'Gauguin' and My New Book 'A to Z'

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

A new addition to my series ArtistZ,  choosing Paul Gauguin for G.  I grappled with my three choices - Giacometti, who my mom also loved and emulated in painting and sculpture,  Jean-Leon Gerome who painted the most exquisite, realism I've ever laid eyes on and Paul Gauguin, who had no rules about color other than creating harmony.

Gauguin would win the most colorful life story if there was a contest.  Born in Paris, father died on the voyage to Peru, leaving a 1-1/2 year old Paul, his mother and sister to fend for themselves, eventually returned to France, joined the French navy, was a stockbrocker, got rich, lost most of it in a stock market crash and started painting full-time.  Married, had five kids, after 11 years, kids and mom told him to leave.  Yah-dah-yah-dah-yah-dah, met Van Gogh, moved to Tahiti, painted beautiful paintings,  fell ill a number of times, got an agent to sell his work, returned to Paris, returned to Tahiti and lived there another six years, drank too much, he was thought to have syphilis, painted more beautiful masterpieces, went to prison for libeling a lawyer, took too much morphine and died in 1903.

There is something that sends me when I look at a Gauguin in person and that's why I chose him.

A woman standing before Gauguin's 'Aha De Feii?' (What! Are You Jealous?).

Also... my latest series AtoZ is now in a book available thru Blurb.

 

This new book is 7 x 7" with 26 color reproductions of my daily paintings inspired by the letters of the alphabet.

Click here to preview the book.

"High as a Kite"

12 x 12"

oil on panel
sold

Robert Lange Studios asked me to do another painting for their "Fluent" show - which is currently showing at the Vendue Hotel in Charleston until mid-November.  My first one 'Cannonball' sold on opening night, so I was psyched to do another.

I started this, got ill, got better and resumed and got ill again - which turned out to be a great thing because the first layer dried, which doesn't normally happen before I finish a painting.  When I resumed a couple of days ago, I switched to a palette knife, which totally changed the vibrancy and added the texture to the sand and waves.  I have to say, this is one of my all-time favorite paintings ever.

A scene on Hilton Head Island beach taken from a drone camera last fall.

Please click here for a larger view. 

Charleston Art Auction

I'm still on my painting marathon, doing new works for an upcoming dual show with Ken Auster - opening night is December 7th at the Morris & Whiteside Gallery in Hilton Head.  I hope you'll come by.

And... I'm getting everything ready for my upcoming workshop in Hilton Head which I'm really looking forward to.

Meanwhile.... the Annual Charleston Art Auction will be held a week from Saturday, October 27th - two of my paintings will be included in the auction.

 

Triple Play

10 x 8"

sold

Biker Gang

16 x 6" 

sold

If you're interested in participating in the auction, even from afar, please contact Ben Whiteside at the Morris & Whiteside Gallery for details.   It's a fabulous event in a great city, so think about attending.

There are amazing works of art from my favorite painters - Kim English, Ken Auster, Dan McCaw, Dean Mitchell and Andrew Wyeth to name a few.  Check out the online catalog here.

Next post will be from my workshop - see you then.

"Biker Gang"

16 x 6"

oil on masonite
sold

A new painting - three kids enjoying a bike ride on the beach on Hilton Head Island.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Sidewalk Glances"

12 x 12"
sold

Front and center, on the third floor of the Art Institute, hangs Gustave Caillebotte's enormous painting 'Paris Street, Rainy Day' - certainly the biggest crowd-pleaser in the museum. There's plenty of room to not only get up close, but to back up a good 30 - 40 feet and take it all in. When I was a teenager, I would sit on the floor in front of this masterpiece and draw dozens of versions of parts of this urban scene - not knowing I'd paint it dozens of times thirty years later.

My favorite feature of this new piece is the man on the far right, on his way out. I have wanted to add more movement in figures - a slight blur or even a ghost of a shape - just knowing when it's right is the tough part.



And knowing how to get the idea across, without looking like my hand smudged the paint unintentionally is even harder. It's something I'm working on more and more, mostly behind the scenes.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Mother"

4 x 4"
oil on masonite
sold

In the next few days, you'll see several new paintings inspired from my road trip thru Lancaster, Pennsylvania - where the Amish call home. This young mother and her children stand beside their new spring garden.

"Casts of Characters"

17 x 7"
3 panels
oil on masonite
sold

This new painting - which is three separate panels - is one of my personal favorites. You may notice I'm enamored with shadows and how they follow us in the sunshine. This piece is included in my solo show now on exhibit at the Morris & Whiteside Galleries.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Either Way"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite
sold

Children go into a museum of art with little concern of how profound it is to be in the company of the original pieces - they only know what speaks to them visually. Not too different than most adults. And not a bad thing. Degas didn't paint Woman Viewed From Behind for the purpose of admiration - I'm pretty sure he hoped the viewer would respond to his interpretation of the moment. I can go either way. There are times when I stand frozen, in awe that I'm looking at a painting that I've loved all my life, but only in books - and many times when I'm pulled in simply by the image. Either way, it's always an experience.

From the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Collection Bucket"

(detail)

4 x 14"
oil on masonite
sold

I have the beach on the brain these days - and since I haven't made that trip in several years, I live vicariously through my friends' experiences.

"Short Stop"

8 x 10"
oil on masonite
sold

I particularly loved how this little kid had her coat and sweater wrapped around her waist. And how that little girl in Monet's 'The Artist's House at Argenteuil' totally caught her attention.

This painting will be included in Howard/Mandville's Anniversary Show coming in June.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Say Cheese"

11 x 11"
oil on masonite
sold

(detail)

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(detail)

This painting is one of my personal favorites - if asked why, it was a challenge, a fun challenge, that includes 57 individuals frozen in a moment, busy with others or standing in line or resting on a bench. The view is from a couple floors up, looking down into the lobby of the Guggenheim - and at that very moment, to my delight, someone was pointing their camera up at me.

The challenge was to keep it all right - the distortion of the bodies, the correct proportions of each to another, the uniqueness of each person and mostly, keeping it loose and casual. It's one of those scenes that you must depend on seeing shapes and color as you're painting, rather than what it really is.

I will also say that, if you could view the original painting, you'd see more to the edges and brush strokes, which give it all a little movement. If you're in Seattle, please visit the Howard/Mandville Gallery to see this painting and others.

Click here for a larger view.

"Mother Duck"

detail

8 x 8"

oil on masonite

sold

The simplest moments can be the best paintings. Aside from the charming procession of the girls following their mother, the colors of the sky, the ocean and the sand seem to marry so well with the figures and what they're wearing and hauling. I tried this scene on a 6 x 6" format and failed - so I painted this on a little larger of a board and it worked perfectly. Another ode to summertime.

"The Last Days of Cezanne"

14 x 11"

oil on masonite

sold

Another view of the long line of people waiting to get into a special exhibition titled "Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde", which took place at the Art Institute of Chicago. I loved painting this.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Field Trip"

16 x 8"

oil on masonite

sold

I was so happy to return to painting today, it's been too long without. But now the retail part of my life has calmed down and I start back to work in my studio - getting new pieces done for a solo show in February. I'm very excited.

This painting depicts a single-file line of school kids waiting to get into an exhibit in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It will be included in my show as well.

For a larger view of this painting, click on the title above the image.

I know a lot of you are getting ready to celebrate Christmas and I wanted to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday. I hope you'll return back after Christmas to see the new daily paintings coming up.