When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

pencil

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Cockatiels

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010


 

Cockatiels, Jurong Bird Park, Singapore, 9H x 12W inches graphite on paper, white mat and 15H x 18W inches white frame with crackle finish.

Cockatiels, Jurong Bird Park, Singapore, 9H x 12W inches graphite on paper, white mat and 15H x 18W inches white frame with crackle finish. Check out the Jurong Bird Park website.

Showcased in the J. Mane Gallery’s Fins, Feathers and Fur 2020 Exhibition.

New Series: Twenty-five days in Singapore

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010


 

Parkview Square, Singapore, 11H x 14W inches graphite on paper

Parkview Square Building, Singapore  11H x 14W inches graphite on paper

The opportunity to travel to Singapore popped up with a few days notice. While I’m here the plan is to do at least one sketch per day. The new series is called “Twenty-five Days in Singapore”. I drew the upper portion of the very unique Parkview Square building from my hotel room over the course of two days while recuperating after the 28 hour flight from Dallas. At a cost of $87 million, the Art Deco style building was completed in 2002. The eight fiberglass figures each holding a light-ball guard the building, only hint at the sort of art and design to expect on the grounds and the gorgeous interior.

A Heart Filled to the Brim

Sunday, January 17th, 2010


 

Portrait of Alzheimer's: A Heart Filled to the Brim, 36 x 48 x 2 inches, water soluble graphite, acrylics on canvas

A Heart Filled to the Brim, 36H x 48W x 2D inches, water soluble graphite, acrylics on canvas. On exhibit along with Polypore Fungi February through May at the Oxide Gallery, Denton, Texas

Graphite painted with water, detail of hands, A Heart Filled to the Brim An excerpt from the song, I Don’t Believe by Paul Simon on the CD, Surprise:

I don’t believe a heart can be filled to the brim

then vanish like mist as though life were a whim.

Maybe the heart is part of the mist

And that’s all that there is and could ever exist.

A portrait of Alzheimer’s honoring my Grandmother, my Mother-in-law (whose portrait this is, and whose 80th birthday is in two days), and now recently my own Mother who is in the earliest stages; and with empathy for all those afflicted, including the families dealing with the awful emotional reverberations caused by this disease.

Portrait of Alzheimer's: A Heart Filled to the Brim, detail, water soluble graphite, acrylics on canvas, gallery wrapped

Here are a few websites providing information about Alzheimer’s Disease

http://www.alz.org/index.asp

http://www.alzheimersrxtreatment.com/learnaboutalz.html

http://www.alzheimers.org/

Grackles

Thursday, June 18th, 2009


 

Grackles, 11 x 10 inches soft pastels and graphite on paper

Grackles, 11 x 10 inches soft pastels and graphite on paper. 20H x 16W” framed.

The Dallas area is notorious for its Grackles. In some places they gather in flocks by the thousands. I’m not exaggerating – they are especially notable during evening just before sunset; bird parties I call them, lined along telephone poles and wires, sitting perfect wingspans apart from each other, and packed full in the trees. Photos can’t capture it all, because the experience also includes their loud calls. It’s fantastic! I love it, but they’re a nuisance in public places like near restaurants and malls. Park your black car under a tree if you don’t mind driving away with a fairly white one when you leave.

The Tree Of Life chair

Saturday, April 18th, 2009


 

 The Tree Of Life refurbished 29 x 29 x 29 inches vintage chair, acrylics painting work in progress

April 18th, above: still in an extremely rough state, and still deciding about which colors to use and how. There must be much more plaster on the Salish chair, because this one is not carving as well. Only the Shou symbol will stand out carved..all else will be implied.  Blue, purple and green are the new black! Actually that’s the old impressionist trick of course, but I also rarely use black if those 3 will do – they are much livelier and more interesting than flat black. The Yin-Yang/Aboriginal legend snakes have been eliminated because working them in color-wise was going to be a problem. The Celtic design was getting lost in too much else around it. I am anxious to find another chair because I really want to do one with Australian-inspired motifs and colors.

Post-dated note: Unfortunately, there is not enough room to show this for the premier of the Trees show in Raleigh. I’m mostly relieved that there is extra time in my schedule now for preparations, but this chair now needs to be set aside in light of the other priorities.

The Tree Of Life refurbished 29 x 29 x 29 inches vintage chair, graphite on plaster, work in progress

April 14th:  29H x 29W x 29D inches vintage chair, canvas strips, layers of sanded plaster.

The design incorporates a few esoteric concepts common to many world cultures: Overall is the idea of the Tree of Life and the theory of As above, So below, represented by branches and roots. Symbolic of longevity along with the pine tree, and central to the design is the Japanese character, Shou. The branches and roots of the pine tree are interwoven in the classic Celtic style, inspired by designs in the Book of Kells, gospel manuscripts that were illustrated by Irish monks around the year 800 A.D., common era. Two snakes drawn in the Yin-Yang placement represent Australian Aboriginal legends; the Rainbow Snake is their most important sacred symbol, believed to be the creator of all things. Christian biblical literature it is the snake who gives the apple from the Tree of Knowledge to Eve. There are more, but the rest you may like to discover yourself!

There is still plenty of intricate work to do with the roots – this’ll be fun!  Drawing freehand is much better than casting the original drawing on with light and tracing it because each time it’s drawn, first with graphite, then marker, then many layers of paint, I become more familiar with the lines and the final outline will be steady and clean.

April 7th: The Tree of Life preliminary sketch for the fourth refurbished vintage chair April 7, 2009: While studying some of the previous paintings that are still in progress, I sketched out my version of The Tree of Life, a preliminary drawing for the fourth refurbished vintage chair, and have also been layering and sanding the plaster in preparation for it. Colors planned are black, off-white and greens. The other chairs in this series are shown here.

VAST/VACD Exhibition

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008


 

Adam - part of the Children series 11 x 14 graphite drawings on paper

Merit Award winning Adam, 11H x 14W inches graphite on paper, 21 x 25 inches framed will be on exhibit as part of VAST Connections, running from October 3rd through November 1st. Sponsored by the Visual Arts Society of Texas and the Visual Arts Coalition of Dallas, the exhibition will be held at the VACD Gallery in the Thompson Fine Arts, Inc. Building, 2902 Maple Avenue, Suite A , Dallas, TX. Gallery hours: Fri, Sat: 11a.m. – 5 p.m.

Portraits

Sunday, June 29th, 2008


 

Josee, 11 x 14 inches graphite on paper, gift

Josee, a portrait of one of my nieces. Gift, 11 x 14 inches graphite on paper. Drawing portraits is like brain surgery – one millimeter off, more or less, in any direction makes all the difference between success or failure!

Mockingbird ritual

Thursday, March 6th, 2008


Mockingbird mating flight ritual - 10 x 10 inches study in graphite, eraser, paper

Mockingbird mating flight ritual – 10 x 10 inches study in graphite, eraser, paper

Last night it was especially noticeable that the Mockingbirds have started their mating season. Pronouncing himself at the highest peak on a rooftop, the male mocks other birds’ calls, repeating each 3-4 times before changing to another call. Then in a ritual flight dance he flies up a short distance and does graceful flip in the air, flashing the white wing stripes, back to the perch and repeats the pattern over and over.

After listening to them quite a bit, there are some that have a larger repertoire of calls and a louder, determined, clearer song…I’m guessing that those are the most mature and attractive.

Valentine

Sunday, February 10th, 2008


 
Hey, remind me to buy my wife a card for Valentine’s Day.”

Graphite drawing, scanned and detailed with digital pen.

Windswept Cypress, NC

Thursday, January 31st, 2008


 

Windswept Cypress in North Carolina, 24H x 18W inches oil pastels and colored pencils on paper
Windswept Cypress, Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, North Carolina – 24H x 18W inches mainly oil pastel on paper, graphite, watercolor pencils, white mat. Detail images:

Windswept, NC - top detail
Windswept, NC - bottom detail

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