This month I have strayed a bit from my usual small format panels and completed an 18 x 24 landscape which I then highlighted with some careful scribbling in graphite. Normally, I continue my image…
This month I have strayed a bit from my usual small format panels and completed an 18 x 24 landscape which I then highlighted with some careful scribbling in graphite. Normally, I continue my images on the top and sides of my panels and coat the images in resin. This time, my plan is to frame. Because I am concerned that a resin coating might fight the effect of the frame, I am deciding to leave this one au naturale
Next, I went back into small format for a little landscape which I think prefer to show unframed. Still I don’t think I can resist a shiny coating on this one. It will pop.
Hard to believe spring has turned to summer. Shows are coming on fast so I’m doing my best to carve out time to make more new work. These are two of four new pieces that I will begin pouring resin 
in a day or two. All four are small format, with the largest being the 10 x 10 local landscape and the smallest a little 4 x 6 French landscape rendering. Right now there is an 18 x 24 starkly white wood panel calling my name.
The time it takes me to finish a painting varies greatly. It is important for me to know at the end of any given painting session, whether I have made real progress and what my next priorities are moving forward. When I was working on my last figurative painting, “Dana”(see my last blog post) I began the practice of taking a photo at the end of each session which includes a marker noting the date. This not only helps me avoid the frustration that I inevitably feel while my ultimate vision is still far down the road, but also allows me to set up a palette of acrylics that targets the aspect of the image that I need to work on next. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?
This week, I’ve switched back and forth between two projects that represent the yin and yang of my artistic impulses. The portrait of my niece, Dana has kept me fixated on the most minor tone changes and drawing details that tease but will never satisfy my puzzle-craving nature. For respite, I dove into this larger but much more freeing landscape. The portrait is a little 9 x 12 number that has tested my vision and minusule brush control and has absorbed a large part of many days while the larger 12 x 16 landscape called for larger brushes bolder gambles. I’ll wait another day to decide what changes remain and when I will relieve myself the temptation to go back in by pouring the final resin coating on each. Whatever happens, it has been fun!
This is the second in a series of paintings inspired by our recent trip to Martinique. The photo upon which this is based was taken at le Diamant beach early in the day while the beach was still deserted.
With winter coming on, I thought it would be nice to head to the tropics, at least in spirit. The upshot is a series of undersea creature paintings. Here are three of eight the largest being 6 x 12. They are part of my experiment with dark to light compositions.
I wanted to try my hand at some more minimalist landscapes. As this one developed I used the same palette of blues, greens and white to form the sky and water but used tapping strokes in the sky in a kind of modified scrumble I hadn’t done before. Them I mirrored the colors with straight up and down stokes smoothed out and blended using a touch of water instead of the mere pressure that formed the sky. Once sky and water were in place adding the tree line and reflections was easy. I finished the land line with a few touches of gold and red.
For the last three years my work has been exclusively collage. Recently, though, I have focused more closely on my old love of landscape with the result that the collage aspect of those paintings has been limited to foreground grasses which do tend to add an element of depth and perspective by creating for the viewer the illusion that he o she is in close proximity to the image looking far into the distance.
Depending on the nature of the scene, however, and the size of the piece I am finding that adding plants is not a requirement to achieve the desired result. Hence my last three small works (the largest is 6″ x 6″)
While I have no intention of abandoning my work in collage, I did enjoy allowing the paintings to stand on their own.
Several of you have requested that I post my 2015 show schedule. Here is how it now stands:
MAY 30; Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
JUNE 6: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
JUNE 20: Newport Strawberry Festival, Newport RI
JULY 11 and 12: Wickford Art Festival, Wickford, RI
JULY 18 AND 19: Warren Art Festival, Warren, RI
AUGUST 1: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
AUGUST 8: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
AUGUAST 15: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
AUGUST 22 AND 23: Art Fair at Langworthy Vinyards, Westerly, RI
AUGUST 29: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
SEPTEMBER 12: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
SEPTEMBER 19: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
SEPTEMBER 26: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
OCTOBER 10, 11, AND 12: Scituate Art Festival, Scituate, RI
OCTOBER 17: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
OCTOBER 31: Providence Artisan’s Market, Lippett Park, Hope Street, Providence, RI
NOTE: I will also have work on view at the Green Marble Coffee Shop in Stonington, CT through the month of June; at the Yellow House in Stonington, CT, through the months of July and December; and will be featured arist at the Artist’s Cooperative Galery (ACGOW) in Westerly, RI for the Month of August.
HOLIDAY MARKETS YET TO BE SCHEDULED. STAY TUNED AND THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
My Stonington Garden 
