Communion

18" X 26" oil on masonite

Here's an unfinished piece which was worked from a series of photos of Amelie's first communion at our good friends' farm in Manitoba.  White sky, wind, just coming up on a bitter time of year, this beautiful family is dancing and playing outside-  And in reality, inside, all the people who have shown up to celebrate the first communion are looking out the window and thinking, "who are these people?"  This painting is going to evolve organically, as there is no set timeframe for which it has to get done.  I can kinda mess with it, and tweak it from time to time until the next time Steph and Lise come out to visit-  At which time I'll have to hustle to get it done, because it is theirs.  They are getting together a nice collection of artwork, some stuff by Ken Chambers, Denise Lesage's Woodpile, Bonnie's Pottery and other cool Valley artist's stuff.  I'm really happy to be part of their collection.

Otis and the Birdhouse

13.5" X 20.5", oil on masonite

You'd think that with a black dog, or with a white dog, or with a black-and-white dog you would just  mix up a bunch of black and squeeze out a bunch of white and get to it-  And I suppose that would be mostly true if your subject was lit with pure white light against a black background, or a white background, but as soon as the subject, (in this case, big handsome Otis the Great Dane) starts hanging out on his big ol' bed with a big ol' hardwood floor underneath, warmed by a sort of  light umber wall and lit by light bouncing off of a windowsill which has already gone through the trees, you start talking about more than straight black and white, and you get all these nice blues and greens and yellows and pinks everywhere-  And compositionally, sticking a big ol' Great Dane foot right out in the very foregroundmost part of the painting underscores the size of this guy and made me very happy.  It was therapeutic for me to spend several hours over a few days looking into the handsome face of this handsome dog and trying to get the painting just right.

Sheba the Spaniel

 

8"X8" oil on masonite

Here's a commission that I've just finished and am really happy with.  I'm liking how all the brush strokes are visible and it's just the right amount of chunky without getting blocky or cartoony.  This turned out to be my second run at this painting-  The first attempt was more of a 3/4 view and the proportions weren't what I was looking for.  I also blasted too much phthalo green in the background, mixed with titanium white, and you know what that looks like.  So I tried to go with the addition of some alizarin crimson, (which when it's mixed with pure phthalo green gives a really good black, thanks Gary Smith) to grey up the Christmas green that I had just made, but then it all just mudded out on me, which is really frustrating.  The first painting that I attempted of Sheba is alright-  But more of a sketch of a painting than a finished piece-  And not something that I would feel comfortable as the final-  More of like a dress rehearsal, if you get my drift...

Graphite Powder Drawings

In universities across Europe and North America, education is built around the simple concept of not necessarily just trying to impart as much wisdom in as brief a time span as possible, but teaching students how to think and learn for the long term.  More valuable than all of this is the simple precept of requiring the student to learn how to ask the important questions related to their major.  For example: The engineering student should be made not only to learn to calculate the physics involved in the structural aspects of their field, but to ask, "How can we build this thing better, stronger or faster?" -depending on the specialty of their focus.  The Accounting student should be made to ask not only, "How much will this cost?" but also "Will this project (or business) be sustainable for the long term?"  The Fine Art students, again, should be made to focus on and practice important questions as well, and get used to asking the questions, "Would you like fries with that?" and also, "Where do you want these 2X4's?"

Here are a couple of drawings from when I was living in Portland, Oregon and showing at the Blackfish Gallery.  They were made using graphite powder and an eraser.  You coat the heavyweight acid-free paper with graphite powder, and then start carving away the negative space.  Very satisfying when you drag the eraser across the surface of the graphite, and on first pass it only burnishes, creating a reflection that can only be seen at an angle.  Really fun and messy media, graphite powder.  Thanks Geoff Barnes!