Monday, December 1, 2008

old bag



I received a wonderful new messenger bag for a gift and I decided to sketch my old bag. My old bag has been a wonderful friend. Over the years, I ignored my friend then embraced. I forgot my friend then remembered. Every goodbye had a hello.

This current goodbye is lingering…however, it is underlined with hope. In the future, I could find my friend through happenstance rummaging through an old collection of things. Yes, I am not ridding myself of my bag….just placing it aside for the moment.



The saddest goodbyes are partings without a whisper of hope for a hello.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Old Barn





This barn is for a wonderful lady form California. She visited the state of Arkansas and walked into the gallery.  We started talking about art, specifically drawing.  Upon seeing my sketchbook, she was thrilled to see this old barn.


And now for from background on the barn.  The barn rests about 5 miles north of my home. The location is a bit out of the way. However, I often extend my  drive to pass by the barn.   I have been watching this barn for a decade. 

The barn is on the edge of existence. This fact is what captured my attention in the first place.  Over the years, the barn has moved even closer to non-existence. I suspect on one summer day, I will pass by the location and it will be completely gone. 

I often have a theme of transition and this fits nicely in my general theme. 



Friday, November 7, 2008

old light





I have to dive into drawing for the next few weeks. A very nice lady from California wants a few black and whites. In my opinion, a wall with a collection of stark black and white art is powerful and classic. I have such a wall in my own home.


Getting ready to draw, I went through my stash of drawings and found this drawing.
I often take little road trips through the country…..I prefer getting lost on dirt roads. On one of my explorations, I discovered an abandoned car lost in a field of weeds. I snapped a photo of the headlight.

I often worry that I am too “folksy” however I was raised folksy. I am from a small town. I was raised along a dirt road. As a boy I roamed the woods and in the summer I was barefoot. Muddy water simply runs in my veins.


In the end, it is odd how we try to run from our past only to return to it.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Life


When driving, sunlight flickering through passing trees always captures my attention and my imagination. I can’t escape the sense of movement, both physical and the movement of time.



In my overactive mind, the flickering sunlight represents passing years and the flickering resurrects childhood memories. Yet sometimes, the flickering represents our seemingly quick changing world of dark to light…light to dark.…people wanting change…people resisting change. People doing bad things….people inspiring good things. But mostly, the flickering sunlight brings positive feelings….everything is going to be ok.



We are here on this earth just for a moment; we are a flickering of light. Our energy is only for an instant and then we are spent. Yet along comes another flickering of light. Another wonderful person is born ,and he or she begins an amazing, warm, and blazing instant of life.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

back and white




may


drawingmotherandchild


threecrosses



picturedrawing art

I met a nice lady in the gallery yesterday and we talked of art. She looked at my journal which I endlessly keep on hand and then she showed the journal to her friend. The friend enjoyed the sketch of the barn and we had a warm and spirited conversation on black and white. I promised to show upload some of my back and white drawings to help her get a feeling for their impact.

I was simply amazed at the woman's passion for art....Simply amazing.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Texture



This is an older painting and I was exploring texture.

I always loved texture…..I enjoy grittiness and roughness. When drawing, I never blend with a finger or a blending stump. And, with pastel, a ‘finger tap” is all the blending which I will embrace. Texture gives the viewers something to ponder when their noses are a few inches from the canvas.
With this work, I actually placed a mixture of sand and glue to the paper.

I am sure there is some emotional reason for my rough preference. Maybe I want to inject masculinity or power into my work. I do not know. Yet, we do nothing without a reason

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

The Desert



Here, I am exploring the use of layering color in the sky and background of paintings. I adore this process. Generally a cool color is placed first if a painting will be warm. Of course a warm color is placed first if the end result will be a cool painting.
Oddly a blazing pink is a great choice for an under painting.
Also, I swapped the normal color unity scheme. Generally, warm colors are highlight colors and color colors (even with a bit of warm) are shadows. I ignored this traditional approach.
Also this painting is my first painting where I began using water with pastel to create the appearance of distance. The pastel forming the distance mountains is muddied with water and left to dry.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

summer






One of the leisures of summer are the long days. The sun lingers in the sky. At nine in the evening the sky still has a hint of light.





This is a time of transition. Children come home from wondering the woods and creeks. Lawn mowers are turned off and other chores are put to rest. Work is done…play is done and the world acquires a comfortable position.





Winter does not have the prefect timing of summer. In winter when sun dips low in the sky, people still buzz like insects. The roads are still clogged with commerce and busyness. Yet, the summer sun does not have this assault on its setting.





As a boy, I wondered miles from my home during the summer. My only rule was to return home when the sun turned from yellow to red. Most always, my return trip was marked with a sense of satisfaction. And today, this time of day evokes powerful feelings of hinging on the transition or the passage time.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Once upon a field




I am getting better at the “messy” look which I ADORE. Yet all in all, “Painterly” is likely a better term than messy!
I have a “vision’ of what an artist should be…oh the vision is full of romance. And, the key ingredient to this vision is free spiritedness. Oh free spiritdness can be messy. It can seem bit disarranged. However in the end, a carefree attitude produces amazing things…..even if there is a mess.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

A Line of Trees



"Let us consider the way in which we spend our lives."
If a man walk in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. As if a town had no interest in its forests but to cut them down! Most men would feel insulted if it were proposed to employ them in throwing stones over a wall, and then in throwing them back, merely that they might earn their wages. But many are no more worthily employed now

Life without Principle by Henry David Thoreau

Saturday, February 23, 2008

A Pond







This painting was housed in the Clinton Presidential Library for a few months and now is within a program promoting art for our youth.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Upon A Field.



This painting is from a splice of two photographs. I took the sky from one and the rolling land from another. Hay bales are almost my signature image. I enjoy the solid geometric shapes which are tossed randomly about open fields.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Open Field.


The bales unlock a true visual sense of scale and distance. Generally, we lack an understanding of distance because of the ease of transportation. The bales on the left, I overlapped for a better composition on depth.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A Clearing








Well, this is my fist post in the blog. And my hopes?
Well, I want the blog to simply address art and nothing more in a very introspective manner. Hopefully the wondering words will get my creativeness into motion.