On the Road

I just want to say a great big thank you to the folks at Artistaday.com. It was super to have such widespread exposure and to received so much encouraging, wonderful feedback.

I'll be out of the studio for the next week, so I'll share this photo of my studio that gives a little peek at the  paintings I'm working on and can't wait to get back to.

Life in Maine

This is a recent painting that was first exhibited at Art Palm Beach.  Something about combining cheerleaders, princesses, and treelength wood seems so perfect. It's a good example of how some of the idiosyncracies of Maine have bled into my work. The painting is now back here in Maine at Courthouse Gallery Fine Art.

Treelength (triptych), 2010, oil on linen mounted on panel, 26" x 68"

Treelength (detail of center panel)

Treelength (detail of right panel)

Cradle

This post has a few images that show my working process. The first image is the completed painting. The study "Red Cape" was the first oil study that I did for this project. Early on I envisioned the painting as a single figure sitting on the bed, however, the longer I spent with the idea the more I felt a second figure would add a significant (and enigmatic) narrative element. Initially I had thought of including one of my sons asleep on the bed; but visually it didn't work, since he would be mostly concealed by the seated figure and the cape.  There are also some preparatory drawings for the project; I'll dig them out and post them later.

"Cradle", 2010, oil on linen mounted on panel,  25" x 36"

and the accompanying studies:

Red Cape, oil on linen mounted on panel, 12" x 15"

Sleeper, oil on rag board, 11" x 16"

You Win Again

Hank wrote the tune but I've been listening to a fantastic version by Rob Ickes, the amazing dobro player, with Robinella on vox.

The painting below is on its way to Artists' House Gallery in Philadelphia. This is about as fresh as it gets--I just finished this piece this morning. The painting is for the "Celebration of Music" exhibition which is timed to coincide with the Phildelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA), so of course I have to mention what I've been listening to as I finished up the painting. It's a smallish piece: 14" x 19". I had thought about making a painting with a musical instrument tucked in the scene somewhere, but really, 90+% of the time I experience music through the stereo rather than from a live musician, so this is perhaps more true to my experience.  Of course, I do have plenty of instruments around--including a Rob Ickes model dobro--but it was feeling a bit forced, so I just went where I would have gone anyway.

Combined elements

I am often asked about how I put the elements of paintings together. This painting "Outlook" from 2008 is a good example of how an idea can evolve over time.

The setting is my dear friend Chris' breezeway at her home in Ashfield, Mass.. The morning light in this bright room is lovely and dramatic as it cuts through the space. Chris, an avid birder, keeps her binocs handy and they often rest on the table where her cats perch and also watch the birds--though with nefarious intent. When I began the painting I did not have a figure in the scene, though I had recently been painting my friend Kate and had a few outtakes from our sessions that seemed interesting and paintable. The painting sat unfinished for a while, but in the meantime Bob, one of Chris' two Siamese cats, was lost to a hungry bobcat. After thinking about Chris' loss, I decided that putting a cat in the painting would be a nice homage to Bob and to the feeling of loss that we have when we lose a companion animal. (Though the cat in the painting is actually another cat who lives here in Maine.) When I combined these elements; the setting, the cat, and the figure--whose blurry action seems to indicate either arriving or leaving--the painting came together for me. Oh, and I had to put red shoes on the floor--just because I love to paint shoes.

Last summer

Burn Permit, 2010, oil on 3 panels, 21" x 58"

Here's a piece from last summer that never made it to my website.