"Patrons of the Avant-Garde"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I'm going to tell you the truth here - I'd like to keep this painting. I think it's one of my all-time favorites. The space, the individuals, the quietness..... all of it. These patrons were standing in a long line, on the last day of the exhibition titled "Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde", which took place in the Art Institute of Chicago. I included a couple of close-ups of the people, to show you how wonderfully unique we all are.

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

Please click here for a larger view.

"Central Parking"

16 x 8"

oil on masonite

sold

It's a good thing this was a holiday weekend because this painting took me all weekend. Admittedly between the swimming and eating and sleeping late. I'm an impatient painter if you don't know that about me - I want to start and finish in the same day or night. If I go to bed with a piece half done, I think about it and rework it in my head all night. Drives me nuts. But this weekend was the perfect time to attempt such a painting and I'm totally thrilled with the finished product. Hope you all had a good time off and I'll be back in a couple of days, after I catch up on some work.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville. The scene is from New York City, a crowded bench in Central Park in October.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Pull Up a Chair"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

I want to wish everyone a fun holiday weekend - I'm hoping to take some time off and go to a local arts festival, eat hotdogs and apple pie and swim in my neighbor's pool. What a perfect plan.

I got a little painting in this afternoon - a young woman reading in a big chair in a Starbucks. I even made up a short movie of the process of painting this little piece - click here if you'd like to see it.

"Spit and Image"

9 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

This is one of those moments captured - where I wonder if I can pull it off and how would it come across as brush strokes. Such a fun painting to do. A kid laying under the reflective sculpture "Cloudgate", a major attraction in Chicago's Millennium Park.

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

Please click here for a larger view.

"Lots of Dots"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

One more to wrap up my busy week - one of those perfect moments (I swear it really lined up this way) where mom and daughter and her stuffed elephant, all wearing polka dots, were zeroing in on Seurat's multitude of dots.

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

Please click here for a larger view.

"Three Amigos"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

I've had a long, pleasant day of painting - just finished up this new piece which will be included in my July show titled "The People I See". These three friends were chatting it up inside a Starbucks, on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Please click here for a larger view and purchase information.

"Curves"

11 x 14"

oil on masonite

sold

This is my newest painting, done for the July show in Asheville - I really, really love it. A young woman shares the room with Picasso's "Nude Under a Pine Tree", in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Please click here for a larger view.

Happy Friday all.

"Under Cover"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

Not only do I melt when I approach Lautrec's paintings - seeing this lovely woman standing there, admiring his Moulin Rouge pieces - her hat, the navy blue coat that created this wonderful form, her bare heels lit up by the light - all of it just took my breath away.

Now's a good time to explain my obsession with this subject - people inside of museums. I'm really more obsessed with the human form - especially how we stand, how we balance and how we dress. I view all people, all shapes and sizes, as perfect models. The backdrop of a bare wall provides the definition of the body. A work of art in the background can be more dominant than the figure - or it can be more vague and unremarkable. A lot of times I include works of art that mean a lot to me personally. It's fantastic joy for me to do these paintings for all of those reasons.

Click here if you'd like a larger view.

"Bare Back"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

Of all the hundreds of photographs I came home with - some stand out immediately and I'm anxious to paint those first. This young lady is one of those. There is an awkward elegance about her, mostly, it's the strong light on her bare back that is striking to me.

"Rosebud's on Rush"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

Hello all - I'm back home, rested and now that I've caught up at work, I'm happy to say I'm painting again. Oh how I missed it.

As you may know, I spent three days in Chicago - it was fantastic. The weather was perfect, the people were out in droves and I was envisioning paintings just about everywhere I looked. This new painting pretty much depicts the beginning of my adventure - as I arrived in the city early in the evening, starving and ready for a plate of chicken marsala at a little restaurant just around the corner from my hotel. The pressed, white tableclothes glisten in the sun, the waiters are handsome and the food is outstanding. Many more new paintings to come - I'm totally psyched.

My favorite art teacher.

One more thing before I head out this morning.....
I went back to my old high school yesterday. What a trip. The guy I painted on the wall 30 years ago points you to the art room, which was my favorite place to be. My good friend and the best teacher I've ever known, John Soldwedel, was and still is a great influence on my life and I'd like to thank him. He brought out the best in me, challenged me and I remember a long time ago, he told me that because I had talent, I had an obligation to be an artist. I know he's done the same for a hundred other kids throughout the years and we're all better people because of John. He's retiring in a couple of weeks - and I just wanted to tip my hat to my good friend. John - you're the best.

Happy Trails.....

Hello to all - I just arrived in Chicago, it's a b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l evening here and I'm craving pizza already. Tomorrow I'm going back to my old high school to visit my art teacher, who is retiring in less than 2 weeks - and the murals I painted on the walls may just retire with him, so I'll take some pictures to entertain you all. The "Tute" is waiting for me, I should get there sometime tomorrow evening - one of many trips to my favorite art museum. I certainly intend to get a firm answer on the Seurat mystery - I'll report back as soon as I know. For now, I'm gonna grab my trusty camera and venture out in this fabulous city. Enjoy your evening, wherever you are.

Seurat Mystery

I am truly stumped - thinking someone out there knows the answer to what this object is in Seurat's painting "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte". I won't sleep until I know.

"Points of Interest"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I've worked hard this week, trying to use available days to get in some painting on larger pieces for the galleries. That usually means the small, daily paintings get the shaft, but that's okay - it's good for me to keep a happy balance. I promise I'll get back to the little squares very soon.

This new painting was a challenge, to say the least. "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" is an incredible task to depict - and no, I did not do it with little, tiny dots of paint like Georges Seurat. If you've been to the Art Institute of Chicago, it's one of the premiere works of art. It's absolutely mind-blowing, considering the artist's technique and the size of his canvas. It always makes me think of "Ferris Beuller's Day Off" - when Cameron stands, transfixed on the thousands of dots on top of dots. I also took liberty in portraying the painting in another frame - truth is I hate how the original is displayed in the museum.

Click here if you'd like a larger view.

A Gala Event

Last night was the opening for Atlanta's ArtHouse 2007 - it's really a cool event and if you're in the area during the month of May, take the time to hit this venue. Basically, the Atlanta art galleries showcase select pieces under one roof, in a newly-built home. Visitors get an interesting assortment of different styles and different mediums and see it in a more livable environment. The Twinhouse Gallery included two of mine (shown above) as well as works from my fellow artist/friends Neil and Karen Hollingsworth, Jeff Cohen and Elizabeth Stockton. Also, try to stop in the gallery during the month of May to see more new paintings of mine and the others.

"Capitol Domes"

8 x 10"

oil on masonite

sold

I really like this piece - it's loose, dark and, to quote someone else, "buttery". I think all that is better appreciated in person. These two bald gentlemen were in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

"The Bean IV"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

Chicago's my favorite city, no doubt, and "The Bean" is my favorite stop. And one of my all-time favorite subjects to paint. Officially titled "Cloudgate", it sits in Millennium Park and draws in people like honey to a bee.

This subject is great to paint for a couple of reasons - certainly it's fun and challenging, in that it's made up of shapes and colors, warped and unreal - so the challenge is to rely on your eyes to make all the shapes and curves and colors make sense in the end. Which, I guess, is what the challenge of painting is, no matter what you're depicting.

"Performance Art"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

A woman spending a summer afternoon in the Art Institute of Chicago, before her is Renoir's "Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando".