Front Yard

   

in progress: 22.5" x 27"

     Put some time into this one today. Between ducking back into my studio from the rain and setting up again outside in the front yard, the greens took on an intense chroma from all the rain we've been having. Everything was damp and wet today, and it will probably be a completely different scene when I return outside. I had an initial underlayer which was done in the studio from the photo which inspired the painting. I needed to move things around a bit before getting everything back into alignment outside (this usually happens when I block things in from a photograph). The distortion is subtle, but bothersome none the less.
     The light has shifted significantly since March, when I planned this whole thing out. The setting sun was occurring right about in the middle of the canvas, but has now shifted over to behind our house on the right side. I think I'll just work through it; I either put the painting on hold until the right light situation occurs again, or I just move forward with the current season.
     This scene in our front yard has captivated me recently; it's what I look out at while parked in our driveway with the baby sleeping. This sometimes lasts a few hours, and depending on the time of day, the light can be stunning. I'm looking forward to carving out the space of the trees and branches amidst all these greens, and creating a stillness with the tire swing balancing between the tree trunk and the house.

Fort Moultrie

     Here's a few new paintings I'm working on. They depict Fort Moultrie, on the Southern tip of Sullivan's Island, which is about a 5 minute drive from my house. I remember walking on the beach around the Fort with my family on the night we moved here. I'm intrigued with painting brick, as there is so much of it here in Charleston, and the angles from around the fort are really interesting.

     With this first one, I went out with my easel and a few canvases, searching out a spot to paint. It was late in the day, so the sun was low and the light golden, further accentuating the warm glow of the brick. I found this spot with a small doorway in the distance, and through it a wonderful bright yellow peeking through. I wanted to get the whole expanse of the fort's bulk, so I put the 2 canvases I had together, to make one long one. Each canvas size is here is 9" x 12".
     Back in the studio, I secured the 2 smaller canvases together with wood on the back. After working on it awhile, the seam started to bother me; it wasn't relevant to the image and it became self conscious. I also wanted to include some more of the sky and trees on the right side. I decided to stretch a new canvas slightly larger, 12" x 24", which is one of my favorite rectangle sizes, the double square or Root 4.

     After enlarging the image in the studio, I returned to site. A few weeks had passed since I had started the original, and my painting time had shifted. Most of the time when I work en plein air, the painting shifts along with the season, so I have to sync up where the light is at the given time of day I'm working. I feel that this is a more accurate representation of painting from 'life' anyway; it's not trying to copy a static image of the world to the canvas, but rather getting in touch with the rhythms and fluidity of Nature.
Here it is so far:

 

     I have another one that I'm working on at the same time, slightly earlier in the day than the above painting. I've been working on both in conjunction, but this one is giving me a little more of a problem; I'm not sure it's going to make the cut. The section of the wall projecting towards me, is reading kinda funny, and I'm not sure if it's possible to work it out. Anyway, here it is so far:

   

     I've got a few more ideas for different paintings here, and I think that I will keep them all the same size, the double square. I'm fascinated by trying to paint all the different reds and browns in the brick, and how they contrast with the bright greens of the grass.  The sun is so high overhead and so bright, that when I bring the paintings inside to look at in the studio, it's almost a completely different painting. It will be a lot of going back and forth, tweaking the color and trying to figure out how to balance the tones. At least it's not too hot by the ocean...I'm getting a nice breeze while I paint.

Install at Jericho Advisors

     Here's some installation shots of my show, "Wood, Stone, Sky and Steel" at Jericho Advisors. It was nice to get there early and enjoy a drink with my wife and see all the work up. Shows are always good as a marking point, a time to see a large body of work together. Working away in the studio, I tend to cycle through paintings, and put them in my storage rack when they're done. I don't have a lot of wall space to hang them up, but occasionally I'll pull some out and revisit them. In this show, I included a few older paintings (2010ish) from Brooklyn, so it was interesting to see them in the context of the new work. The reception was great, along with a lot of positive feedback. More fuel as I get back to work on some new paintings...stay tuned for updates on those!

 

 

with my wonderfully supportive wife, Faith

Exhibition News

     I've been busy getting my work ready for a show here in Charleston, which opens on May 9th. The venue is an office space downtown, Jericho Advisors, which hosts rotating art exhibits. Josh Silverman from Jericho has a real passion for art in Charleston, and he's been great to work with on this. I plan on showing 6 paintings and 4 drawings, with work that spans the last 4 years. I'll have a few older pieces from Brooklyn, so it will be interesting for me to see them in the context of the newer work.
     In addition to Kenise Barnes Fine Art, my work will now also be represented by Horton Hayes gallery in downtown Charleston. I'm excited to be a part of their gallery of artists and I'm looking forward to making new work for them!

Charleston (re)Building

     Here's some new work that's been going on in the studio. Downtown Charleston is going through a phase of urban renewal, with new buildings popping up and old ones being rehabilitated. I thought it was a perfect opportunity for a new series of paintings and drawings. In Charleston, they carefully dismantle old buildings, stripping it down to the original wooden beams and posts, sometimes temporarily jacking up a building, while they re-do the foundation. I find it fascinating and odd...in New York, they would just demo the whole thing and rebuild from scratch. Not only do I find the forms interesting, as the 'guts' of the building are laid bare, but it seems like a perfect metaphor for the making and remaking of a painting.

small sketch book study, 6" x 9"

   This one building in particular has caught my attention. I pass it every day on the way to my kid's school. It's right off the elevated highway as you enter the crosstown through the Charleston Peninsula, and each day I watch as the building changes appearance. I worked on all these from photos, just because of the constant state of flux that the building is in.

pencil, 15" x 22.5"

     Here's a painting based on the small sketchbook study:

oil, 15" x 20"

     I want to keep the paint fresh and loose like the drawing...hard to do sometimes working from a photo. Still working on this one...I'll probably scout out some more spots as I see interesting construction projects in the works. The weather's warming up a bit, so I can head outside again.

charcoal, 22" x 30"

"Evolution" Group Show

 Here's a group show that I'm in, opening soon:

 "Evolution"

Group show at Robert Lange Studios

Charleston, SC

March 1-31

"Dawn", mixed media on panel, 11" x 15", 2000

"Dusk", oil on linen, 10" x 15", 2013

     For this group show, each artist was asked to include a 'before' piece from their development, either from childhood or early in their career, and make a new artwork based on it. The first image "Dawn" was a mixed media collage I did while at Parsons School of Design for my MFA; a period of transition that informed my current landscape paintings in both structure and form. The second painting, "Dusk", is not only a riff on the collage from 13 years earlier, but an exploration of color and mark-making which was used as a study for a larger landscape painting done from observation (Marion Square, Winter).

opening reception on Friday, March 1st, from 5-8pm

Angel Oak (V) Progression

     For my latest painting of the Angel Oak, I decided to document the progression of the painting as I worked. Unfortunately, I missed photographing the first couple of painting sessions where I draw out the under-painting, but for the most part, it's all here. Each photo represents the end of a working sessions, usually about 2-3 hours. At some point I'd like to edit it together as a streaming sequence like a movie. Anyway, here it is (it's easier to see if you click on the first image, then scroll through the thumbnails at the bottom of the screen):

 

24" x 36", oil on linen