I'm a member of dailypainters.com and they're doing a virtual studio tour. They asked us to include a photo of our studio space on today's post. So, that's what I've done.

SOLD

Untitled
48"x36" triptych
Mixed media on canvas

I know, I know... I've got to start naming these things! I used the screen and some gold leaf on this piece, and I really like the gold leaf's effect. Also on this piece I used a high gloss medium to add texture (and gloss), but I didn't use it all over the piece. I'm not sure if I'll keep it matte/semi-gloss in some areas and high gloss in others. It's hanging over our mantle in the living room so it gives me an opportunity to live with it a bit and make the final decision.

SOLD

Untitled
18" x 24"
Mixed media on stretched canvas

We were trying to name this piece. Sometimes that's hard. This time, it was. And so, "Untitled" is what it got. Lazy? Perhaps, but I wanted to post this for the past few days and because of one reason or another, I hadn't been able to, until today.

Related the some of the earlier pieces, I added the screening for that added texture. This time around, I went with the fiberglass screen, it's softer and easier to work with.

SOLD

Untitled
18"x24"
Mixed media on stretched canvas

It's been a while since I posted here. It's not for lack of effort, I assure you. I've been painting. "Wow, you sound so defensive." No, I'm NOT! Really, I have been painting!!!

This piece is suspiciously like the earlier diptych. It's a theme I liked, and it's received nice comments, so I want to explore it further. I've incorporated some aluminum screening and I happened upon a technique to add more texture, by putting thick paint with added gel medium on the canvas laying, the screen on it, then pulling it off leaving small peaks.  You can click on the photo for a larger, more detailed photo.

Untitled
20" (round)
Mixed media on wood

SOLD

My second piece in this style, and I feel like I've got a better handle on this one. It's a bit larger than the other piece. Again, I've added some screen I had lying around the studio, for a bit of added texture and depth. I really like the effect it has on the work; not entirely subliminal, yet it's also not in your face. I really like the color scheme on this piece. "Color scheme"? Yikes, that sounds so... underhanded, so covert. How about palette? Yes, let's go with that one. Besides the more prominent green gold in the piece, there is also smattering of light blue that I feel goes nicely with the green. I will further explore this color combination in the future with more conventional shapes. I will bring the blue more to the fore in those pieces.

UNAVAILABLE

"Cyndee & Marlon"
18" x 24"
Mixed media on canvas

It's tough to make out on the smaller photo (if you click the photo, it will bring up a larger one), but I used some screen on this piece for added texture.

Untitled
31.5" x 41"
Acrylic on wood


This is an older piece that I just re-worked a bit. There was some lemon yellow in it that I wanted to pull back.

Untitled
Diptych 20"x20"
Acrylic on canvas

Of course it's untitled. Most of my work seems to be untitled. I'm torn when it comes time to name a painting. Should I affect the viewer and their thoughts on what it means to them? Perhaps I read too much into it, and shouldn't think of it again. Don't get me wrong, this isn't something that keeps me up at night, but it is something I struggle with from time to time.

This piece is a complete rework of an earlier piece that I had messed up. Once I began the rework, it was a relatively quick piece... at least it was for me. It's a piece for the upcoming show and it wasn't completely dry when I photographed it. If you click on the photo for a larger photo, you will see a few small milky areas where the gel medium hadn't completely dried.

Untitled

(round) 17" diameter
Mixed media on wood

SOLD

Well, finally, a new piece. It has been a long time, and not for lack of effort, I assure you. These round panels have been giving me a hell of a time. I didn't think it would be that different from painting on square or rectangular shapes... boy, was I wrong. I like the end result, and enjoy the challenge of painting in a round space. I like the linear shapes against the round cutout. I guess I was lazy with regards to naming this piece, but there is plenty of time to name it before November's show.

If you're interested in nabbing this piece before my show, drop me an email. Thanks!

Untitled
20.5" x 15"
Acrylic on wood

SOLD

Yikes! It's been over a month since I've posted. What a slug I am. It's been a busy month. I worked on the show "Monk" for a week, we traveled to San Antonio and San Francisco visiting friends and family, I injured my back which laid me up for about 2 weeks... whew!

I was thinking today on my run. My work, (painting) recently has felt forced, and uninspired. I'm not sure why. I don't know that I've tapped into that sense of melancholy/inner rage for a long time. Is that what makes "art"? What the hell constitutes "art" anyway? Do I have to feel all this in order to paint something worthwhile? I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, and mellowing with age, perhaps it's because I feel less inclined to feel depressed/angry, whatever, because, well, frankly, these days I'm pretty happy. It sounds corny, but wife is the best thing to ever happen to me. Period. I'm a very lucky man, and maybe that reflects on the work. I definitely think my work has gotten lighter since I've known my wife (that, and a comment from a friend who buys art also helped me lighten the palette.) Can a painter still do worthwhile work when he's happy? God, I hope so. Must be. I still can't refer to myself as an "artist". It seems self-serving. Do I feel that way about other people calling themselves artists? No, absolutely not. Double standard? You bet. But, it's the way it is.

Which brings me to this painting. It elicits little emotion from me. It's for a show I'm hoping to have in November. It was supposed to be next week, but with all the time I had to take off, I had to push the show a month. I've begun work on a diptych. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for checking in.

"Babs' Sunset"
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

Today I received a great email from a fellow artist and blogger. She suggested that I take Saturday's jewel, and flip it up and make a sort of abstract sunset out of it. It's a note I've gotten before from other people visiting my blog, and honestly, it's something I toyed with earlier, beginning a "Vertical Sunset" series. It's tough, I've been painting vertically for a while now, and seeing everything vertically. I'm not sure why. I'm a bit obsessed, I guess, and it's why I haven't embraced this composition much. You're right, this piece is suspiciously similar to Saturday's piece, except for the little blue square. I did want to put in a blue line, or area on this piece, but refused as it seemed happy the way it was. Besides, the gray I put into the piece comes off as having a blueish tint to it. So, this is a piece completely inspired by an email from Babs. Hence, "Babs' Sunset".

"Little Blue Square"
24"x18"
Acrylic on canvas

This is the first piece for my upcoming show I have in the fall. It's based on two jewels I've done previously. One of the pieces it's based on was referred to as "sexy" by a fellow blogger. (Yowza!) Well, I don't know if it's sexy or not, but here it is.

Untitled
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

Today's offering. The red is more prevalent than I originally intended, but I think it works pretty well nonetheless.

Study #1
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

This is a study for a commissioned piece that's stumped me for quite some time. I liked where it was headed, but I'm kind of apathetic as to where it ended up.

One Dead Tree
Acrylic on fiberboard
5"x7"

I'm back. Wow. It's been an entire month since I've posted, and I've got to tell you, I'm feeling pretty rusty. It was a trip filled with family, weddings, fishing and friendship. I'm hoping that I will continue to garner some inspiration in the coming weeks from all that I experienced. Today's jewel is based on the many dead trees I saw while up in Canada fishing. The colors evoke the many beautiful sunsets I saw, and the heat of the summer sun reflecting off the lake. We didn't see much in the way of "big ticket" wildlife, meaning, only a few moose, no bear and no wolves, so that was a disappointment. We did, however see many bald eagles, beavers and I even saw a chubby woodchuck affectionately known as Wilma.

Untitled Study
5"x7"
Mixed media on fiberboard

I tried to push the boundaries of good taste a bit with the fighting green and magenta in this one. It's not like they're side by side mind you, but they do lend a certain dynamic to the piece. I don't know what my recent fascination has been with squares. I think it's a subconscious (or is it unconscious?) need to fight my older, more "squiggly" style of painting. Or maybe I feel like I haven't gotten it right- whatever the hell that means.

Untitled
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

My cousin suggested that I do some more paintings with green in them. It's a great idea. I love the color green... big fan of blue too. I've become complacent with the warmer palette I've been using lately. Time to mix it up a bit.

As I look at the photograph of this piece now, I feel as though I've overworked it a bit. (sigh) Sh*t!

"Red Rectangle"
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

SOLD

This piece doesn't really break any new ground for me. I've been focusing on warmer colors lately, (when I've actually posted something that is). I need to work the cooler colors. I'm going to hit some greens later in the week.

Untitled
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

Overworked.

(and underpaid?)

I feel like I've painted this before. This is one of those pieces where I had something in mind for it, and it ended up looking nothing like what I had originally envisioned. For starters, it's got no brown in it. None. Yeah, this piece just lead me down a different path, and I followed. No wax. No screen.

"Square"
5"x7"
Acrylic & mixed media on fiberboard

Not entirely sold on this piece. I continue to explore the screen and texture mediums. This time, for the horizon line, I used the rubber from the screen I took apart.

Untitled
5"x7"
Mixed media on fiberboard
SOLD

This piece is top heavy. I'm o.k. with that. I'm not sure it works, but I wanted to explore new ways to look at the vertical and kind of flip the horizon on it's head a bit. I like working with the screen.

"Interference"
5"x7"
Mixed media on wood

Finally! I've killed two birds with one stone. D's been on me to do a monochromatic piece, and I've been wanting to work with some other elements, mainly, screen. After a very kind message from an artist on an earlier jewel, I checked out her blog, and saw her beautiful work. One of her pieces, "Freefall" had screen in it, and that was all I needed. I went out back, found an old screen laying around, and started messing with it. This jewel was actually finished yesterday, but it wasn't dry. I also wanted to explore the areas of bare wood, which I've done frequently in my larger pieces. I've yet to bring the dremel out on these small jewels like I do on the larger pieces. It's difficult, because I try and rock these smaller pieces a bit quicker, treating them more as studies.

Untitled
4"x6"
Acrylic on wood

Boring. Uninspired. Muddy. Just a few words describing this week's first foray into the jewels. Can you tell how excited I am by it? It could be my allergies talking, but I just wasn't groovin' on the easel today. Oh yeah, and this is the good one from today! Yeah, It wasn't for lack of effort but I can admit when I've had my ass handed to me. They can't all be winners.

"Sunshine #2"
11"x15"
Acrylic on Wood


A variation on an earlier jewel. This one's a bit larger, with more work invested in it. There is a great deal more texture work on this piece than on "Sunshine". This was a piece that stumped me for a while, before it became another "Sunshine".

"Bouncing the Blue"
5"x7"
Acrylic on Fiberboard

Why yes, it IS a new jewel. Thanks for noticing.

Wow, what a weekend. A good friend got married and I was the best man. It was fun, but exhausting. I can't imagine how tired they must be.

I went a little brighter with this one, adding the cadmium red and magenta just to bounce the blue a bit. It's a bit of a marriage between my previous two jewels.

I'm going to make a concerted effort to post more jewels until my month-long furlough in July.

Blue Rectangle
5"x7"
Acrylic on Fiberboard
SOLD

Wholly crap! What's this? A new jewel? Could it be? Yes, it is. Things the past two weeks have really picked up in the acting department; auditions, meetings, & new headshots have all prevented me from painting and posting. I found today that having been away from it for a short time gave me a fresh perspective when I sat down at the easel. Did it totally change the end result? Mmmmm, not much. It's more of a feeling I had when I approached today's jewel. We'll see if the freshness translates into anything different or worthwhile.

"Fish in a Barrel"
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

No, you're not going crazy. There is no fish, no barrel. It's just that, sometimes, rarely, I sit my butt down, paint, and it's like hair dye... wait for it... Nice 'n Easy. (groan) Anyway, today was such a day. Granted, I did most of the heavy lifting on this one last week and just added the contrast today, and the fact that it was "easy" doesn't reflect any feelings I have towards it. No judgements. Not good. Not bad. It just, is. That said, I don't hate it. I haven't broken new ground with this one, (as illustrated by 4/9's post) but it was good to get one in the ol' "Finito" column.

Untitled
4"x6"
Acrylic on wood

Hmmmmmm...

"Blue Run"
5"x7"
Acrylic on Fiberboard


There is a simplicity with this piece that pleases me.

"Sunshine"
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

I wanted to work on layering with this piece.

"Gold Horizon"
4"x6"
Acrylic on Wood

Exploring new territory here, and I'm still not sure of it. But what the hell, right? That's what this is supposed to be. I like the color combination on this one. A bit different than what I'm used to.

It's a smaller piece so, let's say $60.

Click on any of these photos for more detail in a larger photo.

Two Blue Lines
5"x7"
Acrylic on Fiberboard

Busy day today. Two appointments but I still was able to finish a jewel. Two days in a row? I went back to the "wax" on this one.

"Two Squares & Rectangle"
5"x7"
Acrylic on Fiberboard

Finally, I finished a jewel. Last week was not a productive week in the studio. They can't all be, I suppose, but last week was frustrating. It was my intention to finish two larger pieces, not huge, mind you, but bigger pieces, and it never happened. I got wrapped up in them, got close on both, and then, poof... the one I nearly finished ended up disappointing me, and the other? That one just got muddy. They're not lost causes, but a real pisser of a week, artistically speaking.

Which brings me to today's jewel.

D liked a piece I did a while back with some squares in it, and she suggested I explore that again.

Some people really suck, you know? I've just spent the last two days dealing with a scam artist. A person posing as a gallery worker wanted to buy 5 of my pieces. It was all b.s. too long of a story really to go into here, and frankly, not all that exciting, but I bring it up because it's what I've been dealing with the past two days. I haven't posted any jewels here since dealing with it, but I have been painting. I'm currently working on a bigger piece, about 12"x16", and it's called Dulce de Leche, inspired by my love of ice cream. No, really!

"Arctic Orange Shake with Magenta"
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard
SOLD

Do you remember Arctic Orange shakes at Micky D's? They served them infrequently, ("For a limited time only!!!") and they kind of tasted like St. Joseph's baby aspirin with ice cream. I loved them! I named this piece well before I had finished it. I'm not sure when you're "supposed" to name a painting, but well, it was a bit early in the process when I hung that label on this. It was at a time when there was a very light orange color prevalent on the piece. The color looked just like an Arctic Orange shake. The piece then continued to evolve into what you see here, complete with the pimply areas. I didn't use the waxy medium on this one, wanting instead to actually post two paintings, back-to-back for the first time in a long time. Have a good weekend everyone. I'll see you Monday.

Untitled Abstract
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

Yes, I changed the format of my blog. It's not a big thing, but you know, that's how I roll. I'm like the man in black, Johnny Cash; I walk the line.

Anyway, I finished this piece early yesterday, but the heavy gel medium I used didn't dry completely, and so it had these opaque areas. I couldn't photograph and post it until today. Fascinating, I'm sure, but it's the truth.

Believe it or not, I don't really mind this piece. I'm pleased with the pimply areas I brought up with the culinary torch. It gives it a nice texture.

"Fractured Window"
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

This thing got a little muddy on me. Crap! What began as mild flirtation with a monochromatic green theme, ended quickly. No willpower on my part. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Untitled
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

Yes, not a terribly original piece for me in it's color combination or style, but it is horizontal whereas the bulk of my work seems to be vertical... and hell, I actually finished a jewel today, which is something I couldn't say for about a week or so.

Untitled
11"x14"
Acrylic on Canvas

SOLD

Well, it's about time! It's been an entire week since I posted something here. You know how it goes, life happens. I had finished this a few days ago, and put a heavy gel on it to give it some more waxy windows. I became impatient with how long it was taking for it to dry. I put it in the oven (on low, after all, I'm not THAT dumb) for a VERY short time, but still, it was too long. So, as my Dad would say, "I ended up with a pile of shit". I had to do some repair work on it, and now have finally finished it. Yes, it is considerably larger than the other jewels, so it will fetch a bigger price. If you're interested email me, or let me know in the comments.

Untitled
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard
SOLD

Tough to see on this one, but I continued on my "waxy" path, trying to get those translucent areas and dreamy dark places.

Untitled
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

Started this piece on friday, but had to finish it today. I tried working more with the negative space.

Untitled
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

No name for this one. That's all right, I guess. This painting is okay. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, so for that, I'm happy, if that makes sense. These are, after all, supposed to be thumbnail sketches, or studies for larger pieces. I like the way the permanent green light and the white/putty colors work together on the right side of the piece.

On other fronts, the commissioned war-themed painting still vexes me. I feel like I may finally have it by the balls, and yet, I just can't put it away. Perhaps it's an inability or unwillingness to go to the dark places needed to do such work, but I've always had a proclivity to reside there and so, I don't think that's it. Pehaps there's just too much baggage associated with it. Perhaps I'm not a good enough artist to pull it off. I really don't know. I only know that there is a constant fear of diminishing the subject matter by my own ineptitude.

I will continue to push forward.

Untitled
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

Grrrrrrrrrrr... This piece disappoints me.

"Waxy Window"
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard


Yes, a strange name. I got it from the "window" on the right side of the painting, near the orange and reddish area. I used the acrylic additive that I had been using the day before, and came up with this somewhat cloudy area. I like the effect as you are able to see the underpainting. You know me; a big fan of seeing what's going on under there.

"Breakthrough"
5"x7"
Acrylic on Fiberboard


It may not look like much, but with this piece, I've had a bit of a breakthrough. This photo is too small to see it, but with this painting, I feel one step closer to melding a few different styles of mine into one, cohesive vision. Hmmm, yes, that sounded a bit self-serving, but there, I've said it. After finishing this, I worked on a commisioned piece, took the technique a step further, and solidified it that much more. It's a technique where I blend the textured areas more seamlessly with the other, less-textured areas. I think I'll call this piece, "Breakthrough".

"Brown, Orange & Green"
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard


Those are the three colors D gave me to use on today's jewel. The green is there, I just added a ton of white to it, giving it the minty freshness to combat morning breath.

Raining Light
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard


I haven't really posted much this week. I'm a slug, what can I say? I ran a marathon on sunday, and, just like last year's marathon, I had horrible allergies. D thinks I caught a cold. In any event, I've been feeling like sh*t this week.

D found a photo in a magazine recently of some guy onstage in a pool of light with stuff raining down on him. She wanted me to do a painting of it, (sans guy), and so, here that experiment is. It didn't photograph very well, but I'm somewhat pleased with the end result. I think D is right, this may make a nice larger painting.

"Inside Out"
5"x7"
Acrylic on Fiberboard


The title for this jewel came from the way in which it was painted. I took a different approach, although the end result doesn't seem all that different, except for the obvious horizontal vs. vertical aspect.

Green Abstract
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

Not much to say on this one. Don't love it, don't hate it.

Untitled Abstract with Yellow & Gray
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

I'm so glad you're feeling better, Mom.

I love you.

Untitled
5"x7"
Acrylic on fiberboard

This piece doesn't photograph very well, and there's a little too much going on with it for my tastes, frankly.

I haven't done a lot of jewels lately. I've had a busy week of auditions, and I'm currently restoring a '68 bronco. It's been a labor of love that's long overdue. I'm hoping next week I'll have more time to devote to these.

Have a good weekend, everyone.