Now that we’re in December, I’m beginning to tie up the year’s work. I’m tryiong to finish up a few obligations such as a couple of smaller commissioned pieces befor ebeginning to gear up for the coming new year. I ‘ve been mulling over going ahead with some concepts that I’ve been pushing aside for years now and I’m getting pretty anxious to get at them.
I have plans to doing a few larger paintings, including a couple that are very large. I am also working on a series that relates to the Exiles series that I did back in the mid-1990’s, such as the piece shown here. The newer pieces will not emulate this work as they were surely emotional products of that time in my life and, as such, cannot be simply replicated. At least, I can’t do that. So they will emerge with a different look and probably a different feel, which is exciting in itself. One idea involves a large assemblage of small paintings in this theme. I will reveal more as the work comes about.
This period of getting ready for the upcoming year is always exciting, for the most part. I have had years where I struggled early on to find something to move me ahead, something that lit the fires under me. Inevitably, the ignition came but it feels much better to start the year with a fire already ablaze.
There are also a couple of other things in the works that I will announce in the new few months that I am pretty excited about. Hopefully, they will turn out as well as I hope.
And if not, we’ll make it work…
Redtree Times 
When I first saw this piece from the Exiles series, I didn’t even want to look at it – I found it extremely disturbing.
Now that I’ve given it another look, it doesn’t seem quite so threatening. Still, it’s so different from what I’ve seen of your work I was – well, startled.
Just imagining here, but I can’t help wondering how people felt when they first bumped up against Marcel Duchamp at the Armory Show. There’s a thought I didn’t expect to have today!
That’s a really interesting reaction, but an understandable one. This piece, along with the rest of the “Exiles” series, served a much different purpose for me than my subsequent work, the landscapes that you no doubt know better. This work was a release, my reaction to watching my mom pass away in a very painful manner and myself being too far away and helpless to assist her in any way. The pain in this figure’s face is her pain. And mine as well.
Thanks so much for the added context. It certainly helps to make understandable aspects of my initial reaction – such as seeing the sky as impenetrable barrier. I think we’ve all experienced distance in that was at some time in our lives.
Much to think about, here.