"According to History"

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"The truth always survives the history of past failures." This piece was painted from a photo I took of a steeple on a church in North Carolina. The image inspired the quote and the truth is...that in spite of past failures...God loves you. He always has and He always will.

Of course, images like this are a bit difficult to execute with a palette knife in wet paint. It is charming, though, to have unexpected shapes and textures appear where you didn't expect them and not exactly like they were in the photo. And that is exactly the point. I have done images like this and painstakingly painted them with a brush, but there is something a bit "quirky" and very textural about painting this way. The unexpected shape or texture or part of the blue background getting mixed into the white paint helps to land everything on the spontaneous side of things rather than looking contrived.

But I believe it is all a matter of preference. I do have friends who work in ultra realism and even have some of those pieces in my collection. The joy of creating a lot of artwork is simply finding out what does it for you. 

And it is also interesting to note that many artists I have read about have eventually given up realism altogether and started working in total abstraction. So I am just letting you peek into the inner workings of me going through that journey and it's a journey every artist has to take by themselves. You will definitely know when you find the right medium, the right tool, and the techniques that help you to express what only you can express. This entire process is called "finding your artistic voice". And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

"Determination"

($40.00.....6" x 6".....Open Acrylics on a Gessobord)

"Determination hangs on to the bitter end." The comparisons that can be made between nature and life are stunning. This tree had only a few leaves left before being done for the winter. The remaining leaves reminded me of those persons who are determined to hang in there until the goal is reached.

By choosing a palette knife as a way of delivering the paint to the surface, many unexpected things will happen by virtue of the tool. There are some artists who do very realistic work with a palette knife, but I am not inclined to do so. The idea of capturing the essence of something and not trying to control every mark is exhilarating to me. The palette knife is the ultimate mark making tool.

I am in the process of creating some larger pieces on linen canvas so that I have cropping options and then choose the way I want to present the piece after the fact rather than before. One never knows how something will turn out, so it is quite nice to be able to mount a piece on a 1.50" depth clayboard and to even change the size. So I only share this with you in case you have not thought of these other options. If you begin with a predetermined size, you are absolutely locked into that space with no option but to start over if it doesn't turn out well.

Another thing I have been observing is the amount of visuals that come before our eyes on a daily basis. I have concluded that every artist needs to consider that fact and not create the predictable. That's why "deconstruction" and throwing very unexpected things into a piece is so mesmerizing. It simple creates more interest, and yet it still needs to be well designed. It's an interesting thing to observe and I would encourage deep thought on this issue. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Inevitable"

($40.00.....6" x 6"....Open Acrylics on Gessobord)

"Change is an inevitable part of life." This may sound like an overstatement of the obvious, but the thing to take away is that we are all moving forward or backward. Nothing stays the same. Comfort zones are not our friend.

This may be another palette knife painting, but it is done with Golden Open Acrylics. The advantage of using this instead of oils is that it is water soluble and other water media can be painted or written over it. It does have a faster drying time than oils, but it still gives a generous time to work wet into wet before it becomes dry to the touch. 

The quote was written with a pencil. It is running vertically up the right hand side and is barely visible. My desire after all my experimentations with oils, acrylics plus retarder, and now open acrylics is to see how they all work. In order to incorporate lettering done with a pen or brush in gouache, I will need to work ahead to allow for drying time. Another issue is the difference in viscosity. Open Acrylics do not have the same texture or body of oils or even regular heavy body acrylics. However, I was informed that I can add a Golden Medium to the Open Acrylics to achieve the texture I want, but it will speed up the drying time. So the next step is to work ahead and also to try a medium mixed into these open acrylics.

My personal preference in choosing landscape compositions is to have a strong foreground interest. So if the "fall" does not come to Texas, I will bring the "fall" in my artwork. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.