Trying it out

Well, scroll down. It's out of context in terms of structure so each time you see a capital, know that is a new line break. This writing thing has got me choked up because I want to "write" so bad but for some reason it never comes to me and/or I just have a hard time with words. My paintings come out like waterfalls. Why not words? I sat down tonight and cleared my mind of any judgments and just wrote words. "Sparkling" is what came out. It really wasn't hard. It was very much like my paintings. I put it down on the surface alloted and read/looked at it later. It somehow made sense. I'm going to do it again tomorrow.

This one is different

I guess I could say that about each new painting I start and work through. But this one is vertical. I have never really worked in a vertical fashion before. I have always worked wide. I have always seen and felt my work as a sentence. But who says sentences can't be written vertically; like poetry. This piece was conceived totally in a stream of immediate consciousness and it continues to be worked on in that way. (I almost feel as though I should capitalize IT.) It's an absolute blast when you begin to really go with this magical thing/ability to speak through a process called painting. I can't begin to even imagine what is coming next.

Kris, a photographer, came to my studio

My good friend Kris Hundt, who is a professional photographer, came by my studio for a visit and we ended up laughing, talking philosophy, and she took some really cool pictures. She clicked while I painted. It was a wonderuos thing. If you scroll down, I have posted some of the pictures she took.

A full day in the studio

This was my first long, full day in my studio since I moved into it. It was an absolutely beautiful day out. Sunny and a bit warm. My studio has no heat so I was able to warm it up nicely due to the temperature outside. I'm almost done with the untitled painting with the clock I just posted. This painting is quite a jump for me. It's very sparse and clean. I'm use to being a lot messier with things. But that is one thing I wanted to evolve in my work-skill. I wanted to work on craftsmanship and skill within the process. Somehow that has translated into a very crisp image. I can tell you, not everyone is a fan of it. I think that is because they just aren't use to it. Anyway, the working title for this piece was Shaman/Priest but it may end up being Monument To Thieves. I just like the not-so-pointed nature of the second title. I feel the first one gives away too much. I also prepped 13, 12"x12" ampersand panels for the encaustic pieces I'm ready to start. You can check out that blog at waxybuildup.blogspot.com. I posted a photo of the panels here. They have such a quiet beauty to them in the late afternoon light. Enjoy!

Aquisition of new technology and other goings on

I replaced my camera! This one is much more "involved" than the old point-n-shoot I had so I haven't mastered the settings yet. But we'll get there. I did finish the fig but I can't seem to find those pictures for some reasons. So I went ahead and posted the newest painting in progress. It's working title is "Shaman/Priest" or maybe"Shiver/Warm". Who knows at this point in this painting's young life. I also started another painting that will be two horizontal canvases stacked on top of each other. This is odd for me in two ways. I started another painting while a current one is only just beginning and I never work vertically; usually these paintings read horizontally like sentences. But this is really not such a suprise. These paintings are coming to me almost faster than I can get them out and they are evolving in both idea and method as I go through them. I have never experienced such an evolution in a body of work in my entire career as a painter. This is a most wonderful experience. The smaller, encaustic works you see were done in an encaustic painting workshop. I have always used bees wax in my work but never in the correct, traditional way. So I decided to learn how to do it the right way. These are the three paintings I did in the workshop. I'm going to be in a show with fellow artist and good friend Deanna Wood this summer. The show is called Waxy Buildup: Cleaning House and it is a collection of encaustic paintings that have to do with cleaning "house". You can check out that blog also. There is a link listed on the left of this blog. Enjoy some more pics from Rome!

Loss of technology

Well, I failed to mention in my last post that I had left my trusty Kodak digital camera in an Italian taxi cab. Of course it wasn't just the camera but also an expensive pair of duty-free sunglasses, a beloved statue of the Piata, and an apron with David printed on the front. Basically, that was a 5oo.oo taxi ride, not counting the fair and the tip. That is why I haven't been able to post any pictures lately. Fortunately, my simm card was full and I had taken it out of the camera and put it in my pocket, so my pictures made it home safely. I have also ordered the replacement version of my old camera and it should be here any day. In the meantime, I have rented a studio to paint in and it's 2 blocks from my house. I will be able to take much better photos of my work annnnd I will be able to do a little bit bigger work. I also collected all of the pictures my friend Vicky took in Rome so I will post some of those soon.

When in Rome!

Wow! That's a really good word to start with when I think about my experience in Rome. I was there for 7 days over the New Year's holiday and it was beautiful. I have been to Rome before, but only for 1 day. This time I really got to take in not just the monumental sites, but the people of Rome, too. I couldn't remember if Italians were friendly people or not, but it didn't take very long for me to find out. They are very open and expressive. They lock arms when they "stroll" down the street, they look you deep in the eyes when they talk to you, and they greatly appreciate it when you try to speak their language. I had sort of a "guide" in Rome for the first 3 days. My friend Joseph Mamente. He's from Bare, Italy, which is about 4 hours SE by train from Rome, and he plays soccer, I think probably minor league if there is such a thing. But he didn't speak any English so we had to each buy English to Italian translation books. It really helped me speak better Italian, quickly. It was a wonderful thing to have a non-English speaking person to describe what you are seeing and to give you historical information. I wasn't sure how I would respond to plopping myself, pretty-much alone, in a country where I could at best peck out the language. But I did great and I learned a lot about myself in the process. I recommend everyone should travel out of their comfort zone, both mentally and physically, at least once in their life.

The second painting

I started this painting last week but got a little side-tracked with finishing that giant wall painting. I worked on it all day today so I could get it to a good place visually before I leave for Europe and i couldn't figure out where to take it next. So, I'll just leave it until I return home.

Finishing the wall painting

It was very much a pleasure to finish the giant wall painting. The title of the painting is "Here I go". That text is actually stenciled in the painting in the lower right corner but it is yellow and hard to see from where the picture was taken. I will post some details of it later. I finished Thursday night around 9:30 after working on it for 9 hours. I first saw this piece as nothing more than a mural in someone's home, but as I worked on it and put my thoughts and feelings into it, it became so much more. I was asked about the possibility of having to paint over the piece if and when the owner moves. Not a problem. It's all about letting go anyway.

1st post...

This is the first official post of my blog. I'm very excited to be coming online in this capacity. I currently have the second painting in this new series in the works. There will be 14 or 15 total when it's finished in late May. There will also be an artist book and a short film to accompany the series. I hope you will take the time to look, contemplate, and make comments. I'm looking to incorporate light into these works but I haven't figured out how to go about it or even why I want to do it. I will be posting my progression. I am going to be in Europe for a week at the end of this month and I will post snippets of my travels there as well. Have a great one!