November 29, 2008

"Candlelight"

My homage to Georges de La Tour was a challenge and a lot of fun to paint. Every object was painted from life. The moth was a casualty of the screen door, not the candle. My art dealer told me that a young boy told his parents he wanted to be an artist after seeing it. Bon Chance you little one.

November 28, 2008

"Zeus And Nike"

The earliest angel images evolved from Egyptian female figures created with bird heads and wings about 4000 BC. These developed into the Goddess Isis image circa 1800 BC. The Greek Goddess Nike, 500 BC, was derived from these Egyptian precedents. The early Byzantine Christian Church, 400-600 AD, transformed the Greek & Roman prototypes into their own.

November 25, 2008

"Vessel of Honor"

Transparent planes of primary colors overlap creating a triangle. The female form is like a vase. This old painting, 1988, inspires me to paint a new still life with a Mrs. Buttersworth syrup bottle.

November 24, 2008

"A Secret Place"



Painted in 1988, I gave this one to dear Aunt Rosie who is now departed. That's my shadow.

November 21, 2008

"Devotion and Peace" 50" x 25"

I decided to paint three angel paintings with three different color harmonies based on each of the primaries. This is the yellow one. The pose is based on an ancient Byzantine icon. I think the blue painting needs some more work. The head is too small and I want to change the pose. The great thing about a painting is that you can easily change it.

"Love And Gratitude"

This is the red angle vase painting. The attribute of this angel is love and gratitude. The inspiration is a red figure Greek vase angel. I think this is the best of the three and it was sold to a collector in California, who has a very good eye. He also has another of my favorites: "Nocturne".

November 18, 2008

"Niche One"

It is one of the first niche paintings I did. There is a relationship between these and the cube paintings. It is the relationship between the curvelinear and the rectilinear. The dichotomy of organic and mechanical is there. Architectural drawing systems and building measurements are fascinating. I love to calculate the placement of bricks and the challenge of creating a convincing illusion.

November 17, 2008

"Angel"

I painted this in Paris, 1987. I found this slide and decided to post it after receiving an email from an old friend who said he is opening a new gallery in Marseilles. Ooh La La. Where's that passport?

"Ms. Olympia"

This painting was purchased by the Cleve. Clinic around 1990. The vase has an image of Herculese fighting an amazon woman. The mug has an image of Ms. Olympia, the body building contest for women. The Dixie cups have a cartoon of Linus insulting Nancy. Teresa DeChant the Clinic art consultant at that time thought this would look great in the cafeteria, because it's about health. It was. The shadow is of someone who made me heart sick. I recovered.

November 14, 2008

"I Remember Euclid Beach"


University Hospitals in Cleveland, commissioned the painting on top for a waiting room. I based the painting on some photos. I shot this one not realizing there was a rainbow ending near the old woman's head. I saw it after I developed the negative and printed it. That is Ellen Spivak sitting on the blanket, reading the news paper. I painted her plein air on a beautiful fall afternoon in 1993.

November 10, 2008

"Gladiolus"

A friend who knew he was dying, bought this painting. Maybe he liked it because there wasn't much to think about when looking at it. One can appreciate the movement of the lines and the gradation of the blossoms from small to large.

November 9, 2008

Three New Pieces By European Artists At The Cleveland Clinic




After visiting dear Aunt Shirley who is fighting cancer on the 8th floor, I ran into an art tour of new art acquisitions and commissions for the hospital. There is a huge display of cascading, rotating random alphabet letters hung from wires. There's a painting of a bed that looks like a roller coaster. There's also a large watercolor of a little boy rowing a boat looking at an empty space shaped like two figures. There is so much to think about here. I have an art education so I am familiar with this kind of cutting edge art. (which is not really cutting edge because it is taught in schools). I really wonder what an average, down to earth, family man thinks as he is confronted with these art works, as he leaves his sick wife. I'll have to ask Uncle John.


November 4, 2008

"Meadow On The Cove", painting in progress

The place is called "Meadow on the Cove", it is in Orleans on Cape Cod. Only wild native plants are allowed to grow. I can think of no more beautiful way to landscape. Memories of Aunt Mary's farm in Andover, OH, come flooding back.