Expansion And Contraction

At the beginning of September I walked into my studio to discover that Elmer, the artist who was renting the other half of the space, had moved out. He had been pretty much the perfect studio mate. He was clean, and in the eighteen months he was renting space, I saw him twice.

So I was left with a decision about whether or not to go ahead and assume the whole space for myself. It would mean almost doubling my rent, a somewhat grim prospect given how under employed I have been for most of the year.

But the advantages were pretty clear. I would have more room in which to work, something I have been feeling the need for recently, and I would not have to risk sharing the space with someone whose work habits and schedule would conflict with mine.

In the end I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet. I let the manager know I would be taking over the other half of the space and wrote out the check.

It is a little scary, but the benefits have been twofold. I have been able to spread my various work stations out, so I no longer feel so constricted in my use of the space and I can approach some larger projects I had been unsure of how I was going to accomplish them.

It has also forced me into just finally taking work that had been offered to me for awhile, but that I had been on the fence about because it has added a commute to my life, and it is more time on my feet than I would ultimately like to be doing. But I am able to say when I am or am not available so that I am able to work other places and still make sure I have time off and time in the studio, and my schedule there has me booked through the beginning of the new year.

I am having a bit less time in the studio at the moment, but knowing that I am going to be able to make what I need over the next few months is quite a relief after the first half of the year, and I am grateful.

A Contemplation On What Awaits Us All

A Contemplation On What Awaits Us All

18" x 24"

Oil on canvas.

What She Thinks About What She Sees

What She Thinks About What She Sees

Oil On Canvas

40" x 30"

$1250.00

I finished this painting about a month ago.

I had been doodling various versions of this image in my notebook for quite a while, and decided it needed to make it's way into a painting.

Of course this is not at all the sort of work I am drawn towards producing, but it has been good to take a piece of imagination and realize it on canvas. I have submitted it for possible inclusion in the DC Arts Studios 40th Anniversary Celebration exhibit at Busboys And Poets Takoma. Fingers and toes crossed that it is accepted.

More soon.


Peace in yer crease.

Unintended Hiatus

As you may have noticed, I have not posted here in quite awhile.

There has been no specific reason, just a combination of a crazy work schedule since my return to freelance and spending as much time as I could in the studio in between work calls.

So what have I been up to?

At the top of the list, I finished up Phase II of the Green Project at the end of March. I had originally planned to do a third phase, with a larger canvas using all of the greens from Phase II, but when I got through with the last canvas in the series I decided I had gotten what I wanted out of the project, and I wanted to move on.

In between the Green Project canvases I started painting value studies, beginning with single objects on small (9" x 12") canvas.

Value Study: Cocktail Shaker

Oil On Canvas

Last month I moved on to doing multiple objects, still on the small canvases.

Value Study: Still Life w/ Jar, Pear & Glass

Oil On Canvas

I am very interested in the Grisaille technique, where objects are rendered in tonal value to heighten their depth and dimension, then applying the color in layers of glaze.  So I wanted to spend some time concentrating on accurately rendering objects.

After completing the Green Project, I went back to a couple of large canvases that have been hanging around the studio. One very abstract:

Work In Progress

Oil On Canvas 

One more figurative:

Work In Progress

Oil On Canvas

And I began a series of studies for a ridiculously ambitions project, which is to produce a canvas illustrating one scene from each Canto in Dante's Divine Comedy. I have been reading through and finding the imagery in the text that strikes me. The most fully formed so far is from Canto I of The Inferno.

I started on paper, and went through a number of iterations:

Study For Canto I

Graphite On Paper

Study For Canto I

Colored Pencil On Black Paper

I am in progress on a compositional study on canvas:

Work In Progress

Oil On Canvas

I have also set up a gallery page on the Daily Paintworks site, in the hopes of selling some work online.

And I guess the most exciting news is that back in April I sold my first painting. It was one of the Green Project, Phase II canvases. I guess I am a real painter now.

I am going to try and be better about updating here so that people can see what I am up to. We will see how that goes.

Peace in yer crease.