(Re)Working Large
I fastened together a group of old canvases with an acrylic gel medium to form two gargantuan canvases, and began pouring paint into them outside on a concrete pad, then hauled them in and pinned to the wall. Some of these repurposed canvases date back to my beginnings as a painter, so I've titled the piece "My Life So Far" and am working on it freely, no mind for selling, just for exploration and discovery.
Sky
I watched the sky through long afternoons this summer while recovering from an injury. Sometimes tall billowy thunderheads built up in the indigo blues of midwestern July skies, sometimes it was deep blue and crystal clear, sometimes wafer thin sheets soundlessly skated across the high sky from one horizon to the other.
This long recovery became transformative, spacious, deeply informative as to the ever-changing nature of the world.
The first day that I was able to pick up a canvas and a bucket of water, I began these paintings outdoors, under blue skies and high clouds. So close was the experience to the work, the paint seemed to mix itself to deep indigo, the paintings seemed to appear as I observed.
Sky - Noctilucence 64x56
Sky - Water 66x84
Sky - Polar Clouds 66x84
Sky - Night Shining 64x56
The series is titled "Sky", and references noctilucent clouds, which are polar clouds in the upper atmosphere, visible in a deep twilight. They are made of ice crystals. Noctilucent roughly means night shining in Latin.
Modern interior in minimalism style 3D rendering
Big Historical Paintings
Big Painting
My painting process is rather journalistic, laying down everything that comes from within onto canvas. Necessarily, given the delicacy of this raw canvas staining technique, there are paintings that go too far, and aren't workable anymore. I became interested in the idea of repurposing all of these canvases together to create two gargantuan canvas, onto which I could create an historical imagery piece that would lay over all those years of older work. My studio assistant, Cassie Rhodes, went to work, "pasting" them together with a gel medium to form two 8'x30' canvas. These individual canvases started out loaded up with paint, by the time I painted into them, working outdoors, they were incredibly heavy! Moving them inside (a storm was moving in) while they were still wet, and then pinning to the wall, became a strategy.
The moving canvas is Life So Far #2, the pinned painting on the wall is Life So Far #1. Both are in process.
The Flint Hills
I've been deep in the heart of the Flint Hills for four days, living primitively by a cold, spring fed creek. To live in this wild state where owls out number humans by hundreds, is to touch something within/without that is deeply quiet and whole. It is my favorite place on earth.
Photography Day, June 2016
This minute long film is from a time lapse that spanned 8 hours. Surely we walk five miles plus on Photography Day.
Music: Mozart Sonata in D for 2 Pianos, K 448, Molto Allegro, Murray Perahia and Radu Lupu
Big Stormy Grays
While working on a commission, I rediscovered the pleasure of richly colored narratives overlaying neutral atmospheres. These four 60x90 pieces were very satisfying to paint.
Navigation Series - Essence 63x90
Navigation Series - Back to the Known 64x90
Navigation Series - Converge 64x90
Euphrates 56x86
The Ochres of Roussillon
Ochre pigment is buttery warm, divinely tactile to the eyes, in varying colors from yellow to orange to red. These colors are my work's life's blood. This spring I visited the small village of Roussillon, in the Luberon Valley in southern France, built on an ochre ridge, mined for it's pigment. Walking along the ochre trail, immersed in the earth's rich warm color, was an ecstatic experience. I can still feel the buzz, and am now working on a series titled "The Windows of Roussillon", soon to be completed.
Photography Day - April 2016
With EG Schempf and Cassie Rhodes, respectively, Photographer and Studio Assistant extraordinaire.
Music by Beethoven, Piano Sonata #21 In C, Op. 53, Waldstein, 1. Allegro Con Brio, played by Emil Gilits
Bruce Baillie, a Film-Poet Collapsing Inner and Outer Space
My guilty pleasure is making short films and setting to music. I've just seen today's NYTimes article "Bruce Baillie, a Film-Poet Collapsing Inner and Outer Space", and the discovery of his perfect genius is heady. It seems to pull from the inside, rather than feed from the outside. This clip makes me swoon.
Painting Process Video
I have been recording some painting sessions to watch how things unfold. It's helpful for me to see what works and what doesn't, and how it's resolved. These clips of a piece completed last week, seemed to call for music, so I thought I'd post.
Music by Count Basie and his Orchestra, "Goin' to Chicago Blues".
Storms
Storms are rolling in and out of central Florida. Opportunities to work outside have been minimal; one day I tried to sandwich some painting time between storms:
A storm blew in while the canvas was still wet, ultimately with 125 mph winds.
I couldn't drag the canvas inside with wet paint. It was left to the fate of the winds.
First light the next day revealed the 24 foot canvas to be wrapped around 2 palm trees, pigment washed out, dirt embedded, destroyed.
I decided maybe it was time for input, not output. While it's strange to not be working, peace and ease is setting in. Beauty on the beach....
Photography Day
Photography day is always fun, with E.G. Schempf - photographer and Cassie Rhodes - assistant.
Music: Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.21 in C, "Waldstein"
Conversations
Some days the painting talks to you, and you know what to say.
Bach violin concerto # in A Minor, Allegro Moderato
Coming Up for Air (Really, this time)
Coming up for air after an intensive time in the studio.
Scissors and gloves with E.J. Rost.
Getting Out of the Way
When I'm getting ready to paint, usually there is a quieting period, taking the edge of high excited energy down to a harness-able wattage. Sometimes I'll take a few photographs, mill around looking at the work that's in process on the walls, smooth out some canvases, or often sit quietly for a very long time, listening to the wind or the stillness, so that the focus shifts to the senses and out of my busy and more linear mind. I think of this process as getting out of the way, so that the distance between ideas, what is seen, what is felt, and what goes down on canvas, is very small. I was curious to see if I could capture this process of "getting out of the way" on video. This take was 23 minutes long, but compressed into one minute.
A Short and Poetic Film About Building a Sculpture (the Studio), with Cello
While I've been in the new studio for nearly a year, the collaberative design and construction remains a memorable project, yielding a giant, functional sculpture. I recently swept together all of digital miles of video taken during the construction, and asked Gigi Harris, a talented young filmmaker, to make this piece.
Starring roles:
The general contracting (and construction) by Leon Morgan, construction and electrical by Keith Meeks, framing and roofing by John Ediger and crew, sheetrock by Ray Williamson crew, concrete by Dave Rockers and crew, Polygal installation by John Davis crew, water work by the Kenny Sloans, HVAC by GK Smith crew. Combine moving by Leon and Keith. Bin moving by Leon M., Keith M. and John H. (bin and combine events were spectacular). I worked between shifts.
The visionary architect: Steve Bowling, Hive Design Collaberative
The Impact of the New Studio - A Photojournalist's View
Kansas City's esteemed photojournalist Julie Denesha was interested in the impact of the new studio on my work. It was an honor to be interviewed and photographed by her while working. The resulting product is here, click the "Listen" button below photos for the interview: