In praise of large paintings
It’s a mistake to think of our large canvases as drugs on the market. They’re often the most important work we do. Winter Lambing, 36X48, oil on canvas, $6231 framed. Björn Runquist told me about the perambulations of a large work, 72” high, as we hung paintings at Bangor Savings Bank yesterday. It takes time …
Why is plein air painting significant?
It’s immediate and visceral, in a way that incorporates the lessons of abstract-expressionism, but it’s also grounded in reality. In short, it’s painting for our times. Spring Greens, oil on canvasboard, 8X10, $652 in a plein air frame. Last week Mary Byrom asked me, “Why is plein air painting significant?” I was at a loss …
Monday Morning Art School: practice makes perfect
Beautiful brushwork rests on a foundation of good preparation. Ravening Wolves, 24X30, is in my show, Fantastic Places and Magical Realms at the Camden Public Library, month of December. I recently came across the sketch below, of two wolves. I was surprised and pleased, because it’s something I drew about a decade or so. It …
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Fantastic Places and Magical Realms
I chose the title and theme long before I chose the paintings. Looking at them together in my studio, I thought, they’re oddly autobiographical. The Camden Public Library will present “Fantastic Places and Magical Realms” on Saturday, December 11, from 1 to 3 PM. The public is invited. When Julia Pierce asked me to hold …
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen
Change is hard. Embrace it. At the End of the Rainbow, oil on canvasboard, 16X20, $2029 framed. This weekend, I received a frame back from a gallery, unwrapped, battered and bruised. Some galleries treat artists’ work with shocking disrespect, so there’s no news there. However, it’s a large, expensive frame and there’s coffee splattered all …