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Archive for the ‘Painting’ Category

Only Now

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , on January 6, 2012| 4 Comments »

This is a very new painting, a 24″ by 30 canvas that I call Only Now.  I fee lthat  this is a piece that very much is representative of my larger body of work.  It has my easily recognizable Red Tree, fields of deep colors in the foreground and the white of the gesso underneath breaking through the paint above to create trails and the far horizon. 

 But it also carries, at least in how I view it,  the emotional tone that I think best represents my work.  A sense of being calmly in the moment, taking in the stillness of the paused now.  That sense of being in the now is from where the title emerges.  I see the tree personified as being paused and taking the richness of all that is around it at the moment, not spending too much time worrying about what is in the future, represented here by the paler distant fields and hills at the horizon, or the past, which is somewhere back along the white trail that breaks into the lower portion of the picture plane. 

No past or future in that instance, only the now.

I think the cool clarity of the color here, particularly in the graded tones of the sky, really gives this piece a sense of the ethereal that really enhances the message of the now.   Looking at this painting as it rests on the easel now, it takes me far away to a palce of great inner calm.  It’s not a feeling that I often sense in my own life.  Probably most of us don’t feel that often enough.  But this piece seems to give me a sort of roadmap to this  place of calm.  Or at least it gives me the knowledge that it can exist, if only in the mind.

And that is all I can ask.

 

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New Day, New Start

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , on January 2, 2012| 2 Comments »

The new year is in and with it comes a new start.  A clean slate of sorts.  I wrote a few days back about the final painting I completed in the last year so obviously there will be a first painting for this new year.  This painting shown here is it and very much holds to the theme of new starts.  Called New Day, New Start, this is a 10″ by 20″ canvas and was finished yesterday on the first day of 2012.

The hazy sun breaking through the strong colors of the sky sets the tone here. new light bringing in the opportunity of the new day.  The landscape has several layers here with the foreground field rows slightly separated from the deeper set fields by  trees on either side which act as a sort of stage curtain, a detail I often employ.  As usual, I see the field rows as  representing our daily labor, our day-to-day responsibilty.  The layers behind represent different aspects.  I see the orange as symbolizing the joy we find in life and the yellow as representing a placid state of being, of an understanding and acceptance of our place in this world.  The distant and dark hills are, for me, the inevitable future. The Red Tree is , of course, the individual here. 

As always, I point out that this is simply how I see this, how I translate it for myself.  Your interpretation could be very different and no less correct. 

Overall, I’m really pleased with this painting as a start for the new year.  While it is not a large painting, it has weight and depth, feeling  larger than its physical dimensions.  I am hoping this serves as omen of things to come, painting-wise.  But that is in the future, beyond those blue hills.  For now, I will bask in the light of this new day.

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Omega Rise

Posted in Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , on December 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I finished this piece yesterday and it may well be the last painting I finish this year and if that’s the case, I am happy with this piece having that designation.  I always hope that paintings that end or start my years have something in them that makes them mark their time in a memorable fashion, that they will have something that will make them stand out.  That being the case, I’ve titled this 16″ by 20″ canvas Omega Rise. 

Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and is often used to designate an end or a finish, which fits in with the idea of it being the last piece of 2011.  But there is also an ominous, serious quality in  the sky that portends that the omega may mean more than that.  Perhaps this last little uphill rise is the final part of a journey but not necessarily in an end of life sort of way.  Perhaps the dark blue of the rise signifies a past of some sort and the rise lifts the viewer  out of that darkness and into the brightness of some new enlightenment.  The tree seems to be near a cusp between the contrast of dark and light, close to the discovery of what is over this rise.  There is definitely some sort of epiphany beyond it.

Please remember, I’m just thinking off the top of my head at 7 AM and in a few days, or even a few hours, I may see this in a completely different way.  But I know there’s something in this piece that if it remains the omega painting for 2011, I will always remember it as that.

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Strength of Character

Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Quote, tagged on December 27, 2011| 1 Comment »

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

—Mahatma Gandhi

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This is a painting from a few years back titled Strength of Character, a 26″ by 30″ image on paper.  It’s one of those rare paintings that has always garnered a lot of attention when shown but has never found a home which has always puzzled me because I consider it an iconic piece from my body of work. 

It uses the Red Tree as a central figure and uses spare detail and strong color to convey a very simple message, one that might well spring from the words of Gandhi quoted above.  The twisted trunk of the tree tells of the adversity the tree has faced, of the obstacles of the hard rock it has forced its way past to emerge to display its red foliage which it wears like a victor’s laurels.  This piece is all about perseverance and maintaining one’s will throughout.  Indomitable.

The color in the piece is really interesting to me.  It has several layers that create a great depth in it, giving the painting a level of complexity that belies its simple constuction.  The overall effect is one that I have struggled to recreate but have never been able to accomplish with anything near the  level of grace or fluidity that I find in this piece.  This color and the fact that the painting still stays with me makes this a very enigmatic piece.

Why it has yet to find a home is not a question I can answer.  I can never say why a painting leaves quickly or stays around for a while.  The pure subjectivity of art is often hard to follow or translate, even in my own work.  But the fact that it remains has never made me think for a moment that this was anything but a painting of my highest level.  It may just take a while for others to see that.

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Archaeology: The Story Told

Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Personal Mythology, tagged , on December 22, 2011| 2 Comments »

I’ve been reviewing past work over the last few weeks for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes I am looking for an idea or motif that has not been in use for some time.  A new lead to re-examine and follow anew.  Sometimes, it’s pure nostalgia, looking at the work as group with a small bit of pride, like a parent looking at photos of their kids. And I sometimes go back through my files because they serve as a form of memory for me.  While I may have the details of most of my work stored somewhere in the folds of my brain, I can’t always pull them forward.  Seeing the images brings back everything in a torrent.

The painting above is a good example of this rush of detail.  Titled Archaeology: The Story Told, it’s a 20″ by 30″ canvas from  the 2008 Archaeology series.  Although I don’t like to publucly state that there are pieces that are favorites, this painting was one of my favorites from this group. 

There is so much I like about this painting from the moody duskiness of the sky with its purples that grade downward to the way the underground boulders create a visually rhythmic counterpoint.  But the thing that always stuck out for me was how the underground debris came together to form a narrative, which is where the title originated.  There was no intent in painting this.  All of the debris was painted in a freestyle manner, with each piece being painted independently from one another outside of possible relationships in size and shape.  It wasn’t until it was done that I began to see a stroyline running through the heap of items.

For me, it was the story of this country starting with  the obvious prompting of what looks to be an American flag at the center of the bottom.  There was a bell that reminded me instantly of the Liberty Bell to represent our Revolution and a Viking helmet that told of the earliest European explorers here.  There was a cowboy boot that symbolized our westward movement and what appeared to be a lance for the weapons that the native Americans used in their defense of their land.  There is a pitchfork for the agriculture that sustained and help the nation expand.  There  is an electric light to represent the inventors like Edison who transformed our country and machine parts for the industrialization.  There is a baseball bat for our national pasttime.  A peace symbol for both its inherent meaning as well as for its use as symbol of protest and our right to speak freely.

It’s all loosely associated and many may not even see them in a unified way but for me it all came together in a single glance and that was how I immediately read the painting.  It’s unlike any of the other paintings in this series in that way and that makes it special for me. 

Gary T., I hope you don’t mind me showing your painting!

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Taking Off the Mask

Posted in Painting, Quote, tagged , on December 16, 2011| 3 Comments »

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

—–Oscar Wilde

I read this quote from Oscar Wilde and it made me think about painting serving as a mask for some artists, allowing them to say things in paint that they see as their truth that they might not be able to express otherwise.  I might fall into that category in some regards.  I certainly hope my work reflects some sort of inner truth.  Or, at least, reflects an aspiration for what I desire for my own truth.

For instance, my work often is placid and calm while I often do not reflect that same attitude personally.  I aspire to be calm and placid and sometimes I do find it for short periods of time.  Maybe the aspiration to be this way will eventually become an ultimate truth.  Maybe this sort of personal  truth can be created, like the face behind the mask beginning to take the shape of the mask.

I don’t know.  Maybe it’s something that we shouldn’t dwell on for too long.  I thought of this quote when I was finishing this recent painting, titled True Self, a 7″ by 15″ piece on paper.  I wondered if this image on the sheet before me was any part of my own truth.  I know that I wanted it to be such but there was part of me that felt unsure, sensing that the reality didn’t yet meet the aspiration.  But it felt like there was at least a small bit of my truth in there somewhere. 

Perhaps when I finally take off the mask I will find it was not a mask but a mold.

 

 

 

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A New Mantra

Posted in Early Paintings, Painting, Personal Mythology, tagged on December 10, 2011| 4 Comments »

I came across this painting from 2001 just this morning, one that had slipped off my radar some time ago.  It wasn’t in the studio for long and sold very quickly so I didn’t get to ponder over it for an extended period.  It is titled A New Mantra and  is 31″ high by 51″ wide on mounted paper.  I do remember painting this piece and how it hit every goal I had for it from the first moment I started on it.  It came so  easily that it felt as though it truly fell out of me, with not  a bit of struggle at any point.  I also remember just being exremely pleased with how this showed in its final state.  It was large and airy yet it had a real up close presence.  To me, it was how it must feel to have the secrets of the universe whispered mysteriously in your ear. 

It just felt powerful, whiich is probably why I was so surprised at seeing it again this morning.  How had it slipped out of my mind when it immediately rekindled such strong feelings upon seeing it again? 

I don’t know that there is any real explanation.  I think there are other pieces out there that will do the same for me, especially some work from the earlier years when my photo-documentation wasn’t as thorough.  I can think of one painting that I have often used as an example in an account of how some work flows easily while others are a stuggle from the first brushstroke.  This piece was done after a month of working on a series of paintings that resulted in a commissioned piece.  One morning I went into the studio about 5 AM and this large painting just fell out.  It was about 40″ square and I remember how the paintings of the past month had served as rehearsals for this very moment in time.  Every movement was really from muscle memory, moving without prompting and the conscious thought process was hushed and in the background.  Two hours later and it was done.

I would tell people who asked how long it took to paint a piece that this painting didn’t take 2 hours to paint.  It took over a month.  It couldn’t have happened without those other pieces building up to it.

To my dismay, that is a piece for which I can’t find an image.  But I will keep looking and hopefully, if I find one, I will feel as I did about once again finding A New Mantra.

 

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Everyday Hero

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, Painting, Video, tagged , on December 9, 2011| 6 Comments »

This is a small painting, only 5″ by 6″ on canvas,  that recently went to the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.   I call this piece Everyday Hero and even though it’s small in size, it’s one that I find full of meaning for myself.

As they often do in my paintings, the fields of alternating rows of color represent the act of labor.  The day-to-day sort of work of the people who toil every day with little if any recognition, trying to merely live their lives.  They raise their kids, they pay their bills and they simply try to just get along without bothering anyone or being bothered. 

 These are the people who built this country.  They built our infrastructure– the roads and bridges and the schools and factories.  They worked in the fields and in the foundries and factories and manned the trains and trucks that brought the products to market.  Moreover, these are the people who consumed the products that were made, moved and marketed here.  These were the people who created the wealth of this nation.

I know that this is sounding like a 99% spiel and maybe it is.  I have gotten so tired of hearing about the job creators and how they must be protected when very few are pointing out that the great wealth that these few possess came from the sweat and pocketbooks of the many.  I may be missing something here but I can’t think of anyone whose wealth was created in a vacuum that didn’t depend on the sale of their product, be it a manufactured item or a natural resource.   You might say that a hedge fund manager might not depend on the sale of a product but he only serves as a casino operator for those who wealth was created of the people.  Without their wealth, he has nothing.

Now don’t get me wrong.  It seems that when anybody makes the case for more equality of wealth, they are branded as being anti-capitalist and anti-business which is not the case.  The greatness of this country comes from this opportunity to succeed in a huge way, to take an idea or an innovation and set the world on fire with it.  You should be rewarded richly.  But unless you have the people to buy the products or ideas, unless you have the infrastructure to carry that product to these buyers, unless you have the fire fighters and police to protect your homes and offices, unless you have have clean air to breath and water to drink— it will never happen. 

You can be a hero to many by being a  job creator but you must  take some responsibilty for the everyday heroes who have made you wealthy, probably beyond anything most of these folks could fathom.  It is part of the unwritten contract of our land.  It is only fair.

Massachusetts Senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren made a very passionate  statement of this same thought recently in a video from a fundraising event that most of you have probably seen.  It is as compelling and precise an argument as anyone I’ve seen make while standing up for the everyday heroes.  Here it is:

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Path to Clarity

Posted in Neat Stuff, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , on December 2, 2011| 3 Comments »

This is a new painting called Path to Clarity, that made its way to the Principle Gallery in Alexandria yesterday.  It’s a 6″ square piece on paper and has a clarity in its color and tone that evoked the title for me.  I was looking at this piece and thought of an item that I came across lately, a test of the flexibility of the mind.  I’m sure this has been around for quite some time, probably for years in circles that cover areas of  psychological/cognitive testing.  When I first saw iit I thought it was just a foul-up in the code for the page I was reading , a seemingly random series of numbers and letters.  But seeing below that I was supposed to read it, I focused a bit and it came very easily.

Here’s the message:

7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17, B3 PROUD! 0NLY C3R741N P30PL3 C4N R3AD 7H15. PL3453 F0RW4RD 1F U C4N R34D 7H15.

Translated:

This message serves to prove how our minds can do amazing things! Impressive things! In the beginning it was hard but now, on this line your mind is reading automatically without even thinking about it. Be proud! Only certain people can read this. Please forward if you can read this.

I don’t know if there is anything to be gained from this exercise for the general public,but  it made me think about painting and art and how it communicates in very much the same way as this exercise, giving bits of data and filling the blanks with new information that translates in the mind of the viewer.  I looked at this painting and it very much made sense in this context.  I’m sure most people can look at this piece and immediately know what it represents.  Their mind takes in the info and it makes sense and translates very easily.  Their mind probably doesn’t question the white emptiness of the path, the blues of the hills or the orange and reds of the field.  Their mind reads it as one might read the passage above.

What does this mean?  That I really can’t tell except that it only serves as a form of validation of this work’s power as form of communication  rather than something created for mere aesthetics.  Not that aesthetics don’t come into play.   Harmony of color and form play a large part in making the message more palatable.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting.  I guess that’s good enough.

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Blue Moon

Posted in Music, Painting, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , on November 15, 2011| 2 Comments »

I have a lot going on this morning so I’ll quickly show you this new piece that I call Blue Moon (You Saw Me Standing Alone) , taken from the lyrics of the old song.  There is something both restful and dreamily melancholic in these blue nocturnes.  There is also a wonderful sense of harmony created by the different blue tones in it coming together.  It may be a small piece, only about 4″ by 8″, but it has visual oomph, particularly in the way the blues hug the texture of the sky.  The color thins near the top of each ridge then pools darker in the depressions creating a nice rhythm in the blue night sky around the white eye of the moon.

Speaking of things  dreamily melancholic, here is a video of the Cowboy Junkies’ take on the old standard.  This version is from 1988 but the song has had many interpreters since being written in 1934.  Most probably remember the Elvis version but I have always  liked the exaggerated depressive quality in this version.  Plus, the person responsible for this video did a great job in putting together some nice mmon footage.

Have a great day!

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