Art for sale
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Speeding by the Poppies
Saturday, September 30th, 2006
Speeding by the Poppies, Hwy 40 Tennessee USA, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels on paper with 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.
Moon Over Cypress
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
Moon Over Cypress, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels on paper, framed with 3-inch white double mat and 26H x 22W inches white wood frame with crackle finish.
This turned out differently than what I originally envisioned — it’s much better because the paper shows through like stars and reminds me of time lapse photography. It is a rare piece in this series that came together quickly and will not be reworked.
Post dated note: accepted into Studio 2600’s Holiday Light and Sparkle Exhibition Nov. 2007-Jan. 2008. Now sold.
Jabiru
Friday, September 1st, 2006
Jabiru at the Dallas World Aquarium, 24H x 18W inches graphite on paper
Post-dated note: Accepted in the J. Mane Gallery’s Fins, Feathers and Fur 2020 exhibition, unfortunately no longer shown in the gallery archives in 2022.
“Drawings have a job to do: to provide viewers with more than just a pretty picture. There are tones implied through those tones!”
Jabiru are large South American prehistoric-looking birds standing 4-5 ft. high. Reference photos for ‘Jabiru’ were taken at the Dallas World Aquarium, where I’ve spent many visits watching a pair of them interact. Fortunately, I can usually study them in silence, because everyone else’s attention is on the flashy coral-colored flamingos just down the aisle.
Before starting I envisioned a drawing based on Japanese principles of using fewer lines and shading, with empty spaces considered as much a part of the drawing as every mark.
This is not the prettiest subject, precisely one of the reasons I chose to keep the drawing soft. By purposely compromising the values and using a lighter touch, my hope was that the viewer’s response might be pleasant before thinking “ugly bird”. To explain further, the Jabiru’s feathers are pure white and its head including beak are very dark grey, almost black. I was stubborn about the style staying gentle and simple, having negative space speak as much.
Whereas a photograph utilizes the whole range of dark and light values, copying everything, a person chooses the amount and quality of dark and light values to apply in order to attain the intended the effect on our emotional impressions.
The Jabiru’s huge beak strikes a strong silhouette by shape alone, so to lessen the impact of the large, odd shape on a fairly empty page, extremes were avoided even though the bird’s beak is quite dark in reality.
I really want stress here that a drawing is not a photograph, and a photograph is not a drawing. Photographs might be the source of inspiration and for details that memory has missed or forgotten. Illustrations that are copied with attempts to produce an exact visual likeness, relying purely on the photo, lack a certain warmth no matter how well rendered they are. Art involves the human factor. A photo is a product of a machine; the visual details are copied with no sense or emotion; it does what it’s been designed to do. Drawings are subjective representations of all that we sense as well as see.
We interpret character of a subject not only visually, but also through our multidimensional senses.
Wild Canada: Stony Swamp Trail
Tuesday, August 1st, 2006
Stony Swamp Trail, Ottawa, Ontario Canada, Paper Places series, 14 x 11 inches oil pastels on paper with 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish. The series inspired the accompanying poem:
It remains
when things are gone
and people passed
and roads
and paths
and places
we belong
to the essence.
Intuitive response to subject matter impart individual character to each piece, so styles are deliberately different.
Post-dated note: Stony Swamp Trail was accepted for The Artist Showplace Gallery’s Annual Juried Exhibition, February – March 2007.
Coconut Palm, Costa Rica
Sunday, July 23rd, 2006
Coconut Palm, Costa Rica, 14 x 11 inches oil pastels on paper with 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.
January Thaw
Thursday, June 15th, 2006
January Thaw, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels, white double mat, brass title plate, 22H x 26W inches wide white frame with white crackle finish.
Willow branches, welcome bits of color during the January thaw, a seasonal expectation in eastern Ontario, when temperatures hover around 0*C. After a period of 1-2 weeks temperatures can dip to -40*C, and the most intense, unpredictable part of winter begins.
The Evolution of January Thaw – a painting is more than the sum of its parts. It transformed dramatically while conversing with other Artists and their critiques on a popular online Artists’ website.
“When I am painting I have no knowledge of what I am doing. Only after a moment of ‘returning consciousness’ do I become aware of what I have been doing. Then, however, I have no hesitation about making changes, or destroying images, because the painting has a life of its own. My mission is to bring forth this life”. Jackson Pollock
At The Alamo
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006
At The Alamo, carved stone detail on a window of the main building at The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas – 11H x 14W inches oil pastels, 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.
Calgary in September
Thursday, May 18th, 2006
Calgary in September, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels on paper, 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish. Part of the Paper Places series.
Post-dated note: Won Second Place in the Paintings category in Plano Art Association’s annual One-Two-Five Show Exhibition in Plano, Texas April 11 – May 8, 2007. I think of pastels to be drawings because no brush is involved, but they are commonly categorized in competitions as paintings…heck, if it wins a prize, does it really matter?
Southern Utah
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006
Red Rocks in Southern Utah, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels on paper, 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.
Part of the Paper Places series. I find driving anywhere preferable to flying because of scenery like the landscape in Southern Utah. The colors and patterns are stunning!
Goldenrod
Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
Goldenrod, late Summer in Southern Alberta, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels on paper, 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.
This piece exemplifies the individuality of each in the Paper Places series; not attempting depth or realism so much here as playing with design, contrasting colors and texture.
« Previous Entries Next Entries »