presenting colors and forms in motions and balance (or inbalance as is the case with that piece). After completing this stage, I knew I wanted to challenge myself and the viewer see color as an expressive and kinetic process, as it is in nature. I offer this in evidence:

The essence remains but the "process'(fuck) reveals the hand and intent and my reveal of "punkness." In a banal sense, it's the rejection of beauty as an ideal and my belief that that construct is false and not my Art. I hope to create discomfort and misalignment in the hope that a new viewpoint may emerge. Abstract Art is representational. The artist knows it and hopes that in sharing it, s/he can challenge the viewer in ascertaining it. For me, those shapes/forms and colors are in complete harmony( see first image) but my experience is that harmony is messy, dirty and not what we think it looks like. Thank you.

Tues. Oct. 18, 2022

 As Sandy Denny sang so poignantly, "Who knows where the time goes...." been a while but then that's the nature of this plog...easy come easy go. Lot's to unpack with some new work...let's go to the monitor, Sally...

17"x19" rayon bookbinding paper with oil sticks and oil pastels. "Looking for Clues."

9"x12" watercolor paper & oil pastels. "Bowl of Fruit."

12"x18" Canson watercolor paper and Sennelier oil pastel sticks. "Jacobs Harp."

48"x48" unprimed canvas with thinned oil paint. "Eyes Of The Universe."

18"x24" Canson watercolor paper with Sennelier oil sticks and graphite. "The Ram."

60"x65" raw linen hand primed /acrylics. "Pink Moon."

18"x24" Canson watercolor paper with Dynaflo fabric paint/graphite/India ink/oil pastels. 

"A Banana, A Grape and A Bluebird in  Repose."

Thursday, August 18th, 2022

 Lots of new work to share and in no particuliar order:

This is the most recent work and marks a return to easel work and oil paint. 36"x48" canvas. I think I'll return to this in another post to show the evolution of the piece. Undercoat originally in acrylics with all oils on top with oil sticks and crayons and charcoal markings. "Lucky Eleven."

This is a fun piece- 36"x36" unprimed, unframed canvas with fabric paint. Lulu had bought the paint originally with an eye to us working together on a warp that she would weave and I would paint. I was intrigued by the dye/paint so I purchased a set and played with it on unprimed canvas. Turned out well, I thought. "A Day At The Beach II"

The following are a set of four works on paper. Canson 12"x18" watercolor paper. Bad image but each has a one inch border. Inset colors are Matisse gesso with Matisse acrylics and metallic overcoats, silver and opalescent white in the piece above. "Baby Blue."

Same dims as first piece and the mediums are the same- all Mattise acrylics with gold and silver acrylics. "Golden Threads & Silver Needles."

                                                        "Silver Threads & Golden Needles"

Not the best image but this IRT is very lush- "Yellow Roses."

And our last two pieces are a continuation of ongoing work with Japanes paper, specifically Kitakata paper. I so loved working with this that I bought a ten yeard roll of it. It's 16" wide.

This is "mounted" on  22" x 30" Strathmore watercolor paper. The image is 16"x26" with Matisse gesso background and calligraphy ink. "Lost Language Scroll #1"

Dims and media are the same as first piece. "Lost Language Scroll #2."

Thanks for looking and if you like what you see, please leave comments.

Monday, August 1, 2022

 So, essentially, this is the last week of Summer for me- school begins next Monday for teacher orientation and students begin on Wed. Spent most of the evening at the radio station with my engineer Jim doing some long needed maintenance and oganization and updating. We sound better  than we ever have and it was just by running broadcast signal from the board right to the output-no compressor or sound processor- Clean For Gene...more Awagami Kitakata Select paper work. Same dims (17"x20" rough). Inks and handmade dyes. Enjoy.

                                              "Jazz" dedicated to a great American, Bill Russell.

                                                    

                                                                       

                                                                        "Fishes"

Saturday, July 30, 2022

 More work highlighting the Awagami Kitakata Select paper. The size is roughly 17"x 20". Two images below with process info. Thank you for looking.

This piece, "Fruit Bowl," is mounted on Canson watercolor paper. I have an artist friend who turned me on to applying gesso on the back of paper to give it more body and prevent curling. I did that with this piece and used both alcohol and water based inks with black oil crayon. The paper is heaven...

Also 17"x 20" but no gesso on the revo and again, alcohol and water based inks. Fun/whimsical piece. Title works.

Thursday, July 28, 2022

 More paper tales...I have a friend in Israel who is a photographer and he introduced me to Awagami paper. They are a very old and honored paper company in Japan and much loved by high end photographers for their exquisite paper. It is also the paper of choice for ink wash painters. I recently received a shipment of their Kitakata Select paper which is stupid fucking ridiculous in quality.  This is my recent foray using it with inks.

The dims on the paper are roughly 17"x22" and is mounted on 20"x26" high gloss paper. Titled, "Orchids." I love orchids, don't ya know. I have one that is more than 20 years old.

When I was a very young man and in high school, I used to run Cross Country. It was 1.9 miles and it kicked my ass but I discovered something that later in life I came to understand as the "Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner." In my 40s I ran marathons in pursuit of that oneness and identity. It was my spot. It was where I found myself. My true self. Painting is my new "lonliness of a long distance runner." It is where I connect with my true self. And this blog (painting blog-i.e. plog) may just be me pissing in the wind because I suspect no one reads it but I couldn't fucking care less. I do this because  I must. Not for clicks or recogntion. But because it remains a record of one mere mortal saying, yo.... all else is maya...or rest is just a Piss Factory...so, boyo, what are you doing with your mortal coil? Me? I'm a fucking painter and bloody damn proud of it. I'm just the end of the line of cave painters...

Saturday, July 23, 2022

 Not sure if pre-school anxiety is eating my lunch, or if I'm just in that gray space of non-specific anxiety- whatever it is, it sucks but I'm sure it'll pass. 

And then again, it might just be the "let down" of having finished a series. I've taken the work for the past month and mounted them in a portfolio and they look great.

Posting a piece that's almost accidental- it's an unconscious transfer on Canson Mixed Media paper that several of the washi pieces had been on top. Looks good.

                                

                                                18"x24" Canson paper with alcohol ink transfer,

                                                "Henry Miller Returns to Big Sur"

Wed. July 20, 2022

 I've been working with a larger format of the Sumi-E washi paper (18"x24") but staying, for the most part, with the same mediums-namely, alcohol inks. As I work more and more with the "paper" I am fascinated by the feel of it becoming fabric. The product that I've been working with is created by the pulp of the paper mulberry bush (versus wood pulp). It is much stronger then wood pulp paper and transforms when wet and thin coat of gesso is added.

So, the "narrative" that I've created (out of whole cloth, as the saying goes!) is what if... The French Impressionists (and others) went to Japan and visited textile factories to create designs?  These "found artifacts" are the records left behind from this "Lost Era."

Dims are all the same- 18"x24"Shoji Gami Sumi-E paper with alcohol inks and in some cases, acrylic paint. Thanks for looking.

                                                            "Renoir in Kobe"

                                                            "Matisse in Osaka"

                                                                "Monet in Nagasaki"

"Picasso in Osaka"

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

 New images with new media. I had posted a piece ("Red Dog in the Water") which was done with raw linen-meaning not gessoed and I played around with what the effect would be on a small sample piece with gesso and decided to go with it on a large piece. The dims are 60"x65" -little over 5ft square. I put down a coat of gesso and then applied inks and dyes. Two "full images" of "Pink Moon" and then a couple of pixs showing details.

Not to be facetious but as a kind of visual shorthand, I think Pollack with pastels. This next piece is with 18"x24"  Shoki Gami Sumi-E washi paper- a bigger format then was used with the "Lost Textiles" series- more real estate to play around with. Matisse tinted gesso undercoat with inks on top. Titled, "Matisse in Osaka." Re-imagined textiles from a lost and imaginary era.

 As always, thank you for looking. Hope you "saw" something.

Saturday, July 16th

 Good, productive day at the studio. I completed the series, "Lost Textiles-Found Artifacts" with the 8th and final piece titled "Juniper." 

I received two things today that I've been waiting for. One is an 18" roll of the Shoji-Gumi washi paper which will open specs and dims for me. The other was a roll of unprimed linen that I was anxious to attack. Below, are the images from todays work.

                            "Juniper" #8 in a series entitled "Lost Textiles- Found Artifacts'

"Red Dogs In The Water"  36"x60" raw linen, unstretched and unprimed with acrylics diluted with water.

Friday, July 15th 2022

 Two more additions to the series, "Lost Textiles" bringing total to 7. I think I'll stop at 10. Method and mediums remain the same. Enjoy...

"Cherries"

                                                                        "Lilacs"

Thurs. July 14th

 "La Fête Nationale Française"- Or as we Yanks would say (not sure who to) "Happy Bastille Day..".I wonder if other painters/artist suffer from the same, "Dog with a bone" syndrome...but I've "locked" into this vision working with the Shoji Gami washi paper. When I've finished with the various washes and inks, I can't help but shake the notion that these pieces are fragments of "Lost Textiles"- Obviously Japanese in origins and they seem (to me) to echo remnants of a kimono or other clothing...here's the latest with Matisse acrylic (Australian  Ghost Gum)undercoat and with alcohol inks on top.

The undercoat essentially coats the paper and and soaks it creating instability (crumbling and tearing apart) but when it dries it reverts to it's cotton state and stiffens. My thought process as I'm working is that I'm dealing with fragile fabric versus the mundane notion of "paper."

And here's yer lot for today. Same specs as the earlier pieces. Titled "Old Roses."

Wed. July 13, 2022 part deux

 More work on paper. Same dims and mediums as below.

"Bluebells"

                                                            "Marigolds"

Wed. July 13th, 2022

 Staying with the theme of Japanese paper. Two new pieces using Shoji Gami Sumi-e art paper. The dims are 11"x18"- the paper comes on a roll. It's not as strong as the Murakumo Kozo washi paper but I love the distressed textile feel of it. There is something of a "lost textile" feel to the final pieces.

The process is the same-undercoats of Matisse gesso with various inks on top. The background mats are 18"24" Canson multimedia sheets.

                                                                          "Wisteria"

                

                                                                    "Poppies"

One more recent piece.. 22"x30" Arches watercolor paper with multiple layers of gesso, acrylic ink, oil sticks, oil crayons and markers. "Monkey Noise." Lord knows, I have a ton of it...thanks for looking!

Tuesday July 12, 2022

 One of the things (among others, obviously) about living and teaching (albeit, part-time) in Indiana that I hate is that school starts up again the 2nd week of August and it's around this time of summer that I start to feel that Monday Morning anxiety creep in. Hard to lose that school shouldn't start up again until after Labor Day memory and vibe. Lulu reminds me that it's my last year...moving on to the main course... I was reading a book about the great American artist, Sam Gilliam and was blown away by some work he did using acrylics on washi paper- enter rabbit hole this way, please... I am obsessed with different kinds of paper...here is an early sample of work using Murakumo Kozo fine art & professional ink jet printer washi paper.

The undercoat is alcohol washed talc crayon with acrylic ink on top and then crumpled. Dims are approximate 8"x12" and is matted on 12"x15" Sennelier  pastel card and titled "Maple Leaves Crumpled." 

Wed. July 5th, 2022

 Today would have been my father's 103rd birthday. I think of him, often. New work continuing with recent mediums- namely, Arnhem printing paper and Speedball block printing ink. This time using their fluorescent inks. 22"x30" titled, "Warm San Francisco Nights."

 

Wed. June 29th, 2022

 New work-new media...Arnhem printing paper 22"x30" with Speedball Block Printing Ink= Heaven. I am over the moon with just how perfect these images turned out. I hope you enjoy them. Thank you for looking.

                                                                "Red Bamboo"

                                                            "Blue Bamboo"

                                                        "Black Bamboo"

Unfortunately, the photos do not capture the luminescence created by the layers of ink. I hope to find a home for them as a triptych because side by side by side, these pieces sparkle.