year's end ...

strange times we live in - but they're ours ...

pleased to be able to complete 2008 with a project i've wanted to do for years ...

i sincerely wish the very best for everyone in 2009 ...

winter solstice ...

arrived at 7:04 a.m. [est] sunday morning with ice and snow ...

faunus ...

7'h x 14'w - progress shot ...

i'm already missing working outside - and though i probably shouldn't because of temperatures and pigment stability, i steal as many opportunities above freezing as possible ...
more wintery mixes on their way again today ...
it's becoming more apparenent to me every day how much 'nature' informs my work ...
without thinking, i told a friend last night that "nature is God's clothing" ...
the more we learn, the more we understand haute couture ...

first snow ...

it ain't giverny, [but i like it] ...

phase one of a new 14 foot x 7 foot painting ...

they all begin this way -
i remember one of my first painting instructors from forty some years ago stressing "get the drawing down" ...
today, it's more a matter of laying out a mind map for navigating thoughts and geography of surfaces - especially when they get this size ...
a welcome reprieve from the cold temps allowed me to get this piece started outside this morning - so much more freedom under the big arena - the clouds, weather, animals, birds - my sources ...
what you can't see - is that it started pissin' down rain about a half hour after i took this shot which caused some of the piece to transform itself into hints of morris louis or frankenthaller - the benefits of circumstance ...
my intention at this point is to have the piece suggest the subtle lushness of early spring - but things always change ...
lately i've been admiring some of monet's nature and how he generalized specifics and made the pieces as much about location as he did about painting - but i'm also thinking about dufy, mompo, miro, gorky drawings, kiefer, petroglyphs, sumi-e, cage, and the giant black hole at the center of our galaxy that german astronomers recently tracked ...

equestrian details ...

two details ...

equestrian ...

36"h x 80"w, 11-2008. acrylic paint on wood.

time ...

90 days later - we've moved from the lushness of late summer to the long shadows of fall ...

i'm flirting with acrylic disasters as the temperatures hover in the 30's - my outside studio season is quickly coming to an end with little hope of a warming trend ...

its been a productive and serene learning experience ...

golden paint ...

with mark golden and james carroll ...
["kimono study" on the floor]

a few posts ago [golden dreams], i mentioned the possibility of visiting the golden paint company ...
last week, james carroll and i took the 4 hour + sojourn to new berlin in upstate new york ...
james was one of my college professors, mentor, and founder of the 'new arts program' - so there was never a dull moment trading art war stories all the way up [from bethlehem,pa] and back ...

mark golden was his usual good spirited self and a gracious host as he shared some of the history, current events, and plans for the future with us - and the manufacturing, museum, and development facilities were all well worth the trip ...

i saw some incredible new colors that'll find there way into my work and left with a lot of ideas - truly inspiring ...

the "kimono study" [shades of dawn + shades of dusk] and "chariots of the sun" are now part of the golden collection ...

what an honor and great memory ...