at Union Coffee. I have been getting a lot of kind feedback from people. Use the contact form on this website to request a painting of your favorite pet or human. And check out the show.
Portraits hanging through September Read More »
I haven’t written about books I am reading in a while. But Robert Raasch’s novel The Summer Between is great in all of the right ways. It is well written, with characters who make me want to continue reading until the end. Thus far, I am being introduced to the main character’s family and childhood. Because it takes place in the crazy yet kind (in my mind anyway) 1970s I can relate. It is bringing back some of my own memories of that time even though I was raised on Long Island, not New Jersey. I am looking forward to getting to the New York City days. The cover is well done too.
Robert Raasch’s The Summer Between Read More »
I experimented with a new surface for this portrait of Ganymede. It is called Alumacomp and it is manufactured by New York Central. I purchased it from Jerry’s Artarama, where I get most of my painting supplies. The inspiration for Ganymede is the New York Mets baseball player Drew Smith.
This painting was created in response to our perilous political times. We are indeed in the Lion’s Den and though I do believe in a higher force at work, only our common sense will save us. Though it is nice to think that faith alone can be a guiding light, we all see faith so differently, that in the political context it gives less comfort than perhaps it should.
Daniel in the Lion’s Den Read More »
This portrait is in the Ellarslie Open at the Trenton City Museum until September 29th of this year
I decided to exclude the chains. It is enough to depict two people bound together struggling to be free. Or is only one aching to be free? Difficult to tell from this image. So often people have their epiphanies after they destroy others. And the destruction may not be literal or obvious. It is enough to wear away at someone’s confidence or their self-worth. Often, one’s self-actualization is an excuse to think of oneself above others. I still like the abstract background these figures inhabit. I am reminded of the work of David Park. It has always been a goal of mine to depict figures in a landscape but to have the elements appear to be organically formed, that is, to grow from each other. Complicated, and difficult to achieve.
I began this small painting of two figures breaking free of their constraints: chains to come. I used a canvas that already had a painting of a landscape that went awry, and I like the abstract element it adds to the work at this early stage.
Recently someone I consider a wonderful person died. As I age I keep receiving these alerts that life is brief. So as the saying goes, I return to art, which lasts far longer. This past weekend, I attended a walk at Aquetong Spring Park in New Hope, PA given by the Philadelphia Mycology Club. The person leading the walk struck me because her features seemed straight out of an early Lucian Freud painting. I also completed the portrait of my puggle Sammie, which I will be giving to her amazing Veterinarian Dr. Jessica and the staff at Lambertville Animal Hospital.
