Saturday, February 23, 2008

New Painting Completed.

Just finished this new painting "Friends." As usual these days, this 16 x 20 inch painting is an oil on canvas, unframed, and with painted edges.

Two women, one well dressed, the other – perhaps best described as a bit of a slob – are sitting on a street bench.
Both have a paper cup of some drink in their hands – probably picked up at a nearby stall.

They are
in a deep discussion of some problem. The woman in yellow looks worried. The other is offering helpful ideas and encouragement. After all, that is what friends are for.

Quite possibly it is about a man, or a relative, or maybe about a health issue. All the usual possibilities. It is left to the viewer to decide.

I wanted to push the images a little, to make them more dramatic. The story is the key element.
The result is a rather more styled painting than my more recent work.

Last summer I took some photographs at the Thursday evening Street Fair and Farmer's Market, while visiting Palm Springs, California. In the background of one photograph, very small, I saw these two women sitting on a bench and talking. From that fragment I developed this painting.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Why I Paint.

Maybe some people will say I am a fool, or even non-professional.

Many artists I know get into a groove painting images that they have found sell well. They get continual feedback from their successful sales. The work they are producing is liked by others. Their customers keep coming back for more.


This flow of positive feedback means that they keep turning out images that (hopefully) will be loved by their audience and bring them a steady income. This motivation is reinforced by their spouse and family, who like the security.


Perhaps because I have never found this cocoon of comfort. Perhaps because I have turned away buyer feedback because it did not jibe with my own feelings as to what was good work. Upon completing an artwork, I always look for a new challenge – a new approach to convey my message.


For years I have always been looking for the next mountain to climb. I am never satisfied with what I am producing. Maybe I have missed opportunities. Maybe I confuse my customers. I probably discourage agents and galleries.


But I am lucky in that I do not have to depend upon my sales to pay for the bread on my table. And, I have reached an age when I am not out to impress anyone. I paint what I enjoy painting. I am always trying to do better.


Of course, I have the problem of storing a lot of unsold painting. But I have partly solved that by giving them away – either to friends and family, or donating them to local charity fundraisers.


So watch this space. The future should be interesting – at least to me!

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Another Painting Is Finished!

"Evening Serenade" is oil on canvas, 12 x 24 inches. It is loosely based upon several photographs I took several years ago in Puerto Vallarta, a beach resort on the west coast of Mexico.

I have always enjoyed developing paintings with a musical theme. In this image a group of ten people (probably tourists) are sitting at a beach side cantina.

As the
sun slowly sinks into the ocean, they are listening to four guitar playing musicians serenading them with sweet nothings.

With this painting, the first with a music theme I have painted in oil, I will introduce a new section to my website to exhibit some of my earlier goauche paintings with a similar theme.