Going Deep

Quietly Down, 2012. oil on canvas 34 x 36

 "Sensory intelligence and visual intelligence are fundamental to our being.  The visual is profound, for it is how we see and thus how we comprehend the world."

- William C. Agee

I can relate....

Slowly Down, 2012.                                            pastel on paper  7 x 8

"I don't feel like you have much choice about what you paint,  

in terms of subject matter.  Its who you are...."

-Stanley Whitney  (b. 1946)

Pushing Back

Busy, 2013.  ink on paper w/ gouache  22 x 22

I am really enjoying the possibilities of ink and the unique challenges it offers.  When I started this series of drawings last year,  I was looking for a medium that would 'push back'.  I felt that I was getting too comfortable in the way I was working, that nothing was very surprising.  I felt like my process was getting a bit predictable.  I needed to change things up.  

Working with ink is a little like walking on an artistic tight rope with no safety net.  The chance for failure is high, and the work must be made with confidence and a sure hand because there is no way to make major corrections if you make a mistake.  That is the reward of this medium, never knowing if the composition is going to work. 

But when it does it is amazing.  

That's why I go to work everyday.    

  

Vision

Curvy, 2012. oil on canvas  72 x 36 sold 

"We don't need to see someone demonstrate their ability (to paint), that's not very interesting.  What is interesting,  is seeing a concentrated vision made with a strange kind of security."

- Sean Scully  (b. 1945)

words to live by

Sitting Pretty, 2013. oil on paper 16 x 16

"An artist needs three things to secede: 

An iron will, the ability to work like a locomotive and indifference to everything but the canvas."  

- Claude Monet  (1840 - 1926)

Working Away

Later Reds, 2012.  oil on canvas, 30 x 34. sold

A painting from late last year.  

I continue to explore thicker passages of paint. 

 Its a slow process and the paintings take forever to dry,
 I'm pleased with where I think the work is headed. 

enjoy.

New Beginnings

Morning Kiss, 2013. oil on canvas  20 x 20

"When I think of art, I think of Beauty."

- Agnes Martin  (1912 - 2004)

Ahead

(Straight) Ahead, 2012. oil on panel 17 x 15

Late last year, I was invited to participate in a show of self-portraits.  By some strange coincidence I had just finished a portrait of myself (something I had not done for years.) Thus inspired, I decided to do a small series, and let the gallery decide which one they would want for the exhibition.  

Staring at myself for hours on end was not a particularly enjoyable experience, but it was interesting to see how each how each one felt different even though I was staring at, obviously, the same subject matter.

Happy New Year! ( I know its a little late)