New Work

'Cisco Beach I-IV' Group of four panorama,
Oil and canvas, each 10"x 10"
Nantucket, MA

It is winter break, now and after the holiday guests have left, I have my studio back. With a freshly organized studio, I was reviewing my plein air painting on Nantucket this past summer and decided to post some of the painting I did there. It was a productive time, more new work to follow.

Enjoy and please forgive my absence from this blog. Teaching five classes at three different universities and looking for a full time professorship, is well... all consuming.

A word about the photograph at the top of this blog. It is a huge, 6" plus wing span, silk moth that was lying outside the door to my apartment. I could not resist taking a photograph of it.

'Lighthouse' Oil and canvas on board 15.5"x 26"
Nantucket, MA

Abstraction and Drawing

I am posting these drawings by a famous artist. Any guesses as to who did these drawings? I'll give you a clue. These portraits were done in the 1940's and this artist was a pioneer in Abstract Expressionism.

For me, it's important to recognize that if an artist chooses to draw or paint abstractly, it does not mean that they do not possess the technical skill to render objects in a representational manner. Being able to draw realistically, is only one form of expression in creating images that an artist can choose from.

Although, I have heard it expressed that abstract works looks easier to do than realistic work, in such comments as "my two year old can do that!". I can assure you that this is not the case. I would even go so far as to say, that good abstract work is harder to create than representational work. I would go further and say that being able to create abstract work is informed by being able to create representational work. The ability to render in a representational manner is a prerequisite for being able to work abstractly. There is more that goes into abstraction than a lack of representation. It takes guts, courage and the willingness to explore to create abstract work. How many artists are willing to truly explore abstraction when the when the general public insists on representation?

Clearly, this artist knows how to draw. I have studied many paintings by this artist and have never been aware of his ability to render in pencil, realistic portraits such as these.

I must say, that once I learned how to create realistic drawings, it became tedious to continue to do so for the sake of representation. Yet, I feel as if I must show that I can draw to be considered a "real" artist. It's hard work to achieve an exact replica of an image for the sake of creating an exact replica of an image. Although from time to time, I do enjoy a good render... exploring value and form and creating a three dimensional world on a two dimensional surface, that's good FUN! But, if you want a realistic image for the sake of a realistic image, the camera is a fine tool for that and is quicker, too. Open up Photoshop or any image-editing software you can turn a photograph into a lovely "pencil drawing" ( roll eyes here).

Creating images goes beyond technical skill. Don't get me wrong, technical skill is a prerequisite to good work particularly for abstract work. But it is not the goal for me as an artist. Something else drives me to create images and it's not rendering for the sake of rendering.

Have you guessed who this artist is? Ok, spelled backwards: GNINNOOK ED MELLIW

It's SPRING! Finally...

It's been a long cold, hard winter, the warm sun feels so good; the coo of the dove from an open window. Ah! It's finally Spring, a time for love, poetry and art.

A Taoist poem from the East:

"Aroused by the beauty of spring,
unable to sleep, I watch the moon
move flower shadows up my silk curtain."


Ancient Greek writer from the West
translated by H. de Vere Stacpoole, Sappho

"Sweet mother, at the idle loom I lean,
Weary with longing for the boy that still
Remains a dream of loveliness--to fill
My soul, my life, at Aphrodite's will."

Deep in Winter

Who as an artist, has the guts to say when someone asks innocently: "so what are you work on?" when deep in winter, nurturing the creative process, dreaming, thinking, trying on ideas, combining different processes...in other words not outwardly making a physical thing.

It is wintertime, I am actively gestating, quiet, passive and open to what will soon be new. Yet, I find this one of the most difficult times... not because of the process but because of the judgment (others and myself). I worry, what if don't start working again? Shouldn't I be cranking it out, consumed with production? Shouldn't I be pounding the pavement for bigger, better shows? Shouldn't I be 'doing' rather than 'being'? Shouldn't I be? No! It is winter.

One of the things I do during this "down" time is look at and be inspired by other artists work. Currently, I am in awe of illustrator Charley Harper. Check out web site at charleyharperartstudio.com

It's not surprising to see a winter cardinal.















Cardinal Cuisine, 1954.

If I do not take the time to reflect, think and dream I have nothing to say when it is time to work in the studio. Without this time, winter then does becomes a permanent state; cold, contracted and outwardly barren. Brrr, where's my sweater

Residency Work

I promised to post the art work I did this fall at the Woodside residency. What amazes me about my work at the residency was that I picked up right where I left off with my thesis panels. I had already done two panels in January and produced a third panel after six months had gone by. All three paintings look as if I created them together at the same time.

This surprises me, I did not expect I would be able to create a third panel so close in form to the other two with so much time in between their creation. Posted here are the three panels, you can see that they form a cohesive body of work.





















First two painted six months before the third.

























Other paintings began to move beyond the shape and forms found in the three thesis panels.

Artist Residencies

After looking into artist residencies by attending the TransCultural Exchange Conference on Artist Residencies in Boston this past April with fellow graduate Jane Rainwater, I was exposed to three days of workshops, lectures and meetings that explained the plethora of opportunities available to artists.

I decided to apply in August for an artist residency close by. I'd been thinking how great it would be to just concentrate on painting all day, every day and stop only to make meals, eat and sleep. And it was truly wonderful to get away from moving, packing and selling the house and focus on my art practice, knowing my studio space would be torn down after I finished the residency.

Most residency programs invite you into their program after you write a proposal on what you hope to accomplish with your work. Some artist residencies pay you to go to them and others you pay them to be in their residency program. The amount of time an artist is in a residency program varies from one week to one year.

The wonderful things about artist residencies are, they provide you with an opportunity to concentrate solely on your work, to be with other artists who are also concentrating on their work and to be in a supportive creative environment. Additionally, there is the fact that many artist residencies give you the chance immerse yourself in a culture and/or country outside of being a traveler or tourist. Often the physical environment of an artist residency is inspiring.

I was given a fellowship this past August to do a short week long artist residency at The Contemporary Artists Center at Woodside in Troy NY.


Nancy McTague Stock a fellow graduate from The Art Institute of Boston, who is a good friend and I were both accepted into the CAC at Woodside artist residency program. I loved being in the physical space the beauty of the grounds inspired me. Painting inside an old chapel fits in with my belief that painting is a spiritual practice.


Woodside Chapel and Church is now a non-profit art organization was founded in 1990 in the culturally rich Berkshires of Massachusetts. With the recent acquisition of the historic Woodside Church and Chapel, they have expanded across the border to New York state.



I loved being in an artist residency, but I don't think it is for everyone. You have to be able to work while living out of a suitcase. It is hard to get into the space of working and not be distracted with what is going on in your environment. You have to be quite disciplined and make the most of your time there, it takes a lot of energy to successfully complete a residency. I would like to do another residency and will pursue applying to other programs, but first I have decided to create a home base from which I can come back to, recharge.

In my next post, I will share the work I created at Woodside.

Artist Myths

Can you count how many myths about artists are in this video clip? You are an artist if you are:

• smug
• male
• socially inappropriate or anti-social
  
• say and do things to shock and/or hurt others
• abuse alcohol and drugs
• physically abuse self and/or others
  
• promiscuous or into kinky sex
  
• suffer way more than other people do
• a slave to your muse
• make art that sells comercially
  
• make art that isn't really art
  
• disdainful of non-artists wannabe's
• arrogant
• unwashed, unkempt
  
• pee in Peggy Guggenheim's fireplace
• con the public with crap
  
• can't spell or write clearly
• disenfranchised
  

This video is the perfect example of why I hate calling myself an artist although I clearly am one. Have I left any other myths out? Oh, yeah...artists shouldn't have kids.