Lakeside Life

I am currently in an artist group focusing on photosynthesis. We will have an exhibit in November. In this painting, I explored down by the Barton Lake waterfront on our property. I was inspired by the variety of greens (chlorophyll) and the overlapping forms in a watery environment. There is a conversation here.

LowellArts Gallery Show

12 of my Michigan water microcosm paintings will be included in an exhibit at LowellArts: 223 W. Main St, Lowell, MI 49331. The opening is Sunday June 2nd 2019 from 2-4pm. There are 6 total artists in the show. It will run through August 17th 2019.

Echos

Here is a downward glance at spiraling golden leaves in a shallow stream.

Acrylic on Canvas

24”x48”

New Ground

This image is a look into the future. The figure could be standing on one side of the Earth as the Sun warms the dawn of another world. She resembles a rocket ship ready to take off through her mind, which transcend all the other vehicles around her.

City Spirit

I’ve been working on some cityscapes again. This one captures the playful childlike spirit of a developing city. Running into the future, glowing at night, the essence of energy and speed flows through the image. I often work on night scenes as they show the vitality of the city like a living organism. I plan to show some of these works next summer at art fairs and in a local gallery.

I will be adding a city-nature section on my website to showcase the new work.

Ann Arbor Art Fair

Ann Arbor had great weather and wonderful people!  This couple purchased their second painting at the show.  It was great being part of such a long going tradition with top notch artwork.

Evanston Art Fair

We all had a great time at the Evanston Art Fair last weekend!  It was sunny and 75.  People were friendly and interested in the nature themed artwork.  Young people were collecting paintings.

KIa art fair reflections

The Kalamazoo Art Fair was lots of fun!  Many wonderful people that I knew from the past and some that I met for a first conversation stopped by the booth.  We had great weather both days.  I was given a Best Painting Medium award for the event.  

Kalamazoo Art Fair

The KIA Art Fair is Friday June 1st from 3-8pm and Saturday June 2nd from 9-5pm.

Come enjoy the art! 

My booth is F01 on the corner of Rose St. and South St. in Bronson Park--downtown Kalamazoo!

Two Upcoming Exhibits

I was asked to be the visual arts juror for the Honoring H.O.M.E.S. exhibit referring to the five Great Lakes on April 20th at Westminster Presbyterian Church 1515 Helen Ave, Portage, MI 49002.

I was also invited to exhibit my new body of water microcosm paintings.  Opening night is this Sunday March 11th at 6:00pm along with The Founding band at the same location.

I am looking forward to both events, and especially excited to see the artwork submitted for the 6th annual Art Festival celebrating the ecology of the Great Lakes.  The events are free and open to the public.

Finding Light

This is a 24"x24" painting inspired from our trip to Australia's Blue Mountains.  Blue and orange are commonly used complimentary colors in many art forms.  They are frequently used in cinematic color compositions. In this painting, the orange reads as light and the blue as shadow.  I find the color composition flips from flat-abstract to open-spacial.  The branches act as both a signifier of depth and a divider of 2-D shapes.  The title, Finding Light, encourages the viewer to follow the orange shapes that speckle and divide the blue.  We may only realize that this is water by the blue colored shadows, rather than by only looking at the orange-lit shapes.

I have been thinking a lot about painting squares and what that means to me.  I seek simplicity, I hope to make the representation of a microcosm, and I strive for something complete.  The square can hold these concepts and squares work well in groups (like a grid).  The square isn't an expected scene, its an investigation of the world, almost like a scientific snapshot of energy or mind.  It is a sample or a piece of something bigger than itself.  I think art  in general functions that way.  A portion gives something complete only as it relates to everything else.  The echo, the resonance, the whisper of a much greater song all have interest beyond the surface.

I enjoy cropping the image to make it immediate and simultaneously increase the length of time one might spend with the painting because of its unexpected view.  It is a moment that can be stretched.  The image can be elastic this way even though the square edges might seem to compress and crop the picture.

The square can be an unexpected order on the turbulent energy of nature.

I also seek peace within the movement, and so intend to use larger color shapes to describe light, form, space and emptiness.

Pinnacle Rush

Acrylic on Canvas, 48"x36"

This is one of the paintings I am in the process of reworking.  I want to tone down some of the colorful leaves and unify the water with one tone.  I placed a blue green layer on top to simplify the space and make the highlights and "pinnacle" moment at the top of the composition stand out more.  I will update the image when finished.  With all the work in general, I am moving in the direction of simplicity and emptiness to evoke deeper calming moods. 

Emerging Dance

Acrylic on Canvas, 48"60"

This is a painting from awhile back, but I find it fitting for the New Year.  There is an emerging dance in the world that will bring positivity and unity.  We can sense its rhythm everywhere, as old practices and habits become transformed into a fresh way of living.

Light Layers

Light Layers 

Acrylic on Canvas

48"x36"

The foreground branches in this painting represent mental activity, the red leaves symbolize devotion, and the light is the goal.  We must organize all our thoughts and direct them toward the goal.  The light of the goal filters through the distant trees, beyond unforeseen obstacles.   

Light Submerged

I just returned from a Cincinnati art show that I was in and I had a chance to visit the Contemporary Arts Museum and the Cincinnati Art Museum.  I was inspired by the landscape paintings of the Hudson River School and the mid 1800's-early 1900's landscapes in the Cincinnati Art Museum.  In the Contemporary Arts Museum, I was taken away by the scale and sensitive treatment of life size wood cut printed figures by Caledonia Curry – better known as Swoon.  In both exhibits, the space captivated me thoroughly, and how light and form described that space.  In the landscapes, I enjoyed looking under and through shady overhanging trees into light filled spaces beyond.  The color green was dominant, and I thought how color can delineate space as well.  An abstract Hans Hofmann and a Mark Rothko proved the power of bold color to shape space--"the push and pull" as Hans Hofmann said.  Rothko took it beyond physical space, into emotional or spiritual space as he said.  The large exhibit of figures and cityscapes coming out from the walls by Swoon, brought empathy into a charged space.  

It may be hard to tell in the photo above, but the layers of paint in this work create a thick texture applied in part by a painter's knife. With this painting I wanted both concrete form and space that also breaks apart or dissolves. Ever changing, like the visions in our minds, the branches play above and below the surface of water, submerged in light.  The color temperature also defines the space, as warm yellows and oranges envelop the branch dancing in cool blue, green, and violet water. The branches curve in on themselves describing the space through their form and also their reflections. 

Revolve

Suspended

hot notes

spin round

the sparkling space, 

scattering floating colors

to curve their own harmonies. 

Deep hues of violet-

magenta absorb

gravitational waves, 

as surface ripples

begin to sing in patterns. 

Golden wraps a

halo nest

for expanding streams

of revolving consciousness. 

A solitary link

between Heaven and Earth

acts as a pivotal point

against which the entire

cosmos swings and dances

making arc rotations

held by proximity

Buck Creek

This is from Buck Creek in Grand Rapids, MI, where I visited over the weekend.  I walked along the creek and found some beautiful compositions for paintings.

Main Street East Exhibit

This Art Hop September 8th 2017 in downtown Kalamazoo, the Main Street East Atrium will be exhibiting 10 of my high-gloss resin paintings of water. Refreshments will be served.  Main Street East is located across from Ouzo's Restaurant and Bar.  5-8pm

Frankfort Art Fair

This is a photo from the Frankfort Art Fair in Northern Michigan.  I saw a previous gallery owner that exhibited my work from Grand Rapids, and a family that purchased three of my paintings two years ago in Ann Arbor.  We had pleasant weather in a wonderful lake town!