International 2013/2014 ARC Salon Results

Art Renewal Center has announced the winners and finalist in their

2013/2014 International Salon.

With approximately 2200 entries from over 1000 artists,

the finalists only include the top 31% 

of the work submitted.

I am very honored to announce my painting

Carrot-O 

has been selected as a finalist 

in the Still Life category.

Carrot-O

20" x 20"

oil on panel

sold

To view all the finalists and award winners

of each category please go to the

Art Renewal Center Salon page:

International 2013/2014 ARC Salon

Crossed Lines

 Crossed Lines

18" x 24"

oil on panel

I have spent a lot of time with these wonderful phones. 

I must have had them lined up on top of my cabinet for over a year.

Sometimes I need to spend that time with a toy before

 I ultimately decided what I wanted them to say in an image.

detail from painting

 

I love these toy phones colors, 

their well loved surfaces showing their age.

The sounds of the bells when you turn their dials 

to make your calls

add a whole level of sensory excitement.

I kept thinking about how telephones are used 

as a means of communication.

One toy phone, with its cord not attached anymore, 

is out of the communication game.

detail from painting

 

I believe we all at some point have felt in the middle,

between two people (or groups of people)

who are trying to communicate,

but it is not working out too well for them.

Crossed lines of communication.

That is what led to my own vision for

"Crossed Lines".

 detail from painting

I had quite a few friends tell me that the image 

reminded them of party lines.

Party lines were where more than one 

telephone customer were connected in one loop. 

Basically everyone had to take turns. There would be a switch

operator who helped make the line connections.

 Here Sigrid Gellerstedt mans the Cotton telephone 

exchange switchboard at her home in January 1975. 

I found a wonderful blog post about Mrs. Gellerstedt

describing one of Minnesota's last party-line phone systems. 

A link to the article is here: Minnesota's Last Party-Lines

Classic Rotary Phones

The three toy phones in my painting

are made by The Gong Bell Mfg Co from 1942-1954.

The company began in 1866 in Easthampton, CT.

It is believed that with the introduction of plastics

in toy making, the Gong Bell Mfg Co could not compete

since their toys were mostly made of 

wood and metal, thus closing the company in the 1960's.

To learn more about the Gong Bell Mfg Co please visit

http://www.oldwoodtoys.com/gong_bell.htm

Here is a short video showing my phones,

and the sounds they make.

And yes, a whiskered friend,

who seems to always show up in my little videos,

makes an appearance. 

Such a curious fellow he is.

  

Crossed Lines 

will be showing at

Principle Gallery Charleston

"These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things"

Annual Still Life Show

May2nd- May 31st, 2014

125 Meeting Street

Charleston, SC

843-727-4500

www.principlegallery.com

Principle Gallery Charleston Annual Still Life Show

Crossed Lines

18" x 24"

oil on panel

I am honored to have my painting

Crossed Lines

showing at

Principle Gallery Charleston

"These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things"

Annual Still Life Show

May 2nd - May 31st, 2014

Reception

May 2nd, 2014

5:00pm-8:00pm

125 Meeting Street

Charleston, SC

843-727-4500

To view the show online:
www.principlegallery.com

A Little Luck and a Good Idea

A Little Luck and a Good Idea

20" x 16"

oil on panel

 

 

We all would like a little extra luck sometimes.

Especially when we think we have good ideas.

I think it all goes hand in hand with a lot of hard work.

All the props in this painting have deep meaning to me. 

The light bulb for the good idea.

The wish bone for a little luck.

The skull is us.

The marbles are our thoughts.

The feather is flight, so those good ideas can 

take flight with a little luck.

 

I thought I would share some in-progress shots

from the painting:

 

 

 

The skull is from the Visible Man Anatomy kit.

It is only 2" tall. The light bulb is an appliance

bulb, so it is also fairly small in scale.

 

 Detail from painting.

 

A Little Luck and a Good Idea

Principle Gallery

20th Anniversary Invitational

208 King Street

Alexandria, VA

www.principlegallery.com 

http://principlegallery.com/alexandria/artists-page?field_artist_target_id=509&nid=509 

 

Principle Gallery 20th Anniversary Show

Since opening in 1994, Principle Gallery has been 

dedicated to exhibiting the best of American and European

Contemporary Realism. Focusing on paintings

in oil and bronze sculpture, the gallery represents

emerging, mid-career, and established artists

with a distinct personal approach

to their work.

They are celebrating

twenty wonderful years with their

20th Anniversary Group Invitational Show

Opening reception and celebration

Friday, April 25th, 2014

6:30pm - 9:00pm

 Link to see show online:
Principle Gallery 20th Anniversary Show 

I am very honored to have two paintings

 in this show.

Monkey On Your Back

18" x 24"

oil on panel

A Good Idea And A Little Luck

20" x 16"

oil on panel

New Heights

New Heights

24" x 12"

oil on panel

Setting goals. Going new places. 

Learning new skills. Being brave. Taking a first step.

Take a breath.

Reaching for new heights.

All these phrases inspired my new painting

New Heights.

detail from painting

The vintage wind up mechanical rabbit

 in this painting is Skippy The Jumping Rabbit

made by Mikuni in Japan

between 1950-1960.

The cloth dressmakers measuring tape is from the 1950's. 

The case is made from bakelite. Bakelite is one of the first 

plastics made from synthetic components.

New Heights

is showing at

Elliot Fouts Gallery

Sacramento, CA

916-736-1429

Monkey On Your Back

Monkey On Your Back

18" x 24"

oil on panel

Growing up I heard the phrase, " I  have a monkey on my back." Or " Do you have a monkey on your back?" To me it meant feeling the stress and burden of the world. 

Upon researching it's meaning for this post I learned it is a term that became popular in the 1800's to describe someone who was in a bad mood or bothered by something that would not go away.

By the late 1940's, it became a reference to having an addiction or having a mortgage.

The monkey toy in this painting is Bobby the Monkey a tin cyclist made by the K. Arnold & Co in Nurnberg, Germany. On the toy it says "made in U.S. zone Germany". This monkey was made between 1948 and 1952.

The largest character in the painting is Timmy Turtle #150, a musical pull toy made by Fisher Price between 1953 and 1955.

 

Monkey On Your Back 

will be showing at

Principle Gallery

20th Anniversary Invitational

reception

Friday, April 25th, 2014

6:30pm-9:00pm

208 King Street

Alexandria, VA

703-739-9326

 

  Monkey On Your Back

18" x 24"

oil on panel