Fall Trees Blue Sky Abstract

I often draw on my paintings, usually with graphite or charcoal.  It is unorthodox, I know,  but I can scribble with a  pencil in ways a brush could  never do. Drawing with paint is a challenge, but I'm working with it.  We'll see where it goes.








Oil 8x10

Patterns in Autumn Woods, Oil Abstract

I see everything in patterns.  This is out my window.  No chickens, just rhythmic  impressions of leaves, sun, trees, sky.  The blue skies make all the orange, lemon and lime work very  well.









Oil 8x10
Available $300.

Chickens in the Leaves

The woods are ablaze!  I'm painting quiet little hens in a screaming orange and yellow background. I  want to explore this spectacular autumn display further.

I have been invited to become a member of the exclusive Triangle Artist Guild. (Blogs are great tools for creating or supporting myths.)  I do like this group of painters. They are a most professional lot of artists.  We had a critique the other day.  We all know the same rules.  It made me want to break out of everything I learned from someone else.  One of the benefits of having figured out how to paint, is you get to trust you know the important stuff, and go wild!



Oil 8x10
Available $300.

Emus Dancing Video

Many painters work directly from a photo.  I don’t have the patience or the interest in copying a photo, but sometimes I do use them for reference.  I had to find pictures of Rheas because I couldn’t get to the real thing.   I studied a ton of photos and drew several drawings to get the feel for the beast.  Then I put the paint on the canvas and let the bird appear - taking plenty of liberties with the details. It is quite fun watching it evolve.  Now I can't quit looking at pictures of Rheas.  They are so dinosaur like.  You tube is great for getting the sense of an animals personality.  I  found a few informative but boring clips of Rheas, but many more of the Rheas cousins, ostriches and Emus. Here are Emus Dancing .  I promise you will like it.




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Wait Until You See Me Dance

I do the New York Times crossword puzzle every morning to prime my brain.  Living as a painter, where everything is fluid and nothing ever feels finished (until it sells) , it feels  good to do something concrete- a clear symmetrical task where there is no question whether I’m right or wrong.  And, when I can’t figure something out, like every Saturday (the hardest puzzle day), I run to Rex Parker,  my favorite crossword puzzle blogger.  He is a refreshing blend of brains, humor and hipness.

Wednesday the clue “Largest bird of the Americas” stumped me. It was Rhea. So I  looked up images of Rheas and whoa.  How can I not  paint that!     It looked enough like a chicken,  I figured I could pull it off even though I have never seen a real Rhea.

Progress on On Big Chicken Oil

The top image is the big painting that has been the bulk of my labors lately. I am loving the texture and color of this barn.  It brought the chickens closer, and it unified the whole thing. The straight lines were needed. A bit more work to do  on the shadows, window etc, but I'm close.

This bottom painting is what it looked like last week. Never to be seen again! I invited criticism from my family of artists on this piece.   It is helpful getting input from masters of realism to help me make a better impressionistic painting.  I am free to  move paint in expressive ways but the universal rules of composition and color still demand consideration.

nodp

NC State Fair and the Cows

NC State Fair.  I can’t get into the whole buzz of bodies  and smell of deep fried...onions, okra and butter.  Yah. It’s true.  I thought fried ice cream was as bad as it could get, but.... someone topped it. 

Anyway, I did visit the cows. I like seeing things I think I know, but when I really examine them and think about painting them, I realize how much more there is to discover. I have painted cows before, but I wanted to try and capture that cute, dumb, thick look. There is much to explore, and this  encounter made me want to go there.  So here is the first. 

Oink! Oink! Grunt grluk hhhrk. Piggies.

 I went to the NC state fair last week just to  see the chickens, but I couldn’t resist a sweep through the livestock building.   My favorite part was this ENORMOUS sow with with ten little piglets just goin’ for it. Maybe they are always this huge and I never considered it.  This was definitely a PIG!  Here’s a still photo but you have imagine little grunting, squealing noises and picture those little babies rocking and wriggling to get more .. .. This image is stuck in my head.  It’s like that for me.  I see a thing, and it lurks around in my head until I give in and paint it so ... this may happen soon.   I’ve never really looked at pigs. I  have however drawn designs for  Pig Pickin tee shirts!  




My neighbors, Connie and Don Hiller modeling.



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I am painting religiously, but a huge canvas of 5 chickens is the dominant force in my studio right now so  no little paintings are getting finished.  

Ivory Chicken, Portrait in Oil

  Fine Arts League of Cary  is having it's annual members show at  Page Walker Arts & History Center  in downtown Cary.

The jurors gave this "Ivory Chicken" an award.  Thank you!











Oil 8x10
Available $300.

Rooster Portrait

So how did the Picasso show influence my painting? There are no words scrawled across the canvas, although I was tempted.  There are no black outlines, oh, but it is very orange and white.
Thank you Pablo.










Oil 8x10
Available $300.

Picasso Orange and White

I visited "Picasso and  the Allure of Language"at
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University . Every Picasso show I have ever seen I am blown away by the scope of his work. Here was a whole new dimension to explore- the influence of language in his work, particularly his early years in Paris when he was hanging out with Gertrude Stein and company.  The guy certainly was prolific!  It is not surprising he didn't do well in his personal relationships.   Oh, yeah, this blog is about art.
After  a powerful visual experience, I like to pay attention to how it effects my painting.   Most striking was a series of lithographs from a book of poems LE CHANT DES MORTS for Pierre Reverdy. Several of the wall of the gallery were painted in this brilliant red orange offsetting the simply framed pieces. The overall sensation was spectacular.  I didn't want to leave.



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Lavender Iris Watercolor

I am still working away on a large canvas with five big chickens under a fig tree.  On days when the bigness feels overwhelming.  These little baby watercolors are a perfect remedy.



 Spell check is letting me say "bigness"?



Watercolor 3x4"

Orange & Golden Leaves of November

Our many windowed house sits in the middle of a beautiful woods.  So right now, the first day of November, I am nestled in a world of warm autumn colors.   Yellows and oranges against a clear blue sky makes for a fine palette.




Watercolor 4x7
Available $150.

Heavenly Blue Morning Glory Watercolor

When most of the veggie garden has been forgotten, these beautiful volunteer Morning Glories twisted around the fence are still delightful.










Watercolor 6x8

Scarlet Tulip Garden Watercolor

Red Tulips.

White & Yellow Tulips on Blue

Usually, I start laying strokes on the paper and see what happens.  But occasionally I  like to paint in a very deliberate manner, knowing exactly where every stroke will go.  It's good therapy when life gets a bit hectic.  I can always find order in  painting.













Watercolor 5x7
Available $150.

"Elegant Art" Group of Artists at Triangle Town Center, Raleigh, NC

Here is the Elegant Art tribe.  Denise Lincon, Susan LaMantia, Jillian Goldberg, Michael Grohs, Elke Brand, Amy Hautman,Natalie Winters and Kathryn Casper.


nodp

Apricot Peach Lily Watercolor

Like so many other flowers this time of year, this comes completely from memory.
The gardens are pretty much a mass of green right now.  I just planted pansies which will make it through the winter here. How did they get their name?




Watercolor 3x5
Available $100.

Golden Chick Watercolor

This began as a graphite drawing.  I left the pencil lines after painting because they became an important part of the piece.
I  hope you can see the gray lines and the Arches paper embossing which is kind of neat looking too.  I often wonder how much of these subtleties come across on computer  screens.








Watercolor 5x8
Available  $150.

White Petals

As any bumblebee can tell you, it is beautiful in the center of a flower.













5x6 Watercolor
Available $100.