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Thursday, March 5th, 2009
The Visitor: Raccoon, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, sides painted. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.
Progress and process details:
Sweetgum Seed Pods
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
Sweetgum Seed Pods, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Signature is on the side, so one is superimposed here on the front. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.
Winter Reflections
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
Winter Reflections, winter in Coppell, TX, 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.
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’.
End of Tulip Season
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Finished today: added some life to End of Tulip Season, 14H x 11W oil pastels on paper.
Images of progress
Except for the fact that paper has a limit to how much it can be reworked before it starts stretching, I could keep revising these drawings in the Paper Places series continually! Some of them are finished in a day, and truly finished. Some drawings seem OK when they are finished, but have areas that are not quite there yet, so they are left for a month or a year or two then taken out and reworked. It’s great exercise playing with color and composition. Some are taken too far, but with regard to learning, effort is never wasted. Change characterizes this series too; change of place, change of time, change of styles, changing what’s already been changed.
Please pass the peace
Saturday, February 14th, 2009
Garlic Chive seed head, heart-shaped growth
Method reflected by purpose
Friday, January 30th, 2009
Left: Hemlocks, Queen Charlotte Island, 1980 – 48 x 48 x 2 inches 
acrylics on canvas, painted plein air. Right: Birch, 1993 – 6 x 4 watercolors. I have been trying to return to the same carefree approach I painted with during the earlier years. While some of my first paintings were a little on the sloppy side, the look and feeling of life in the work comes through the first reactive sloppy-looking brushstrokes. Too much refining tones down that energy. It has taken about six years to rid myself of a lot of habits that developed by painting murals, like tidying up too much and mixing colors on the palette as opposed to just throwing the color onto the canvas. Not that mural painting is valued as less than canvas paintings, but they require entirely different methods, and because their intended purpose is slightly different, so is the approach to painting them. Switching back to canvas now, even if the surface is large it’s taken six years to re-adapt to the process of painting on canvas. All that I think I know can get in the way sometimes. In Dancing With Trees 03 I’m rediscovering some of the joy that pushed everything forward in the first place. Virginia, you say that this sings and dances…well, that’s exactly how I feel while painting this one.
Dancing With Trees 03 work in progress, 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, sides painted
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.
Sumac Bushes director’s chair started
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Sumac Bushes director’s chair started. Back and seat of 47H x 22W x 16D inches acrylics on canvas, will be varnished. Up-cycled tall wood director’s chair, work in progress, functional art. The wood will be painted a cherry color.
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.
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