December Works

This has been a month of preparations for my January opening at the Foundry Gallery at Dupont Circle in DC. I repainted much of this "Waking" piece. I also have been working on new pieces for my March show at the Octavia Art Gallery on Magazine Street in New Orleans. I was delighted to have five pieces in the Art for a Better World exhibit in Miami Beach, a satellite event of the Art Basel scene. Many thanks to those of you who bought pieces there and who bought pieces from me directly recently.


Waking (30 X 40") oil on canvas


On Deck (16 X 20") oil on canvas


Christmas Tree with Piping (22 X 28") oil on canvas


Bayou Royale (40 X 30")


Below are two small pieces from August which I neglected to post. Revisiting with them and some other pieces that were tucked away, I'm resolving to stop painting from photos. Working from life is infinitely more enjoyable and productive.

Johns Brook Rendezvous (10 X 10")


Johns Brook Alterpiece (9 X 12")

Given that winter is fast moving in and I won't be painting outside much for a few months, I'm lining up a model to pose for me this winter. Look for that series to start emerging in February. This winter would also be a good time to line up portrait commissons.

Now It's November

I'm gearing up for my solo show at the Foundry Gallery here in DC (details are to the right). Much to be done with regard to that. In the meantime, I've produced a few good pieces I like enough to post. I'm mentally and logistically preparing for a series of petro nudes. I hope to start that series later this month.


Dumbarton Creek #3 (16 X20")


On the Hoof


Canal View #2 (From Key Bridge) (30 X 40"), sold.


Sugarhouse and Shadow (24 X 36"), sold

October Happenings

The moon was a big inspiration this month for me up north. The weather was wonderful and the moon allowed me to make some nighttime adventures that spurred me to give this concept a shot.


October Moonrise (9' X 1.5')


Left Panel of October Moonrise


Center Panel



Right Panel


October Moonrise among friends

And these are two portraits that were successful.

Study (16 X 20")


Summer Blossoming (22 X 28"), Sold.

And a wetland piece from the spring that I hadn't photographed before

Rising Waters (18 X 24")

September in Keene Valley

At the altar on the first clear morning of the month.


September Morning (2' X 9')


Autumnal Dive (4' X 6'). Commissioned/Sold.


In the old ice house studio with Fajito.

Hurricane Irene was a disaster here. Nature's power and indifference stood in beautifully stark relief against the will of the people of the villages of Keene and Keene Valley to struggle on together and cheerfully put their lives back in order... for the second time in six months! Nothing approaching the measurements of the floods of 2011 have ever been recorded here. I've done a certain amount of mucking out of barns and stores and storage areas in the valley as well as crop rehab and fence rebuilding at our local farm where I used to work. And I've done some painting, too.


Lacy Road Bridge. A regular part of my local bike rides, Lacy Rd is now a big beach. The big trees caught up in the bridge give you an idea of how high and powerful the Ausable River was during the flood.


Gristmill Road Bridge did not endure the Ausable's rage as gallantly. It was an old iron bridge similar to the Lacy Road Bridge. I will miss it and lament not having painted it when I had the chance. Here it lies wrapped around rocks 25 yards downstream from its moorings.


Summer (22" X 28"). Commissioned/Sold.


Cloudsplitters (18" X 24")
"Tahawus" is the Iroquois (or maybe Algonquin) name for Mt. Marcy (the pyramidical peak left of the prominent white pine), and translates "Cloudsplitter". The open-armed, upward-surging pines seem to take their cue from the god-like mountains, and my title refers to their state of being. I am also reading Russell Banks' Cloudsplitter, based on the experience of John Brown's family and the free black settlement (Timbuktu) in nearby North Elba. Inspirational work.

On a lighter note, my friend Autumn (no relation to Summer) made a video of Willy and me leaping off nearby Clifford Falls (between Keene and North Elba), where we biked with my dad just before Hurricane Irene.

August in Keene Valley

I've been here for a week. Produced some new work and dug up some older pieces that hadn't been posted before. I'm working on a couple of commissioned portraits and eyeing a big, blank 4' X 6' canvas of subject undecided.


Pool of Tomorrow's Yesterdays (Johns Brook), 18 X 24"


Pool of Yesterday's Tomorrows (Johns Brook), 16 X 20"


Priming for a big commission at the mountain studio.


June Wind, 18 X 24". Sold.


Summit Spirits on Skylight, 22 X 28". Sold.


Porter Between Showers, 18 X 24", Sold.

New Work from July

In Park's Waters (30 X 40"), oil on canvas


Bischoff's Bathers (30 X 40"), oil on canvas
Figures in watery landscapes is a subject I want to keep pushing. Two painters whose work was highly successful in placing men and women together in the murky emotional depths of water were David Park and Elmer Bischoff of the Bay Area figurative movement. Their confidence in applying thick color on canvas with clean emotional resonance set the standard. So one especially hot and lonesome week this month in DC I plumbed the depths of their approach by working in an openly derivative vein off of my favorite paintings by each of them.



Under the Whitehurst Freeway #1 (18 X 24"), oil on canvas


Under the Whitehurst Freeway #2 (12 X 24"), oil on canvas
On a hot July day, this is one spot where a person can find pretty steady shade. The cool, blue river and recently planted sycamores wave from the distance, but mostly it's a symphony of grey with big patches of liquid sky, warm bricks, hard steel, leaden pavement, and the occasional pedestrian. I've been looking at Rackstraw Downes' work a lot this year and I admire his approach greatly. He owns no camera and no computer and sets the standard for highly realistic plein-air painting in this late industrial era. These were done in that vein, but I can't hold a candle to his level of rigor and detail.


Will (18 X 24"), oil on paper. Blunt Collection.


Pat (20 X 20"), oil on canvas
Pat and Will are two friends from early childhood who are strong presences in my life today. These are two quick renderings. The one of Pat I think is especially successful and was done in a 90 minute sitting. The power of the colors, lines and gestures as they move around the square really excites me. The rendering reveals something of the mass and depth of the subject. I'd like to do more pieces this way with volunteers of all ages, colors, sizes, etc. No purchase necessary. Gimme a shout if you'd like to sit for me.



King of the Bayou #3 (22 X 28"), oil on canvas
In Louisiana in April I did a series of plein-air studies of this drilling rig. This is done from photos I took that day.


Sugarhouse #2 (16 X 24"), oil on paper
This is a study for a 24 X 36" canvas I aim to paint for a show in New Orleans in March.


Westward Ho (24 X 48"), oil on canvas
This is the railroad bridge and yellow line metro bridge stretching west from Haines Point. Anselm Kiefer's Zim-Zum piece at the National Gallery impressed me years ago with its rush of movement and poke at Teutonic notions of progress. I'm tempted to call this one Zim Zoom... It delivers that broken up atomizing impact that fading light on water and bridges has for me.


Dance of the Earth Movers (24 X 30"), oil on canvas. Sold.

New Work from June in Keene Valley

I'm back in DC after two fruitful weeks in Keene Valley. These are most of the pieces that resulted from my monastic time in the mountains. All are at the Corscaden Barn of Art, along with other pieces.

On the Brook, 16 X 20"


Jimmy & Ed's Inscrutable Face at Dawn, 15 X 30". Sold.


Earthly Separations #1, 15 X 30"


Earthly Separations #2, 24 X 48"

I also spruced up some pieces from the fall that needed help.

To the Source (Brookies leaping up Hulls Falls), 16 X 20. Sold.


Ghost Dance (on Baxter), 18 X 24"


Between Round & Giant, 16 X 20"

And there are five other new beauties that I'm not posting yet. I'll bring them down to the Corscaden Barn just as soon as I frame and photograph them.