"Red Alert"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I took a break from painting larger pieces and loosened up with this flirty moment - a woman seemingly being eyed by the Portrait of a Member of the Haarlem Civic Guard by Frans Hals.

Frans Hals (the Elder) was a Dutch Golden Age painter during the time of Rembrandt, a portrait artist much like his contemporaries.  I found it amusing that Hals insisted he stay in Haarlem and his clients needed to come to him to sit for a portrait, and it apparently worked for years because he did achieve success until he went out of style.  He was also an art restorer, dealer and art tax expert for the city.  Turned out the city and creditors sued him numerous times for debt and seized several pieces of furniture and paintings to settle. Left destitute, he was afforded a city pension but left nothing of note for his family when he died.

His portraits are hung in museums around the world.  There is a Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, Amsterdam, Antwerp, the Louvre in Paris, the Frick and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to name a few.

The Portrait of a Member of the Haarlem Civic Guard hangs in the National Gallery of Art DC.

'And to All a Good Night'

"And to All a Good Night"

by Norman Rockwell

Mentioned today in Charley Parker's artblog Lines & Colors.

~  Wishing you and yours a lovely Christmas holiday.

Calendars

SOLD OUT

The Swamp

I'm making progress.

Just to catch you up....

Here's where I have them on my website.

"Swept Away"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Like many a Rembrandt painting,  A Girl With a Broom, painted in 1651, is one of the most-copied or faked paintings of all times.  In fact, the fakes have been produced since the mid-1700's.  Numerous people through the years have claimed they have the original, but alas, the original hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.

"200 Faces, No. 157 & 158"

 4 x 4"

oil on panel

 4 x 4"

oil on panel

 

 

New additions to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"200 Faces, No. 156"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

The newest addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"An Assumption"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

This new painting will be my Christmas card this year.  

Featured is the Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Julian and Minias by the artist, Andrea del Castagno, painted in 1449.  The Rector of a church in Florence commissioned the painting for an altarpiece - a church that dated back to the 11th century.  In 1888, the church was demolished during the Reconstruction of Florence and the altarpiece was purchased by the Staatliche Museum in Berlin, where visitors can view this remarkable work of art.

The original photograph is by Stefan Draschan, who kindly gave me permission to use it as a reference.

"200 Faces, No. 155"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

A new addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

Asked why I'm painting these final 50 - it is practice, wishful thinking and very cathartic.

I've got a plan for these final 50, so for now, they will not go on auction.

"Daisy"

My friends' beloved Daisy.  RIP.

"200 Faces, No. 154"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

A new addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"200 Faces, No. 153"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

A new addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"200 Faces, No. 152"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

A new addition to my ongoing series  BUST-ED.  A preemptive mugshot of sorts.  The final 50 will be the individuals that are damaging our republic.  I'm simply venting thru my paintbrush.

"200 Faces, No. 151

4 x 4"

oil on panel
sold

I'm inspired to finish up my ongoing series BUST-ED with this new addition. 

"Heaven"

8 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

It's not just that the artist, Wayne Thiebaud, paints cakes, pies, cupcakes, ice cream cones and a variety of splendid desserts - he brushes on paint as if he were applying icing.  He swirls.  He wiggles.  And damn if every stroke and every touch of color, often unexpected color, is perfection. The last time I was at the National Gallery of Art in DC, I stood just as close as this woman and thought this is heaven.  

To mention, this is another small study for a larger painting.  And I really can't wait to start.

"Dignity"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Believe it or not, I'm planning out a solo show taking place next March and this is one of the studies of one that I will do larger.  The artworks that will be featured are 'extra-large' - examples are (this) Barack Obama 'Hope' by Shepard Fairey, Guernica by Picasso, etc.

Shepard Fairey's large, mixed-media portrait is based on Fairey's Barack Obama 'Hope' poster, which came to represent Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.  Fairey created the large portrait after Obama won the election and the Smithsonian Institution acquired it for its National Portrait Gallery. 

"Listen Up"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

A small study - two young ladies grooving on Interrupted Reading by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Daisies Like This"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I hope you've enjoyed your Labor Day weekend.

I've been painting studies all week including this new piece I finished this evening.  A woman viewing a painting in the Art Institute of Chicago - one that always makes me smile - Henri Matisse's Daisies.

"Overheads"

6 x 6" 

oil on panel
sold

From the Art Institute of Chicago, museum patrons waiting in line to an exhibit underneath one of Ellsworth Kelly's The Chicago Panels.

The Chicago Panels were commissioned specifically for the walls on the floor above the American Art sculpture court - consisting of six painted, monochromatic, curved aluminum panels. 

Please consider donating to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army to help people affected by Hurricane Harvey.  You can donate here to the Red Cross and donate here to the Salvation Army. 

"Suit Yourself"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

The Belgium artist, Rene Magritte clearly had a sense of humor.

Magritte's earliest paintings date back to 1915 - and like most artists of that time period, he dabbled in different styles, beginning with Impressionism, Cubism, Fauvism then Surrealism after becoming involved with a group of surrealists in Paris.  Meanwhile, to earn a living, he ran an advertising agency back in Brussels, continued painting in a more painterly style - even earned a living at one time producing fake Picassos and Braques and believe it or not, forged banknotes during the postwar period. 

The Son of Man was completed in 1964 as a self-portrait.  The hovering, green apple obsures most of his face, as Magritte explained 'Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.  There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us.  This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present'.

The Son of Man has been parodied multiple times in literature, film and artworks - notably a few - Norman Rockwell painted a homage titled Mr. Apple, the Simpsons had Bart behind a floating apple, and the film The Thomas Crown Affair included the painting in several scenes.

The Dark Side of the Moon

Enjoy it.  Wherever you are.


'Solar Eclipse' by Yuri Shwedoff

Reposting an Important One

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

Norman Rockwell's profound 1964 painting 'The Problem We All Live With' is on the top of my Rockwell list.  It depicts 6-year-old Ruby Bridges, an African-American girl, being escorted to an all-white public school in New Orleans, by four deputy U.S. marshalls.  What is so very effective is the viewer is seeing the point of view from the angry crowd, the hint being the racial slurs on the wall and the tomato splattered in between the figures.  

The image was published in a 1964 issue of Look magazine - Rockwell's contract with the Saturday Evening Post ended in 1963 due to Rockwell's continued frustration with the magazine's limitations on his expressions of progressive social interests, including his personal views on civil rights and racial integration.

Norman Rockwell's granddaughter, Abigail, recently wrote a compelling article in the Huffington Post titled Would There Be Norman Rockwell Without The Saturday Evening Post?  Rockwell undoubtedly evolved as an illustrator between 1916 and 1963 - becoming a storyteller with his images like no other.  His career with the Post yielded 322 covers before he ended his contract.

Ruby Bridges, at the age of 56, visited the painting in the White House in 2011 - at the request of President Obama.

The CNN writer, Bob Greene, wrote about that event in this article.  Within that article, these words struck me "..the message of the painting is so powerful that it goes well beyond the incident it portrays. The message transcends our usual Democrats-vs.-Republicans, conservatives-vs.-liberals, left-vs.-right squabbling.  Rockwell was a genius not just because of the technical skill of his artistry, but because of his eye for the telling detail. And in "The Problem We All Live With," the key detail is how he framed the four U.S. marshals who are accompanying that child to school. We do not see their faces; in the painting, the men are cropped at their shoulders.

That is the power and the story of the painting: Four men were accompanying Bridges to school, yes, but the point was, the United States of America was accompanying her. We see the men's "Deputy U.S. Marshal" armbands, and that is what matters. The painting tells us: This country may have its flaws, but when right and wrong are on the line, the nation, in the end, usually chooses to stand for right."

"Hip To"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

A woman stands in front of Mark Rothko's No. 3/No. 13 in the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

"Girls With Pearls"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I was simply inspired to paint this new piece after I turned on the movie Girl with a Pearl Earring - which, by the way, is an artist's dream of a beautifully visual film.  Every minute is a painting.

Johannes Vermeer was a moderately successful Dutch painter in the 17th century - specializing in domestic scenes in his own middle-class life.   He painted slow and infrequently and insisted on using expensive paints but his signature element was light.

Vermeer wasn't a wealthy man - but his future mother-in-law was wealthy and insisted Johannes convert to Catholicism before marrying her daughter Catharina - and with her help, Vermeer was able to pursue painting.   The couple went on to have eleven children, all who were left penniless and in debt after his death at age 43.

Vermeer's works were hardly known outside of Amsterdam until the 19th century - imagine that.  His famous painting Girl with a Pearl Earring hangs in The Hague in the Netherlands.

"Repose"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I spent a WEEK on a painting - yikes - then took a few days off and today I really, really enjoyed painting loose for a change.  I concentrated less on the art and more on the space.  

A woman resting on a bench in the French Impressionists gallery in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

"Surrender"

8 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I can truly say this is where I'd like to be.

A woman sunbathing on the beach on Hilton Head Island.

"Call It a Night"

10 x 10"

oil on panel
sold

If you have a bucket list, add seeing the painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper in the Art Institute of Chicago.  

Hopper's iconic painting done in 1942 is one of the most recognizable paintings in American art.  Hopper and his wife Jo attended an exhibit of paintings by Henri Rousseau at the Museum of Modern Art - about a month after Nighthawks was hung in a New York gallery - and in attendance was Daniel Catton Rich, the director of the Art Institute of Chicago and Alfred Barr, the director of MOMA.  Jo told Barr he just had to go see Edward's new painting Nighthawks.  It was Rich who went to see it shortly after and purchased it for $3000 and the painting has hung in the Art Institute ever since.

Please click here for a larger view.

"From Their Perspective"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I enjoyed loosening up with this new painting - two young women resting on a bench in front of Mark Rothko's Untitled, (Purple, White and Red) in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Puppy Zen"

12 x 12"

oil on panel

These are my darling pups, Zac and Joey, when they were about four months old.  

I know, it's out there for me.

"Get With The Program"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I love this painting.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a couple rests on a marble bench in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"The Light Of Day"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

And a happy summer to you.

I've been busy going places but now I'm home and back to painting.  Yay.

Back in my frame shop days, I made it a point to have a framed Georgia O'Keeffe print on the wall - especially her New York skyscrapers.  I had a guy come in one day, swore I was mistaken that the painting you see above, The Shelton with Sunspots, N.Y. was NOT an O'Keeffe.  He insisted she only painted flowers and desert scenes.  Yep, that's what he said.

O'Keeffe created a series of New York skyscrapers between 1925 and 1929 after she and Alfred Stieglitz moved into the Shelton Hotel, on the 30th floor where she had a perfect view of the northern, eastern and southern cityscapes.  Her painting above depicts an optical illusion where there appeared to be "a bite out of one side of the tower made by the sun, with sunspots against the building and against the sky".

After 1929, O'Keeffe was unhappy with city life and marriage and moved to New Mexico, where she found new inspiration in the southwest landscapes, never to revisit the subject of skyscrapers again.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a woman stands next to Georgia O'Keeffe's The Shelton with Sunspots, N.Y.

"Lend Me Your Ear" (study)

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I've written about Vincent van Gogh in past posts and still I can't get over the fact that this brilliant artist completed nearly 900 paintings, 1,100 drawings and countless etchings between the ages of 28 through 37 years old.  And the majority of paintings were done in the last two years of his life.  And.... he only sold one painting in his lifetime.  Remarkable.

Van Gogh painted 30 self-portraits during the last several years of his life - in large part to not being able to pay a model.  Each and every portrait gives the viewer great insight to his state at that time.  The self-portrait above was done in 1887 while he lived in France and largely due to being influenced by the young artist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh approached this painting with the play between the complimentary colors of blue-greens and the orange-reds.  He adopted elements of Pointillism, using small, colored strokes inside the background and clothing, something that can't be seen from a distance, but up close, is so very effective.  

From the Art Institute of Chicago,  a man closely views Vincent van Gogh's Self-Portrait.  This is a small study of a larger version I am currently working on - I wanted to make sure I could get the tilt of the man's head right before I tackled a larger painting.

"Subtropical"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I've been in an experimental mode with this idea.  On several occasions, I've seen blown up wall murals - some in museums advertising exhibitions, some on sides of buildings, some on television during live concerts or speeches, etc.  It really captures my attention.  So I've been playing with scale and people and it's been great fun, resulting in a study of one I'd like to do a bit larger.

Feel free to tell me what you think.

The mural behind the woman on the bench is Paul Gauguin's Aha Oe Feii? or Are You Jealous?.  Painted in 1892 from his adventures in Tahiti, the title refers to a conversation between two sisters about love and conquests, causing one to say What? Are you jealous? after one claimed she got lucky the night before and the other did not.  

Gauguin went to Tahiti with expectations of paradise and Tahitian culture but discovered those preconceived notions were disappearing fast with Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries moving in on the natives.  It was then his goal to spend the next twelve years recreating the idyllic world in paintings, engravings and sculptures.

"Come Across"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

I'm really late for dinner but I wanted to post this new painting that includes one of my personal favorites of Georgia O'Keeffe, Black Cross, New Mexico in the Art Institute of Chicago.  To her left is The Black Place.

"Love Is In The Air"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

The artist Marc Chagall called 'love' the primary color of his paintings.  They are rich with Russian culture.  You hear the music.  You feel the love.

Chagall's Birthday depicts the artist floating and swooping over his wife, Bella, to kiss her on her birthday.  Or his birthday - different accounts claim one or the other.  The couple met in their hometown of Vitebsk, Belarus in 1909 - he was twenty-two and she was fourteen.  Chagall was the son of a working-class Hasidic Jewish family - Bella was born to one of the town's richest Jewish families.  Despite her family's misgivings about the union, Marc and Bella married in 1915, had a daughter, moved to rural France, fled from the Nazi regime to Lisbon and then to the United States and remained happily married until Bella's death in 1944.

In her memoirs, Bella recounts how she worked at finding Marc's birth date and visited him on that day, carrying flowers as he began the paint.  "Spurts of red, white, black.  Suddenly you tear me from the earth, you yourself take off from one foot.  You rise, you stretch your limbs, you float up to the ceiling.  Your head turns about and you make mine turn.  You brush my ear and murmur."

How sweet is that?

From the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, a woman leans in to admire Chagall's Birthday.

"Garden Variety"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

In need of a moment of Zen?  Spend some time in an art museum.  Put your phone on silent.  Step into another time.  That's what painting can be like.  A removal from the present.  Imagine painting a huge canvas with your garden surrounding you.  Nice thought.

Claude Monet was 74 years old when he began painting Irises in 1914.  He had gained financial and critical success in the late 1800's, he and his second wife and their combined family were living in Giverny where he frequently painted outdoors in the gardens he helped create.  In 1911, his wife Alice passed away, he had developed cataracts in one eye - yet he took on a large commission by the Orangerie des Tuileries museum in Paris to complete twelve waterlily paintings.  He wanted his pieces to serve as a 'haven of peaceful meditation' to soothe the 'overworked nerves' of the visitors.

Irises stands out as more painterly, with almost a stucco surface of thick, broad brushstrokes capturing the light and color Monet struggled to see clearly.  Stand in front of it and you can see his progressions and strokes as he works on layers upon layers.  

From the Art Institute of Chicago, where you can find many extraordinary works by Monet.

Book Cover

I took the week to visit a good friend.  We spent our time painting together and eating wonderful dinners.  A most perfect week.

Wanted to show you a new book of poetry by Emily Blewitt, titled This Is Not A Rescue.  The publisher Seren Books is located in Wales - they contacted me asking if I would provide the artwork
for the cover and I gladly agreed.

Just a very cool thing.  Makes me proud.

You can order a copy here.

Back to painting tomorrow.

~ Happy Mother's Day ~

"Big Man"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I've been a bit stagnant lately with respect to painting.

It's normal.  Typically happens after a long stretch of painting for a show.  The well goes dry.  It's normal.  

To the surprise of many, I get inspiration from television.  An image will appear or colors will stand out that impress my brain.  Subjects come up and I make a mental note.  I watched a segment recently about the Osage Indians in Pawhuska, Oklahoma - I was born somewhat near the area - so I paid a little more attention to the story which was mainly about the horrible murders of many tribe members in the early 20th century.  

The photos of the Osage were stunning.  The faces, the bone structure... I am always consumed by the human face and form.  That was why I began the BUST-ED series and continue that curiousity.  So I've been pouring over photographs from over 100 years ago of various Native Americans, in awe of their beauty and dignity.

And it's something different for me - to paint with black and white.  It led me to this new painting - a portrait of Big Man.  He was of the Sicangu Oyate Tribe, a branch of the Lakota people who's home is South Dakota.  I don't know much about this gentleman, but Big Man in many tribes all over the world means the patriarch or a highly influential individual.  I found him to be an inspiration.