A Long Hard Pull

The school year is almost over. It was a struggle this year. So many problems. The mental health issues of students were like a thick fog over everything. Hopefully some of them get out from under it before too long. 

Finished this commissioned piece based on images from the south of France. Still enjoying the challenge of these types of works. Went out to Colorado over break and did some hiking...mostly knee deep in snow. Not the best conditions, but I really needed to get away. Saw a bunch of old mining equipment and some of locomotive/train cars and did this piece as well. 

Still working on the figure project. Slowly coming together.

So, the end is in sight and hopefully there are greener fields ahead.

 
 

Moving On

A couple of paintings for the new year. It is traditional to begin the year with a painting of dead fish in many cultures...or it should be. To honor that ancient, venerable tradition, I offer this painting, but with a twist. It also includes butterflies, which in many cultures symbolizes unrealized potential...or it should.

After a brief summer visit to Ireland, I put together this painting of Dublin. I am currently working on one of France and lots of figure painting. I will post some of them at a later date.

  

This has nothing to do with art, but how can so many stupid people get elected to national office? Have Republicans just given up on their party? From Trump on down, you couldn't make this kind of crazy shit up.

 

In the End

The year is coming to an end so I thought I would get in one last post relating to the projects I am working on. The first two images are from a series of paintings of a dancer in motion. Using. drapery and filming movement and working from stills, the ultimate end result will be to put together a multiple figure composition. I have a new appreciation of any artist who constructed multiple figure paintings. The challenges are quite difficult. Slowly getting there.

I've also done a number of paintings using controlled direct raking lighting. Have been getting some nice dramatic results.

 I am also continuing to work with the fragmentation technique that I was using for architectural subjects and using it on organic/natural subjects. A landscape version, as it were. Very labor intensive, but I am enjoying the results. 

So that is how I'm spending my time in the post-soccer era. I feel like I am making progress, but you can't always say for sure until there is a bit more water under the bridge.

The Return

COVID sort of shut down the gallery scene for two years, but it appears to be back up and running again and I had the good fortune of landing a small show at the Kada Gallery...16 pieces, mostly new works from this latest iteration of a techniques I've been developing. Mine are the ones in color. Top two photos are of the gallery.

Just finished these two pieces after the show. The top one is the lagoons at Presque Isle and the bottom one, a small piece of Dublin. Staying busy with the figure as well.

 

Milling About

On the beach, this is this year's model. Not a lot of time spent down there this year, and very little time in the water. It was too cold for me all of June. I'm a cold water sissy. Needs to be in the high 70's or low 80's or I'm not going in. Anyways, using stone washed in from the destruction of previous projects, this is how far I got. I'll probably be able to do a little more work, but nothing appreciable.

Lots of painting in the summer to prepare for a show at Kada Gallery in Erie. Opened Saturday night and looked good. First time I've seen a bunch of these pieces together. Fish 1 and Kora were both in the show. A nice painting of Pittsburgh and one of Erie, seen a few posts back, were also in. 16 pieces overall.

My new favorite figure painting. Doing a lot of that lately as well. I'm getting better at it.

 

Bodies of Work of Bodies

I've continued to do a lot of figure painting. I'm getting better. Different lighting, different bodies, different challenges, every piece is like solving a different equation.  I've been fortunate to have worked with some amazing women. The pressure to do their particular beauty justice is pretty intense.

I really loved this pose. There was a dream-like quality to it and the clasped hands added a bit of a twist to it. The lighting was really strange on this figure. This model is a dancer and every movement or gesture was just like a beautiful verse.

This model is all about softness and coolness. The painting below is the first one of this model and there is a certain Modigliani quality to her.

The dancing images are such  a pleasure to paint. Challenging on so many levels, but working on them is like a blessing that you can be in the presence of such beauty, power and grace. 

The color is off on this photo but the lighting is pretty close to the original. Multiple figure paintings present a whole different set of challenges. I'm liking this one.

 

Not Out of the Woods, Yet.

 

The school year is almost over. I don't know what I think about that. Very busy painting. The top piece is State Street in Erie PA. Then the other two are the same idea applied to organic things...The sea and the forest...

Went to the Atlanta Aquarium in January I think. It was amazing . I fell in love with the jellyfish. They were just floating around in this tank that looked like a giant flat screen TV. Amazing creatures, jellyfish. Who the fuck thinks of these things. Like some deity is just hanging out and decides that the ocean needs some gelatinous blobs that float around and sting things to death...

The forest is based on some jungle pictures I took in Guatemala while working at Tikal. We'll see where this goes.

                        Doing a lot of figure painting, getting better. I'll post some next week.