Water Lilies

"Water Lilies" -
Oil on canvas
4'.5'' x 6'

Water Lilies hangs in private collection in Santa Fe, NM

In 1985 I spent some time shooting Lilies from many sources for reference work on a series, or what I had hoped would be a series of works, which continue on today. Over 25 years have passed by since I painted the first in this series which I felt a need to re-post. I am currently working in this series developing new imagery.

Interruptions in my time spent in the studio along with moving has caused me to slow down posting images and having new works for sale, but I hope to change that soon.

"La Grenouille"

This is a drawing I am working on
for a piece titled, " la grenouille la théière et la fleur",
(The frog the tea pot and the flower).

The finished piece will be in oil.

I am also working on a large 4 foot x 5 foot watercolor that I will be posting soon.

Many of you have asked about my Miniature works on board which I am going to try and post several new works. For now, I am lost in the creative process and it becomes very hard to remove myself to do the other things that are associated like shooting the works and getting them posted here on my blog.

Keep checking in and thanks to all the people who have suddenly found my Blog and following along. I have received some very kind emails.

Namaste

Under The Desert Sky

It has been awhile since I have posted new work. I will be going back to doing "Miniatures" along with some new watercolors that are pretty large in scale.

In the recent past, I had been doing a small series of miniatures called "Under The Desert Sky", along with new works from the ongoing "Water Lilies" series. I hope to post new work soon.


Above, is just one of the many desert sunsets I see out my back door. I feel lucky!

Kricket

In Loving Memory of my

Beautiful Kricket
1999 - 2009

It has been said that a dog is man's best friend. If that is the case then my sweet, extremely smart and gentle Kricket embodied just that and so much more. There never has been a kinder nor gentler soul touch my life as much as she. I miss her so much my heart is broken in two and my home feels much quieter without her. Lily, who is her furry pal and my other toy fox terrier, I know misses her as well.

Simply put, I adored my Kricket. She was special in every way and was my constant companion whose side I never left. At only 5lbs, I felt I was her protector and gentle, human care giver. There is never adequate words when you love someone or something, it is their spirit that embeds deeply in your heart and it is where they reside forever when their physical self has left us.

Kricket came into my life at a perfect time. Although only the size of a hampster when she came to live with me, she was tough as nails and often ran 10k fun runs with me. Kricket became a gallery embassador along with Lily, and both were forever the hit of the gallery. Patrons came, I believe, to see these two furry friends who always greeted others with wags of their tails and excitement in their bright eyes.

Kricket, you will never be forgoten and Lily and I miss you desperately. We love and miss you so very much. Thank you Kricket for your special gift of coming into my life and touching me in ways I never thought possible. It can never be explained to or understood by others the special bond we shared together. To a gentle soul and loving furry companion. We miss you!

It is with much pain and sadness Lily and I say goodbye.

Koi Fish series

It's a new year and I have been as busy as ever finishing up old projects so I can freely start new ones. One of the other mediums I enjoy working in is watercolors. In recent years, I have been working on a larger scale-- 4ft x6ft and larger. I can experiment more with washes, glazes and wet into wet areas as I try for a certain effect within the watercolor. As with my oil painting techniques, these seem to spill over into my watercolors or visa versa, I never know which since I work much the same in both mediums.

When working in oils I build the color up in thin layers and I use the white of the canvas much the same as the white of the paper for watercolors. I have been experimenting with mounting watercolor paper (hot press) on board and can get as large as 4ftx8ft without warping which makes them easier to frame.

The best way I have found to work larger is to roll out the watercolor paper over a 4ft x 8ft piece of plywood and then tack down with a specialty strap around the edges with few staples as possible. When it's time to pull the watercolor paper off the plywood I have found this method leaves few marks on the edge of the paper and I can actually deckle the edge if I choose to.

Here are a few examples of a work in progress. I'll be posting more soon!

Another "Water Lilies" - Diptych - Oil on canvas

The front side here. The backside below.

This is a painting, (work in progress in 0il), I have resurrected after giving up hope with it. I spent a bit of time re-working in new color, and continuing to build up layers of paint for the luminosity I seek. Color is essential to all my work as is design. In this piece, I purposefully placed lilies in various states of bloom to create a Triad or "V", (inverted in this work), into the design forcing the eye of the viewer to move throughout the painting and into the other side of the diptych. Incorporating design elements like these keeps me interested and challenged simultaneously.

How I stretch canvas

I often get emails asking how I stretch my canvas. Here is a detailed shot from the back of the canvas. I cut my own stretcher bars, beveling the edges so the canvas doesn't rest on the bar, and reinforcing the corners for rigidity and stabilization. I typically paint around the edges so a clean stapling is important too me visually. Larger canvases I create a t-bar effect in the back to again help the stabilization and rigidity which I'll give an example later on.

I prime and gesso all my canvas and buy it in bulk rolls. I have worked in both Linen and regular stock canvas, yet it always depended on what I could afford at the time. I have been fortunate throughout my career as a painter to work with good tools and products which I feel has been essential for me as a painter. I work in fine layers building paint up so my work in not created in Impasto style for a reason. There is a "luminosity" I am seeking and it is through the gradual buildup of layers that works best for the result I am seeking