On top is the photo of the plein air painting on October 15, 2008. Depicted is the dahlia garden of Ray Wilkins a retired KSU professor. We chatted about his diminished prospects for a planned retirement community as the economic meltdown had started. He warned the flowers would all be gone at the first frost. The vase was painted in June, 2009, in the studio.
This and another new painting can be seen at Kendall Art Gallery, Wellfleet, MA.
This is how I work. It took me a while to figure out which objet d'art would be painted on this one. I was thinking about the two paths. The red violet colors provide a compliment to balance all that green. One path is the sensual; lilacs. The other is the intellectual; the lamp. One has to be carefull in painting in layers with oil. I sanded off the background area for the lamp; a symbol of learning. "Lux et Veritas", light and truth.
This one was begun last fall at Beckwith's Orchard. The plein air painting was finished in the studio. I added the stone and four varieties of apples, left to right: Jonahgold, Rome, Ambrosia, and McIntosh. The title is painted at the top. I'm thinking about concrete poetry. The Greeks were the first to do it: letters of words arranged in a shape.
A penny saved is a penny earned and taxed. This painting (1997) is in the collection of Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA. A woman at Fidelity recently (2009) asked me what tulips and a bowl of cherries have to do with savings and taxes. The painting hangs across from her desk and people are always asking. I replied that tulip mania in the Netherlands (1663) was similar to the stock market crash of 1929. The song "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" was written in 1931. I guess the message of the painting is don't speculate and when you loose, sing the song or one of the other depression songs. What song does our economic meltdown have? I should paint a new one with houses.
