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Posts Tagged ‘KADA Gallery’

The Waking Moment

Posted in Recent Paintings, Technique/History, tagged , , , on November 9, 2012| 3 Comments »

Normally at this time of the year I am in a winding down sort of mode, easing back from my easel and painting table to take a deep breath.  It is normally when I reassess the year and begin to put together a new direction in which  I might push the work.  But this has been an unusual year and I find myself busier than ever.  My show, Inward Bound,  at the Kada Gallery runs until December 6 and my exhibition at the Fenimore Art Museum, Internal Landscapes,  hangs until December 31.  That would be a full schedule in itself but this year offers yet another opportunity, one that fills my schedule to the brink and has kept me fully engaged in the studio as of late.  I am talking about a solo show of my work, The Waking Moment,  that will be opening December 1 at the Just Looking Gallery in San Luis Obispo in California.

Owner Ralph Gorton and Gallery Director Ken McGavin  first contacted me earlier this year and began showing my work  at the gallery, which opened in 1984, in April.  They have done a fabulous job highlighting my work and it has done very well in their gallery, to the point where we agreed that a show was in order.

I wasn’t sure about it at first.  I was fairly new to their market  and I was also thinking that I wouldn’t be able to build a show for them.  But they have introduced me thoroughly to their  clients and the pace of this year in the studio has had me immersed in a deep groove which made it possible for me to work at a high level without much of a period of buildup.  As a result, I find myself  pretty excited about the work I am producing at this time , which includes the piece shown above, The Prospering Light, a 16″ by 26″ painting on paper.

I am nearly finished with the last few pieces for the show which will soon be on their way to the California coast.  Then I will step back for a moment or two.  At least,  I think I will.  This rhythm I have in the studio at this time feels so right that I am a little hesitant to step away for more than a moment, knowing how difficult it can be to recapture that feeling.  But for now, I am riding this wave in the studio and am excited by each new rush that comes in the work.  I will be showing more of this new work in the coming weeks as the Just Looking Gallery show approaches.

 

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Reviews

Posted in Neat Stuff, Recent Paintings, tagged , , on November 1, 2012| 3 Comments »

There is a very good review in today’s Erie Times-News of my Kada Gallery show, Inward Bound, written by Karen Rene Merkle who has reviewed my Erie shows in the past.  Reviews of any kind have become more and more scarce over the years as the influence of the newspaper has waned in most markets, especially in those the size of  Erie, so I am always interested in seeing what an unbiased observer might see in my work.  As an artist, you set up a defense mechanism of sorts by trying not to put too much emphasis on what someone might say or write about your work.  But in the end,  your human nature wins out and you react accordingly.  When someone knocks your work, even in respectful terms, it still bothers you. Conversely, when someone praises your work you are happily satisfied.  This is, as I said, a very good review so I am happily satisfied.  I have written here that I felt  that this show was a very strong group of work and it is gratifying that someone such as Ms. Merkle takes the time and effort to  take a long and  insightful look at it.

Thanks so much for the kind words, Karen.  It is most appreciated.

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After the Show

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , on October 22, 2012| 8 Comments »

Well, the show, Inward Bound,  opened at the Kada Gallery  this past Saturday evening and , despite the rain that pelted Erie, some folks turned out.  Many thanks to all of those who showed up and to Kathy and Joe DeAngelo for the wonderful job they have done once again.  Kathy always hangs the work with such thought that each painting is shown to its very best advantage,  really making the group of paintings glow as a whole in the gallery.

The evening began with a gallery talk that kicked off the opening reception and my performance was a bit rocky, especially at the beginning.  I’ve done dozens of these talks over the years but I was somehow more nervous at the beginning of this talk than any other I can recall.  I don’t know why but it gave the talk a halting, stop-and-go feel that probably bothered me more than those in the audience who had not been to other talks.  As a result, I felt as though I missed touching on a number of points I had hoped to express.  I beat myself up a bit after the show for this but , in the grand scheme of things, my self-critique didn’t take away from  a lovely evening.

Again, many thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday.  It is most appreciated and it is always my pleasure to meet those who have found something to enjoy in my work.  I always come back to the studio inspired by some of the stories that are shared with me.  That’s one of the hidden perks of this job and one that might be my favorite. For that, I am truly thankful.

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“Inward Bound” Opens Tonight

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , on October 20, 2012| 3 Comments »

The work has been done, the paintings delivered and hung  and all that has to be done is head out in a while for Erie for tonight’s opening reception for  Inward Bound, my new show at the Kada Gallery.  The opening begins at 6 PM with a short gallery talk which is the first that I’ve ever given at the Kada.  We have talked about doing a talk there for several years but it never came about so when we were planning this year’s show we decided to add a  talk at the beginning, one where I would give a brief overview of my career and work with the question-and-answer period that would normally follow flowing into the reception.  So, if you’re somewhere around Erie tonight , please stop in at the Kada Gallery and join in.  I look forward to seeing you there.

The painting shown here is Home and Heart, a 24″ by 30″ canvas that is part of the show.

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Serendipity: Redux

Posted in Biographical, tagged , , on October 19, 2012| 3 Comments »

As this week winds down toward the opening  of my show Saturday night at the Kada Gallery in Erie, I am reminded of how I first came to show my work there.  I’ve been working with owners Kathy and Joe DeAngelo  for well over 16 years now meaning that they have seen my work evolve from the very first incarnations.  They have offered nothing but encouragement over the years, always eager to see any new developments.  Just good people.  But I probably would not have found them had it not been for a chance meeting that would lead me to them.  It was a bit of true serendipity.   I wrote about  this fortunate event on this blog  back in August of 2009 in a post that featured a painting, Interloper [shown here],  from about the time I first encountered the folks at the Kada. 

It’s not my best writing but here’s how I came to show at the Kada Gallery:

It was in  late summer of 1995 and I had been showing at the West End Gallery for several months which was my first experience exhibiting in public.  I was still waiting tables at the local Perkins Family Restaurant full-time, working on building our house and painting every other available minute.  Man, I had a lot more energy then!  I still had no idea that I would or could have a real career as a painter.  My work at that time was very small in size for the most part and was just starting to gain some notice locally but I really didn’t know if it would ever transfer outside our local area.

One Saturday morning, I was at my job waiting tables when a family with a daughter about 10 or 11 years old sat in my station.  They were very nice, smiling and talkative.  Typical chit-chat.  I took their order and that was that.  After a bit, as they were eating I was going through my station checking on each party and I stopped at their table.

The daughter, Hillary,  asked, “Are you a painter?”

I was a little taken aback by the question.  Nothing was said about painting or art, to them or any of my other tables and that was the last thing on my mind at the moment.

“Well, yeah. I am.”

“My mother said you were.  She said that anyone that happy doing their job had to be a painter.”

I just stood there with nothing to say.  How do you respond to that?

It turned out that the mother was a painter as well who lived, for the time being, in our area.  Her name was Suzi Druley and she was on their way out to a gallery that sold a lot of her work in Erie, Pennsylvania.  They had me run out to their vehicle to take a look at her work, which was very interesting, particularly for our area.  It had a sort of Southwestern/Native American feel with with vivid, deep colors and a lot of symbology.  Turns out she was from Texas originally and they had moved here for a job her husband had taken.  She asked what my work was like, saying she would like to see it.

A few weeks passed and I decided to take her up on her offer and went out to their home.  I took photos and some pieces and she really seemed excited by the work.  She said I should show the work to Kathy at the Kada, that she would really like it.

Long story short, she called Kathy and a visit was arranged.  I hauled my bits of paint and paper out there and I’ve been showing with them for going on 14 years.

I’m glad I was in a good mood that Saturday morning at Perkins- I most certainly would not have found made my way to the Kada Gallery without Suzi’s simple observation that I must be a painter.

Serendipity…

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Give Back the Key to my Heart

Posted in Music, Recent Paintings, Video, tagged , , , on October 18, 2012| 2 Comments »

Really busy this morning, trying to wrap up some things here in the studio before my show at the Kada Gallery, Inward Bound,  that opens this coming Saturday evening with a reception that begins at 6 PM with a short gallery talk and runs until 9 PM.  Normally, the week before the Kada show is kind of easy in the studio as it’s the last show of  my year but this year is a bit different as I have one more big event after this.  As a result, my work schedule is a bit more full than it normally would be.  But this is actually a good thing in that it allows me to focus on things other than the upcoming opening and the angst that always accompanies it.

It seems to be working as I don’t feel nearly as anxious as I often do a day or so before the opening.  Maybe it’s the distraction of the work I’ have in front of me or maybe it’s the confidence I have in the strength of the work in this show.  I think this is a really strong group of work, including the piece shown above,  Cool and Free,  and  I know that it will hang beautifully in the gallery.  I feel as though I’ve done my best and I’ve learned through the 35 or so solo shows that I’ve done over the years that  no amount of anxiety will change that.  So, I put thoughts of the show out of my mind and get back to work.

Here’s a little bit of music to work by.  It’s Uncle Tupelo’s cover of  Give Back the Key to My Heart, which was originally recorded by Texas legends The Sir Douglas Quintet featuring Doug Sahm, who sings on this track.  Younger readers probably have no idea who Doug Sahm is but his She’s About a Mover will most likely ring a bell with most older readers.

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Idyll By the Lake

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , on October 16, 2012| 2 Comments »

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods or steepy mountain yields.

–Christopher Marlowe

*********************************

These lines are an excerpt from a poem from Marlowe which is  considered an idyll, a poem which typically depicts a peaceful idealization of rural life.  I chose to use the word in the title of the painting shown here, Idyll By the Lake, which is part of my show which opens Saturday at the Kada Gallery in Erie.  The painting is a 12″ by 36″ canvas and has that  feel of a rustic haven that comes with the word.

The feature of this piece that stands out for me is the small round lake that is the focal point here.  I made it appear as thought the viewer was looking directly down on it which gives it a round , flat appearance on the canvas.  There was just something that I liked in the way the lake appeared this way.  It reminded me of the eye from a peacock’s tail feathers and I liked that shape and color contrasted with the lines and warmth of the rest of the painting.

But , while the painting is blissfully upbeat, I still think it is strengthened by the darkness that comes from underneath the bright colors.  It  gives it a bit of an edge, a feeling of wariness that takes away that feeling of cockeyed optimism that it might otherwise have.  Kind of like a shepherd who happily watches over his safe flock but knows that he must always be watchful because there may always be great danger  just out of sight.  Maybe the Red Tree is such a shepherd here, enjoying such a peaceful moment.  Taking in all the pleasure and satisfaction that the momentary idyll offers while keeping an eye for whatever might emerge from over that next rise.

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Lowe Country

Posted in Early Paintings, Music, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 15, 2012| 3 Comments »

A lot of things happened this weekend that I could comment on here.   There was Felix Baumgartner  flying a balloon up tot he very edge of space then jumping out to plummet at over 600 MPH back to earth.  Then there was the world of baseball where Derek Jeter fractured his ankle, bringing a state of depression to Yankee fans everywhere. And yesterday I delivered the work yesterday for my show, Inward Bound, which opens this coming Saturday at the Kada Gallery in Erie.

An interesting thing came up while talking with owner Kathy DeAngelo at the Kada.   Her son, David, who lives on the West Coast, had called her and had told her that he thought someone was using one of my images on an album cover, something called Lowe Country.  He was positive that it was my imagery.  At first, I thought it might be coincidental, that it was an image from someone that  had a style that resembled my work.  But i thought I would look it up just to be sure.

So this morning I googled Lowe Country and, clicking on a link, was shocked to see one of my paintings staring out at me.  It was an older piece, one from around 1997 and I couldn’t quite place  the exact piece or where it might have been sold.  But I was sure it was mine.  It had to be or there was someone out there who was my artistic doppelganger.

The album was a tribute album featuring musicians, primarily from the  country and Americana fields,  doing covers of songs by  Nick Lowe, which I thought was good because I have always been a fan of his work since the 70’s, especially when he was with Dave Edmunds in the band Rockpile .  That didn’t help much.  I still couldn’t figure out how my work had ended up there on the cover.  I clicked on a few more links trying to find something that would give me some sort of an an idea.  Nothing.  Then I clicked on an interview with the producer of the project and the founder of  Fiesta Red Records.  His name was Robert Seidenberg.

In a flash it all made sense.  It was his painting, or at least a portion of it.  He had bought this painting  from the West End Gallery when he was with Hollywood Records   many years ago.  My mind eased a bit at this revelation and I became pleased that the image was being used, even though I was not getting even a nod of recognition from it.  I was just thrilled to see that image , especially when I saw that the whole painting  wrapped around the entire jacket.  Looks good.

I am not sure if I will get in touch with Mr. Seidenberg.  I probably will if only to let him know I approve of its use and to let him know that he should be more thorough in using imagery in the future because of the ownership rights to images that artist maintain even after the original painting is sold.  But at least I am aware that it’s out there.  Thanks, David, for bring it to my attention.

[ PS : Found the Liner Notes and indeed I am credited.  The painting was Lakelover  from 1998.]

Here’s one of the tracks from the album, Heart of the City, from Chatham County Line.

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Landscape Painter

Posted in Influences, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , on October 10, 2012| 4 Comments »

Landscape painting is the obvious resource of misanthropy.

— William Hazlitt, in The Edinburgh Review, 1824

I consider myself primarily a landscape painter.  Oh, I periodically have done some figurative work, some still lifes and even some purely abstract work but I always gravitate back to the landscape.  I think the attraction comes from the universality of the landscape as a genre and a visual language.  It crosses all barriers and seldom needs context or explanation for anyone to fully understand it.  A Maori tribesman might as easily appreciate a landscape such as the painting above as you or me.  We  all have an intimate relationship, our own dialogue, with the landscape around us.  It defines our world.

I tend to think of landscape painting in these terms rather than as William Hazlitt, the British art and literary critic of the 19th century, portrays it in the quote above although maybe there is a certain misanthropy involved on some days.  I know that I prefer the company of the landscape over that of most people on many days.   I also know that there are collectors who were disappointed when the paths that lead into my paintings began to first appear, feeling that any sign of man in the landscape only diminished the piece.   But the paths stayed because I still relate to the landscapes in my paintings as thought they are representative of the human race’s emotional relationship with the land rather than mere  pretty pictures of places of a world devoid of humans, as appetizing as that may sound.   It comes down to the fact that we are part of the land.  We  shape it  and are shaped by it. We rise from it, live off it and ultimately return to it.  We are the landscape.

The painting at the top is Where the Road Ends, a 20″ by 60″ canvas that is part of my show at the Kada Gallery which opens October 20th.

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Inward Bound

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged , on October 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I am putting the finishing touches on the new group of paintings that make up my upcoming show at the Kada Gallery in Erie , PA, which opens on October 20th.  The name of the show is Inward Bound which is also the name of this new painting, a smaller piece at only 4″ by 7″ on paper.  I normally try to have a substantially larger painting than this as the title piece for a show but I really thought the title was perfect for both the show and this painting, regardless of size.

The title refers to an inner journey of discovery.  The Red Chair is facing symbolically inward, away from the broad expanse of night sky with the moon and stars, which represents the  reference points by which the ancients guided their travels.  But there are things in this world that can’t be found in all the lengthy expeditions in this world, things that must be  first uncovered within ourselves.  Wisdom.  Love.  These are not things that cannot be discovered in any outer travel unless one first looks inward.  It is sometimes easier to seek the external  simply because traveling inward  is the scariest trip that many of us will ever face.  It’s not an easy thing to face the absolute truth about our own reality, to stare down our own flaws and shortcomings.

But the rewards can be priceless.  For some it is wisdom,  a calmness  seated in the knowledge that they are completely at ease with who and where they are, inside and out.  And that’s what I see in this simple, small painting.

All aboard…

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