Violent Silver

It's near impossible to tell with these on-screen images of the paintings but I've been using metallic watercolor in some. In this one, I've used silver in the water (which you may have been able to guess from the title). Late today, I'll post on my great day blog a little about process and materials.


Violent Silver
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
SOLD

Waterscape 5

"...
and once more it climbs
trying to cast again
the light in which that landscape
was a prospect of heaven

everywhere
the vision has just passed out of sight
like the shadows sinking
into the waking stones
each shadow with a dream in its arms
each shadow with the same
dream in its arms
..."

—W.S. Merwin

Waterscape 5
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
SOLD

Waterscape 4

Too heavy with moon,
Clouds spill down her shiny light —
North sleeps deep below.

— Suzanne McDermott

Waterscape 4
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Landscape 8

I love this sky. I can feel the wind and the temperature. There's a shape to the air and an angle to all it touches on the ground. This expanse takes my breath away. Up into the air, on the wind, it's shaped again into another form.

Landscape 8
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Landscape 6

I like roads. Not traffic, not freeways or city streets, but roads. They're such an intricate part of the American mythology. And of America in fact. Invitation to motion. The West. Expanse. Arizona. New Mexico. The places you have to go through to get to the Pacific coast.

This landscape reminded me of Arizona Highways. This magazine has been cranking out unfailingly fabulous photos of Arizona for somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty years.

I'm also reminded of some lyrics from my song The California Sun

We made roads to get to roads
To get to roads
To get our hands on all the gold

We found it all in the California Sun...

Complete lyrics.

Landscape 6
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
Sold

Desert Storm

The first title that came to mind when I painted this was Desert Storm because that's what it depicts. Then I thought, shoot, I can't use that title. I can't name this painting after an unprovoked, preemptive bombing to smithereens of a major capital city already crippled by years of sanctions, initiating a morass that not only destroys that country but so undercuts the economy, infrastructure and international reputation of the country in which I was born and raised that it will never be able to recover. But then I thought of how deeply it bothers me when political speech writers and military types wrest poetic language from the culture to veil the truth, fabricate myth and describe unspeakably barbaric acts. The only thing to do, really, is to wrest it back.

Desert Storm
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$85
to purchase this painting, email me

Landscape 7

Thanksgiving mountain. That might be a good title for this.

Landscape 7
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$45

Deep Green

The beautiful changes as a forest is changed
By a chameleon's tuning his skin to it;
As a mantis, arranged
On a green leaf, grows
Into it, makes the leaf leafier, and proves
Any greenness is deeper than anyone knows.

—Richard Wilbur

Deep Green
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Waterscape 2

"Happiness is the light on the water. The water is cold and dark and deep."

—William Maxwell

I'm a big William Maxwell fan. I like what he writes about writing as much as his writing itself.

The epigraphfor his novel Time Will Darken It, is a quote from Francisco Pacheco giving instruction on how to make a landscape painting.

"The order observed in painting a landscape—once the canvas has been prepared—is as follows: First, one draws it, dividing it into three or four distances or planes. In the foremost, where one places the figure or saint, one draws the largest trees and rocks, proportionate to the scale of the figure. In the second, smaller trees and houses are drawn; in the third yet smaller, and in the fourth, where the mountain ridges meet the sky, one ends with the greatest diminution of all.

The drawing is followed by the blocking out or laying in of colors, which some painters are in the habit of doing in black and white, although I deem it better to execute it directly in colour in order that the smalt may result brighter. If you temper the necessary quantity of pigment—or even more— with linseed or walnut oil and add enough white, you shall produce a bright tint. It must not be dark on the contrary, it must be rather on the light side because time will darken it...

As you get nearer the foreground, the trees and houses shall be painted larger, and if desired they may rise above the horizon...In this part it is customary to use a practical method in putting in the details, mingling a few dry leaves among the green ones...And it is very praiseworthy to make the grass on the ground look natural, for this section is nearest the observer."
—Francisco Pacheco (1564-1654)

Waterscape 2
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75

Waterscape 3

Now I'm starting a little series from miscellaneous stock photos. Leafing through books, magazines and clippings to see what grabs my attention, I'm not interested in copying exactly from photos, more in grabbing inspiration from looking at variations in form and color to help me unstick and develop a broader language of landscape images.

I like working from life as much as anyone and I realize that working from life is, more or less, de rigeur in the painting a day world. I also love to sit outside and paint. However, the light (for me) in middle-Tennessee is broad and harsh and blinding except for an hour or so in the morning and evening. Plus, I'm in a city and am really committed to developing this landscape idea. I am collecting a nice pile of landscape paintings that I make en plein air in my own back yard and expect that I'll post them eventually.

But I'm working on developing another sort of path with my painting. Of work that comes from within. I arrived at this point because of my current location and because I built a studio to work in. Also, maybe because it's just time for me to be working in a new way. I heard John Hartford once say that our styles are defined by our limitations. And that's sort of what's happening here. Funny how the word "limitations" has a negative connotation. I appreciate the limitations in my life right now because I really like my surroundings and, generally speaking, my circumstances and, if my limitations are forcing me to go within, well, that's an unlimited space and source to call upon. I'll write more about that later.

Waterscape 3
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Seascape 4

I enjoy mixing colors incompletely on the palette so that the different hues present themselves individually within the mix on paper as the water settles. I use this approach mostly for the grays, neutrals and violets in skies.


Seascape 4
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
SOLD

Sheer Light

A different study in blues and neutrals. This feels like the end of a warm, humid day when the air forms a scrim with salt and the last particles of light.

Sheer Light
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Blue Tide

A study in blues and neutrals. Cool and transparent. A slight alleviation from the dead-on horizontal approach I've been taking.

So far, with a couple of exceptions, I've been sticking to the hot press paper which allows the pigment and water to slide freely across the surface with little absorption. I like using this paper when I want to achieve fine detail work, for example, with copies.


Blue Tide
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Watermelon Mountain

Today began bright and warm as summer. I walked the neighborhood in a t-shirt. By early afternoon the clouds rolled in with lightning and the rain whipped down, flooding roads, it came so fast. I've changed clothes, socks and shoes three times. Tonight, the temperature drops below freezing.

If I can't say something brilliant about a painting post, there's always weather to talk about. Of course, each painting has its own weather and I could be talking about the weather in this painting. In fact, I think of writing stories about the places or universes these landscapes suggest. Something along the lines of McCaffrey, LeGuin, L'Engle, Milne or Lewis but not exactly. Obviously, nothing concrete has presented itself. When and if something does, we'll see....


Watermelon Mountain
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$45
to purchase this painting, email me

Landscape 5

I can imagine the blue painted birds on my new cup and saucer flitting about quite happily in this scene. Better than Disney.


Landscape 5
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
NFS

Landscape 4

Looking at many historic landscape paintings, here, I play with making a composite. Can you tell me what historic painting I refer to in the bottom half of this watercolor? Here's the hint: Late 19th century French oil painting. If you think you know the answer, leave a comment below. If someone answers correctly within the week, I'll send a little prize. In any case, I'll write the correct answer below next Tuesday (20 Nov).

Landscape 4
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Landscape 2

As I've mentioned, I've been in Asheville, NC this weekend as a visiting artist. The Asheville Film Festival was also this weekend and I bumped into one of the co-founders of the Hatch Festival. This got me thinking about the cinematic influences on my landscape paintings. I'm going to start a list of directors, cinematographers and particular films that have unquestionably influenced my visual thinking. Off the top of my head, these would include Terrence Malick, Nestor Almendros, Haskell Wexler and Billy Weber's Days of Heaven, Martin Ritt and James Wong Howe's Hud, Bob Rafelson and László Kovács's The King of Marvin Gardens, David Gordon Green and Tim Orr's George Washington. Also, the first 5 seasons of Monarch of the Glen. There are a bunch more, but that's good for starters. I'll put something in the sidebar after a while.

Landscape 2
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Seascape 1

And all I ask is a windy day
with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume,
and the sea-gulls crying.
—John Masefield

I'm in the midst of the Asheville River Arts District Studio Stroll where I am showing as a visiting artist this weekend. Between the travel, set-up and show schedule, we will do with little quotes for these paintings. Enjoy!

Seascape 1
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Seascape 5

"The feather flew, not because of anything in itself but because the air bore it along. Thus am I, a feather on the breath of God."

—Hildegard von Bingen

Seascape 5
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Landscape 1

Regardless of my intention and what I know to be true intellectually, I am always surprised and delighted to see how the introduction of one new color can dramatically change the mood, tense and temperature of a piece.

Except for a bit of violet in the clouds, this is essentially the same set of colors I used for the ground and sky in yesterday's post except that I have replaced yesterday's rusty burnt sienna along the horizon with the deep, cool green, producing a very different experience. See Josef Albers.

Landscape 1
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Skyscape 6

This looks like a day for a good hat, shades, and a bottle of water.

I'm working like a beaver to put everything together for a painting exhibit this weekend in Asheville, North Carolina. If you are anywhere in the Asheville area, come to the Studio Stroll in the River Arts District. I'll be showing at Gingerprint in the Warehouse Studios at 170 Lyman Street. Here's a map. Lots of wonderful artists in their studios with lots of wonderful art.

Skyscape 6
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$45
to purchase this painting, email me

Landscape 3

Yesterday, on my great day blog, I posted a photo of my studio bulletin board. Up on the board, I have two quotes by John Constable. One is,
"...the sky is the source of light in nature, which governs everything."

Landscape 3
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Landscape 9

When I was drawing and painting portraits, buildings and things, rendering took precedence over color. Not that color was unimportant! But I think that I was imitating the color of the thing being rendered rather than letting color speak for itself. In 2004-2005 (while I was working on The Age of Flowers series), I threw myself into experimenting with different brands of watercolor and studied what effects their different palettes create. At the same time, I took work in small museum exhibit design, much of which involved creating palettes and unified color schemes for exhibits.

Now that I've stripped down to ideas, color is taking a front seat. There's an essay in the Mark Rothko book (I've kept out of the library for too long) by John Gage — Rothko: Color as Subject. Just the title made my mind open up. I must read it. This week!

Landscape 9
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
SOLD

Skyscape 8

Nature in her minutest scene,
Her flow'rs, her moss, her turfy green,
Has pow'r to spread enchantment near,
And bid delight in ev'ry thing appear.

—Miss Susan Evance

Skyscape 8
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$45
to purchase this painting, email me

Beachscape 2

I like the way the teal and violet play against each other in the sky. The beach emerges. Go take a look at the second seascape photo of my father's that I posted here.

Beachscape 2
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
$75
to purchase this painting, email me

Skyscape 9

My mother was not the only early influence on my perception of the sea and sky. Summer day after summer day, I spent hours walking, jogging, swimming and body surfing the shoreline with my father who must have brought my attention to the finer details of our surroundings. Link here to one of his photos.

Skyscape 9
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4in. x 6in., archivally matted & backed to 8 x 10
SOLD