Staging Still Lifes
American Art Collector 78
April 2012
I am thrilled to be in an article with Craig Stephens for our
April 2012 show at the Elliott Fouts Gallery,
Sacramento, CA.
April 7 - May 3, 2012
American Art Collector Magazine:
Monday, March 26, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
AquaBot and Mr. Roboto
Some wonderful little robots
visited my studio
and wanted their portraits painted.
Here I introduce you to. . .
AquaBot
18" x 10"
oil on panel
Mr. Roboto
18" x 10"
oil on panel
AquaBot and Mr. Roboto
will be showing at
Elliott Fouts Gallery
Sacramento, CA
Apr 7, 2012 - May 3, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Perilous Precipice, Get The Point
In looking at my body of work I asked myself what stands out to me? What can I learn about myself as an artist by trying to stand back and take it in. What I notice is I love to stack and pile things.
I feel this need to balance items upon other items.
Balance.
I thought about that word for a while. It applies so well to both my artwork and life. Another thing I know about my work is I love blocks of any kind and marbles. How can I use this observation to push my work further? I decided to explore how far I could push the idea of balance using blocks and marbles.
The first exploration was with the painting Precarious which will be showing at Salon International 2012 in San Antonio, Texas in April.
Precarious
12" x 16"
oil on panel
In Precarious I feel I captured tension and the feeling of movement all in the act of trying to balance. While it is still and not falling over, I still feel the urge to want to go and put my finger under the blocks so that they don't fall over.
Then came Perilous Precipice and Get The Point.
Perilous Precipice
12" x 24"
oil on panel
Get The Point
16" x 16"
oil on panel
I look forward to exploring more ideas along this theme. Balance.
Perilous Precipice and Get The Point
will be showing at
Elliott Fouts Gallery
Sacramento, CA
Apr 7, 2012 - May 3, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Life is Tweet, Elliott Fouts Gallery April 2012
Life Is Tweet
16" x 12"
oil on panel
SOLD
SOLD
My daughter recently asked me one morning if I could hear all the birds singing. It is an unusually warm March in New England and already feeling like Spring. The birds are singing and so happy.
This is one of 15 new paintings showing at the
Elliott Fouts Gallery
in Sacramento, CA
April 7th to May 3rd, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Peculiar Pachyderm and painting setups
Peculiar Pachyderm
20" x 16" oil on panel
SOLD
SOLD
Peculiar Pachyderm
will be showing at
Elliott Fouts Gallery
Sacramento, CA
Apr 7, 2012 - May 3, 2012
I have often been asked how I set up my still life paintings. I often have items that seem to defy gravity, or float, or seem to have some sort of "magic" in them. I have always looked at setting up my paintings like the staging of a play.
In theater what you see may not always be what is actually going on behind the scenes. I don't want to take away too much from the visual magic, but I thought Peculiar Pachyderm would
be a good example to let you in on the set up.
I am crafty. I am not afraid to use props, hot glue, string, wire, extra blocks. These are all things that you don't see in the final paintings. I have to make sure all my items are secure so I can set up my lighting just right for my shadows to add to the drama. They have to be sturdy enough not to fall apart as they sit.
You will notice I use a thick gauge wire to glue the peanuts to. I had to prop the wire up in back to make sure it would not sag over time. The wire was stiff but not that strong.
After placing the tin elephant coin bank in his spot, I did have to remove and reglue some of the peanuts just to make sure they had the right spacing and height along the wire.
To get the final peanut in its proper spot in relation to the elephants trunk I did have to work on the bend in the wire to get it just right.
In the final painting of course you don't see the wire. The wire was thin enough to allow me to see the wonderful shadows the peanuts had on the wooden box.
When I come up with ideas for my paintings, it is often a challenge for me to figure out the set ups, the stage. But it is a challenge I enjoy. Hope I didn't spoil too much of the magic for you.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Salon International 2012 and Precarious
Precarious
12" x 16" oil on panel
Precarious
has been juried into
Salon International 2012.
This is a project of the
International Museum of Contemporary Masters
and is hosted by Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art
in San Antonio, Texas.
Exhibit judge this year is Edward Minoff.
The exhibit is April 14 to May 4, 2012
Opening reception is April 14 , 5pm - 8pm
Link to:
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
First Love
First Love
12" x 16" oil on panel
SOLD
SOLD
In honor of Valentine's Day
I did this painting thinking about the innocents of first loves when we were younger. I was in kindergarten. A little boy in class had a crush on me. He left me flowers and little notes in my mailbox. I looked back on that sweet gesture many times.
First Love
will be showing at
Elliott Fouts Gallery
Sacramento, CA
Apr 7, 2012 - May 3, 2012
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