A New Gallery!

Prismatic

Acrylic

30" x 40" x 1.5"

Finally, there is a fine art gallery opening in the my area!

Art251, a contemporary gallery, will open it's doors on Tuesday, Aug. 13. The official grand opening is scheduled for next month. The owners, Mike and Kim Gerra, are devoted fans of local artists and have graciously invited me to show my work in their new space. I stopped in a couple of days ago to drop off three paintings and to take a sneak preview of the gallery. It is located in The Arthouse at Keller's Town Center. The vibrant turquoise floor, white walls and sleek furnishings signal to any visitor that this is no ordinary gallery. Mike and Kim are striving to make this an inviting space that will not intimidate the new visitor or turn away the experienced art collector.

As I toured the yet unfinished gallery, I was impressed with the caliber of work that was already accumulating on the walls and shelves. I instantly recognized the work of several of my art friends, Jean Storm, Kim Norris and Marla Cook. These amazingly talented artists, as well as the others I have not yet met, now have a unique place to showcase their art.

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I hope you will take the opportunity to visit Art251. Prismatic, above, is available at the gallery.

Visit my website and Ebay for more original art.

Cosmic

Cosmic

30x30"x.75"

Acrylic on Canvas

I was able to spend the whole day in the studio today without any outside interruptions. The phone didn't ring, I didn't get inane "chain-letter" emails and there are enough groceries to get us through another day. What a treat!!

Of course, having the time available to paint isn't the only factor. The creative juices need to be running too. Some days I end up with a dud that needs to be recycled, but today things worked out well...at least I think so.

Cosmic is available on eBay. Hope you'll check it out as well as take a peek at my website.

A Winter's Tale...in June!

A Winter's Tale

30"x30"x.75"

Acrylic on Canvas

I started this painting a couple of days ago but things just weren't working out. I contemplated just gessoing the whole thing over and starting again. I layered diluted gesso to create a veil of white over some of the areas I wasn't happy with. This morning, as I studied the painting and prepared to do something with it, I decided to reinforce the light areas with a mixture of titan buff and raw umber. The painting started to come alive again and with some more tweaking and a couple of sprays from my water bottle, it was done.

Deciding on a title for the painting took more time than I expected. Most times, something just pops into my mind. This painting reminded me of a cold winter day. I pulled a copy of Shakespeare's works from my book shelf and just randomly opened it. There it was! A Winter's Tale!!!

I just listed the painting for sale on eBay with a starting price of $99.00 and a reserve of $275.00.

Check out my website for more original paintings.

Tomorrow's Dream

Tomorrow's Dream

30"x40"x1.5"

Acrylic on Canvas

Every once in a while things just click in the studio. That's what happened last week when I painted Tomorrow's Dream.

I started the painting by washing in the undercolors with a natural sponge. I glazed thin layers of color, diluted with Golden Glazing Liquid, over the base color and let each layer dry slightly before applying more glazes. With a slightly damp sponge, I started to create texture by subtracting color with the sponge. Several layers of glazes down the road and the painting was finished.

I listed the painting on eBay and was pleasantly surprised that someone met the reserve price of $325.00 almost as soon as it was listed.

Check out my website for more original paintings.

New Works on Yupo

Yupo is an amazing material to paint on. I know that it was "accidentally" discovered by some poor artist who must have run out of watercolor paper. It is not paper at all but a synthetic film that is used for many graphic applications. When paint is applied to Yupo, it tends to swim around creating all sorts of interesting swirls and puddles. You never know what you'll get when you paint on Yupo but the results are always fun.

I've managed to accumulate several sheets of Yupo from an experimental workshop I took years ago. Yesterday I decided to look around in my flatfile drawer and "discovered" the Yupo. I had almost forgotten how much fun it was until I started playing around with the Yupo and fluid Golden acrylics.

I cut the large sheets into 8.5"x11" pieces and started painting away. After a couple of hours, I had completed 14 "masterpieces". When I placed a mat on each one, I was really impressed with my efforts. That Yupo is great...it does most of the painting!

This is one of the paintings. I'll be listing it and the other 13 on eBay for $45.00 each. I'll ship it out to you for free. All you need to do is buy a standard 11"x14" frame at your local Michael's and you're all set.

Keep an eye out for more new paintings!

New Commission

Tribute II

Mixed-media on canvas

18"x18" each

I completed this painting today for a buyer who had purchased a painting from me recently. He decided to commission this pair based on a painting he saw on my website. It was a real treat to spend the entire day in the studio with few interruptions...finally.

I love to use scraps of rice paper, skeletanized leaves and other bits of materials I've collected over the years. Most artists are packrats. We hate to throw anything away that might be incorporated into a painting sometime in the future. As a result, we end up with massive amounts of material that most people would have discarded long ago. Searching through my storage boxes of these "treasures" brings back memories and inspires ideas for more new works.

Visit my website to see my entire portfolio.

Picking up again...

Golden Sunset

Acrylic on Canvas

24"x36"

As usual, life has gotten in the way. Family visits, sick parents, etc. have prevented me from my usual schedule of painting, blogging and sending out my monthly newsletter. But, that's the way things go. We have to put first things first.

A couple of weeks ago I completed a pair of abstacted seascapes for an art dealer I frequently work with. She was impressed with the outcome, as was her client. Actually, I was too and decided to add something new to my usual repertoire. I've been working on a series of seascapes and "Golden Sunset" is the most dramatic one so far. It reminds me of the glorious Florida sunsets we used to enjoy nearly every evening. Every night, as the sun was setting, nature would dazzle us with a spectacular light show. Now that we live here in Texas, I miss those daily displays but not the oppressive humidity and mosquitos.

I'm hoping for a free day without interruptions today and maybe even a lovely Texas sunset.

Visit my website for more original paintings.