Bear's Reflecting Pool

February Happenings

2012-02-11T07:27:00.001-08:00

Key Bridge (February Reflection). 24 X 18". Oil on canvas.

Woman Reading. 16 X 20". Oil on canvas.

One of my new year's resolutions has been to stop painting from photos. The cold weather and the fact that I have three shows this month and a major solo show in New Orleans opening March 3 have conspired to keep me from painting outside much, though the above efforts have been satisfying. My three DC shows this month are as follows:

1. "Feb Four" at the Foundry
Linda Button, Lesley Clarke, Peter Loge and Edward Bear Miller
Exhibit Dates and Hours: Wednesday, February 1 - Sunday, February 26, 2012, noon to six.
Opening Reception: Friday, February 3, 2012 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm
About the Exhibit: The work of these four new member artists ranges from figurative oil painting, to mixed media on canvas, to conceptual assemblage.
Address: 1314 18th Street, NW, just east of Dupont, between Mass Ave and Connecticut.
Website: www.foundrygallery.org

2. House of Sweden hosts Georgetown Artists (CAG)
Exhibit Dates and Hours: Thursday, February 16 - Monday, February 20, 11am to 5pm
Launch Reception: Thursday, February 16, 2012 from 6:00 - 9:00 pm
About the Exhibit: Georgetown ARTS 2012, the third annual art show of the Citizens Association of Georgetown, showcases twenty of Georgetown's artists. Free to the public at a very spiffy venue with quality sponsors..
Address: House of Sweden: 2900 K Street, NW, just east of the Waterfront complex by Rock Creek.
Website: http://www.cagtown.org/

3. Dumbarton Concert Series at Historic Dumbarton Church.
Exhibit Dates and Hours: Saturday, February 25 - TBD. Hours after the reception tbd, though the church is generally open.
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 25, 2012 6-8pm
About the Exhibit: CONCERT GALLERY AND CAFE The Dumbarton Concert Gallery has a 30 year tradition of exhibiting the work of professional Washington area visual artists. A new art exhibit is mounted and for each of the 8 concert offerings. It's a one-man show to complement the concert by the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, which is performing works by Beethoven, Philip Glass, and Ljova. Get tickets and plan to party with me beforehand, during... and after! Sample Chef Jennifer Berry's extraordinary creations...mini tarts, fresh baked, scrumptious cookies and a selection of wine, beer, coffee and soft drinks available before the concert and during intermission.
Address: 3133 Dumbarton Street, NW (between N & O, just east of Wisconsin Ave).
Phone: 202-965-2000
Website: http://dumbartonconcerts.org

January in Louisiana and Mississippi

2012-01-23T17:09:00.001-08:00

I am posting from SW Mississippi, where I've dedicated the last few days to producing plein-air pieces. Before that I was in SW Louisiana and New Orleans doing the same. Below are the more presentable results of my daily efforts. One of my new year's resolutions is to focus on painting from life, and I've really been enjoying that process as I work to fill out my offerings for my March show at Octavia Gallery on Magazine Street in New Orleans. The opening is Saturday, March 3. It should be a very festive occasion!

Mississippi Series

Winter Wheat with Long Leaf Pines (18 X24")

Bend in the Road (11 X 14")

Wet Road and Winter Wheat (12 X 24")

Pines and Pond (18 X 24")

Big Pine (24 X 12")

Louisiana Series

Painting the Live Oak

Live Oak (18 X24")

Far Shore High Noon (14 X 11")

Blue Abyss (24 X 18")

Painting Blue Abyss

Blue Hole Reflection (20 X 16")

Late Afternoon (16 X 20")

December Works

2011-12-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-11T12:40:00.000-08:00

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

2011-10-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-09T11:10:00.001-07:00

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". Sale pending.

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

Porter Between Showers, 18 X 24", Sold.

New Work from July

2011-07-29T14:30:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

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.

Louisiana Petrolandscapes

2011-05-10T12:25:00.001-07:00

The drilling rig and "Christmas trees" (i.e. oil well valve stations) in these paintings have been my companions for many hours during the past week. They embody for me the strong mix of emotions and associations most of us know well at this stage of the petroleum era.

King of the Bayou #1 (12 X 24"). Sold.

King of the Bayou #2 (12 X 24"). Sold.

Christmas Trees on the Bayou #1 (18 X 24"). Sold.

Christmas Trees on the Bayou #2 (18 X 48"). Available through Octavia Gallery in New Orleans.

Christmas Tree Looking Out (18 X 24"). Available through Octavia Gallery in New Orleans.

A pair of alligator friends who didn't take their eyes off of me during the three days I painted 35 feet from their nest. The larger one is the size of a German shepherd. His/her mate is a little smaller.

I plan to make more trips to Louisiana in the coming year and have signed on with the excellent Octavia Gallery on Magazine Street in New Orleans, where I will have a one-man show in March of 2012.

A Coffee Table Catalog of My Recent Work

2011-04-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Edward "Bear" Miller
Landscapes, Figures, and Portraits by Oil Paintings 2009 - 2011 | Make Your Own Book

Foundry Gallery in April and May

2011-04-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

I have three Key Bridge paintings hanging at the Foundry Gallery, near Dupont Circle. They will be up until the end of the month, when I aim to put up two or three new pieces based on the Ecuadorian coast for May. The Foundry Gallery is at 1314 18th Street, NW DC 20036. It's open Wednesdays through Sundays in the afternoon. (202) 463-0203. www.foundrygallery.org.

I won't be at the Foundry for First Friday on May 6, as I'll be working on a "Petrolandscapes" series of plein-air pieces in southern Louisiana. I never cease to be amazed by how petroleum has become such an integral part of our lives and landscapes. This is obvious almost everywhere at this point, from our transcontinental grids of pavement to the shockingly awesome metal birds roaming the skies. I have been especially struck on the extraction side of the equation by the juxtapositions I've witnessed among the machinery at work in the marshes and bayous of southern Louisiana and by the extraordinary scale and pace of activity occuring in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I have lots of family in southern Louisiana and my wife is from Ecuador, where I lived for five years. Depending on how this initial series of plein-air studies in Louisiana goes, you may be seeing a whole bunch more petrolandscapes from me in the months to come. My aim is that they will be beautiful, grounding, and thought-provoking. Maybe my work will spark some creative re-assessment of our petroleum-based reality.

Recent Portraits

2011-04-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

Piotrek (18 X 24"). Sold.

detail

I have grown keen on doing larger portraits of intimate friends and family. I enjoy doing them and they generate good feedback and attract commissions. Specifically, I was musing with my wife late one night about how what I REALLY want to do when I REALLY hit my stride is big (72" X 48") nude life-size portraits in landscapes or in interior spaces with landscapes in the window(s). That next morning, the NY Times reviewed the show of German romantic painters of figures in rooms with views at the Metropolitan Museum. The timing was good, because I was headed up there anyway for the Great Upheaval show at the Guggenheim and the Abstract Expressionists show at the MoMA. Maribel and I saw all those shows and collections and had a good morning ramble through Chelsea galleries with host-brother Will, the subject of the effort above. It's a promising start to a work in progress.

Father and Son/Self. Both 16" X 20". oil on canvas.

These two hang well together. We just embarked with my wife on an attempt to bike all 185 miles of the C&O Canal, something we've talked about doing since I started riding a bike at age six. We were doing very well, but the forecast for Saturday was for possible tornadoes and three inches of rain, so we quit at mile 140 on Friday, hitched a ride to Cumberland, and celebrated my fortieth birthday over dinner at Todd and Ellen Gray's Equinox on Connecticut Avenue. The following painting was a done in anticipation of the odyssey to come.

Key Bridge in March, from Virginia (24 X 48", oil). Sold.

C&O Canal from Key Bridge (18 X 24", oil). Sold.

Rock Creek Reflections (18 X 24"), oil on canvas. Sold.

This last piece is a gem that I just pulled out into the light of day and have been enjoying and wanted to share here. It is from under the Mass Ave Bridge along Rock Creek during the fall of 2009.

Portraits

2011-03-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

The Artist's Wife (or America) (30 X 40")

Launch Party Silent Auction Offering

2011-03-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

Murky Heights (16 X 20"), oil on canvas. Auctioned/Sold.
On Thursday, March 10 at 6:30pm at the Warner Theater Atrium, the Environmental Film Festival is having its Launch Party, with all kinds of cool stuff up for grabs at the silent auction. I've donated this painting. I think it's a really good piece that speaks of direct experience with the dueling thrills of modern engineering and riparian reality.

The Artist's Father in India

2011-02-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

The Artist's Father in India (16 X 20")

A year ago, my father, Maribel, and I went to India. It was Maribel's and my second time in India, but our first time in the north: Varanasi, Bodhgaya, Rajasthan, and Agra. My father is an avid adventurer, hiker, tennis player, liberal, lover of paintings and music... interests we have shared and developed together over my lifetime. It was an honor and joy when he chose to come with us to India, because Maribel and I generally travel in dirtbag style and Dad said he trusted our judgement on how to move and where to stay. Pretty cool coming from a federal judge. Dad and I made a side venture to Ranakpur (near Udaipur) to see an ancient Jain temple, and I snapped a photo of him at a moment when he was immersed in his thoughts and impressions and not conscious of being photographed. Here he is in the midst of communicating something to me, his son. It's worth mentioning that we look a lot alike.

This painting is about mortal recognition of the larger and alternative circumstances of existence. My father serves as the subject, but it is in many regards a self-portrait. India is such an eye-opening place on so many levels. One's consciousness of self, destitution, quiet bliss, religious pandemonium, the diversity of humanity, and our connection to the natural world is heightened and tested. I have practiced yoga since high school, but it was in Kerala five years ago, during my second week of a month-long yoga teacher training course at the Sivananda Ashram, that I experienced the opening of my third eye for the first time. Although I am an atheist, Hindu cosmology is the most compelling notion and breakdown of the universe and its forces that I have found, and I never tire of admiring its gods in temples, museums, and on kitschy posters and t-shirts. My father still waxes poetic about his three weeks in India, and this painting attempts to capture the catharsis and blossoming that we experienced there.

Deciding on a new series...

2011-02-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

Key Bridge in February (24 X 30"). Sold.

Key Bridge is an attractive subject for many reasons. It has rhythm and grit and organic shapes and earthy colors: a geometric, industrial structure that is steadily melding into the landscape. It's a beautiful and relatively benign monument of the modern condition. I cross it several times a week and look out over the Potomac as it changes so much day to day, season to season.

I'm eager to paint Key Bridge from the Virginia side now, as it wraps into M Street suspended over the Whitehurst Freeway. I want to capture Key Bridge standing solidly in the flow of modern life, immersed up its thighs, miraculously spanning the river's two shores, shouldering the traffic of thousands of disparate lives every day.

I'm taking a course with Judy Southerland at the Corcoran called "Painting in a Series" and trying to decide what subject to explore for my first series. Key Bridge is a strong contender. Another option is a series of portraits (father? wife? self?... my mother won't sit for me... someone else? any volunteers out there?). Maybe West Virginia coal country in winter, painting from photos and memory. Must decide soon!

Adirondack Landscapes for Great Range Show

2011-02-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

On Friday I'm hanging a show of Adirondack landscapes at the Great Range Restaurant/Wine Bar in Keene Valley, NY. My favorite restaurant in my favorite town on earth! Thank you, Elly and Jay! The show will be a mix of pieces from different years, including these four new pieces.

Batholith Ablaze (24 X 36")

Hide & Sweep (18 X 24"). Sold.

Looking Back (22 X 26"). Longstreth Collection.

Right Up In There (16 X 20"). Sold.

Portal to Bliss (16 X 20") Sold.

Ecuadorian Coast and Evolving Vision

2011-01-19T09:41:00.001-08:00

At Christmastime we went to see my in-laws and many friends in Quito, and we got down to my favorite beach, Canoa in the province of Manabi. Stayed at the Bambu. These four paintings are from that trip and reflect my evolving vision, articulated in my most recent Artist's Statement for this current show at Baked & Wired here in Georgetown. I'll put it down at the bottom of this post.

Horizon Dweller (24 X 30")

Dance of the Earthmovers (24 X 30")

Waves and Fishing Boat (20 X 26")

Canoas (20 X 48"), sold.

Henri, Bellows, and the Bay Area figurative painters inform my work, but I’m consumed by a 21st-century admiration for our devastated natural world. Bridges, ships, and human forms in nature serve as motifs for contemplating humanity’s notions of liberation and progress in light of the biosphere’s diminishing robustness. The tragic beauty of oil rigs, mining operations, and commercial fisheries are subjects I plan to explore in 2011.

UPCOMING SHOWS in January & February

2011-01-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

Mi Gente!

This coming Friday, January 21st at 6pm, I have an opening of my paintings at the hippest little cafe in Georgetown: Baked & Wired: 1052 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW 20007.*

Come at six for wine and cheeze or come a little later, when the Helen West Sax Quartet and the real madness begin to flow. I hope to see you there!

It's a three-week show, so even if you miss the opening (which is not to be missed!), be sure to drop by for my art, the baked and brewed delights of Tony and Theresa Velasquez (the super-hip owners), or a poetry reading or musical event in the not-too-distant future!

ALSO: I'll have four pieces in the Citizens Association of Georgetown show in Georgetown Park from Jan 27 to Jan 30....

AND: Up in Keene Valley, NY: The Great Range is turning over their walls to twenty-one of my Adirondack landscapes until I take them down in June.

http://bakedandwired.com
*Thomas Jefferson Street runs south of M, down from the corner of Barnes & Noble, between 30th & 31st.

Awright Nuff Sed!

Hasta pronto,

Edward "Bear" Miller
www.bearmiller.blogspot.com

Bathers

2010-12-01T10:34:00.001-08:00

Man Awash (30 X 40")

Woman Turning (24 X 48")

Woman in Blue & Green (18 X 24"), sold.

Woman Bathing (18 X 24")

Move Through Blue (30 X 40")

Nudes in water is a combination rich in associations. These pieces are based on snapshots of my wife and me on our way down from a very isolated group of peaks in the Adirondack wilderness, but the man and woman should be read as universal figures. As pictures and forms, these really speak to me and I hope they translate well for people who don't know me (and for people who do!).

From my Figure Painting Class at the Corcoran

2010-12-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

In order of appearance:

Sombra (16 X 20")

Gordo (18 X 24")

Flaco (18 X 24")

Joven (16 X 20")

Julia (18 X 24"), Collection of Gavin Dougan

Each of these has merits. The first two were done with a very limited palette, per professor Katherine Knights instructions: white, raw umber, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, blue. On Sombra and Flaco I sketched out the form with a red oil pastel before painting. Flaco was begun with a very limited -albeit expansive- palette of just light yellow, alizarin crimson (which I hadn't used since college), and pthalo blue, and white. That and black are what printers use. We were allowed to expand the palette to inject earthier tones in the final session of the pose, and I did. It's a little overworked, and I decided to stop fussing and start anew on a quick freshy in the last twenty minutes of the pose. The resulting last piece, Joven, is a very rushed, quick-response-no-time-to-fuss-or-doubt effort. It's my favorite of the group because of its energetic strokes and raw coloration. The interplay of colors and the strong lines make my heart sing as much as any piece I have ever painted.

Women on the Sofa

2010-12-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

Tres Mujeres en el Sofa (18 X 24"), Collection of Sarai Rodriguez

These are three Andean women close to my heart. I took a snapshot on Halloween night of them at a party and based this painting on the photo. It has merits. I welcome feedback on it and all my pieces.

True Blue Papa

2010-12-01T10:11:00.000-08:00

True Blue (24 X 36")

True Blue (Detail)

Papa sat for me back in April, and I put the painting aside to dry in order to revisit its problems later. This is where it stands after getting reworked in early November. I like it and so does Papa.

Railroad Days

2010-12-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

West Potomac Railroad Bridge (15 X 60"), sold.

A cluster of bridges, including one for the railroad, one for the yellow/green line, and two for vehicles (I-395/14th Street) run off this southern coast of Haine's Point, with Memorial Bridge in the distance. A great place to paint when the wind is minimal, as it was on this day in early November. I think it's my best plein-air piece of the year. Below is another plein-air study of the bridge from a week before.

Railroad Bridge (16 X 20"). Jost-Iacavone Collection.

Seasonal Meanderings

2010-10-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

These are plein-air studies from September, June, and October respectively:

Invitation to Swim, Chapel Pond (9 X 12"), Collection of Mohit Mukherjee.

Jumping-off Point, Friends Creek (10 X 10")

Herring Highway, Rock Creek (16 X 20")

These are larger takes on earlier, smaller studies from last year.

Friends Creek in Fall (30 X 40")

Friends Creek, in Maryland, is where I learned to fly fish as a kid. We used to spend a lot of time swimming in the creek in summer on the weekends, admiring the trout, playing with the crawfish. I'm pleased with the golden tones that come through like guitar chords through the woods, and vertigo-inducing liquifaction of the nearby reflections. The solid, alert presence of the central, pointed rock brings it all together for me.

Winter Ensemble (30 X 40")

The woods below Montrose Park never cease to amaze me, how they go from chaotic green jungle in summer to sparse skeletal remains in winter. This piece is based on photos I took after that first blizzard last winter. It is a musical meditation on vertical wood, depthless snow, suspended leaves, and the sky's descending cobalt teeth.

Creekside Path #2 (16 X20")

I remain dazzled by the golden fires and oceanic waves of snow in this exploration of Rock Creek after last year's blizzard.

October in Keene Valley

2010-10-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

Fall Frenetics (18 X 24"). Preston Collection.

Up in Keene Valley over an extended Columbus Day weekend, I produced a number of good pieces, photographed here in various states of incompletion... or not photographed at all. I like to try and get a week or two in October of solitary, monastic painting time up there in the fall. I hauled my gear up a peak or two this time around, but mostly just enjoyed using the living room as my painting/yoga studio, fireplace roaring and Indian ragas and Beethoven coming through on the sound system. The air is so crisp, waters raging wildly, tree trunks revealing all their musculature and textures, and the leaves crunching like cornflakes under foot.

Summit Spirits on Skylight (in process). Sold.

More Takes on the Bridge Theme

2010-09-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

I dug in along the canal today, down from the bridge that- when I was a kid- was the only way to cross over the canal and follow the towpath. That was before all the development on the south side of the canal, development of which I largely approve. The canal's longevity will depend upon people appreciating it, and I'm so glad those attractive offices and apartments have been a success. This bridge was pure, squealing delight for us kids when my dad would take us biking along the canal, and later it represented a bridge to solitude for this angst-ridden mod teenager of the 1980's. Now that the Crescent Trail exists, I usually bypass it when I go biking, but I do relish the challenge of making that turn up the north ramp without putting my foot down. Here's to the bridge of squealing delight and liberation!

Bridge to Younger Days (16 X 20"). Collection of Thomas Wentworth.

Taft Bridge, from Rock Creek (16 X 20"). Sold.
The Taft Bridge is the Connecticut Avenue bridge over Rock Creek Park. It's arguably the most elegant and lyrical of Washington's big bridges. It went up when my dad was a kid, and he grew up calling it the "million-dollar bridge", because it was reportedly the first bridge built in Washington that cost a million dollars. It doesn't exude quite the power and majesty of Key Bridge, but I'm always impressed by how it works with the landscape and how the landscape works with it. This is a big part of what excites me about bridges. They represent such artificial impositions on the landscape, and yet the landscape adapts and ultimately doesn't give a damn. And bridges make such a difference in terms of improving the quality of human life. One notes this when one goes to a country like Laos which has almost no bridges. If the people knew what they were missing, they might rise up and complain. But they don't and so haven't... and ironically are a happier people than we are... but I do think they'd find more delight in a few more bridges.

In process, after leaving Jack's Boathouse

Now complete

KeyBoom! (30 X 40"), sold.

This was started the day after KeyBam! was done. Paul of Jack's Boathouse and his staff were very generous and accommodating of this scruffy painter who wandered in. Jack's Boathouse is an amazing resource, by the way. For $12/person/hour you can rent a kayak or a canoe and cruise all over the river. People file in on their lunch breaks, and they are set up in a jiffy and on their way. No hassles, no standing around. Very well-run outfit. Get thee to the river!

Take it to the Bridge!

2010-09-16T19:33:00.001-07:00

This September I've been taking the easel to some bridges by our house here in Georgetown. First I did two studies of a little wooden bridge over Montrose Creek that has funny criss-crossing jumping-jack construction. It's in shady, lush woods that drop down to Rock Creek. Study #1 looks upstream, and the next day I came back and painted looking downstream. The light was so smooth and neutral, with occasional bursts of yellow to break it up.

Montrose Bridge #2 (16 X 20")

Montrose Bridge #1 (16 X 20)

Then I found this great spot on a dock right under Key Bridge where, if it isn't too windy, I can really get the full effect of that monumental, jazzy, sensuous beast. Wow! I banged out this study in just a few hours and was very pleased and came back the next morning with greater ambitions and a much larger canvas (30 X 40"). It was nerve-wracking working on a larger scale down there. The wind gusted periodically and finally the sun grew too strong and I lugged my piece back to the studio where it now languishes, awaiting either a rainy day or very serene conditions by the river. I guarantee it will be grand when it's done!

KeyBam! (18 X 24")

Yesterday I went back to Mt. Zion cemetery, on 27th & Q Streets, NW. It is a traditionally black cemetery owned by Mt. Zion Baptist Church. The cemetery is pine-shaded and is now being tended after decades of neglect. It contains a vault overlooking Rock Creek that is reported to have been a station on the Underground Railroad. The big trees, wild breezes, and the presence of so many long-overturned and forgotten tombstones give the place an otherworldly feel. My grandmother and her sister are buried in the traditionally white Oak Hill cemetery, visible through the trees, across a ravine, and over a fence from Mt. Zion. This painting was done facing toward my grandmother, who rests right across R Street from her old house.

Through to Grandmother, from Mt. Zion Cemetery (16 X 20"). Collection of Silvana & Abraham.

These will all be hung, with a number of others, at the office of Hancock Legal, PLLC, at 1803 Connecticut Ave, NW, on the 3rd floor. There is an open house scheduled for October 1, and my old friend Manuella Hancock invited me to take advantage of the space and the discerning audience due to descend for her open house. Let me know if you want to come, and I'll put you on the list.

New Work from Keene Valley

2010-06-28T11:57:00.001-07:00

One June Evening, 22 X 90", Collection of Noel C. Miller
A storybook realm of possibilities runs through this triptych.

Johns Brook, George's View #1, 18 X 24", sold.
A swiftly executed study done down by the McC lean-to.

Johns Brook, George's View #2, 24 X 30"
The more ambitious follow-up, done at the same spot two days later. A little more robust and sensual than the quick and clean original effort.

Climbing (Climb On), 18 X 24, sold
Frosted Mug is a classic Adirondack rock climb that I first top-roped in 1990 (very ineptly in every sense). As the the nineties went on I grew to confidently lead it maybe five times without hanging. There was an August or two when I used to do laps on it on my own with a microscender. Now I go back to it, get spanked, and struggle to the top. I still struggle to the top, but I know there will come years when I won't be able to and may not even be willing to try. Anyway, this painting was 100% executed at the base of the rock climb that means more to me than any other rock climb. As with a good poem, Frosted Mug takes on new significance with each run through.

Morning Light on the Brook, 20 X 20". Sold.
Sometimes when I have a really good painting that I wish I had another version of, I'll make a painting based on the first painting. This is one of those. It's a move I took from the Van Gogh play book. The first one is small and fresh, and it's part of my personal collection. This one is bigger and richer.

Beer Walls from Round Mountain, 16 X 20".
I hauled my new French easel up the Burns Weston trail and stopped at the lookout over the canyon below Chapel Pond where the Beer Walls reign. This is the result. It has many redeeming qualities, but I'm not convinced it holds together completely.

Brothers in June, 18 X 24", auctioned for North Country SPCA.
The Brothers ranks among my favorite hikes, and this piece was painted from my family's porch. It's a familiar scene and one I have painted many times before. I love it!!!

Trinity Falls in June, 11 X 14".
A theme to which I love to return, this was my first painting up here this year. It had issues, including torrents that resembled speghetti... but the elements shaped up into a compelling, cohesive interpretation of what I consider the fountain of the waters of life.

Baxter, 24 X 36".
Baxter is the peak I have climbed more than any other. Three to Ten times a summer. Maybe 100 times total. This painting has great flow of hemlock shadows, pine-scented pinks, and sturdy grays. I frankly think I knocked this one out of the park. Many thanks to the Ps and to Kerry W for use of the perch.

Porter Between Showers, 18 X 24. Sold.
It's hard to know when to stop painting. The first two people who saw this both asked if it was finished. At the time... between showers, high up on Beede Road... I thought I'd really nailed the combination of mist, mass, and muted sunlight. I'm still deciding, but I'm reluctant to dig back in. It has some of the flat, understated magic of a Milton Avery or Georgia O'Keefe. For me, it GLOWS and PURRRRRRRS through the mist.

Brook's Rim, 12 X 24".
Where I start and end most days in Keene Valley. These pools hold the waters of my life. This water is about as clean as water gets these days and these rocks lock in each day's solar radiation. Put them together with your body and you enter the kingdom of heaven. The transcendental effects of the brook came and went and came and went as I worked on this. The day had no shortage of wind gusts and quick showers. I like the result, but I'd like to try again on a bigger scale.

April and May around Washington

2010-05-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

These are plein-air pieces from this spring, all of watery subjects: Rock Creek, The Severn River, and the Tidal Basin.

Rock Creek below Montrose (16" X 20"). DiCicco Collection.

This is a great spot for kids, dogs, and ducks to splash around. Shad used to run the creek when I was a kid, and I am told that eels from the ocean still do make appearances. I felt the spirit of August Lundberg peering over my shoulder as I put the finishing strokes on this one. I was not conscious of his influence on the piece until it was basically done.

Boats at Rest (16" X 20")

I drove over to Sherwood Forest on the Severn River (by Annapolis, MD) to paint with Michael Gaudreau, a painter friend with whom I showed last summer at the Corscaden Barn. This rack of resting boats included two canoes, a kayak, and a sunfish. The forms are very universal and could easily pass for insects, seeds, or metaphors for our own bodies, souls, plans, or memories.

Cherry Blossom Rundown (18" X 24")

Rundown indeed! Maribel and I thoroughly enjoyed basking in the blossoms and people-watching on the Friday of the National Cherryblossom Festival here in the Disrict. I decided to get there early on Saturday and crank out a study of a monument in the morning light peaking through the lissome trees' veils. The tidal basin was swarming with people as I set up my easel and just focused on the tree forms, the Washington Monument, the curve of the water, and the petals all around. I thought I had finished when a passerby remarked that it was strange I hadn't included any of the thousands of people in the scene. I realized she was right. I had unconsciously ignored the humans in favor of the trees. But it seemed that almost everyone else was also doing their best to look past the passing swarms of gawkers. The characters I distributed into my little scene have that same "ships passing in the night" feel to them as they float blithely through the pink netherworld.

Papa in March

2010-05-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Papa in March (16" X 20")

Papa recently retired from 44 years of government service plus two years on the USS Essex. He kindly agreed to sit for me one day and this was the result of our efforts. We started after a breakfast in his bay window and finished in the late afternoon, with the light on the opposite side of his head from where it had been in the morning. The compassion, wisdom, and fortitude of a seasoned magistrate shines through here, though Mama says the old man just looks worn out and in need of a haircut.

Adirondack Explorations

2010-05-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

Trinity Falls from Above (22" X 28")

Phelps Brook runs very close to my family's house in Keene Valley, and Maribel and I listen to it each night and morning from our sleeping porch. Trinity Falls is a name I came up with for a a little series of precipitous cascades that ends in a secluded pool. Year after year I go there to be renewed by the elemental purity of these waters. I have painted and sketched the falls on many occasions, but this off-kilter view from above may be the most exciting treatment yet. It is monumental and solid, yet it rushes and spins, provoking vertigo in the viewer the same way that Niagara Falls or the Empire State Building do; only this is a very intimate, secret spot for tapping nature's creative power. I plan to construct a frame for this that gives the forms some breathing room. I'm also planning to paint the falls from the next pool down from them, looking up from the abyss.

Range from Nundagao (30" X 40"), sold

Nundagao is an exposed ridgeline that provides spectacular views of the Great Range. This painting is based on a series of photos I took one very windy, dynamic day in November when my uncle David and I ventured out into uncertain skies. The landscape in November becomes a study in dead grays, burnt sienna, black, and leftover golds. The sky alternated between snow flurries and sun rays. The viewer of this piece seems to hover, riding the wind above blowndown birches.

Transition to Spring

2010-03-25T11:36:00.001-07:00

First Day Out (16 X 20"). Perez Collection.

Rock Creek in March (24 X30")

Spring Sprang (9 X 12")

Sprung (11 X 14")

These pieces are presented in order and represent my first plein-air efforts of the year. First Day Out was painted on March 17 at my beloved bench in Montrose Park, behind Dumbarton Oaks. There were just a few snowdrops and crocuses on the ground, and I admired the arc of this solemn sentinel among the day's long shadows. The Rock Creek piece was painted the next day, just downstream from the police headquarters on Beech Drive. The creek had been quite high that week, and the woods were showing the impact of the winter's storms. I'm pleased by the energized and sculptural qualities of this piece. The beech tree is clearly relishing the end of winter. The other two were painted yesterday (3/24) in Montrose Park. A very graceful cherry towers above my bench there. I painted it first from above and then from below.

Adirondack Interlude in Early March

2010-03-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

Giant at Sunset (24 X 30")

Last Light on Giant (11 X 14"), Merrill Collection.

Pilgrimage to Indian Head (16 X 20"), Sold.

Maribel and I went up to New York City in early March for a dance performance by my cousin Simon Thomas-Train and his BigAPE company. Mari had to report back to DC for work, but I decided I couldn't resist the chance to visit Aunt Betsey and Uncle David and enjoy spring snow in Keene Valley. I skiid into and across the Lower Ausable Lake on Monday, March 8. I didn't see a soul until I was nearly out and encountered Chuck from the Mountaineer. I made it back to town in time for Jimmy Goodwin's 100th birthday party. All the usual suspects were there, and I got to see a painting I'd never seen before by Harold Weston of the legendary Doc Goff which hangs on the second floor of the Neighborhood House. Afterward, I went back up to the Ausable Club golf course to watch the sunset on Giant and take photos. These three paintings reflect the pilgrimage nature of the trip north. The night before my ski into the Lower Lake, I'd had a dream about the importance of maintaining an adventurous spirit in this life, and Indian Head figured prominently in the dream. Over the course of my day in the backcountry, the dream's meaning chrystalized for me. On Tuesday I rode the lifts and carved telemark turns at Whiteface.

Lakeside Meditations, I & II

2010-03-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

Lakeside Meditation I (18 X 24"), sold

Lakeside Meditation II (30 X 40"), Squatmas Collection.

Maribel and I lived and studied at the Sivananda Ashram at Neyyar Dam in Kerala, India for four weeks in 2007, completing the Sivananda yoga teacher training course. The ashram is on the northwestern edge of the very large lake created by Neyyar Dam. On some mornings, the swamis would lead our class on a walk to this open area on the shoreline where we could watch the sunrise. As local families conducted their morning routines on the lake, we would do sitting meditation, satsang, and then walk back to the ashram for tea before our morning session of hatha yoga. Our afternoon yoga session was always very rigorous and was conducted on a shaded platform on the far side of this branch of the lake, over on the left side of this painting. Many of us would swim from there every afternoon before dinner. That was my favorite part of every day, swimming and floating in this healthy, beloved, and tranquil body of bliss. The lake is surrounded by a wildlife sanctuary, complete with uproarious lions, picturesque villages, and the backdrop of a granite mountain range called the Ghats ("steps"). Fish and crocodiles swim about freely, villagers bathe and do their laundry, and the ashram's yogis swim, sing, and meditate. Maribel and I consider this lakeside the most blissful place we've ever had the pleasure of spending time.

Snowy Path Revisited

2010-03-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

Snowy Path II (16 X 20")

This is a larger version of a painting I did in December of a snow-covered path along the west side of Rock Creek. The first painting was small and executed quickly. It sold almost immediately, before I had a chance to decide if it was really finished. I made a larger version of it in the hope that I could push the inviting, enveloping backlit effect more. I love the way this piece draws my eye into a dance with depthless blues, flaming golds, and smoldering auburn wood tones. Exploring this piece is a cleansing, awakening experience. When I have my doubts about oil painting and its value to humanity or the earth, I can look to this piece as one that affirms the connection between mind and nature, between the creative light within and the glorious lights of creation.

About the Blizzard

2010-02-23T13:43:00.000-08:00

Blue Creekside (24 X 30"), sold.

This is a beech tree that stands by Rock Creek as you approach from Montrose Park.

Mari, Mama, and the Good Earth

2010-02-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

Maribel at Neyyar Dam (18 X 24"), Guevara Collection.

Mama in her Garden II,
or Hostas, Hydrangeas, Hollyhocks, Mama, & Me (16 X20"), donated to Arts League of Alexandria Fundraiser.

The portrait of Maribel is based on a photo of Mari I took on an especially blissful morning by the lake at our ashram in Kerala, India. Mama in her Garden II is a copy of an earthier, less stylized painting I did in the fall. I took a page out of the Van Gogh playbook for this one. I am told (by Bob Stark) that Van Gogh would often do an on-site painting in the morning, and then he would go home and bang out a second painting (or two) based on the original.

Watery Memories of Summer in Keene Valley

2010-02-23T13:24:00.001-08:00

Floating (Bog River Daydream) (24 X30"). Thomas-Train Collection.

Headwaters (Ausable Lakes from Indian Head) (12 X 24"), sold

These two paintings emerged as meditations on two important women in my life: my aunt Bathsheeba and my sister Virginia. Both pieces are infused with the liquid qualities of mind, memory, and self.

Returning from India

2010-02-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

Woods in Snow, below Montrose Park (12 X 18"), sold.

Bodhi Tree, or Memory of Mahabodhi (16 X 20"), sold.

These are the first paintings to emerge from our recent trip to India

Blizzard 2009 Renderings

2009-12-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

Snowslope (16 X 20"), sold.

Creekside Path in Snow (11 X 14"), sold.

Beech Tree in Snow (18 X24"), Miller-Wallis Collection.

These were painted after the blizzard from photos I took wandering around in Montrose Park behind Dumbarton Oaks and along Rock Creek.

WINTER PORTRAITS

2009-12-18T09:30:00.001-08:00

Clarkman (16 X 20"), Collection of Avery & Gregory.

The weather's cold and I find myself hunkering down and doing portraits from photos I've taken of loved ones. This is Monday's effort. I hope people will commission me to do portraits of their loved-ones. I need to know the person, draw a study from life, and take my own digital photos to work from.

Shadowlands of December

2009-12-18T09:21:00.000-08:00

Shadowy Paths (30 X 40")
In this big studio piece, I worked from a successful small on-site study I did years ago of the little trees and paths behind Dumbarton Oaks. Revisiting the older work, a light shone within and I thought, " I've got to build a more abstract interior journey on this composition." I really enjoyed developing this one. There are rich forms and spaces and interplays of mass and shadow and light here that my eye wants to wander in and around all day.

Shadow-laden Hillside Behind Dumbarton Oaks (16 X 20")
Another in this series from my favorite painting spot by a stone bench next to the creek running behind Dumbarton Oaks, this was painted on site December 1, 2009.

Rock Creek Park

2009-12-18T09:05:00.000-08:00

Rock Creek Reflection, under Mass Ave Bridge (18 X 24"). Sold.

Autumn Maple, in Rock Creek (12 X 18")

Reed Relics

2009-12-18T08:40:00.000-08:00

I studied drawing and/or painting during every semester I was at Reed College (from 1989 - 1993), though I majored in history. I've stayed in touch with my art professor at Reed, Michael Knutson, who is a very accomplished painter in Portland (see his Blackfish Gallery work!) and continues to guide young painters at Reed. He told me my work was preserved on the art department website. I revisited some of my old pieces, especially these three. I want to boast that there is more of my work showcased on the site than any other painter's, but I didn't do a very scientific comparison.

Still Life arranged by Michael Knutson

These two self-portraits hung side-by-side in the department exhibition space along with the other self-portraits of the class. The seersucker suited one vanished before the show came down. I'd like to think it was stolen because somebody liked it rather than that the thief was just too lazy to stretch her/his own canvas and liked the dimensions of this one. Both self-portraits were approximately 40" X 20". The nude is rolled up in a closet at my parents' house.

November in Georgetown

2009-11-19T19:08:00.001-08:00

I'm painting very efficiently outside at some of my favorite spots around Georgetown these days. This is where I grew up, and I have walked wide-eyed along these streets and parks and paths throughout my life, in every mood. These places are very restorative, with their rich, earthy colors. The blues and reds and yellows are coming through really cleanly, too.

Canal Stretch (from 31st Street) (sold)

Swaying Trees at Mt. Zion Cemetery (off Q & 27th) (sold)

Hillside behind Dumbarton Oaks (sold)

Friends Creek in October

2009-11-19T18:43:00.001-08:00

Friends Creek in Cobalt (16 X 20"), sold.

These are two paintings are of a pool where I spent a lot of time fishing and swimming as a kid. On this day in October, the colors were very vivid and the air and water were very still. Friends Creek runs into Pennsylvania from Sabillasville, MD through the rugged Cotoctin Mountain countryside. This part of the creek is in a hollow, and there isn't much sunshine in the fall. As the afternoon wore on, the air and light grew very cool very fast, inspiring me to squeeze from my tube of cobalt for the first time in years.

Friends Creek in Yellow (16 X 20"), sold.

Earlier in the day, the light was hazier, the air lazier, and warm yellows dominated my palette.

October Awakening

2009-11-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

This nine-foot-long triptych (October Awakening) is my most ambitious piece to date. Sold.

It started plein-air on our terrace, but October 2 dawned magnificently with about half an inch of snow on the higher peaks. I snapped lots of photos from the roof of our house.

Uncle David had wandered through the woods to admire the daybreak and joined me on the upstairs balcony. The magic of the morning called for a precise rendering, and I developed the triptych using the photos. It was raw and windy outside and it was heavenly to paint inside with Beethoven sonatas by the fire.

Plein-air pieces from Keene Valley in September

2009-11-01T07:49:00.000-08:00

September Spreadeagle, from the Macholds' deck (24 X 30)

Giant and Roaring Brook Falls, from the Rutherfurds' porch. (24 X 30"). Sold.

Trinity Falls (IV) (24 X 30)

Brothers Sing September, from our terrace (24 X 30). Sold

These four pieces were all painted on site outside in September up in Keene Valley. They were quicker, bolder enterprises than the paintings I've done from photos, but sometimes the rain or darkness or some commitment comes along and I don't finish on site and it becomes a question of inventing or remembering. That happened with the sky in Brothers Sing September, where the sky was painted and repainted several times. I could have taken photos as a memory aid, but didn't.

Among the Mountain Gods (30" X 40")

2009-10-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

Among the Mountain Gods (30 X 40")

These are some of my last paintings of the summer, when I was still up in Keene Valley after the family had left. I worked from photos I had taken of Mari up on Pyramid Peak. Painting from my photos is so convenient and strong paintings usually result from the exercise, but there is definitely more vigor, integrity, risk, and reward in pushing paint plein-air. I do both.

Major influences on my vision and work

2009-10-31T15:12:00.000-07:00

Robert Stark is a great American painter and a dear friend who has helped me open up my eyes, free up my technique, and generally be smarter in my approach. He is a fountain of great paintings and helpful tips. My grandmother, Noel Train, was a good painter who used to take me out to paint when I was a teenager. She collected really inspirational works by people who became my heroes, including Lundberg, Avery, Henri, Weston, and Marin.

I was extremely fortunate growing up to have a lot of really good oil paintings on the walls of our house and my grandmother's house. I am particularly grateful to have grown up around the works of the American modernist Harold Weston (of the Adirondacks) and the American impressionist August Lundberg (of Maryland). Other members of my family have been very good painters, too: uncle Brown Miller, aunt Lucinda Train Longstreth, and uncle Antonio Ciccone. My parents have each done some good paintings over the years, too. Mama assembled a fine collection of alligator-based portraits of figures from popular history. Papa produced lots of landscapes in oil under the guidance of St. Albans' Dean Stambaugh.

Masters whose approach I would like to better understand and incorporate into my own work are Cezanne, Courbet, Van Gogh, Bellows, Hartley, Burchfield, Dove, and Milton Avery.

I've been pleased to show alongside Bob Stark, Michael Gaudreau, Bill Evans, Vry Corscaden, and Stephanie Demanuelle at the Corscaden Barn in Keene Valley, NY. I want to send a shout-out to Bob and Michael for pushing me to get this blog going, and I want to send a special shout-out to Martha Corscaden for making the Barn such a vibrant place and for encouraging me to show there each year.