Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Studio Shop, Cowboys, and Card Reflections

Now at 
The Studio Shop
Burlingame, CA

Cowboys
18" x 24"
oil on linen


detail Cowboys

Cowboys is still one of my favorite paintings. The cowboys pop apart in the middle so you can switch around their legs and they swivel at the waist. This was the first painting that I did an entire block floor. As I painted it I would keep counting the blocks. After a while I had to stop counting and enjoyed their wonderful wood grain and colors. During the set up the cowboy on the left kept falling off his horse. I was getting frustrated, but then looked at it, really looked at him falling side ways. I painted this during the big financial upheaval and the problems the auto industry was having. Him falling over was how I felt then. Will we stay afloat, will we stay on our horse. I grew up riding. If you fell off, you just got back on again and kept riding. I decided to leave the cowboy falling over as a reminder: If we fall, get back up and keep riding.




Card Reflections
16" x 12"
oil on linen



detail of Card Reflection





Saturday, March 5, 2011

Salon International 2011 preview

This year they have posted the accepted entries of
Salon International 2011 online before opening weekend. 
It is so nice to be able to look through all the wonderful work. 
They also offer being able to view the hi-res images of each painting. A great way to get a closer look without being at the gallery yourself.

Enjoy!

  





Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Fly-O, The Roost, and Mason Murer

Fly-O
16" x 12"    oil on linen
sold


The Roost
12" x 24"    oil on linen
sold


For both of these paintings I really pushed the lighting. I always enjoy dramatic lighting but
for both of these, it is a little more extreme. For Fly-O the lighting on the fly block and the strong light, which really makes the marble seem to glow from the inside, is stronger than I usually use. I want to push that more with future paintings.

Someone asked me once, "How many of these red roosters do you own?" I have an unnatural amount of these roosters. A few years ago I won an auction on ebay for 21 of these roosters. I just love them. This is the forth painting I have done to include them. Never this many at once. One of these days I will put all 21 in one painting.


Fly-O and The Roost will be part of a Juried Realism Show at 
Mason Murer Fine Art in Atlanta, GA , 
April 8th to May 12th, 2011.
I will post more information about the show soon.