“Handmade Bowl, Grapes, Tibetan Rug”, oil on panel, 5×5 inches (sold)Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with another painter about oriental rugs. Not only are the patterns and designs endlessly fascinating, but the weavers often had an amazing sense of color harmony – the best of them seem to glow from within. And for hundreds […]
The Story This painting is about capturing an instant of stillness and quiet. The inclusion of a small reflected image of the artist at work gives it a snapshot-like feeling. Not only is it a generalized moment of calm and contemplation, but it’s also very specific – that particular moment in the studio. The two […]
The Story This is the second of several paintings that are deliberately simplified. In this case the composition has been reduced to just one object. Working with such a restricted design meant that the painting needed to become an exploration of lighting and mood. The Technical Side “Mysterium” was done entirely from life (without […]
The Story This painting was the outcome of working with several interesting challenges. A respected figure in the community suggested doing a few paintings with simpler compositions. It was a suggestion worth taking, and this painting (as well as the next one) are the results. Limiting the amount of “action” in a this painting meant […]
The Story Three different ideas came together to inspire this painting; wedges, spotlights, and a particular mood. Wedges are common devices to help artists arrange their compositions. In fact, a wedge is just a partial pyramid, which is the simplest and most stable way to organize a picture. A recent blog post talks more about […]
The Story There are no rules in art. But, there are suggestions, some of them quite strong. One of these is that paintings should not be completely symmetrical. Although a design with a strong central feature can be very stable, too much symmetry is usually felt to be undesirable – the risk is that it […]
The Story The title of this painting is a simple pun. Not only is there a triple self-portrait (featuring basically head and shoulders), but the middle creamer towers – head and shoulders – above the other creamers. Taken together, they form a pyramid, which is the simplest and most stable compositional design. The reflections of […]
The Story Shows have a way of disrupting everything – especially production schedules in the studio – which is exactly what last weekend’s show did. Fortunately, they only occur twice a year, and it only takes about a week to get fully back on track. This is actually last week’s painting – the current week’s […]
The Story The story behind this week’s painting has less to do with the painting itself than with how I make paintings. I arrange most of my compositions in a shadow box positioned to the right of my easel. It works well, and I’ve used it for years. But, it limits me to a certain […]
The Story The title of this painting is pretty self-explanatory, so I won’t dwell on it. I don’t generally care for paintings with lighthouses in them, but for some reason I wanted the challenge of putting one in a still life, at least in symbolic form. This painting took it’s start from the antique silver […]
The Story Still Life is a genre that suffers from bad naming. It leads people to think of it as a quiet and sedate kind of art – even a little boring. Unfortunately, a lot of still life paintings fulfill those expectations. I suppose what we call it in English is better than what the […]
The Story I very nearly called this painting “Castle Rock”, since it almost seemed to describe a Medieval fortress. The brick especially helped with that impression, since castles are often built on rock outcroppings. In the end, though, I was a little more drawn to the idea of the objects huddling together – for warmth? […]
The Story All the paintings so far for this year-long project have featured purely black backgrounds. I love the drama and simplicity of paintings set against such a backdrop. At the same time, I felt like having a lighter painting this week. So, I decided to work against a beige background (introducing some dramatic spotlighting […]
The Story The story for this week’s painting unfolded as I worked on it. In fact, it grew out of a change I made to the design midway; see the technical discussion below. One of the pleasures of the creative process is that sometimes good ideas lurk just below the level of conscious awareness. This […]
The Story This week’s painting has two meanings – one semi-political and one very personal. I don’t think I’m being particularly controversial when I say I’ve had enough of the rancor in American public life – from both sides. I know it’s not going away anytime soon. I also know we’ve been through much worse […]
This commissioned painting is framed and ready for delivery. I gave the collectors several options for the frame, and was excited that they chose this one. It was my choice as well. It’s a gold leaf frame, about 2.5 inches wide, with some simple Arts and Crafts – inspired detailing at the corners. I think […]
The Story This week’s painting is one of those that doesn’t have a specific story behind it. Instead, I was aiming for a dramatic mood, along with the solid reassurance that a good cup of tea can bring at just the right moment. Even when there’s not a specific plot, I still think of the […]
The Story This week’s painting is entitled “Safe Haven”. As is sometimes the case, I didn’t begin it with a story in mind. Rather, I just set to work making the composition that I wanted, and let the story unfold in the background of my imagination. If I get out of the way and […]
This week’s painting is entitled “At the Still Point of the Turning World”, which is a line from the T.S. Eliot poem “Burnt Norton”, the first of his Four Quartets. I was not looking for ways to directly reference any parts of the poem in this painting. Instead, I started to see that in this […]
Here is this week’s completed painting – the first in my year-long series of 52 larger pieces. This one is done with oil on mounted linen, and measures 8×10 inches. Parts of this have dried to a matte finish. This is not desirable because it shifts the apparent color lighter than it actually is. A […]