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Artwise…I am thinking about the past few weeks, the end of the year, and the weeks to  come.  

Karen, Martha, and I are pleased with our show, unreNOUNed, at the Claremont Community Foundation.  The show will be up throughout the month, so drop by and check it out…M-F, 8:30-5, 205 Yale Ave. Claremont. 

I’ve been a hanging around my usual haunts…Mondays at the dA and Tuesdays at Mark Wood’s studio.  Those are wonderful places to paint faces and figures.

But I have to face it.  I figure I should expand a bit. Artistically, that is. So I have put in some painting time in a new series… “In the City.”  I’m expanding on the urban landscapes that I showed at Square i in October and that are currently in the Imagine show at the Chaffey Museum of Art.  That show will continue through January. 

I expect to be doing more painting in my studio in the coming months…a commissioned portrait and many urban landscapes. These paintings are almost abstract with a lively urban vibe. They are on 16x16 square cradled panels which add to their contemporary look. 

I am enthusiastic about the coming year…hope you are too.  Best wishes.

A painting has a life of its own.  Birth, death, and all the joys and sorrows in between.  Hopefully it ends as a life well-lived. Sometimes an ailing painting can be resuscitated or re-invented. Occasionally there’s an untimely death. Bad paintings just tug at us artists. 

Recently I had this (edited) Facebook conversation with another artist:

HIM:  I was almost done but didn't like how it was turning out so late Saturday night on the spur of the moment right before bed I went in and took a large brush and turpentine to the painting smearing it everywhere letting paint drip. The next morning I cleaned it up a bit and added large globs of white...

ME:  That turp attack was very brave.  A beautiful rescue.  I really like this…

HIM:  Sometimes we just have to go with our gut leaving the outcome to chance. The real obstacle to growth as an artist is so often fear.

As you can see, an artist responds emotionally and cerebrally as the painting progresses.  When I begin a painting I am hopeful and optimistic.  Many times excited. I find joy in the possibility of colors and expression. Then, for a while I concentrate and I am content. Often this stage is followed by a struggle and frustration. Then I may get into a zone of creativity, euphoria, and poor judgment. Again, more struggles with a fear of doom.  But, I bravely soldier on. Finally, I feel defeated or triumphant. And exhausted.