Art in the Heart 2012



I am really excited to be a part of Vancouver's annual art festival -
Art in the Heart 2012.

This will be my second year to show at the event and it promises to be a great time.

If you are in the area, make sure to come down and enjoy this city's tradition, meet local talents, and see some great art that you might not normally see in the gallery.

Make sure to stop by and say hi - i will have a canopy just outside Art on the Boulevard.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Flowers for My Love

Flowers for My Love
16x20

Recently i did a good thing; i gave some flowers to my wife. Of course this won me some good points, but it was well overdue. So, i still have some ground to make up, but this is a good start.

Vicki, commented that the bouquet needs to wind up in a painting. And certainly, i agreed with her.....

A couple days later, i set up a composition on top of the piano and used natural ambient light as my source. I love the using natural light. It brings a quality element to the subject that cannot be duplicated by artificial light.

 One thing that has been finding its way into my work lately is a palette knife. I have always enjoyed the look of palette knife work, but this time is was extra fun, and for some good reasons..... 

One, is the simple fact that i did not incorporate it throughout the entire piece, which allows for some variety of interest. 

Two, i really like the blending of colors, textures, and edges that were created.

And Three, is the unexpected.... There are times when something shows up that you weren't planning on that helps to make a painting exciting. Those incidentals can make for some serious interest, for me mostly in paint quality, and i love it when they stop by to say hi. For i usually invite them to be a permanent resident.



Continuance

Continuance
14x18

One thing that draws me to painting is going through the thought process of how to paint a subject.

One point of interest for me is whether to paint alla prima or work a surface over a period of days.....

When i began this piece, i fully intended to make it a multi-day affair. However, as the painting progressed, i was liking some aspects of it and i decided to push on into the evening and see how it turned out.

As it would be, i wanted to focus on the spontaneity of the sky and keep to the freshness of how quickly the light can travel across the terrain as it peeks through the massive web of cloud cover.

In the end, i was reminded a great lesson.....I went into this piece with a plan, a plan that was altered mid-stream. I scrapped the multi-day thing, went forward to complete it in one sitting, and wound up being pretty happy with the outcome.

Being conscious of our decision making, and acting on those intuitions is critical. Plus, you never know where you will end up going down those little experimental bunny trails.

Flying Umbrellas

The Old and the New
11x14
Available at: Art on the Boulevard

I have been holding this piece back for a while, but now seems a good time to bring it out. The subject is a new sculpture in Downtown Vancouver,WA, with the Kiggins Theater in the background.
My wife and i were there to witness the spirited unveiling of the new artwork at the First Friday of April. When i coupled this with my passion for capturing downtown scenes, i knew my mission.
The next morning around 10am, i set up shop on the SW corner of Main and Evergreen, and started in. What i came home with was a 6x8 study that i used to create this piece, which i started and completed on Sunday, April 9.
I did spend the entire day on it, but that's just what it was; one full day of adding layer after layer of juicy paint and building it up to create a thick, but fresh, pizza painting.
What i like about the story being told, is that there is new art making a statement, but the Grand Daddy, Kiggins, is watching over just to make sure the kid doesn't get too big for his britches. :{>
Actually, i am really happy that i could incorporate this icon of Vancouver, with this new piece of vibrant artwork. It was an absolute joy to paint and i am thrilled about where our city is headed in supporting the arts.
Here is a link to The Columbian's article of the First Friday event. Congratulations to Jennifer Corio and Dave Frei for creating, Flying Umbrellas. It is a wonderful sculpture that our city should be proud of.