"Bird Sighting"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I saw this exquisite painting at the Delaware Art Museum a few years back.  I felt .... lucky.  There haven't been many chances in my life to see those Pre-Raphaelite portraits of women in their luxurious clothes and settings.  They're so yummy.

The painting in my painting is 'Veronica Veronese' by Dante Gabriel Rosetti, done in 1872 - first sold to a frequent collector, a rich shipping magnate Frederick Leyland, changed hands a few times then it was donated to the Delaware Art Museum in 1935.

Rossetti's painting is filled with symbolism - the uncaged bird, the daffodils, the camomile in the cage.  Rossetti was English, a co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of artists and poets, which evolved through the years.

Out to Lunch

On this Easter holiday weekend, I want to say I've completely lost my mind.

I've had a long time desire to paint Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party since the day I saw it in person about seven years ago.  I tackled it once.  It was much looser.  And there was a crowd in the way.  I was saner back then.

Now I'm zeroing in on Renoir's incredible attention to detail, seeing things I've never noticed before.  Here's my slow progress...

I really should go dye some eggs.

I also wanted to mention Senator John McCain wrote an article in the New York Times today - about a recent obituary, the death of a U.S. soldier Delmer Berg.  He was 100 years old.  

The reason I bring this up?  Picasso's painting Guernica, which I recently featured in my painting War Paint.  

Mr. Berg was the last known veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.  One of about 3,000 mostly-American volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War, in defense of the leftist government of Spain, against the Nationalists, led by Franco.  I never knew about the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.  It was part of the International Brigade, which included tens of thousands of foreign volunteers that fought against the bombings and destruction of many little hamlets in Spain.  Guernica being one of them.

So coming to the aid of a foreign land and people, people that these volunteers never knew - is quite profound.  

~  Happy Easter

"Mystic" (study)

6 x 8"

oil on panel

sold

And now for peace....

The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC is home to this beautiful, wooden sculpture 'Saint John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz)' - commissioned in 1675 by a convent near Seville, Spain to a 21-year-old artist named Francisco Antonio Gijon.  The contract survived all these years, stating the work was to be made of cypress supplied by the monks and be finished in less than two months time.

Yikes.

Saint John of the Cross was a 16th century Spanish mystic, imprisoned for pushing reform of his Carmelite order - his imprisonment inspired some of the most admired poetry and spiritual verses ever written in Spanish.  The mystic figure holds a quill on one hand and a book with a model of a mountain surmounted by a cross in the other - referring to his 'The Ascent of Mount Carmel'.

This 6-1/2' sculpture will bring you to your knees.

~ Happy Spring

"War Paint" (study)

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

Considered Pablo Picasso's most famous painting, Guernica, was a powerful political statement depicting the horrors and devastation of the Nazi's bombing of the town Guernica during the Spanish Civil War in 1937.   The size of Picasso's painting is 25 1/2' x 11' which effectively awes any viewer.

Picasso was working on a mural at the time of the bombing, commissioned by the Spanish Republican government for the upcoming Paris exhibition but scrapped his original idea and began planning his composition of Guernica.  News of the massacre reached Paris and protests erupted all over the city - newspaper pages covered with stark black & white photographs of the devastation - which inspired Picasso to start working on Guernica in black and white and blue-grey tones.

Picasso finished three months later, delivered to the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris Exposition already in progress.  Initial reaction was overwhelming critical - the German guide described the painting as 'a hodgepodge of body parts that any four-year-old could have painted' and dismissed it as the 'dream of a madman'.  Even Russia, who sided with the Spanish government, criticized it, saying a more-realistic painting would have impacted the social or political future.

After the Paris tour, Guernica made its rounds in Europe and North America raising atttention to the threat of fascism.  During WWII until 1981, it hung in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, traveling back and forth to other countries - but never Spain.  Picasso refused it go to Spain 'until the country enjoys public liberties and democratic institutions' - which in 1981, after the death of Franco and the movement towards democracy, Guernica was put in its final home, the Reina Sofia in Madrid.

"Unwrapped"

5 x 5"

oil on panel
sold

My appreciation for the multitudes of colors in a fish.

"Giving Pause"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

My ongoing attention to James McNeill Whistler inspired this new painting - a woman pausing before Whistler's 'Harmony in Green and Rose: The Music Room', which hangs in the Freer Gallery of Art - a commonly missed museum in Washington, DC.

"Tender Loving Care"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

It's high time I featured a woman artist - the very recognizable Mary Cassatt.  

Cassatt was American, born in Pennsylvania in the mid-1800's, in a well-to-do banking family.  She was one of seven children who were raised with high education, traveling and living in Europe for an extended period, all the while learning French, art and music.  She was around 11 years old when she first saw the great French artists like Corot and Ingres among others.

Her family objected to her becoming a professional artist - regardless, she began studying art and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philly - being one of the few women students in a male dominant environment.  It wasn't easy for women at that time to be taken seriously so she moved to Paris at the age of 22, with her mother, and began more formative studies.

She returned to Pennsylvania for a while, tried to capture attention in several galleries, but was discouraged over and over until the Archbishop of Pittsburgh commissioned her to paint copies of the Italian artist, Correggio, and all expenses paid to travel back to Europe - which she happily accepted.

Cassatt continued her stay in Europe - suffered the same setbacks a woman had to deal with until her big break when Edgar Degas invited her to show her works with a group who called themselves The Impressionists.  For years, she blossomed as an artist and relished their cause and notoriety.

I find the most interesting part of her life was in her later years,  at around 66 years old, Cassatt traveled to Egypt, followed by a crisis of creativity (haven't we all felt that at one time) - so impressed with 'the strength of this Art' that it almost defeated her.  She suffered from cataracts, crippling arthritis and diabetes but kept on painting but was forced to stop painting at the age of 70, as she was almost blind.  She then took up the cause of women's suffrage, contributing to the movement by showing and selling her paintings.

Cassatt is best known for her depictions of women's daily lives and their closeness to their children - as seen in 'The Child's Bath' (featured in my painting) which hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"A Peek In The Bedroom"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Two things inspired me to paint this on Valentine's Day.   The couple, of course, enjoying time together and this article in the Chicago Tribune about Vincent van Gogh's famous painting 'The Bedroom', which hangs in the Art Institute.

"Double Date"

sold

I don't usually show you my paintings framed but I thought this was so gorgeous, I'd show it before I shipped it off to The Red Piano Art Gallery.  Should be hanging on their wall just in time for Valentine's Day this Saturday.

This piece 'Double Date' and 'Formal Wear' - allow me to refresh your memory....

sold

will be included in the Hilton Head Art Auction taking place February 27th at The Red Piano Art Gallery.

You can find the details and contact information on my webpages for each painting - here for 'Double Date' - and here for 'Formal Wear'.

"Zen Time"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

A couple of weeks back, I was refreshing my memory about William Merritt Chase (for this post) and came across 'The Ten' - a revered group of artists that included Chase.  I jotted down several names that I was familiar with and love their work, one of which is John Henry Twachtman.

I always stop in my tracks when I come across Twachtman's paintings, very much like another member of The Ten, Willard Metcalf - they both painted landscapes that are so calming, so still, so very Zen.  I especially love their snow scenes.  They painted loose, painterly, seemingly quick - most likely they were outdoors painting plein-air.

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Twachtman's 'Arques-la-Bataille' hangs in front of a bench for all the right reasons.  The scene is calm, the color palette is soothing and low-key - a good painting to get lost in.

Twachtman was an American artist, from Cincinnati - traveled and studied abroad with fellow artists and discovered like-minded painters who took on the Impressionistic style of the times, which was in the mid-to-end of the 1800's.

It's also my moment of Zen to paint these images - taking rich greens and blues and lavenders and greying them down a notch.  It made for a mellow day of painting.

"Caucus Country"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

An ode to the beauty of a simple, stately farmhouse in Middle America, Iowa.

Ken Auster

 'Into The Light'

by Ken Auster

Somewhere in 2003,  I was on my 24th year running a frame shop with no other future plans but to keep on doing what I knew how to do.  In my off hours, I'd look at art on the web, mostly to sell in my gallery and I landed on the artist Ken Auster.

Mind you, I had never painted in oils, never really painted much at all - I was a drawing freak since I was a kid.  When I saw what and how Ken Auster painted, something sparked a flame inside of me.  For years I framed trendy stuff - cottages, florals, quirky Amish scenes, etc - none of which ever convinced me to join the painting world until I saw Ken's work.  There were everyday, simple moments - glimpses of people, colorful city streets, surfers at the beach - real life that's all around us.

What really grabbed my attention was his style of quick, deliberate brush strokes that meant something - nothing more needed to get the point across.  It was the first time I'd ever heard the phrase 'economy strokes'.  It was impressionistic, never over-done and it made me want to paint.

The end of 2003, I'd taught myself how to work with oils, took photos everywhere I went, and that was the beginning of my life as an artist.

 'Lunch Hour'

by Ken Auster

 

 

I bookmarked a gallery that Ken Auster was part of back in 2003, kept up with his new work, and sometime around 2007, that very gallery contacted me about representation - the Morris & Whiteside Gallery in Hilton Head (now The Red Piano).  The first thing I said to Ben Whiteside was 'isn't this the gallery who has Ken Auster's work?'.   Needless to say, I was floored - quickly accepted Ben's invitation and I've been part of his gallery ever since - with my paintings hanging next to Ken's.  Holy cow.

I know Ken knew his impact on my life and although we never met, I knew him through his paintings.

Ken passed away yesterday I'm told, way too soon.  This is my small tribute to a brilliant artist who lives on through his work.

 

"Wallflowers"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Most people know Toulouse-Lautrec for his short stature and his paintings of the Moulin Rouge.  I'll tell you a bit more about this genius, who was also a printmaker and illustrator born in France in 1864.

He was the son in an aristocratic family, his parents were first cousins who, early on, split up and Henri was raised by a nanny until the age of 8 when he went to live with his mother.  He was a budding artist early on.  At 13, he broke his right femur and a year later fractured his left, which never healed properly.  He suffered from several genetic disorders, attributed to a family history of inbreeding.  As an adult, he stood at 4 ft, 8 in tall which most likely was why he immersed himself in art.

Toulouse-Lautrec had a tragic life, contracted syphilis, abused alcohol to deal with his pain, had a nervous breakdown at the age of 34 and died at the age of 36.  He left behind more than 700 paintings, 350+ prints and posters and over 5,000 drawings.  The quintessential suffering artist I'd say.

What stands out to me is he painted real people in real places doing real things.  Not glamoured up but people as they were, warts and all.  Honest and sympathetic.

From the National Gallery of Art in DC, a woman in Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec's painting 'A Corner In a Dance Hall' seemingly looks on at a visitor studying another piece.

"Black and Blue"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

For many, I hope you are home safe and sound and ready for snowmageddon - I was hoping we'd have a little of that here in Atlanta.  

My work days were interrupted by my 19-year-old furnace dying, fortunately it was replaced yesterday - so now we're broke but warm and happy.  So the painting goes back on to recover from that.

I could go on and on about Andy Warhol, but most people know how brilliant, odd, prolific he was.  One of my very favorite movies is Basquiat - the late, great David Bowie portraying Warhol.  Great flick to stream in this wintery weekend.

"Mother Figure"

8 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

Naturally I began obsessing about James Abbott McNeill Whistler after finishing my recent painting - an artist best known for his large, iconic oil painting 'Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1', widely known and referred to as 'Whistler's Mother'.  It's permanent home is in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

In America's museums, you can see stunning portraits by Whistler - like 'The White Girl' in DC's National Gallery of Art among others.  I love his moody, low-tone color, landscapes.

There's several stories about the portrait of Anna McNeill Whistler.  One is Anna stood in for a scheduled model who was a no-show.  It's been told that Whistler originally envisioned the pose standing up, but his mother preferred to sit if it were to be a lengthy pose.

What may surprise many is the painting is huge - about 64" x 57" without the wide, original frame that Whistler designed himself.  And the pure, beautiful details really are stunning, especially the delicate headdress and her hands and hankerchief.  

I loved studying it more and painting it - I broke out every tube of Torrit Grey I had and really noticed the subtle differences in Whistler's painting - the cold vs. warm greys throughout are a great lesson in mixing paints.  My next larger piece will be of this scene and his painting,  I'm very excited.

"Dandy"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

Here's one of my favorite paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City - a large portrait of the artist 'James McNeill Whistler' by the friend and fellow artist William Merritt Chase.  I've read when the two painters met, they became instant friends and both agreed to paint a portrait of each other.  They probably were trying to hone their portrait skills to compete with fellow painter John Singer Sargent who was all the rage at the time.

Chase presented Whistler with this finished painting, even inscribing in the upper left corner the words 'To my friend Whistler, Wm. M. Chase, London 1885'.  Chase painted this portrait honoring Whistler's low-key palette and painterly style - only Whistler was apparently offended, exclaiming it a 'monstrous lampoon' which started a rift between the two men for a long time.  It is believed Whistler destroyed his painting of Chase, never to be seen.

"Dead Head"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I've always loved this painting by Guido Reni, in the Art Institute of Chicago - 'Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist', painted around 1640.  Reni was one of the top-billed, successful artists of the time in Italy and extremely prolific.

I confess, I get most of my bible education from television and movies and I mostly remember in the epic 'Kings of Kings' when Salome does this provocative Dance of the Seven Veils for her stepfather, Herod, then asks him for the head of Saint John the Baptist on a silver platter.  Compare that visual scene to Reni's depiction - Salome is seemingly nonchalant when presented the dead head with no visible blood drippings,  dressed in heavy layers of clothing with her staff looking on.  It's pretty tame.  Probably politically correct for those times.

"Red Up On"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

One of America's great abstract artists, Ellsworth Kelly, died last weekend at the age of 92.  In 2013, President Obama presented Mr. Kelly with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor for artistic excellence.  This man was important.

I've roamed thru the Art Institute of Chicago a dozen times, barely noticing those six, large, colorful, geometric panels hanging high on the top floor of the American Art gallery.  They're titled 'The Chicago Panels' by Ellsworth Kelly.  To be honest, modern art doesn't grab me like realism does - only because, often, I don't understand it. And being an artist myself, that's a pretty shallow comment.

There's many important 20th century artists I've never heard of or paid little attention to until I read their obituary. After I read several moving obits about Ellsworth Kelly this week, so much made sense.  This man saw patterns in shadows, shapes and colors in nature and in life which he transformed into sculptures and paintings like no other.

Take the example of 'White Curve', which hangs on an exterior wall in the Pritzker Garden at the Art Institute.

Now look at one of Kelly's own photographs taken in the countryside in New York.

Now I get it.  Now I see it.  The red panel in my painting above, one of the six panels I mentioned, was inspired by the rich, reds of a cardinal he photographed while bird watching.  Now I get it.

By most accounts, Mr. Kelly was a delightful, warm, friendly, humorous, creative man who lived in the moment.  That should always be one's New Year's resolution - every day, every year - to live in the moment and  appreciate the beauty around us.  And never judge or dismiss what we don't understand.  We'd all be better for it.

Speaking for myself, I find it hard to appreciate vegetables and Indian food, hot summers, crowds, crowds who sing, performance art and Donald Trump to name a few - but life is long and I'm willing to learn, except for the Trump thing.

Wishing you a Happy and Healthy and Creative New Year ~

"Flower Child"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

It's been my observation that most young children are bored in art museums unless they happened upon a work of art that is familiar to them - like paintings of children, mother and child, or big shapes and bright colors - then they pay attention.   

It was no surprise to see a young girl seemingly mesmerized with the colorful, bold, modernist-style painting 'Le Tournesol' (The Sunflower) by Edward Steichen, which hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

Edward Steichen painted this in 1920, he was around 40 years old and had practiced painting and photography and most of his paintings were landscapes and portraits with very tonalist colors, muted, like his photography.  Steichen abruptly changed his style in his late 30's to a more hard-edged, modernist style and painted 'Le Tournesol', which was exhibited in Paris in 1922, with great importance - along with similar works of art by Leger, O'Keeffe and others who's styles reflected stream-lined forms and off-key colors.

A few years later, Steichen apparently had a 'crisis in faith' and abandoned painting, destroying any photographs and artworks in his possession (this one was sold and not in his studio).  He left New York and returned to France where he dove into gardening, raised sunflowers, photographed them over and over - studied mathematics intensely and painted small, abstract, geometric pieces.  He did eventually return to the US, his photography continued to be his passion and his legacy.  In 2006, one of his photographs sold for $2.9 million, what was then the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction.

"Have A Look"

5 x 5"

oil on panel
sold

I spent 6 long days on a larger painting and gladly moved on to baking cookies and enjoying the feasts of Christmas.  Hope you had a nice holiday too.

Painting larger throws me off.  It kinda burns me out.  I love painting small.

From the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC - a woman gets a good look at Rembrandt's 'Self Portrait'.

Christmas Wishes

Wishing you a peaceful, happy holiday.

not for sale 

Special Set of Note Cards Available

SOLD OUT

 

I created this note card for myself and it's so cool,  I ordered more in the event you're interested.  The front of the card features my painting 'Women In Gold' and it is blank inside.  The card measures 4-/14" x 5-1/2", printed on a glossy finish - sold as a set of 10 note cards with 10 white envelopes.

on that note.... I'm so pleased with the quality and the response, thank you all.  I'll be doing more in the future.

My 2016 Calendars Are Here!

My new 2016 wall calendars Inspiring Artists are SOLD OUT.

Progress and Other Stuff

That's right, I'm painting upside down.  And sideways.

I'm determined to not use my large stand-up easel - I prefer to sit - so I've been painting small portions at a time, working my way down.  It's a hoot.  And it's working.

The hardboard panel is 7 x 24",  I painted an acrylic metallic silver w/a dash of blue mixed in to get a cold ground color - the photos look warmer because of my lighting.  Like my recent painting 'Women In Gold',  I wanted a little shimmering showing thru the oils.

Just wanted to show my progress.

I also spent time completing a new book on my series ArtistZ,  now I'm waiting for my copy to arrive to proof it before I offer it for sale.  And I created a 2016 calendar - inspired by all my recent art history lessons for the series - included are the birthdays of many artists I love.  I think if you're an artist yourself, you'd like it.

Back to work for now ~

"Xun"

6 x 8"

oil on panel

sold

For the letter X in my series ArtistZ,  I spent, I'm guessing, five or six hours researching and hunting an artist.  Google painters who's name begins with the letter X and you'll find hundreds of mostly Chinese artists, a small number of Greek and a handful of other nationalities.  At one point, I went to the New York Times archive, because I vaguely remembered the artist Sun Xun, written about several times in past few years and I found him.  Sun Xun lives and works in Beijing, he's around 36 years old, which is impressive given his wide range of mediums and amount of work.

Quite frankly, I don't respond to most of Xun's works, he has explored mixed media, animation, block printing, ink drawings and painting - and I zeroed in on an exhibit in 2012 titled 'These Years', a collection of mixed media oils that include still life, landscapes and figuratives, including my choice piece Waiting.   I just love the grey-green tones and the strong turquoise/aquas together.