Friday, May 12th, 2023

 I can literally "feel" Mercury moving out of retrograde as it moves direct on Sunday May 14th. Mercury retrograde, on it's own, is a box of cats but add chemotherapy on top of it and it's a real "hoot." Let's take a look at some new images, shall we?

Working on the easel is always a challenge and really does effect how I work. I just look and see things differently than I would on the table with paper or on the floor with unstretched canvas. I really enjoyed doing this piece.

36"x48" primed with acrylics, charcoal and oil pastels. "Between Heaven and Earth, Lies Color."

I was thinking that color is chaos and that my remit is find the content/context/narrative that is hidden in the movement/form.  Which is utter bullshit but that's what "drives" me to decipher what I do. Final analysis is that, I paint. Full stop. End of story. The rest is just faff!

                                                                                                                                    

Awagami washi 24"x36" primed with Matisse pale blue gesso. Black India ink and acrylic ink.

"Hana-bi"

Wed. May 3rd, 2023

 While I'm waiting for my 6th infusion, I thought I would add some recent work that catches me up, if that makes sense.

Chemo has definitely had an impact on my stamina and it becomes important for me to "paint surf" as much as possible. I need to "see" our studio everyday just to connect with both my work and Lulu's because it reminds me of all that we've done together and individually. My "window of opportunity" is about two hours and then I'm on my face but I've brought supplies home and have been doing what my friend Dale calls, "smalls." So, without further ado, some smalls and a large.

48"x60" gold acrylic base with red/yellow/orange acrylic2nd coat and then R&F oil stick blues.

                                                        "Lulu's Fibres"

I came across this paper quite by accident and it is "heavenly." Hand made cotton rag 6"x8". Alcohol ink, graphite and oil pastels. "Chemo 8"

Same paper with alcohol ink, temperas, graphite and oil pastels. "Chemo 7."

 Same dims/paper with temperas, graphite and oil pastels. "Chemo 6."

Friday, April 28th, 2023

Continuing with work done at home with another one of my "Shit That Keeps Me Up At Night-Bogeyman 2." Perhaps, a feeble attempt to exorcise those bloody demons that...keep me up at night...

 11"x15" 1264 Fabriano watercolor paper. Temperas, oil pastels and graphite.

Thursday, April 20, 2023

 Couple of new pieces to share. Hope you enjoy them.

First up is "Keokuk, Iowa, Subway Map." 18"x24" Canson watercolor paper. Matisse gesso undercoat with acrylic and alcohol inks. I once worked at a factory in Keokuk. Piss factory would be the right description. 

This one is "private" and given that there's no traffic here, it stays that way until history decides otherwise.12"x18" Canson watercolor paper with tempera paint, oil pastels and graphite.

"Shit That Keeps Me Up At Night (Bogeyman#1)"

Sunday April 16, 2023 Hristos Vaskrese!

An Easter offering. 18"x24" Canson watercolor paper with Matisse gesso background. Graphite, acrylics, and oil pastels.

                                                    "Chemo #4" (with port installed)

Friday, April 14, 2023

 I thought it would be interesting to posit process via two images of the same work- from an early iteration to its current (and I believe completed) state. DIMS: 24'x36" primed canvas. The undercoat is a charcoal wash that has been tempered with oil crayons (sky and sea)- the buildings/structures are layers of graphite, charcoal, oil crayon, oil and acrylic paint. It's titled "Italy, After the War." My older and too soon deceased brother, Stevan, was born in a DP camp south of Naples (Eboli). This is a fragmanet of dream/imagination/cosmic transference.

Here are the two iterations:

1st iteration- not bad but there is a vagueness that is dishonest and it just didn't capture the range I was reaching for.

2nd and final version. Mo betta! Thanks for looking, Hope ya saw something!

Tuesday April 11, 2023

 As my heart continues to open and I shed all the nonsense that used to fill me up, I'm left with this child in me and his paints. I think that it was the soon to be canceled, Pablo, who said it, "Paint like a child..." I'm left with no real choice but to do so.

22"x30" Canson watercolor paper. Temperas and oil sticks. Sticking with the dopey jokes:

"Chemo-Sabi" with apologies to Tonto.

Good Friday, April 7, 2023

Working on a theme- 11"x15" 1264 Fabriano watercolor paper. Tempera, charcoal and graphite.

                                        "Chemo #2"

Tuesday, March 30,2023

 Mornings remain cold here in the heart of the Midwest-warms up with the sun and the early harbringers of Spring have shown their faces with crocuses and other dots of bright color.

New work- 18"x24" Canson watercolor paper that has been heavily gessoed with chalk pastels that have been rubbed into the surface with India ink stain, oil pastels and graphite.

                                                            "Chemo #1"

Tuesday, March 21st, 2023

 We welcome the arrival of Spring as the force of Hope and Renewal as the Creative "springs forth" in all things.

24"x36" canvas charcoal wash back ground with graphite, oil crayons and acrylics. "In Italy, After the War."

22"x31" Arches watercolor paper, oil crayons, Casein paints and graphite. 

"Le Sacre du Printemps." Honoring not only the arrival of Spring but also the landmark revolutionary work by Igor Stravinsky. Never ceases to take my breath away.

Thursday March 16th Post Ides of March

 Been a minute but let's get right into "Show and Tell."

18"x24" Canson watercolor paper. Gessoed revo. Front Tempera paints and graphite markings. 

Working with Tempera paints just connects me instantly with my childhood and the initial awe and love of paint moving and the effects I could create. Still does, as evidenced. The graphic markings are purely primal and instinctive. Ttiled "D Train" them that know get it...

Again, Canson 18"x24" watercolor paper that had been soaked and the paint is all Matisse Australian Structure acrylics. I love this piece! Makes me cry.

24"x36" canvas. India ink wash undercoat, acrylics and oil crayons. Don't know what to say about this. I think you can see the original below on an earlier posting but it just "sat there." OK piece on it's own but... I was taking a nap and falling asleep and had this flash to rename the color fields and see if I could shift viewers perceptions on how lazy our eyes/brain have been become via conditioning. The objective is to stop look see think react feel...thus ends the lesson...

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

 It's been a while since I last posted but who's keeping time let alone track- only me. Most recent work that moves across different substrates and mediums. Let's jump right!.

24"x36" canvas that has a horrible work underneath it that was mostly black India ink which was then covered with gesso giving it that great raw gray background with basic and thick acrylics on top. 

"Block Party."

No photo could ever do justice to this work but it's what I got. 53"x60" Arches 300 lb watercolor paper that also has a dreadful work underneath. I attempted to do big gestural work and it failed. So, out comes the gesso. Some of the previous work bled through giving it some architectural lines which I then  expanded on with dripping India ink of various colors and then went small with gold acrylic and oil crayons. I think this is my best piece.

"Is It Noisy In Here, Or Is It Just Me? (What's The Cat Doing In The Painting?)"

Easel work on 22"x30" Arches watercolor paper with charcoal and pastels. 

"In Germany, After The War."

24"x36" canvas with multiple layers (veils) of diluted black India ink and gold acrylic and undiluted black India ink on top and oil crayons. "Couleurs Primaries."

And as Nina Simone once said at one of her last concerts, "Go home, it's all I got!"

Thursday, January 5, 2023

 First plog of 2023. Here's hoping it is a healthy, productive and rewarding year for us all. 

Lulu and I had gone to NYC to see our respective children and our new grandson, Sweet Baby James, who filled us to capacity with joy and promise. Inmeasurable quantities of both. We also had a fabulous time with Josh/Shannon and our beloved granddaughter, Paige. Nick and Frankie took us out for a couple of memorable meals, as well.

The weather sucked and the toursists are back in droves in midtown so getting around was brutal as was the weather. We had planned on seeing the Edward Hopper show at The Whitney but it was an impossible task. We did manage to spend some etheral time at MOMA which filled our cups to overflowing. I got to spend some quality time with a pair of Jackson Pollack's large works which brought me to my knees and to tears. 

I've always loved Jax work but I think I finally got to fully experience his total gift. I was able to immerse myself in the work. Felt is. Saw it fully and was left in total awe. I'm reminded of how Helen Frankenthaler felt after seeing his work. I think I had the same experience.

It was good to be back home with our cats and the comfort of our studio which there is no place like for both me and Lu.

Suffice to say, a burst of energy translating into some good work that I would like to share.

It's fitting that this should be the first piece that I did in the New Year (1/2/23). The size is 42"x58" and the material is muslin and comes off of Lulu's LeClerc Nilus loom. She needed to replace the two aprons and I just loved the look and feel of the fabric. I used fabric paint and acrylic ink as media. Titled, "Crosstown Traffic." (Thanks, Jimi!)

This is on fabulous Arches watercolor paper, 23"x32. India ink, oil crayons, graphite and oil stick. Titled, "FLW Red Brick #1"

This is on 18"x24" Canson XL watercolor paper (delicious) with thinned Mattise gesso undercoat with grey oil crayon base. Speedball Superblack India ink and oil crayon. Titled, "FLW Red Brick #2."

This is the 2nd of the series that have two events linked. The FLW is Frank Lloyd Wright and a story was told to me about how FLW would always include a red brick in his drawings and was asked to remove them. He would then make sure that there was always a red brick in his completed projects. My wee homage to FLW. The other event is that I was entranced by a stunning drawing I saw in our dear friend's home in Williamsburg by Claes Oldenburg. I appreciated his work but had never seen one of his drawings and was totally knocked out.  "FLW Red Brick #3."

This is the 3rd and final of the 18x24 FLW series. Same materials used and the process is the same. Thank you for looking, and I hope you got to see.