"Wild Applause"

($200.00......9" x 12".....mounted on a 2".00 depth clayboard)


"The music in my heart and the exuberance of the crowd brought me to my feet in wild applause." There is nothing quite like an accomplished musician and a crowd of people filled with excitement to bring you to your feet. It's a moment shared with people you may have never met. Tonight might be a good time to go to a concert!

This piece was created with acrylics and palette knife on Rives BFK. My process began by practicing drawing the cello with gestural strokes many times before committing it to the final paper. After sketching it in with pencil, I mixed up my paints with some retarder to give myself a longer working time. I did consider Open Acrylics which perform much like oils, but I like the full body consistency of acrylics in the tube when working with a palette knife.

There was basically three mixtures of paint. The gray was created by mixing Raw Umber + Unbleached Titanium (Liquitex) and adding some white to a portion of this mixture to create a different value. The second color was Titanium White. The third color was Quinacridone Magenta + White. So if you ever need a very good gray, this combination is quite lovely.

Gestural strokes also played a part in the background by using the corner of a credit card (rounded edges cut off) to make some expressive marks in the background paint. Also notice that the magenta color was repeated in a couple of places which adds a bit more drama and helps the eye "connect the dots" in the painting. Remember that the eye is always looking for connections.

I prepared the surface for lettering after the acrylics had thoroughly dried....for days actually and then wrote the quote with a pointed pen and Moon Palace Ink. Notice the division of space and the slight variation of values in the background that create another color block. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Music and Art"

($40.00.....6" x 6"......mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Music and art pierce the heart." When words will not comfort and the storms of life rage on, it is music and art that pierce the heart and heal the wound.

As you can see, I have departed from pouring medium and gesso (temporarily) and picked up the palette knife. The beige background was applied with a brayer. It is acrylic so I was able to paint right over it with a palette knife.

Much of my intrigue with this tool is the edge it creates. It also forces me to let go of details and paint the essence of a thing rather than "fussing" over all the details. It is not a total and accurate representation, but the appeal is the texture and the edges. My interest in this look is its erratic characteristics which look so good with expressive writing. So there will probably be more experiments of this nature.

The right hand side was stamped with a commercial stamp using Speedball Printing Ink. It was also helpful to add a retarder to the acrylic paint to make it more pliable and extend the drying time. All in all, I highly recommend giving it a try and stay with it long enough to learn how to manipulate it and actually place the paint in the right place. So there you have it. Just a few more things to try or think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.