Forests
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Friday, February 27th, 2009
St. Catharine’s Sunset Ontario, Canada just north of Niagara Falls, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface. Signed on the side so as not to impose on the composition.
There is no one method for starting a painting. When faced with a blank white surface, sometimes our mind can go blank too. When that happens I use a base color that inspires energy. Here, water and paint were dripped down a wet surface of Hansa Yellow Deep. Painting intuitively with a wide raggedy old brush, the fraying bristles are used to advantage, and those marks direct how the painting proceeds.
This painting is dedicated to my Mom, born in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada whose birthday was two days ago.
Jack Pine
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Jack Pine, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas and detail of right side; wrapped sides painted. Signature is on the side, so one is superimposed here on the front. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.
Dancing With Trees 03
Thursday, February 19th, 2009
Dancing With Trees 03, 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, trim frame. Signature piece for the Dancing With Trees exhibition, formerly entitled ‘The Majesty of Trees’. There is no black in this painting; the darkest areas are dioxazine purple. Aside from a couple of areas that are still questionable this painting is now finished. Specifically: I’m not sure about adding shadows and contrast on the bark of the main trees because it may take away from the cheerful expression of colors.
Progress in previous posts: January 19th and 30th
The name of the exhibition changed to ‘Dancing With Trees’ to avoid plagiarizing the title of a book, ‘The Majesty of Trees’.
Logic is one-dimensional, creativity is not
Monday, January 19th, 2009
There are at least four active projects on the go here, and that’s the case with most artists. Because creativity is all-encompassing, and when the unpredictable nature of it is revealed on a daily blog, a defining statement or mission and re-evaluating it every once in a while is all-important.
* Career artists do not generate production like a factory or have the same business formulas and game plans as retailers; for us everything from conception to sale is self-prompted. Motivation to work every day on something often means doing something different every day. I give myself the guilt-free permission to do whatever I want at on any given day. However…
* One main piece of work needs to be on the plate always, and the others are like a sort of coffee break; the mind needs to think of other things for a bit then return to the main work with new perspective.
* About faith and fortitude: eventually things are finished one after the other, some in one day, some not…but every day no matter what, if one puts forth effort even with no results, then something is still accomplished.
* Self-discipline: if a client is expecting an original concept and a complete product within 48 hours, then absolutely: results can be forced. Within that limited time frame, the usual way of working and thinking becomes temporarily chaotic; a difficult process for some, because presupposed thoughts have to scatter and previously-done ideas need to be let go. At some point, maybe with only one hour left – crunch time – trust that chaos regroups into something totally new and unexpected..the best, most rewarding work can occur during these times. In other words, here’s how anything is created: you’ve gotta be willing to go a little kooky if you have to, but always be alert to reason and bring a thing into reality!
* We have long-term goals and short-term goals, and mini-goals within the short-term ones, but the process is one and the same: shifting the usual and expected way of thinking – or working – is the best way to regenerate creativity on a consistent basis.
Approaching Winter
Sunday, December 7th, 2008
Approaching Winter finished today, 60H x 40W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas. More contemporary than my usual work, thought I’d try a new approach to painting…with more attention to editing rather than overworking. Shown in two detail images above, and full view shown in right thumbnail. Large paintings don’t show as well on computer screen, so there are two detail images that were sharpened 2X to reveal the actual texture as it is close up. Post-dated note: on exhibit at Oxide Gallery in Denton TX until February 28th, 2009.
Dec. 6th: Colors mixed with matte medium: Ultramarine, Pthalos Blue, Prussian Blue, Cobalt Blue, Pthalos Green, Sap Green, Unbleached Titatium, Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Red Deep, Mars Black (rarely use black). This morning I scrubbed and washed away a lot of paint in areas then reapplied more. Trying to stay with the less is more principle. Hope to wrap this one up by the end of the weekend if not before.
Dec. 5th: Stage 1, first coat of Ultramarine Blue and matte medium, very watered down, then applied thick in places. Inspired by photos taken by my good friend Ray Muskego in my home town, Cold Lake, Alberta during sunrise December 4th as misty fog drifted off the lake.
Painting facelift
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
Started April 7th this year, Rocky Mountain Vista received a face lift this week before I brought it in to be judged for a local exhibition. There are subtle but positive improvements compared to when I posted it as finished on April 13th. Progress can be reviewed on the April 9th blog post. It is now well and truly finished!
Not available. Donated to VAST Arts, Denton, TX.
VAST 125 Mile Exhibition
Monday, June 30th, 2008
White Pine Bows, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, trim frame, just accepted into the 125 Mile Exhibition July 24th – August 15, 2008 presented by VAST in partnership with the Department of Visual Arts at Texas Women’s University (TWU).
Opening Reception on July 31st, 2008 5:30p.m. – 7:30p.m. July 31st, 2008 at the TWU Arts and Sciences Building, Denton, TX.
Post-dated note: Sold in 2010.
Cedar, Stony Swamp
Monday, January 14th, 2008
Cedar, Stony Swamp, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 12H x 9W inch watercolor and graphite on 40lb cold-pressed premium watercolor paper. Framed size 26H x 22W inches.
Trees paintings updates
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
Sun Shower 01 is now sold! Above: central detail of the 85H x 45W x 2D acrylics on canvas.
Morning Light shown below, 48H x 36W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, narrow frame. Also sold but a similar one can be replicated. Please allow up to 14 days to create before shipping.
Morning Light, $1,100.00 special order 
Now showing and available for purchase at Studio 2600 until January 2, 2008. 2600 Hibernia, in Dallas:
Sun Shower 03, photography, Moon over Cypress, oil pastels, and Dawn, acrylics on canvas
Gold In The Mountains 01
Sunday, November 4th, 2007
Gold In The Mountains 01, finished – 20H x 16W inches acrylics on canvas. Has 28H x 24W inches dark-stained antique frame with gold trim
Started late in 2005, Gold In The Mountains 01 has evolved through many changes to achieve the finished painting above. The first thumbnail shows the painting at a stage where I thought it finished so entered it into Artjury.com’s 2006 Spring/Summer online exhibition. It was accepted, and at the time I liked the larger areas of flat orange-gold, but about six months later I thought the work needed more depth, and the dark branch across the upper portion stood out, so I began a long process of scrubbing off, building back up, scraping and layering paint, repainting, etc. The piece reached a few different stages where it could have been called finished, but I was not entirely pleased, so kept searching. Here are a few stages in the transformation of Gold In The Mountains 01:
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