iPhone Cases

With my art on them!

 Here is a selection of what is available for 3G, 3GS, and 4 (clicking on the photos will take you to the cafepress.com store--be sure to explore it for other designs!):

Gift Giving

When you're doing your holiday shopping this year, consider purchasing real art. It's a unique gift and you help support a starving artist. My available paintings are at Goldsmith's on Bank Street in Waterbury and can be previewed on my website (all prices are negotiable, just make me an offer!).

If you aren't ready to invest in real art, you can also purchase notecards, mugs, prints, etc. from my cafepress.com store.

Drawing a Dream

I don't paint dreams. I don't paint things from my imagination. I don't paint from memory. I paint what I see. Sometimes I feel trapped by my literalness. I'm always in awe of people who create art derived solely from their imaginations. I've wished that I could do that. Artwell in Torrington sent out invitations to submit art to their Dreams and Nightmares exhibit. I wanted to submit something, but I have nothing that qualifies. I decided this needed to change. I've spent the past week or two with this thought in the back of my mind, that I want to start doing more creative art. Last night, while watching The Lovely Bones, I was finally in the right frame of mind and had a vision of creating a large painting, early Renaissance style, of a dream I had the night after my cat Ferdinand died many years ago. Since there's no point having a great idea if you don't start making it real right away, I did a series of sketches for the painting. There is a narrative that goes with the images, but for right now I'm posting just the sketches, in sequence. Next I have to figure out how they will all fit onto a single canvas.

Going High Tech

Yesterday I tried drawing on my computer. Not actually, you know, taking a pen and changing the look of the computer, but using software to create a drawing. Unfortunately, the only art software I have is Photoshop, and the only drawing tool I have is a mouse, so it was extremely difficult to get the lines to do what I wanted. I gave up trying to do anything complex after the first line. All I could manage was a stick figure.

In case you can't tell, that's me trying to use my mouse to draw in Photoshop.

I'm going to start researching computer drawing pens and software. There's an entire industry of people who create art using only computer equipment. I ought to be able to find something to use!

Painting in the Dark

Well, not exactly that. I've got the lights on. It's the subject of my current canvas that is dark. Specifically, that time of day in autumn when the sun has almost finished setting, the lights of cars and signs are bright, dark shadows are everywhere, and there's just enough natural light left to make the sky glow.

This is the first time since 9th grade that I've tried painting a dark scene. It's an interesting challenge. Part of the challenge is making it dark enough. I've already had to go back over it once to make the sky darker, and it looks like I'll have to do the same for the buildings. This is the stage of painting where I need to see what other artists have done. So far, however, I haven't found too many similar works. I love Blakelock's moonlight landscapes, but of course his style is completely different from mine. I'll have to keep googling for images to inspire me.

Painting again

I did the clouds a couple weeks ago, the buildings today. Still a lot more work to do, but the hardest part is done--getting in the right frame of mind and deciding what route to take with it.

I picked out the scene a few years ago, struck by the contrasts of dark and light looking towards Grand Street while sitting at a red light on Union Street. By the time I started applying the paint, I had lost touch with my original inspiration and wasn't sure how to proceed.

I regained my inspiration during a visit to Marc Chabot Fine Arts, admiring some of the amazing prints in his inventory. The subtleties of black and white prints can be stunning. I don't have any delusions that this painting will be that spectacular, but I am inspired to work in a much more monochromatic palette than I have in the past.

"Urban"

I was recently browsing the shelves in the Barnes & Noble at Yale and was intrigued by a sign for section called "Urban Fiction". Now, since I consider myself to be an urban artist, painting scenes of city life, I was a little excited to think that maybe there was a larger trend going on, that authors as well as artists were exploring life in cities.

I was disappointed when I took a glance at the books in that section. "Urban" seemed to be a code word for African American trashy novels. As if the only African American experience is that of the city, and as if only African Americans live in cities.

I've done some research since then, and I see that there is a decades-old history behind this literary genre, and that there are some good novels within the genre, but something about it still doesn't seem right.

It seems like there is a sort of segregation going on in the literary world. Take, for example, one of my favorite authors, Tananarive Due. I have not read all of her books yet, but the ones that I have read are clearly of the horror/suspense genre. Try to find her books in the horror, or thriller, or even mystery or fantasy sections of a bookstore and you'll be out of luck. Her books are always in the African American section. Why? Because she and many (but not all) of her characters are African American.

I guess I'll have to stick it all in the category of things that don't make sense to me. My image of "Urban" includes everyone, of every color and nationality, because that is what cities actually are--a place where everyone comes together. Cities are the melting pot of the world.

Immaculate completed

It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but at least I'm painting again!

Now I have to decide what to paint next. Hmm....

Immaculate

Two hours' worth of work. Six months since the last time I painted. I'm SO out of "shape"!

Out for Art

You are invited!

The Arts & Culture Collaborative presents:

Out for Art
Thursday, April 29:  5 to 7:30 p.m.
Goldsmith's Art & Frame Gallery
99 Bank Street, Waterbury

Networking, Artists' Showcase
Live Demonstrations
Prizes
Food, Drink, Music
Free-Will Donation
Discounted dining downtown at Signature's, 146 Grand St. Bistro and
Marquee Cafe.

Spread the word.  Bring a friend.  Tell your staff.  Hope to see you there!

Analysis: Retraining Needed!

I wasn't able to finish the family portrait I started in California. It was an interesting exercise, working on a strict deadline for a painting. I haven't done that since college. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever finished any of my oil paintings then, either. This painting probably needs another week of work in order to be presentable.

The frustrating challenge of this particular painting turned out to be the faces and hands. It took me a while to figure out why I was having such a difficult time. I can draw faces and hands perfectly well. I can paint faces and hands in watercolor just fine, so long as the color is essentially an enhancement of a drawing. I can depict three-dimensional objects in oil paints, from buildings to pottery to a certain black and white cat with no particular difficulty. But close-up views of faces and hands was proving impossible as I worked on this painting.

I finally understood my problem when I worked on my cousin Lucas's face (the one sitting on the floor). Drawing and painting access different brain functions. The Ingres/Delacroix feud over line vs. color has new meaning and a deep resonance for me. At this point, I'm not sure which approach suits me better, or if perhaps I can create a blend of their philosophies.

While working on Lucas's face, I tried to think in terms of three-dimensional modelling that I did eons ago in clay. It was a strange experience, pushing myself to use my sculpting experience and ways of thinking to paint a face, but it seemed to work. I wasn't able to sustain it, so my uncle looks a lot like a muppet.

It was very disheartening to realize that I don't currently have the skills I need. Or maybe I do have the skills, but first I have to retrain my brain to stop trying to draw when I'm painting.