Category Archives: Painting

Time for Thinking

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First of all I hope everyone is safe and healthy in their homes. We have been staying as close to home as is humanly possible. Which brings up the subject of home. Now that we are full time residents of Florida, it was time for a full time home. Yup, we moved again. This time we took our time and had actually been looking for about a year. About a week after we moved in, the Corona virus started to really take off. It’s rather hard to get to know the neighbors while social distancing, so that will have to wait until this is all over.

Most of my time has been spent unpacking. The finishing touch is when the pictures go on the walls. That seems to be what really personalizes a home for me. I’m also trying to be very deliberate in where I put things so as to actually reach that nirvana of being organized. The problem with that is the shelving and cabinets we were going to have built for my art supplies, is now on hold. At some point I will be able to put a fresh canvas on my easel, a sheet of clean paper on my drawing table and focus on my work. I’m very much looking forward to that time. 

The only painting I have hung so far is one I did for myself. Yes, I did a painting for me. It didn’t start out that way. I was working on my largest canvas to date, 48″ x 36″. I had bought the canvas a few years ago but found it very intimidating. Finally, from a series of photos I had taken at our stop in New Hampshire, I had my subject. After several smaller versions, I settled on my design. I was about halfway through the painting and commenting to Tim how I loved New Hampshire, when he suggested I keep it for me. I loved the idea. My New Hampshire, for me. It brought new joy to painting for me. So it is fitting that it is the first painting hung in our new home.

 

Besides unpacking, I’ve begun work on a book about our trip down here aboard Little Prince. It’s going to take some time, and work, but it’s a project I very much enjoy. Stay tuned for progress reports on how that’s going.

Stay home, stay safe, stay healthy and say a little prayers for all those amazing people who are working so hard to help up stay that way.  

Maine Inspiration – Last Year Monhegan Island

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What Will This Summer Bring?

Monhegan Island, if you’ve ever heard of it, either you are from Maine or have some connection to the art world. It’s a small rustic island, 12 miles  off the coast of Maine with a population of 70. I’m not quite sure when I first learned of it’s existence but I knew it was a place where artists have been going for more than 100 years. It could have been through Robert Henri’s book “The Art Spirit”, which took up permanent residency on my night stand probably ten years ago. It’s a series of lectures Henri gave to his art students making it an easy book to just pick up from time to time to read excerpts. Henri first went to Monhegan in the summer 1902. He was so taken with the place he bought land there. Eventually he brought more artists there, his students Rockwell Kent, George Bellows, and Edward Hopper among others. The Wyeths also spent time on Monhegan. So wherever or whenever I first learned of Monhegan Island, one thing was certain, I desperately wanted to go there.

  • Houses
  • Path to the Sea
  • Monhegan Garden
  • Laundry Day

Last summer, it was my turn to be inspired. There’s a rugged beauty there, and a purity. I’m not the first to say it, and I’m surely not going to be the last but there’s something to paint everywhere you turn.  I did a few Plein air sketches while we were there and I’ve worked from those and my photographs ever since. Inspiration is a fine thing and it can push you to do your best work. The magic of Monhegan has taken me to a new place. It is humbling to know that some of America’s greatest artists have painted in the same place. 

Homer’s World, Oil on canvas, 24″ x 36″

Monhegan Island isn’t the only place in Maine where artists have been drawn. There are more places I want to go this summer as the time approaches to make the trek back north. Edward Hopper was a frequent visitor to several places along Maine’s coast. Some I’ve been to while others remain on “the list”. Two years ago I visited Winslow Homer’s summer home. The view from his front yard was incredible. Waves crashing against rocks just grabs a person and says in clear and unambiguous terms, mother nature is a powerful force. It’s constant, powerful and mesmerizing.

Perhaps a list of places to get to would be in order before we head back. Regardless of where this summer takes us, these are my Maine paintings for the past year. 

My Retro

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sunflower_marigolds

2003

No matter what we do in life we should always strive to do better. Being better human beings would be the most important place to work on ourselves. Putting that aside, for the time being, I am trying to push through to another level in my painting.  It takes time, patience and work. I do get discouraged. Every artist will tell you about the voices in their heads (no I haven’t lost it – not yet) that aid in that discouragement. I am persistent or perhaps just stubborn, so I push those negative thoughts aside and I press on.

Sometimes the best way to overcome doubt is to trace where you’ve been and see how far you’ve come. That’s where I’m going with this posting. It started with reorganizing my websites. With everything wiped out from my old site and starting over, I’m faced with a question of what paintings to post. At this juncture I’m going to go with a less is more idea. Before I do that I’m thinking a little retrospection is in order. I’ve posted two portfolios, one of watercolor paintings and one of oil paintings. I’ve selected one painting from each year that I’ve been painting as a full-time effort. That would stretch across fifteen years, but who’s counting.

lightingtheway

2018

Currently, I spend a great deal more time developing my paintings. Because of that, I don’t have nearly as many pieces in my current portfolio. It’s not a race though, is it? For quite some time I have felt as though I needed to catch up on lost time. My age is probably showing through when I say that I realize that I don’t need to rush or “play catch-up”. I just need to work on making better paintings. That’s what I intend to do. Looking back on where I came from, I think I’m doing just fine in the sense that I have improved. We are all perpetual students and as long as I see progress, I will continue to push on.

You can see my timeline of oil paintings by following this link.   My timeline of watercolor paintings is at this link.