Framing the Snow Angel

Here are a few recent photos from my studio. Gilding the frame for "Snow Angel" took quite a bit of work--none of it too difficult, but due to the scale, it just took a long time. In the end, I'm very pleased with how this looks. The last stages of a painting are always a challenge for me. Staying focused in order to finish loose ends can really seem tedious. I was encouraged to read about Lucien Freud's feelings on this subject in Martin Gayford's "Man with a Blue Scarf: On sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud". Fortunately there's the reward of placing the painting in a finished frame and seeing it freshly again. After all the hours of thinking about an image and then the subsequent realizing of the painting, this is a sweet moment that I cherish. 

The painting is off to Dowling Walsh Gallery on Friday, so today I will turn my attention back to a couple of nearly completed portraits while the snow angel serenely watches over me. 

Layover

Last week was an unusual one creatively speaking. It's always hard to sustain a creative thread while away from the studio; when I found myself stuck for over an hour in an airplane on the tarmac in Charlotte, NC I was not pleased.  Having listened to the audiobook of Joshua Foer's "Moonwalking with Einstein" for a while, I needed a break, so I pulled out my sketchbook and drew out a few ideas that I'd been thinking about recently.

Upon my return to Maine I was greeted (fortuitously from a snowman point of view--though not from a human driving point of view) with a heavy dose of new fallen snow. With schools cancelled, I knew that one of my favorite models might have some time to spare, so I called her and arranged for a session. This last image in this group is the result of working with her. One can see the roughness of the first sketched idea take a more naturalistic turn.

So, bear with me, you may well see the evolution of a painting in real time. 

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.