Savannah Bound

I'm heading out this morning on my annual sojourn to Savannah, Georgia. The weather is supposed to be great so I am really looking forward to the respite.

This past week I completed my first major landscape work in several years. It's based on desert imagery from my fall trip to Palm Springs, California. I'll share more in a future post.

Desert Light

I've been continuing with my Palm Springs theme this month, working primarily on small canvases. This is a canvas I completed quickly (in about an hour), and I tried to focus on two things: the harsh desert light, and a rapid brush stroke.

This past week I was offered a solo exhibition at the Cameron Village Regional Library here in Raleigh, NC. The show will run in August of this year, and I am excited and grateful for the opportunity.

Outside of the studio, I've been somewhat obsessed with the highly acclaimed French film "The Artist," Michel Hazanavicius's love note to the silent movie era of Hollywood. While it may have a simple story, the film is exquisite with fabulous performances by Jean Dujardin as George Valentin and Berenice Bejo as Peppy Miller. I've gone to see the movie three times in the past eight days, and I still feel like I have more to capture from it.

"Desert Light." Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches. Completed January 2012.

Blue Dusk

This small study of Mid-Century Modern architecture is the third installment in my Palm Spring series. I enjoyed working in a color range that is unusual for me, adding cobalt blue to my pallet.

"Blue Dusk." Oil on stretched canvas, 9 x 12 inches. Completed December 2011.

Pool House

I'm taking a lunch break from the studio and thought I'd update the blog with some recent work. This canvas, completed last month, is the second in my Palm Springs series. I have been working small for the past few weeks, trying to diversify the size of my output.

"Pool House." Oil on canvas, 11 x 14 inches. Completed December 2011.

Chi Omega House Commission

Happy New Year! Now that the Christmas holiday has passed, I can post the most recent work I have completed. This painting was a commissioned piece that depicts the Chi Omega Sorority House at St. Lawrence University in New York. I received the commission from a former colleague of mine at the Raleigh City Museum who wanted to present it as a Christmas gift.

During the holiday break I had the chance to visit the "Modern Masters" exhibition at Reynolda House in Winston-Salem. As always, Reynolda House did a fine presentation of this traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian's American Art Museum.

While visiting family up north during Christmas, I happened upon Gallery 322 in Frederick, Maryland. The gallery was featuring several works by Maryland artist Walter Bartman, a painter who also taught at the Maryland College of Art and Design in the 1980s when I was the college's director of admissions. I fell in love with one of his small landscapes painted on fiberboard and decided to purchase it for my personal collection.

I also fit in a day of painting yesterday in the studio, completing two small works in what I am calling my Palm Springs series. More on those in future posts.

"Chi Omega House, St. Lawrence University." Oil on stretched canvas, 18 x 24 inches. Completed November 2011.

Palm Springs Series

Despite the hectic season, I was able to complete a new work this past week. Last Sunday I held a studio session with a young middle school student who is completing a mentorship project with me. While she worked on a still-life in acrylics, I painted in oils nearby. At first I was going to simply "scribble" something from my memory, but I decided to paint over an older canvas and use an image from my recent trip to Palm Springs, California as a basis. I expected it to be a simple study, but as I worked the canvas came together well and so I decided to take it more seriously and completed what might be the first painting in a new "Palm Springs Series." What I like about it is the looseness of paint strokes and the vibrant, bright colors - very different from the more somber, dark paintings I've been working on for the last two years. We'll see where this goes.

"Swiss Miss." Oil on stretched canvas, 18 x 24 inches. Completed December 2011.

Gearing up for the Holiday

It's a busy time of year...too busy to devote much time to the studio, I'm afraid. Last month I completed a commissioned piece that I will post an image of soon. I am also mentoring a young middle school student who is completing a class project that requires her to shadow a professional. I was honored to be selected as her mentor for the project. We will be working together tomorrow in my studio. Other than these activities, it will likely be quiet until the first of the new year. A quiet workload doesn't mean that the thought process is on break, and I have lots of ideas ruminating at the moment. I'm looking forward to a relaxed schedule so that I can pursue some of them.

100 Under 1000

I am one of 50 artists invited to participate in the Lee Hansley Gallery's annual "100 Under 1000" holiday exhibition. The show will open this Sunday, November 20 and run through December 31, 2011. The Lee Hansley Gallery is located at 225 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh NC 27603. Gallery hours: Tu-Sat 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (First Friday, December 23 open until 10 p.m.) Phone: 919-828-7557.

Many thanks to the Lee Hansley Gallery for the invitation and opportunity.

The Magic Hour

This canvas is the most recent large-scale piece I've completed. Like other works over the past three years, it is loosely based on a house I photographed in Cumberland, Maryland. I placed the structure in a dusk setting to heighten the atmosphere and to create a dramatic interior lighting effect.

Last night I attended Raleigh's First Friday Gallery Walk with a young art student who I have agreed to mentor as part of a class project. She and I visited the new location of the Visual Art Exchange, where she had a beautiful color pencil piece on display as part of a young artists exhibition at the VAE. We then walked to the Contemporary Art Museum to visit their eclectic contemporary exhibits. Future gatherings may include a visit to my studio, a day-trip to Reynolda House in Winston-Salem, and a critique session of her work.

"The Magic Hour." Oil on stretched canvas, 24 x 36 inches. Completed September 2011.

Night Study IV: East on Broughton

I have continued working on my "night study" series this year, using source material from my many visits to Savannah, Georgia. This is yet another perspective of the intersection of Bull and Broughton streets in Savannah, viewed at night.

"Night Study IV: East on Broughton." Oil on stretched canvas, 12 x 16 inches. Completed September 2011.

Tybee Island II

Here is another small study I recently completed based on the Tybee Island (GA) lighthouse. This depicts the lighthouse itself, with a lightkeeper's house in the foreground. I may attempt a larger version of this same scene.

"Tybee Island II." Oil on stretched canvas, 9 x12 inches. Completed August 2011.

Palm Springs Vacation

I recently returned from a vacation to Palm Springs, California. While the desert landscape and mountain scenery are spectacular, I was most fascinated with Palm Springs' phenomenal collection of Mid-Century Modern architecture, best exemplified by Richard Neutra's 1946 Kaufmann House (seen above). The clean, sleek linear perspectives of MCM have always attracted me. I could see a new series of work in my future.

While there I visited the Palm Springs Art Museum. It surprised me with its strong 19th century American collection and a wonderful 20th century collection. I ended up spending about three hours there soaking in the artwork. I definitely recommend a visit to the museum if one is ever in the area.

Tybee Island I

This small canvas is a quick study I painted last month. It depicts the lighthouse keeper's home at the Tybee Island (GA) Lighthouse. Located east of Savannah along the coast, Tybee Island is a favored day trip during my annual sojourns to Savannah. This piece allowed me to use colors not normally found in my work.

"Tybee Island I." Oil on stretched canvas, 9 x12 inches. Completed August 2011.

Last Light

This week's painting image depicts a canvas I completed in 2009. I've avoided posting it only because its dark surface has made it difficult to photograph effectively. I tried again last week and this image was the result. Close but still not a perfect representation (a bit gray in the center of the house). "Last Light" was exhibited at my show at the Miriam Preston Block Gallery in Downtown Raleigh in April 2010. It is another painting based on structures I sketched and photographed in Cumberland, Maryland a few years ago.

"Last Light." Oil on stretched canvas, 30 x 40 inches. Completed March 2009.

Yesterday I visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. I met up with my close friend, Washington D.C.-based artist Tinam Valk, and we toured the new galleries opened in 2010-2011. It is a beautiful museum and has a wonderful American gallery that includes one of my favorite Edward Hopper canvases, "House at Dusk:"

Vortex Study #2

This small canvas is a second tornado study I completed recently. One of the challenges of working within the palette I prefer is to keep the blues from turning green when combine with my favorite sky color, Naples yellow. This actually worked well in this painting since many tornadoes have an eery greenish tinge to them.

Vortex Study #2. Oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches. Completed August 2011.

Vortex Study #1

With Hurricane Irene making landfall today here in North Carolina, it seems appropriate for me to post a recent vortex study that I completed last month. I have been fascinated by tornadoes since childhood, and this small canvas is based on imagery I found on the Internet. I'm not sure if I will try to complete any large-scale canvases in this same vein, but I may continue with a series of small studies as an expressive outlet beyond my architectural works.

"Vortex Study #1." Oil on stretched canvas, 11 x 14 inches. Completed July 2011.

Off Topic: My other "canvas"

I've mentioned previously that I have been concentrating on my yard this spring and summer, taking time away from the studio to do so. Well, here are images of the results. I had new front yard sod ("Compadre" zoysia) laid in late April, and I've been babying it carefully ever since. Combining its needs with my flower gardens, well...it takes a bit of work (especially under the glaring North Carolina Piedmont sun). This week's record heat-wave (and its long string of 100-plus temperatures) has strained my resources a bit. But it's still looking good.

Pentimento (The Fabius Briggs House): Completed

The painting I began a week ago, "Pentimento (The Fabius Briggs House)," is finished. I added a few final highlights and now consider it completed. As mentioned in last week's blog post, the painting is based on an actual house here in Raleigh that is in danger of demolition. Hopefully a guardian angel can be found to save this noble structure.

"Pentimento (The Fabius Briggs House)." Oil on stretched canvas, 24 x 30 inches. Completed July 2011.

Back in the studio: Pentimento (The Fabius Briggs House)

After a four month hiatus, I returned to painting this past weekend. When I put down the brushes at the end of February, I had no intention of staying away this long. March was filled with house guests, then April brought the garden season (and a newly-sodded front yard), travel in May and June, more guests...well, it turned into a longer break than I intended.

My first post-sabbatical work is one based on a house in Raleigh with a sad story. Built sometime between 1900 and 1915, the Fabius Briggs House on Hillsborough Street once hosted a family steeped in local history (here's a blog with the full story). Unfortunately, by the 1950s it had turned into commercial property and then suffered the ultimate indignity of having a linear one-story store front added around it. Now, after decades of neglect, it appears that the structure will be demolished unless a rescuer (i.e. someone with a big heart and a bigger wallet), comes along to rescue it.

I discovered the house about two years ago, and decided then to paint it. Since then I have photographed it several times, but it wasn't until last week that I finally decided to make it my next canvas.

What you see here is the freshly completed underdrawing on top of the red acrylic-primed canvas. From this point, I then worked on it for another five hours. The painting is now essentially complete and, after I strategically place a few highlights on it after the existing oil paint dries, I will photograph the final product and post it to this blog.

"Pentimento (The Fabius Briggs House)." Oil on stretched canvas. Still in progress.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Buick Century

With the coming of summer and its accompanying heat, my painting sabbatical will officially end next weekend. I have taken a few months off, first to work heavily in my flower gardens and yard, but also to pause and consider where I am as a visual artist. Most importantly, I've been thinking about what I want to do next as a painter.

For this week's post I've reached way back in my painting archive to my college years. This canvas, "Buick Century," was created as part of an assignment in my senior painting class at the University of Maryland. The task assigned was to complete a work based on a reflection of some type. While several classmates completed self-portraits posed in mirrors, I chose to focus on the reflective chrome surface of a 1950s American automobile.

The image was based on a photograph from an old car book I owned. I created a pencil grid on the gessoed canvas and used that to help me establish the striking visual perspective of the car. I constructed the canvas frame myself and, remarkably, this painting remains the largest single canvas I have ever completed. I did not fully finish the work in class, and for many years it sat incomplete in my studio storage area. In the 1990s I was again motivated to work on it, and finally completed the piece. I've found over the years that its subject matter and photo-realistic style are real crowd-pleasers.

"Buick Century." Oil on stretched canvas, 38 x 52 inches. Begun March 1985-completed August 1995.