"All Lights Be On"

Although our cat Ready had never visited the Chatham light house, in 2007 he posed for a photo, used in this painting. Little did I know he would leave us in a year's time. Gail adopted him from Grandma Gloria. He enjoyed eating mice and chipmunks. Legend has it that in his prime, he killed "Shadow", a neighbor's cat, in Euclid, Ohio. He lived out his elder years in Twin Lakes, lounging on the deck sporting a harness. He passed away on June 23 at 12:30 PM. He was 22 years old. His human family and friends will all miss him. Some comments: "He must certainly have been one of the best loved cats in the world. I will miss him terribly." (Missy), "Ready was lucky to have had you all as his family. He was a sweet lover boy. " (Dianna), "We'll all certainly miss our old friend. I'm glad that he lived out his many years in a loving home." (Dr. Bob, Hudson Vet), "We all loved him like he was one of our own. We were lucky to have known him." (Lori) "He had a good attitude." Jamie

"Dahlia"

I recently reworked this painting, changing the size of the small flowers to diminish and recede back into the space.

"Serve"

This angel pose was derived from an actual ancient reference and a photo of a student. I love the way she seems to hover.

"Narcissus and Echo"

The old figure ground cliche of two face profiles forming a vase was too difficult to resist. Narcissus was the Greek God who fell in love with his watery reflection.

"Saltmarsh at Wellfleet"

Even though I painted this in 2007, I remeber exactly how it felt in the hot sun. I will never forget the little fiddler crabs that popped up out of the holes in the sand all around my chair.

"Paths"

Painting in the summer of 2007 was an adventure, just finding the right spot to set up took half a day. Now I want to go back to that little hill, every year.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I returned to that "Meadow on the Cove" in Orleans, MA. There is a path cut through a wonderful native wildflower meadow. I painted for about 2 hours and shot lots of close up photos of the vegetation. Details will be added later in the studio. Can you imagine a world with less unnecessary cancer causing pesticides? I like weeds: weeds are flowers!

"Dahlia"

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.

"Paths To The Water"

This and another new painting can be seen at Kendall Art Gallery, Wellfleet, MA.
The plein air landscape was done in one 3 hour session last summer, on Cape Cod at Fort Hill, overlooking Nauset Marsh. The objets d'art were added in my studio back in Ohio. There are many of those oil lamp ceramics at flea markets.

"A Penny Saved"

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.

"Music Makes The Dance"

The kithara was an ancient Greek stringed instrument. My first real solo show was at Mario Mainetti Gallery in Basel, Switzerland. I left this painting in Basel, as a gift to the Klein's who gave me the key to their downstairs apartment for two weeks. The wife was a dancer.

"Break Out"

We were watching VH1's One Hit Wonders and this song came on by "Swing Out Sister". Yes that's where the title came from. She was a model who now has a singing career in Japan, with many many albums.

"The Show Must Go On"

The Greek theatre lecture at CWRU reminded me of this one I painted in NYC, 1986. A Greek comic actor is on the vase. Modern equivilents on a dixie cup and mug are Bugs Bunny and Laurel and Hardy. There is an African mask. I actually sold this one to a theatrical make up artist. Who would think that 23 years latter in 2009, I'd be exhibiting with a mask artist/ collector at a lecture about Greek theatre? Maybe I'm a psychic artist.

"Peace March"

I think Ghandi would have liked the title of this one.

"The Two As One"

This is a straight forward depiction of a real Greek vase and a contemporary paper soda cup. The horizontal banding predates the sparkle of 1960's Op Art. The two eyes on the vase are from a convention called "cup kiss". Greek drinking cups had painted eyes strategically placed so that when the drinker tipped the cup it looked like he was wearing a mask.

"Provence"

If you ever get to Marseilles, France, check out a new gallery: Polysemie. This painting can be seen there. From my funny cup series this one compares ancient and contemporary images. I guess it could have been titled "Menage a tois, old and new" or something like that.

"Soul Mates Will Meet"

I painted this in France, 1988. It was kind of a lonely time in the city of light. Romance was no where to be found. There was the Spanish student I met at French lessons. She compared me to Sacre Coeur, like a white marble bascilica sparkling on the inside but dirty, (sale), on the outside.

"Burger Of Love"

In that touristy neighborhood where the Moulin Rouge is, I found the Love Burger fast food restaurant.

"Battle Of The Sexes"

The Amazons were a nation of female warriors in ancient Greek mythology. The contemporary battle for power is fought with a laptops, briefcases and lawyers.

"Builders"

I painted this in 1987 while thinking about how pervasive the smurf iconography was. It is truly international. I found this little guy holding a brick and a trowel in Paris, and made a free association with masons, Egyptology, and how to construct a French breakfast.