First Greens...

This is a painting of the birches in my front yard as the greens of spring were just getting started. Throughout the year these trees are strikingly beautiful. I painted them this past winter when they were covered in snow, in the fall as the leaves changed, and last summer full of leaves. The canvas is 24″ square, which is a size I have been using quite a bit this year. I have been enjoying working with either a square or a long panoramic rectangle. Both are just a bit awkward to work with, which makes me work a little more as I plan the composition.

Buffalo Springfield and the Boomer Truck...

I did this painting on a  friend’s property, where he fixes up old fire trucks. He calls the truck on the right a boomer truck. It is an American LaFrance fire truck. The vehicle on the left is a Buffalo Springfield road roller. I really like the way the colors of the two trucks relate to each other and the foliage in the background.

I have been reading a book called Art as Art, a compilation of writings by Ad Reinhardt. A teacher in college used to read parts of this book to our class, and I bought it from Amazon on a whim. Even though he painted minimalist paintings that I am only mildly interested in, I do enjoy reading parts of this book. He is a very witty writer and this has been a fun bed time read.

I have a few things coming up this summer. I am trying to keep the calendar page of this website up to date so you will know what I am up to. There are a few big events.  I will be going to Door County, Wisconsin from July 18-24th. I will also be having a solo show at Courthouse Fine Art in Ellsworth, Maine, which opens August 10th, and I will be giving a gallery talk on August 24th at 6pm. I have put together some paintings I am very proud of for this show. I also always have paintings on display at Dowling Walsh Gallery. Dowling Walsh has a very strong collection of my work in Rockland , Maine.  I am keeping the fall schedule open because my wife and I are expecting our first child in September, and I want to be able to spend time with the new baby.

Blue Hill...

The busy season really caught me by surprise this summer. I meant to do a better job of keeping up with the blog this season, but I have been running around working on other projects. The main slow down was not having the time to shoot decent photos of my work for the website. Now I have a few images put together for at least a few posts.

I have been painting a lot this last week, and I feel like I am starting to hit my stride pretty well. It feels good getting outside so much and figuring some things out in my paintings. I have been thinking a lot about the workshop I took, and also looking through a couple of new art books on Sergei Bongart (on loan from a friend) and Euan Uglow. The Bongart book is a great example of brushwork and beautiful color. His work is bold and powerful, and with really exciting color. Euan Uglow is someone I learned about at the Stuart Shils workshop, and his work is also beautiful, with a unique sense of color and design. His work is incredibly interesting and fun to study. He is a very smart painter with incredibly well organized compositions.

As for the poll. I am a cat guy, so I was surprised to see that dogs won the poll, cats or dogs?, with 68% of the vote. I have two cats who keep me company in the studio, and when I go outside to paint I usually have my wife’s cat-sized dog with me. They’re all good company. For the new poll question, I have a question about auctions. It is definitely auction season here in Maine. I have been asked to give a painting to a different auction every week, and I I want to know what you guys think about donating art work to auctions.

Back in front of the easela...

Sorry for the long absence, but I had some unexpected things come up right after a workshop I took a few weeks ago. Now I am back in Maine and painting up a storm trying to catch up. The workshop with Stuart Shils was through the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The school had it’s end of year student show up, which was full of some really inspiring painting. I was definitely impressed with the student work and the facilities. And the workshop was a great experience. Stuart starts his workshop with a lecture/slide show and covers a lot of great information. He is incredibly knowledgeable and quite good at communicating that knowledge. Being a student is great for getting forced outside of my comfort zone. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a painting class, and it was a really interesting and challenging experience. Stuart made me think about how I organize an image, the design of a composition, and where I focus my energies in a painting. I also applied paint in different ways and found a way that I can expand on my brushwork. Taking this class will also help inform how I put my own workshops together in the future.

In the last poll question I asked whether you take workshops. The results were that 56% say yes, 33% have not taken a workshop recently, and 11% have never. Before the class I just took, I had taken many art classes, but that was my first workshop. I have been teaching them for a few years, and it’s hard to cram a lot of information into a short two-day class, but they certainly do have a role in educating us as artists and pushing us as artists.

Since I have been so distracted lately, I asked my wife for a suggestion for a new poll question, and I think she came up with a good one. Although it has absolutely nothing to do with art.  Thanks for participating on the site, even when it’s ridiculous.

The painting above is of Acadia National Park and will be at my August show at Courthouse Fine Art in Ellsworth.