This is the latest in a series I've been working on for quite a while, in pairing birds with women. I associate the two with freedom, or lack thereof. Women often remind me of caged birds, there solely for the pleasure of those looking on. Here, I borrowed an image from a Nan Goldin photograph entitled "Odalisque of the Bowery" and tried to suggest with the bed sheet a fisherman's net she had fallen into, yet another trap.
This fat little bird was painted mostly with a palette knife. The beautiful two-tone color scheme of the bird itself was what captivated me.
This is a study of one of my favorite singers in the world, Concha Buika, for her soulful, Flamenco-inspired vocals. Here she is smoking what looks like a spliff, which might account for the huskiness in her voice.
This narrative painting was rather hastily painted, I'll admit. The concept was more important to me than the execution, almost done in cartoon fashion. I don't think a more refined technique would have altered the impact substantially. I find it funny myself. In fact, it cracks me up!
This is a horse paddock on a 4.5 acre property in Sonoma immersed in a vineyard. The central portion of the paddock was converted to an art studio and for a couple years I was in nirvana there. I painted Kate there, a painting which seems to have vanished, which is strange, since I love this painting and had her hanging in my kitchen in New Mexico as kind of my badass alterego, someone who took no shit. I remember carefully boxing her up, yet now that I'm setting up my studio and unboxing all my paintings, there are only a few left and she has yet to turn up. Fingers crossed I find her.
A study of the great Tracy Chapman. I'm going to play with it some more when I have a bit of time.
Yet another study. Didn't spend a lot of time on this. Hopefully one day in the not-too-distant future, my pet sitter will be able to take care of my restless dog again and I'll be able to work in my studio undisturbed where I can spend a chunk of time on actual paintings. I miss my studio so much, I could cry.
This is a study of the elusive caracal, an exotic wild cat found throughout Africa and Asia. I punched up the colors but couldn't get them quite right. Will retake photos in the morning and update this post.
This is a work in progress. As often happens with me, I start a painting and then get pulled away for 4-5 days, during which time the paint has dried and I've lost some momentum. So, this one goes to the time-out room until I can get a chunk of time with it again.
So I painted a pink elephant. Why stop there? Lavender is the perfect color for a baby rhino, don't you think? I think this little guy is pretty cute.
The reference for this painting was a thumbnail. I'm getting lots of practice painting cars lately. Not sure what's up with that, but there must be smething, right? This scene is from Wilmington, North Carolina as tropical storm Ophelia was passing through.
Here's another little fish study to go with the one I did last week.
This was an experiment (aren't they all?) with a palette knife, trying to keep it loose. I wanted to create an after-the-rain atmosphere that I had liked in the reference photo.
This painting of my morning commute to work in San Francisco was done from a poor quality photo I took from my car with an old point-and-shoot camera. I challenged myself to see if I could still produce a viable painting from it. I'm happy with the overall composition, although it proved nearly impossible to get an accurate photo of the painting, since it was done on a smooth pre-gessoed panel that made the paint look slick and shiny.
This was an attempt to meld abstract and realist elements in a still life. I was working from a bouquet of lilies on the kitchen table and didn't want to get too realistic but did want to suggest lilies. More importantly, I wanted to convey their scent in pictorial form. I'm already longing for spring. Can you tell?
This is a narrative painting that I actually started late last year and never quite finished. It's been languishing in the time-out room for months now. I did it for a laugh, especially for the guy in the mid-distance. He cracks me up. I was also going though a phase then, living vicariously through her, lol! I hope to finish it before too long.
At the risk of anthropomorphizing my dog, here's a painting of her I did from a photo that seemed to capture her almost human-like stare. Even though it came together very quickly, I may tweak this one with some details in the near future. I love her little mouth in this one and the stray hairs over her right eye.
A little Christmas composition. Sending out some lights within the darkness...
This study is a scene that became very familiar to me when I lived near Taos, New Mexico. I needed to find safe areas to walk my little dog Lola and maybe let her enjoy some off-leash time, something she loves. El Prado is a high-end neighborhood in the north section of Taos as you're heading toward Taos Ski Valley. It is dotted with well-kept modern adobe homes, the only drawback for me being that there are no paved roads in that area; in fact, much of Taos is unpaved, a bit of a nightmare in winter. That's why many of these nice homes are either unoccupied or rented out for the duration of what can sometimes be a brutal winter. I lived there for only one year in 2018, but it was a heavy snowfall that winter and I found it to be a deal breaker, coming as I did from the California coast, where snowfall is unheard of. Alas, even in El Prado, I found free-roaming dogs on occasion. I always had to be vigilant for my dog's safety everywhere I went, which was psychically exhausting. The views of Taos Mountain and the Ski Valley were always breathtaking, though, with the high desert carpeted in sagebrush.
This was an experiment that didn't go as planned, so I adapted the composition accordingly. The subject is an African moon moth, a fascinating flying creature with eerie eyespots giving a human-like appearance. For some reason, I found it very difficult to get a decent photograph of it. Ah, the elusive moon moth!
A simple study of two little piglets I've been wanting to do for a while in a warm composition.
Persian cats all seem to have attitude, and this one is no exception. They're fun to paint.
Continuing with the wolf theme here. This study wanted to be impasto, so I let it.
