genie is out of the bottle

this recent painting started with a squiggly line. i then worked with it and let it emerge. there was no plan until about midway through i started seeing some images and patterns in it. i wonder if there is anything that you see in it.

here is a rough time lapse of it as it developed:

because the very first, dark squiggle was the anchor for the painting, i added a strand of electro luminescent (EL) wire that can be turned on or off to accentuate that curve.

Footprints - Artomatic 2015

This is a photo of my completed space at Artomatic 2015. It is not just about Rhinos, although I use them to emphasize something broader. I will go into more discussion about its meaning in a near-future post.

The two paintings on either side are "bookends" -- a mother and child. The mother in the lead, the child trotting along after. The piece that is second from the left is entitled "Footprints" and is the focal point of the installation -- there is only a bit of one rhino in it, as other parts of nature vie for attention. It is detailed and complicated and deserves its own discussion. The piece to the right of it is "The Abyss" and also contains a rhino, though a bit more abstractly. The rhino in this piece looks into the abyss and is acting as a canary in a coal mine. The piece to the right of The Abyss is my first piece of art to contain an Arduino. A sensor lets the Arduino know when to make the eye sparkle. I learned a lot by doing this and am looking forward to continue to combine technology and art as a way to allow paintings to be more interactive.

If you take a photo of any of my work, please post it on social media with the hashtag #SaveRhinos. 

I hope you can visit Artomatic. It contains the work of 500+ visual artists (2D and 3D), plus many performing artists. There are also workshops and other activities. Meet the Artists night is the next major event and will take place on November 14. Check the calendar for more activities. 

Disneyburgh

this mash-up of Pittsburgh and Disney's Cinderalla castle was done for a special person -- someone who has ties to both Pittsburgh and Disney. this may be the beginning of a series combining cities and sites in unique ways. this piece is oil on canvas, 20" x 30".

multi-painting

one thing i am loving about having studio space is the ability to "multi-paint" -- work on multiple paintings in one session. with oil painting, since the drying time becomes a factor, i find that now that i have the space, i can add bits to several paintings in succession. in a recent evening, i worked on all of these paintings (plus one more that i started after snapping this photo):

it was mind-bending to be able to work on birds, bridges, abstract pieces, and a portrait all in the same session.

emerging from the swirl

i had this swirly background that i did a few months ago and it has just been sitting around. last night, our model Manuel, decided to strike a standing pose - unusual for long poses. he also raised his arms and held onto the overhead heating duct. then i remembered the swirly background and thought i could try to make it look as if he was emerging from it. here is the (unfinished) result.

emerging

For this one, I started with a busier background than usual. It took me a while to figure out how much of the figure to use, and where it should go. The model was lying down, but from the angle I thought it could look like she was running or walking. The dark green lines in the lower left quarter of the canvas looked to me like high grasses or splashes of mud. I like how this one came out. 

two for one

at a recent session, we started with quick, 5-minute gesture drawings, and then a series of 30-minute poses. in this painting, one of the gesture drawings became the background - the shoulders and chest that you can see. on top of that i painted the model in her longer pose. i kind of like the outcome.

abstraction -- or my version of it

i have been taking an abstract painting class for the past month at the torpedo factory in old town alexandria, va. i took the course for two reasons: 1) to learn how to think more loosely and more creatively; 2) to learn more about how to work with acrylics.

it seems that as i move from realism to abstraction, i have taken a path toward surrealism. it was not intentional, but now it seems logical, as it is so hard for me to let go of realism. here are a few examples of the stuff that has resulted from my classes:

eagle spirits

this painting began as a standard wildlife/landscape composition. however, as layers were added to it, something surreal began to emerge from the mountains. the following photos show this progression.

this painting is now in the show perspectivo: unexpected views of nature at the falls church arts gallery (virginia).