"IMPRESSION" show at Abend Gallery in Denver

 "Twilight's Brief Moment" (18x18) oil on linen

I am thrilled to have this painting as part of the international group show, "IMPRESSION" opening at the Abend Gallery on March 11th. Please click on link below for digital catalog preview -- 

https://issuu.com/gallery1261/docs/impressionissuu

(detail)

Progress shots for "Mending"

 (about 45 minutes into the start)

This is a 16x20 painting of my friend, Pam. This was done from a photograph in between other projects, so I spread it out over 3-4 sessions. Being a fan of the Russian impressionists, I really had fun doing this one.

 (a little over 2 hours in)

I find it odd though, that galleries are hesitant to show this subject matter. The fact is, I have received quite a number of compliments from all over the internet for this series. I sold another painting of Pam to a couple in the south, another one to a collector in Los Angeles, had another one featured as an Honorable Mention winner in Southwest Art magazine last year and had yet another one purchased by the hosting gallery's owner in last years American Impressionist Society's Annual Exhibition...

Finish (about 5 hours total)

Even though Pam isn't Russian, she sure looks the part... AND people have responded favorably. Thanks again, Pam for all your help! And to those galleries who think they know the pulse of ALL art buyers, take another look; there's a collector for every subject -- especially a beautiful one like this...

Back to Work...

 

 "Night Shift" (20x24) o/p

Back at it in the studio today, and thankful for a wonderful weekend with family and friends...life is good (because it's life)...

(detail)

Iron Maiden

 "Iron Maiden" (16x20 o/c)

This Painting was juried into the American Impressionist Society's National Exhibition, to be held at Eckert & Ross Fine Art in Indianapolis, Indiana this November... It is from a series I am currently working on toward a solo show next year at Bonner David Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona.  I am exploring working class vocations along with general daily chores, looking for beauty in the mundane action of everyday life...

 (detail)

This is the same model, Pam who posed for "Laundry Day" (a few posts back) and did an outstanding job for me. She is not at all as dower as she appears here, but I wanted to portray an intent concentration -- thanks Pam!

 (detail)

(detail)

Laundry Day

 "Laundry Day" (24x30)

June 22nd is the opening of this years Oil Painters of America National Exhibition in Evergreen Colorado. I am very grateful the painting above was accepted into the show -- it is part of a series I've been working on depicting common, everyday household chores, and the unsung hero of home labor...

My own mom was one of those -- she worked a 40 hour a week job, plus the equivalent of another one raising my brother and me.

(detail)

 I wanted to bring attention to the beauty of this kind of subject and stop time for a moment to appreciate what otherwise gets little to no coverage at the end of the days news. Artists have for centuries of course depicted this kind of genre, and it never gets old. I think that's because like a good landscape, we can all relate to it -- it's a fact of life (especially to the middle and lower classes)...

sketch (9x12)

Above is one of several sketches made in planning "Laundry Day".  Being mindful of a chore most people don't get too excited about also called for some upbeat colours to combat the possibility of what could be a depressing scene.  I kept the bright colour relegated to the figure only; as a focal point and to convey that although the beauty is inherent in what she is doing, the source of the beauty emanates from her alone...

(detail)

I was fortunate to have a family friend pose for me with my mother-in-laws antique ironing board and iron. This gave me opportunity to make a connection to the past with this subject, and remind us of the not-too-distant crude technology people suffered with...

I was also fortunate to have the mother I did, and until I painted this, I never thought about the beauty in those thank worthy yet thankless jobs she performed all those years...but it was certainly there, every time.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road...

"Cello For One" (oil 20x24)

Ian Anderson once wrote a lyric that went; "I'd rather look around me and compose a better song, for that's the honest measure of my worth"... Now, I hope my worth is valued much higher than anything I've ever painted, but I think the point is, doing your honest best and not being afraid to be judged by that...

I've been becoming more and more enamored with the Russian aesthetic of impressionism, and it's greater emphasis on everything else but exact drawing. Recently I have visited some galleries that deal exclusively in Russian & Soviet era impressionism and while it's an easy sell in my mind, it's altogether harder to achieve in practice with nothing but pure desire -- it requires an exodus from my old way approaches of over rendering, extraneous detail and just plain literalism...



It helps to slow down too... When I leave a painting overnight to set up a little, I can exploit the surface's skin with dry brush strokes that leave a much more interesting texture and random design than I ever would've achieved alla prima...

Plein air sketching can produce some wonderfully loose material from which to build, but generally wet-into-wet is the short route that more often praises spontaneity, but rarely achieves what the long road is capable of. What I'm after now is more about equalizing the quality of the journey as well as the destination, and those differences that can be discovered no other way...



This model was primarily painted from life in one session, but I wanted to take it further -- I also wanted to pose her with a musical instrument, but didn't have anything classy enough on hand. So I called a local music shop who usually only rent out for no less than a month or more at a time, but in this economy I offered $20 for an over-niter and the owner was happy to oblige.

Anyway, the background and several key strokes were layered on after the figure was 90% dry and much of the texture and over all mood effects came a lot easier this way. Setting it aside for a few days also has a tremendous effect on your thought process in developing a painting that you simply cannot get in a rush to finish.

So 'goodbye' again to a little more of the old me and my old ways as I learn another of life's lessons -- that it often takes just as much time to cast aside what I no longer want as it does to gather that which I desire.

I'm sure Elton and Dorothy probably figured that one out awhile ago too.