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Archive for June, 2017

A Little Toulouse-Latrec (No Pun Intended)

Posted in Favorite Things, tagged on June 6, 2017| 6 Comments »

I am in a rush this morning with plenty to do in the aftermath of the Principle Gallery show as well as getting ready for my next show at the West End Gallery which opens in July. There’s a lot to do. But the habit of doing this blog required that I at least make an effort this morning.

I thought I’d share a video of some of the work of Henri de Toulouse-Latrec, the French painter who glorified the night life of late 19th century Paris, especially the fabled Moulin Rouge. He is one of those painters that never leaps quickly to my mind when I think of my favorites but whenever I look at his work it inevitably draws me in and fascinates me. I love the dark tones of his work and his sense of design in the compositions of both his paintings and his well known posters.

He produced a truly impressive body of work in a relatively short time. Plagued by health problems throughout his life which contributed to his short stature, Toulouse-Latrec died in 1901 at the age of 36. It’s definitely worth spending few minutes to take it his work.

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Good.

Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Music, Painting, tagged , , , , , , on June 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

My Buddy Chase in front of the work

Back in the studio after Friday’s opening of Truth and Belief at the Principle Gallery. Without hyperbole, I am saying it was a good show and a good trip. As smooth and easy and satisfying as any of the previous 17 shows there. Just plain good. Good crowd. Good conversations with good people. Good feelings about the work.

So when we left yesterday, I can honestly say I felt pretty good about the whole thing. Still do, which is new territory for me. Usually by this morning I am filled with second thoughts about things I could have done differently, words I could have said differently and so on. But for now, I am standing pat with the whole of what happened.

It was good.

I have to send out heartfelt thank yous to everyone at the Principle Gallery. They are a very special group of people. Affectionate thanks to Michele, Clint, Pam, Pierre and Haley for their friendship and encouragement. There’s so much I could say but I think they know how we feel about them.

Plus super thanks to my canine friends, Ash and Chase, who always brighten my visits with their high energy.

I think this show was as honest and transparent an expression of what I hope to be as an artist and a person as I could have mustered. I don’t feel like I am masked behind the work, that I am presenting a facade that misrepresents me. I am hoping that means I am closing in on some elusive and unconscious goal. Can’t say I will ever truly reach it. Might not even know if I do. But for now, the mask feels like its off.

For this week’s music, I have chose a song that sort of fits with that last sentiment.  It’s This Masquerade written and performed by the late great Leon Russell. It is probably best known for the George Benson version that was a huge hit across all of the charts. But I like this version from Leon alone with his piano.

Enjoy. Have a good day.

 

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Principle Gallery Show Opens

Posted in Uncategorized on June 2, 2017| 2 Comments »


My new show at the Principle Gallery in Old Town Alexandria, Truth and Belief, opens tonight, Friday, June 2, with an opening reception that begins at 6:30 PM.

I can’t be certain of that is true but my belief is that this is a very strong group of paintings. It looks good on the walls of the gallery. But you will have to ascertain the truth in my words for yourself.

If you’re in the area please stop in. It looks to be a beautiful night and I will be glad to spend some time answering questions and trying to give you the backstory on the work. 

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Balance (Known/Unknown) – Sort of a Replay

Posted in Quote, tagged , , , , , , on June 1, 2017| Leave a Comment »

I ran this blog entry back in early March but wanted to run it again as we got closer to the opening of Truth and Belief, my solo show opening tomorrow at the Principle Gallery. I wanted to show this painting in its final form with the band of Indian yellow that now surrounds the central image. It was shown without this but I thought that this really added a bold kick to the piece that needed to be shown.

We have to balance the lineality of the known universe with the nonlineality of the unknown universe.

—Carlos Castaneda
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I am calling this new painting Balance (Known/Unknown).  It is a 14″ by 32″ canvas and will have a slightly different edge detail that I will show at a later date. [It is shown with it here.]

The Carlos Castaneda quote above just reached out to me when I was looking at this piece. The Red Tree here seems to be standing at the edge of the known, the terrestrial world that is defined here with earthy color, solid forms, and dark lines– the lineal universe.  Beyond it the non-lineal universe beckons, represented by a nebulous sky and a sun that acts as an unblinking eye.

It all is very much a metaphor for the purpose of art and that is to act as an intermediary between the known and the unknown, the go-between for that which is of our five senses and those things that go  far beyond those senses.

Things that we feel in an emotional sense.

And that is what art often does, putting the deep feeling of that which we cannot see onto those things that we do see.  It makes the intangible tangible.

That said, I like this new piece and have been enjoying my time with it. Every day I find a new angle within it that gives me pause, that excites me, and sets me thinking. And that is all I hope for in my work.

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There is also a nice article on this week’s edition of Technique Tuesday on the blog of the Principle Gallery, Principlearttalk. This article has to do with the history and use of stylization in art using my work as a contemporary example. It’s a good read.  You can go to this article by clicking on the Technique Tuesday image above or by clicking here.

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