chester county studio tour

On the road and in the woods the last 3 weeks. Towed a few times and got drenched a few times. Off to the Chester County Studio Tour  this weekend. With any luck I'll pick up a brush soon. Maybe even some plein air work at the show. If you're in the area check it out. It's even supposed to be sunny for a change.

This was my booth at Scarsdale last week. I had to post something. Some folks thought I kicked the bucket. The bucket is full of rainwater. I dare not kick it!

abstract spring

6"x12" oil/panel

Just enough time for some sketching. Basement flooded and I have a lot to clean up before the show season starts next week in Richmond. Mold galore. Yippeee...

28 strokes part 4

6"x6" oil/panel

I continue with the 28 brushstroke exercise. This time done over a painting. I seem to be completely engrossed in the horizontal line compositions. This will change no doubt, but for now I must follow my intuition. Note: when painting over old work, strokes could be many fewer to create a believable work. This exercise is enlightening and brings awareness to the temptation of predertermining strokes and loading the brush with color. Too close to craft work ie..painting flower petals with one stroke. I am abandoning this exercise. I learned a lesson.........Paintings develope through continual interaction and reaction........... 

More Spring

20"x24" oil/canvas

Continuing to paint over old work. I'm concentrating on colors seen throughout the day. Composition resonates in my unconscious.

I have a bunch of linen on birch panels coming that will be dedicated to plein air work. Light is lasting longer and I need to be in the elements.

Yet again.......

20"x24"oil/canvas

If you remember my ode to a Christmas tree last December(?) there were what appeared to be trees about to be burned in a fire disaster.Note the 2010 signature. Well I've drenched it with paint. To combine the imagination with observation would be ideal. Leaving things in that couldn't possibly occur in nature is quite tempting. I'm guessing I won't have much luck at the next OPA competition!

More spring coverups

24"x24" oil/canvas

Another painting over a painting. I'm pushing the idea of spring through abstraction again. I might tweak this one. A counter angle in the sky might do wonders. Need to contemplate this one. I'll ponder it while we are under a tornado watch.........

spring time

11"x14" oil/canvas

The trees are budding. I took a winter landscape and turned it a season. The show schedule is coming together and the work is starting.

no strokes

40"x30" oil/linen

Almost no strokes in this one. I used a big brush and scrubbed in the paint. This is a view from the local recycling plant. Yes it is in a rural area.

I'm enjoying the dynamic of the 28 stroke series then allowing freedom of brushwork.

28 strokes part 3

6"x6" oil/panel

Hopefully, you see the hand of the artist in this series. 28 strokes. Yes, it is hard to understand, Yes, I am hard to understand. Feel free to standover, but please keep a distance.

28 strokes part 2

6"x6" oil/panel

What started as an idea has become a full blown direction. This is a self portrait done with glasses off and 28 strokes. I'm all but blind without my corrective lenses. I couldn't even see my palette properly. I mixed warms where cools should have been and vice versa. The energy that is being created is overwhelming. These things are tough to do! But I'm only 2 in and getting ideas!

28 strokes part 1

6"x6" oil/panel

Since I have a boat load of small panels I decided to challenge myself. The challenge is create a piece with 28 brushstrokes. I'll vary brushsize however will not stray from 28 strokes. This creates an interesting dilema to say the least. The darks must go down first then carved into. A stroke consists of the brush never leaving the panel. Crazy is as crazy does..... These will appear at random

Fort Hunter

20"x24" oil/linen

A local historical area. I've attempted to tackle architecture again while maintaining free brushwork and allowing light to play the lead role.

'da hood

8"x10" oil/linen

This is a view towards the capitol dome from a less than desirable section of the city. I find boarded up buildings and junk cars incredibly interesting all the while recognizing the depressing state of things that create this situation. Finding beauty in the ugly. An artists job indeed!

I'm getting grounded again and can see things I need to do.

ps. I left the dome out.

plutonium

5"x7" oil

A quick sketch based on an image burned in my brain predawn today. It's ok to play I say. Formula may please the mind, and representation might pay the rent, appreciating paint for what it is is what soothes my soul when all is said. Done.

St. Patricks Cathedral

24"x20" oil/linen

Yet another attempt at the local dome I see from my house. It is a truly impressive church to see in person. I still try to capture it. I suppose most cities have similar structures. I'm sure others are as fascinated with their own as I am with this one.........

orchard

20"x24" oil/linen

This is a theme I do every spring. I love Van Goghs orchard paintings. I just have a different approach and result. More tonalist I suppose. Minimalist perhaps. At any rate, spring is close and snow is in the forecast. @$fu#@. Yes, I've had enough of winter. This creepy spring orchard piece found its way out of me today. We will see if any more do.

wreck-less abandon

40"x30" oil/linen

I am painting like a mad man. A brief thought leads to multiple strokes. Big brush.... hint of light.... a structure perhaps... it's all  meaningless unless there is cohesion...a few thoughts along the way....

still kickin'

40"x30" oil/linen

Trying to get back in the groove.

different mindsets and perceptions

14"x12" oil/panel

As my mind altering cold fades I find the energy to at least tweak 2 pieces that I felt needed changes. The top is a piece that is a Gruppe study. The bottom is from 2 posts ago. I couldn't stand that dark value in the water. Somehow I saw like that when painting but thankfully I see it differently now!

5"x7" oil

still sick

24"x30" oil

My apologies. These new cold bugs seem to be "super bugs". Everyone I know thats had this one is down for a week and I'm on track with that. This is a piece from a few years back. It represents clarity, which I wish I had in my head right now.

On a sad note, the first neighbor that I ever had at an art show passed away from lymphoma the 27th of February. A mere 2 years ago he and his wife Trilla stayed at our house while doing the Longs Park show in Lancaster with no signs of illness. It's amazing how quickly artists form bonds and just as amazing how quickly they can be dissolved.

You will be missed Robert.