"Catch the Next Wave"

 

 

9 x 12"

oil on panel

sold

My Mac died a couple of weeks ago.  I work on what they call a 'vintage' model.  I have to.  I run programs from days of yore - ones I built my website on, etc.  For about a week, I hunted down a 'vintage' replacement and turned it over to the experts and finally got my working studio back to normal.  Happy to report I'm no longer out of sorts.  

Meanwhile, I started this painting, working from a laptop screen.  It's a slower process but better than nothing while I waited.  So, that's where I've been lately.

When I stood in front of Ground Swell by Edward Hopper,  I stared for quite a while. What was that buoy doing there?  On an otherwise calm, beautiful day, surrounded by a sea of blues, there is this dark, ominous warning of sorts, alerting the people on the small catboat.  A sign of imminent danger?  Clouds signaling a storm is coming?  I looked for an explanation when I had time.  Hopper never offered one except - during the time he worked on Ground Swell in 1939, World War II broke out in Europe.  I think that explains it.

From the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

Please click here for a larger view.

~ Stay healthy and safe and get your vaccination.

"The Light of Day"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

If you venture out much of what you'll see resembles an Edward Hopper painting.  Isolated streets, quiet neighborhood scenes.  No artist has portrayed isolation like Hopper.  Keep in mind, he lived in New York City.

Hopper once said about his paintings "What I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house." and spent his lifetime pursuing light in his resonant paintings.  Morning Sun captures that beam of sunlight coming through the window, onto the woman on the bed - his wife, Jo, was often his model for his work.

What Morning Sun means to me, especially now in the midst of this pandemic, is even in isolation and darkness, look for the light.

Hopper's painting resides in the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio and at one time traveled to the Art Institute of Chicago for a Hopper exhibition, which is where I had the pleasure of seeing it in person.

"Late Night"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Feels good to accomplish something again.  What a week.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a woman taking a long look at Edward Hopper's iconic painting Nighthawks.

"Girl Talk"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

I'm planning out an upcoming solo show that will feature the ladies of the art world.  Not so much the artists but the portrayals of women through the ages.  One that first came to mind on my now-long list of possibilities was Edward Hopper's Chop Suey - which, by the way, just broke a record in a Christie's art auction.  Painted in 1929, Chop Suey became the most expensive work of pre-war American art, selling for nearly $92 million.

Chop Suey is quintessential Hopper for a couple of reasons.  Hopper loved the spaces of restaurants, not so much the food - hence, the empty table except for the teapot.  Hopper was famously uninterested in food and known to eat his meals right out of a can.  Chop Suey restaurants were the rage in the 1920's, mostly frequented by young, working-class women dining together.  Another usual subject matter of Hopper's.  He and his wife went to this particular restaurant often, The Far East Tea Garden, once located in the Upper West side of Manhattan, no longer there.  Hopper's wife posed for all three of the women figures in the painting, also a usual habit.

Fun fact - Chop Suey means 'odds and ends' in Cantonese.

"Good Morning"

9 x 12"

oil on panel
sold

The very same day I was finishing this new painting, the news came that the Edward Hopper painting Chop Suey had sold at the Christie's auction for $91.9 million.  That made me so happy seeming I worship Edward Hopper's works of art and I especially love this recognition of one of our country's treasures.  Yay.

Whenever I'm in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, I beeline to the Hopper paintings.  The one featured in my painting is Cape Cod Morning, done in 1950.  What grabs me about this piece is, within the bay window where the woman is looking out in anticipation of something, it's a whole separate painting within the actual, fairly simplistic composition of the sky, trees, grass and siding of the house.  I just love it.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Matinee Idolizers"

9 x 12"

oil on panel
sold 

My new painting features Edward Hopper's New York Movie which I last saw at the Art Institute of Chicago, on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in an exhibition titled America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930's.  The exhibition included my very favorite painters - Hopper, O'Keeffe, Grant Wood to name a few - depicting scenes during the Great Depression.  It was unforgettable.

The Art Institute has several fun facts about New York Movie:

- Hopper painted the work in 1938 after a long dry spell of not painting anything.

- The location is the Palace Theater, now the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, chosen after scouting out the Strand and others.

- The woman on the right was modeled after Hopper's wife, Jo.  He had her stand under a hallway light in his building for sketching and studies.

- The outfit Jo is wearing was based on the wide-legged jumpsuits actually worn by the Palace Theater's staff.

- The theme on the movie screen was thought to be from a 1937 movie Lost Horizon by Frank Capra.

- The poet Joseph Stanton wrote an ode to the painting. 

Please click here for a larger view.

"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.

"Souvenirs"

8 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

Happy Friday.

Before I post the link to this new painting going on auction tonight, I have a cool story to tell you.  

Yesterday I received an email from a woman asking about a painting I had done back in 2013.  I replied it had sold way back. She asked for a print. I replied I don't make prints.

She then told me the subject, a bungalow I spotted in Nebraska, on our road trip from San Francisco back to Atlanta, was her family's home.  

In disbelief, I asked her for the street address so I could compare it to my original photo - then with Google street view, I found the house, compared it to my photo and damn, if it wasn't the house!  In this big country, in all of the millions of houses in all of the small towns, I painted her house.  It still blows my mind.  

The number one question I'm asked is 'does anyone recognize themselves in your paintings?'  And to this day, in twelve years of doing over a couple of thousand paintings, it hasn't happened yet.  But someone out there, hundreds of miles away, recognized their house.  Absolutely freaking amazing.

Okay - back to my new painting.

A woman resting on a bench in the Art Institute of Chicago, with her Hopper gift bag full of souvenirs.

"Hopper"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I'm happy to resume my series ArtistZ  today - and it was hard to choose between Hopper and Hockney for H, my choice came down to the artist who always inspires and blows me away.  Edward Hopper has been one of my most-influential painters - his settings, his feeling of solitude, his color harmonies and his light.  Oh the light.  

To choose a favorite of Hopper's is nearly impossible for me.  I can say I've experienced the iconic 'Nighthawks' a number of times in the Art Institute of Chicago and every time it's a fresh look.  Aside from the numerous parodies done of this masterpiece and the fact it is one of the most recognizable artworks,  it's really a brilliant composition that moves me every time I visit it. 

"Dropped Buy"

8 x 10"

oil on panel
sold

A new painting featuring one of my favorite paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago - Edward Hopper's 'Nighthawks'.  On a bench that faces this Hopper, I sit and watch people's reactions and I swear, I want to shout out loud when someone passes it by without so much as a glance.  "It's a MASTERPIECE!'  I want to scream.  

There are those who stop and stare, those smart ones.  Like this fellow, who dropped his bag to share my awe.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Front Office"

16 x 16"
oil on masonite
sold

I had mentioned a few weeks ago I was painting a larger piece - most wouldn't consider 16" large, but in my world, it's double the width of my usual. A little daunting for me, as silly as that sounds. Add to that, the painting is a commissioned piece of sorts, for the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Alabama - for an upcoming event in February. Another painting of mine had caught the eye of the organizers of the event - it featured one of the museum's prized possessions, Edward Hopper's 'New York Office' - one of my personal favorites in their collection. What an honor for me. When I know more about the dates of the museum's event, I'll be sure to fill you in.

What I learned about painting larger....

It took a lot of time to be happy with the composition, in fact, I changed it six times. The fifth time, I sketched it out on the panel and immediately hated it. The larger it is, the more it matters. It seems to come easier for me on a smaller format or maybe I was stuck over-thinking the whole thing.

When I started putting the paint down, I found myself working slow and tight. Then Brett came into the room and took the small brush out of my hand and replaced it with a big one and told me to loosen up. After that subtle reminder, it flowed. Took me four days, but there was no wiping areas off, no corrections to the composition, and I really enjoyed those four days of work.

Painting smaller pieces is my thing - no doubt. The main reason, I don't have that kind of time. I want to wake up in the morning, figure out what I want to paint that day and get it done before I go to bed. I don't like thinking about what I should do or should change the next morning - I like the feeling of accomplishment at the end of a day. Makes for a good night's sleep.

Please click here for a larger view.

As for now - this is the first Christmas & New Year's Holiday, in 32 years, that I am no longer in retail. It is w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l. I loved my job as a picture framer, but holidays really were tough. Be nice to those folks behind the counter, a kind word or two goes a long way.

Cheers and Wishes for a Happy Holiday time ~

"Thursday Nighthawks"

12 x 11"
oil on masonite
sold

Probably the most-beloved painting in the Art Institute of Chicago - Edward Hopper's 'Nighthawks' - being viewed closely by a patron on the museum's Free-Thursday night event held every week.

This painting will be included in the 19th Annual Invitational Small Works Show at the Howard/Mandville Gallery, opening November 14th. Please click here for a larger view.

"Hungry Eyes"

8 x 10"

oil on masonite
sold

All these years I've been lukewarm to Edward Hopper's 'Table for Ladies' - and as I stood inches away from the real thing, that all changed. Prints, books, posters, internet images - they never give any artwork the justice it deserves. It's not so much the details - it's the richness of color, the brushwork - I can see multitudes of decisions Hopper made. Never doubt, looking at great works of art is a learning experience.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Been There, Done That"

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
sold

A young woman I spotted on a bench at the Art Institute of Chicago - resting after doing the Edward Hopper exhibit and even grabbing a souvenir at the gift shop.

(detail)

"Last Days of Hopper"

14 x 10"
oil on masonite
sold

whew...... this one took me a couple of days. I don't usually have the patience for that - hence the painting a day. Taken from the top floor in the American Art wing, patrons wait in line to see the Hopper exhibit - in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Please click here for a larger view.

"On the Sunny Side of the Street"

12 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

This man I love. He's as real as it gets. The painting before him, Edward Hopper's "New York Office", seems to evoke long-ago memories.

For a larger view, please click here.

"Hopper House"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite
sold

This painting will be back on a 10-day auction. Thank you for your patience and I appreciate your bidding on the original auction as well. ~ Happy New Year to you and yours.

"Hopper House"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

Back to work on my alphabet series - H for a Hopper(esque) House, inspired by a Christmas gift, a book of Edward Hopper's work. I enjoyed painting this piece so much that I'm thinking of doing a series for my upcoming show - which leads me to a request for some feedback, if you feel compelled to do so. I'm thinking of zooming in a little more on the house .... I'm not sure. Give me your thoughts?