October Paintings

October was an interesting month in a variety of ways. We settled back into home life after spending some wonderful time in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Melissa took advanced yoga training with her teacher and we visited all the places we love in and around Santa Fe and Taos. I posted last month that I got to meet one of my idols in the art world, Walt Gonski. I think I'll mention that again :) :)

Not long after returning home to Florida, I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. This, of course, was not news anyone wants to hear, but it also was not a huge suprise, given some of the symptoms I've experienced over the past few years and the fact that my brother, John, had it. I am 79, so one positive aspect is that the PD is late in arriving, so perhaps it will be slow in progressing. Time will tell.

A very interesting thing is that my PD symptoms completely disappear when I am painting! So I hope and plan to continue doing so for a very long time.

After the diagnosis, I had a strong urge to act on my dreams of painting on LARGE canvases. I tried to order some that were four feet by six feet, but the company, for some reason, can't deliver those to my location! So I settled for getting some 3' by 3', 2' by 4'  and 3' by 4' canvases. Melissa rearranged my studio workspace to accomodate these large canvases, so that I wouldn't have to go and sweat it out in the hot garage!

I always stand when I paint, so I got a sturdy walker - not because I need it to walk, but because I sometimes get the feeling of falling backwards or sideways when standing, and it gives me something to grab onto and stop me from going over! 

I had a great time working on these large canvases, and here they are. The last one is the biggest at 4' by 3'.

By the Sea

I've been gathering some of my painting by category in addition to my monthly posts, so here is a collection of ocean and beach scenes that I produced this year. This little collection is called "By the Sea." They are various sizes, mostly 16" by 20" or 18" by 24", but the 7th piece down is quite large at 3 feet by 4 feet, and the one after that, which I have called, "Serenity," is 3 feet by 3 feet. All in acrylic with palette knife. Enjoy the waves and ocean breezes!

Using myself to give some perspective on the size of the painting - I am about 5'9" tall.

September Post

Melissa and I spent half the month of September in Santa Fe, NM, where she took some advanced yoga training courses. Since we lived there for five years, going to Santa Fe is like coming home to a place we love. We were excited to visit our favorite places - the Plaza, Museum Hill, and Canyon Road, go in the shops and enjoy the wonderful restaurants. We also took a day trip up to Taos, the highlight of which was a visit to the home studio of Walt Gonski, an artist whose work I have admired for many, many years.

Because of our trip, I didn't do as many painting days as usual, but I did come home filled with inspiration that is carrying over into October.

Here is a photo of me with Walk Gonski at his home studio, and following that you'll see my September paintings.

Walt is the tall fella

Migration

The Softness of Autumn Aspens

August Efforts

During the month of August, I traveled back and forth - on my paper and canvas - between the southwest U.S. and the southwest coast of Florida. I'll be traveling for real to the southwest in about a week - back to Santa Fe, NM, where we lived for five years. While I'm there, I will be more interested in gathering inspiration than in actually painting. I love going through the galleries there and letting the work of other artists inspire me. And, of course the scenery and architecture inspire as well.

Here are some of my favorite paintings from the month of August.

What I Was Up to in June and July

This year our traveling will take place in September, so we've stayed put here in Florida this summer and I've continued to be busy painting. I tend to alternate between spurts of painting southwest scenes and then switching over to ocean scenes.

I've also been repurposing a lot of paintings - by that I mean that, periodically I go through my paintings and decide which ones to keep, which ones to toss, and which ones I can paint over. Paint and paper aren't cheap, you know, so it helps to reuse the paper if I can. It's an interesting process to go through my work every few months; sometimes I look at a painting that I thought was great when I did it a few months ago, and decide I don't like it that much now! A lot of times, it's the experiment that I enjoy; the adventure of trying new techniques and seeing how they come out.

Anyway, here are the paintings that represent my artistic exploration for June and July 2019. Enjoy!

Here's What I've Been Up To Lately

I haven't posted in quite a long time, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy painting. Over the past year, I've been exploring the techniques of different artists - not to copy or mimic them - but to experiment with their techniques in order to create a certain style and effect. Prominently among them are the late great Louisa McElwain, Australian painter Richard Musgroves-Evans, Utah-based painter Brad Teare, and Tuscon, AZ-based Jose Trujillo.

We've been fortunate to travel for extended periods back to my beloved southwest over the past few years - we spent two months in Sedona and have made several trips to Santa Fe, NM, where my wife takes yoga training with her teacher, and I get to be on vacation.

Back here in Florida, I paint pretty much every day, and of course do some paintings of the local beauty. Here is a sampling of my 2019 works through June. You are welcome to contact me via the email link on my blog for information and pricing on any of these works. Enjoy!

O'Keefe Country

This past week, I worked on two landscape scenes of Georgia O'Keefe country - the area of northern New Mexico near Abiquiu.

The rocks of this region take on different depths and tones of color, depending on the mineral content of the rock formation, the time of day, quality and direction of the light, and atmospheric conditions. While at times the rocks take on vermillion hues similar to the red rocks of Sedona, at other times, and particularly when the sun is hitting them directly, they take on a more golden hue.

In these two pieces, I have tried to capture these different effects. Regardless, the landscape of this region is breathtaking.

Georgia O'Keefe Country - Abiquiu, NM
18" x  24" in acrylic with palette knife

Abiquiu, NM
18" x 24" in acrylic with palette knife