abstract figure

 20"x16" oil/linen

 30"x40" oil/linen

 14"x11" oil/linen panel

 10"x8" oil/linen panel

 10"x8" oil/linen panel

 10"x8" oil/ linen panel

10"x8" oil/ linen panel

So I've been quite prolific as of late. When I do these type paintings they are completely out of my imagination. I purposely tried to incorporate some landscape but to no avail. These things just come through me. I try to fight them yet they appear. At the risk of sounding like a lunatic I'm just documenting my work as a whole. When I work from observation I stick to what I see albeit a bit embellished. When working from the imagination I suppose anything goes but for me not anything goes. Certain things appear. At least there is a part of me that demands satisfaction and these figurative works bring that satisfaction somewhat. That being said...... I'm never quite satisfied.....

Pre Sandy the hurricane

 48"x36" oil/canvas

40"x30" oil/linen

Two new pieces fresh off the easel. The top one being a hotel window view in Florida and the bottom being a scene from the road in the midwest. It was just after the storm passed and left the parking area a bit flooded. I might change the cloud formation so it's not top dead center at the peak but need to live with it for awhile. 

Sandy the hurricane is about to unleash it's fury on the mid atlantic and northeast so power outages are likely even here in south central Pennsylvania. What better time to paint ominous skies? As if I need an excuse.

 

That didn't take long. Couldn't live with it!

cityscape breakdown

40"x30" oil/linen

So after the Chincoteague experience I'm back to some studio work. This scene is from the hotel we stayed at this summer in Chicago. I'm fighting the idea of building a painting and embracing the idea of destroying the concept of building a painting. So I did my usual approach of brushing in from dark to light over a tinted panel. Got completely frustrated and took my very large knife and carved away a huge amount of paint. Finally some life appeared. This was the direction my latest work was going at the end of summer and I suspect it will continue. However, I know better than to predict my future work. Every day is a new day and intuition is the decider in such endeavors.

Chincoteague 2012

 8"x10" oil/linen panel

 11"x14" oil/linen

 20"x24" oil/linen

 20"x24" oil/linen

 20"x24" oil/linen

 11"x20" oil/linen

11"x20" oil/linen

I'm back from a 3 day painting excursion to Chincoteague VA. and these are the plein air pieces from the trip. I'm recently more drawn to atmosphere and shape and seem to pick very minimal subjects. The common thing at Chincoteague is the unique clusters of trees and their unique relation from trunk to top. Whenever I attempt those paintings I get sucked back into drawing with paint instead of painting with paint. So this trip I avoided the subject and went more for atmosphere than graphic illustration.