"Tranquility" is 48x60", acrylic on canvas, and it came out of nowhere.  I was not expecting it.  I was under-painting a canvas in green to do a forest scene.  I thought it might be interesting to experiment with texture so I used a tool typically used to do faux-wood imagery (like a comb).  I applied the base coat thickly and pulled the comb through.  In places the paint had dried enough to kind of pill up, resulting in a surface that looks almost like linen.  This effect was so appealing to me that I followed the painting in a completely different direction, minimal, textural, and for me, very tranquil.  I get pleasantly lost in this and it brings me peace.  

"Nostalgia I-IV" is a small pastel on sanded paper series, 13x9.5" each.  The other project I'm working on is new territory, mentally engaging and tiring.  I wanted to come up with a simple and fun fidelity exercise to let my brain rest for a bit, a basic eye-to-hand assignment.  When I researched imagery, I was drawn to these classic archetypal marbles.  Several times while working on the series, my coworkers would reminisce with me about playing with these marbles as kids... hence the title.  One colleague noted it was interesting to see me apply my approach to reflections to a subject other than water.  Okay, I do paint a lot of water.  :)

"Autumn Matrix" is 48x36", acrylic on canvas.  This is a reworked abstract I originally painted in 2005 for a satellite office.  That artwork returned to us recently and when I saw the piece again, I wasn't happy with it.  It did not feel finished.  I changed the orientation from horizontal to vertical and that freed me from the bottom-heavy sense of landscape.  I used glazes to quiet down areas and feature others.  I also pulled forward a smaller element of light that falls down the surface in a pleasant, rainy way for me.

"Heck-Lee House, Raleigh," "Tucker House, Raleigh," and "Heck-Andrews House, Raleigh", 24x24" acrylic on canvas, are three more pieces from the recent architectural series.  These subjects are in Historic Oakwood and the architecture and painting style I think pull them together as a grouping.  There's a graphic quality to the silhouettes of the trees and the structures themselves are only partially rendered, giving them a sketched feel, almost like a conte chalk and charcoal drawing.

 

"Capitol Building, Raleigh" and "City Market, Raleigh", both 24x24" acrylics on canvas, are part of a larger architectural project I started a while ago.  I chose 6 recognizable buildings from the downtown Raleigh area.  I started these pieces in an unusual way, creating a very textured background, then cutting in the sky around the silhouette of each building and its surrounding trees (see below, the Capitol is on the left, City Market on the right).  

These two were the first two I completed.  The next four have gone in a somewhat different direction stylistically so they'll be their own series.  

"By the Way" is 30x40", acrylic on canvas.  Unlike my last few projects, the creative process for this painting was completely unplanned and instinctive.  When I mix liquid acrylics, I often end up with excess paint and it seems such a waste to just let it dry out.  A couple of months ago I grabbed a blank canvas and laid it to the side in my studio and every time I had surplus paint, I'd brush it out randomly on the canvas.  Folks would stop by my studio to see what I was working on and walk over to this and say but what's this?  We like this!  This piece developed on its own off in the perimeter of my thoughts while I focused on other things.  The result is loose, atmospheric, emotional... almost the opposite of the concurrent works.  When I was ready last week to tilt it upright on my easel, there was very little to do for it to feel complete and whole as a painting.  I blurred my eyes to focus (or unfocus) only on color, surface, and balance.  I do that often to check for broad-stroke compositional issues.  With a piece like this, it's hard to know when it's complete... but I do know when it feels right, when it feels good.  Happy Tuesday!

We installed the completed mural panels today.  Each one measures 5x5' and they cover a lengthy stretch of wall leading to a collaboration and design space.  I had much help with painting from my coworker, Bill Rodgers, since the flat and clean nature of the images required multiple layers of paint.  This was a really fun project, quite a departure from my usual assignments!  I love doing faces but it's rarely applicable in a corporate environment.  I have a few other works/series in progress in the studio to which I will now turn my attention.  Happy Friday!