"Fall Blaze" is 36x36", acrylic on canvas.  Every year I try to channel my awe at the fall foliage in Raleigh, North Carolina, into a painting.  Since I've been experimenting with pouring lately, this is the shape my inspiration took this time.  I applied the colors yesterday morning, then starting carving out the resulting burgeoning form in the afternoon after the pour had settled and dried.  Even though the palette is autumn-inspired, the image itself is reminiscent of a lush petal of an iris or orchid.  I wanted to push the warm and brilliance of the color so I framed it in a soft, cool, muted green, similar to that of the restful pine trees that surround the flashy hardwoods.  Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!

"Essence of a Flower" is 18x24", watercolor on paper.  I produced this piece as a practice exercise while attending a recent workshop with artist Sterling Edwards.  The topic of the class was Big Brush Floral Paintings in Watercolor.  Watercolor is my least comfortable medium.  I am an admirer of Sterling's loose and effortless rendering of a wide range of subject matter, how he manages to have one foot in representation and the other in abstraction.  The result can be an intriguing suggestion of content that lures the viewer in.  These pieces are created swiftly.  There is no laboring.  It either works or it doesn't. 

First you lay in a wash, being sure to preserve the precious white of the paper.  With watercolor, your white comes from the paper.  Once you cover it, it's gone.  You must work quickly because with every second your paper is drying.  Once the wash is down and dry, you begin selectively defining, implying your subject by carving out negative shapes (spaces between) and adding in positive shapes.  A little goes a long way.  After I completed my initial wash, which was successful, I hit a wall of fear.  What if I started rendering my flowers and I put a shape where I didn't want it?  Or I went too far and lost what I wanted to leave unsaid?  But, I dove in.  There are things I can pick apart about this result but overall I like it.  It's loose and playful and most definitely some kind of flower but which kind is up to you. 

These "Butterfly Effect" pieces are 22x30" each, acrylic on paper.  The series was a spontaneous use of leftover pouring paint from another project.  I was about to wash the extra paint out of the cups and I decided instead to see what would happen if I poured them onto dry paper.  The first piece started as a pool of very wet paint.  I carefully began lifting and tilting the paper to send the paint rolling in different directions.  The control I had over the paint was minimal at best.  Then, as with any pouring piece, I simply had to wait until the next day and see.  The blues and violet were the initial layer.  After those dried, I wanted to preserve the clean simplicity of the design but add depth so I brought in the complimentary gold tone.  I was so intrigued by the resulting shapes, I wanted to emphasize those against the white.  I grabbed a black acrylic marker and started outlining the silhouette of the pouring, leaving a small gap, well, just because.  I love it when paintings happen and I have no idea they are coming or where they came from.  These were really fun and freeing.  As is often the case, the truly lively, fresh work sneaks up on me when I'm focusing on other things. 

Searching and Discovery

I'm a little late posting this very large project that was designed and completed in 2018.  "Searching" and "Discovery" are two monumental triptychs, each 12' high by 6' wide (consisting of 3 4'x6' panels).   

Inspired by a couple of earlier (smaller) works created with a similar method, I started with the free and random application of long arcing lines using charcoal pencil.  In order to get a smooth curve created by the continuous motion of my arm, I had to begin with these sideways (and my feet on the floor).  Else, I'd have to use a lift or a ladder to get lines going vertically and that would not result in a fluid mark. 

The panels were then installed on the shop walls where I could start painting them using a scissor lift.  My design was mostly created at my computer using visual software.  I figured out pretty quickly I was not going to be able to make decisions while in front of the paintings.  They were too big and I was too close to them and off the ground.  I couldn't see them in their entirety unless I dropped the lift, climbed down, and backed many feet away.  Thus, I worked out my game plan on paper before I started painting.  I continued this approach throughout the process as my design evolved. 

Using acrylic paint on birch wood panels, I began carving in larger shapes using different values of blue.  The blue and red palette was guided by the interior design of the placement environment. 

 

Then came time to start working in the warm red elements.

 

At some point I decided the panels were feeling too solid so I broke them up using the wall color (a cool white).

At the last, I integrated more grays to create a final layer of depth.  The result of this following-the-lines approach was like a mosaic.  I titled these pieces "Searching" and "Discovery" because the creative process was centered on bringing forth the design I wanted from within a field of existing lines.  The project took a couple of months, all told... here are the works installed. 





Umstead Mystery

"Umstead Mystery, 2019" is a revisit to an older abstract painting that has evolved through the years.  I originally painted it in 2005 and it went to live in our Middleton, MA, office for over a decade.  When that office closed, it came back to me and I felt it needed to be something else.  I changed it to a vertical orientation and added more depth to the surface but left it entirely abstract at that time (2016).  It has not been placed since then so I recently pulled it from our bins and spent some time with it.  I decided by adding minimal content and leaving much of it undefined, it could become a subtle and mysterious landscape.  The nearby Umstead Park lends me endless inspiration with its natural scenes full of dappled light, winding paths and creeks, and warm textural foliage.

Seasonal Colors

"Seasonal Colors I & II" are 30x24" each, acrylic on canvas.  They were created first by filling each canvas with loose gestural brushwork edge to edge.  Then the tree shapes were carved out using negatives shapes (spaces between) in simplified muted complimentary colors meant to push the richness of the oranges and greens.  The flat background creates quiet contrast with the energy within the tree forms.  I enjoy the dichotomy of the two images together, one warm against cool and the other cool against warm.  They almost look like they are having a lively and secret conversation.  I started these some time ago but have only recently revisited and completed them.