Blue Ridge Sketch

Acrylic, 4" x 4" $100.00

Sunset after a Storm

Acrylic on Gessoed Board, 6" x 6" $100.00

This is another made-up picture. I guess it's the Caribbean. The

places that I have been there have made such an impression on me.

Particularly the skies.

This is one of my first acrylic paintings. You can probably tell....

There are certain aspects of acrylic that I like very much. For someone

who loves glazing as much as I do, the instant-dry factor is very

convenient. But, blending is problematical, and so is getting soft

edges. Spraying water on it, as I read David Hockney does, helps

a little bit. But it certainly is fun to play with. All in all, I think I'll

remain a big oils fan. I love the maleability of it, and the softness

of the edges that you can get with it like nothing else except maybe

pastel, or oil pastel.

Mrs. White's Yard

Oil on Panel, 6" x 8" $100.00

This was a really, really fast sketch I did of the yard next door. I
love very refined painting, as I am a diehard fan of early Renaissance
work. But, every once in a while I just get in the mood to really
let go and paint as fast as I can - even sacrificing reality if I have to
in favor of abstraction if that is what happens. I like the energy in
this little sketch - it was a cloudy day, so that is why you don't see
any shadows.

Christina in a Chinese Jacket

Drypoint Etching printed on Archival
Printmaking Paper, image 5" x 7" $85.00 Go Here

I didn't have a chance to paint today, so I am
posting this drypoint of my daughter's friend,
Christina.

I drew it with a diamond point on a plastic
plate, which has several drawbacks. First
of all, you cannot correct any mistakes, so
every mark you make must be correct or
pretty correct, anyway. Also, it doesn't
tend to have the beautiful plate tone that
copper or zinc have because it is totally
non-porous.

One thing it does do well though is take marks
from roulette wheels. Those are tools used by
printmakers to create texture. They are literally
small barrels attached to handles that have different
types of texture on them, like lines, dots, sharp
points for roughing up the plate, etc.. The texture
that you see in the background of this print was
mostly made with roulettes. Everything else was
drawn by hand with my diamond scriber.

Once I finish my drawing, I ink it up with
etching ink, and run it through my press with a
piece of dampened printmaking paper.

I love drypoint! You can't get big editions,
as you can with etching, but what you can get
is unique and beautiful.

Early Evening View from Boston Studio Window

Oil on Gessoboard, 4" square $100.00

This was the view out my studio window when I lived
in Boston for nine years. I lived on the back side of
Beacon Hill, which was an odd place to begin with -
all those buildings clustered closely together on that
little artificial hill - but there was always something
about this view that reminded me of the Middle Ages.

The odd shapes of the structures on the tops of the
tenement buildings; so many of them were surmounted with
these glass pyramids topped with little balls. The pyramids
would change color according to the light in the sky.
It was intensely urban, that's for sure. Were it not for
the Boston Common and the Public Garden a short walk
away, I think living there would have been unbearably
claustrophobic.

But, oddly enough, sometimes I miss
it. It's probably nostalgia. My studio was only my studio
until my daughter was born in 1986. What joy. Then it became a
baby's room, and the center of my life ceased to be my
artwork for quite a while. If I had to do it over, I wouldn't
change a thing.

Vita breve. Ars longa.

Irish Sketch

Pencil and Oil on Denril Paper, 5" x 7" $110.00 eBay

A lot of my ancestors, including my grandmother on
my mother's side, and my grandfather on my father's side,
were from Ireland. But I've never been there. I hope to go
there someday though. This is another one of those imagined
pictures. It is what I think a collection of buildings on an Irish
hillside near the ocean would look like on a sunny day. I had
a lot of fun doing it.

Denril paper is actually a translucent paper made for
architects. But, because it has a treated, impervious surface,
you can paint right on it in oils. You can also wipe it right
off too, because it doesn't sink in - which makes it really
fun to work with. It's also great for colored pencils, or
plain graphite. It looks like Mylar, but it's soft and pliable,
and is an actual paper. It comes in large sheets also.

Plowed Field in Spring

Oil Color Monotype, 4.5" x 6" $100.00 go to eBay

This is an example of a monotype done with watersoluble
oil paints on Yupo watercolor paper as a base. The Yupo
watercolor paper is white, of course, but it's also a piece of
thin white plastic, which is perfect for releasing the paint
onto a piece of damp printmaking paper in a press.

Before I do the painting, I will coat the plate with some
Grumbacher Slow-Drying Medium for watersoluble oils,
and roll paint into that (using Speedball soft rollers), and
also brush paint into it. It give a good overall surface to work
into. Then, after soaking the printmaking paper for awhile, and
blotting it so that there is no standing water on it, I'll place the
Yupo paper on a thin metal or plastic etching plate to raise it
up a bit, and then print it in an etching press. This method will
remove every bit of paint from the plate and give a good, clean
and sharp print.

This image is rather impressionistic, but I like the sense of
space that it conveys.