“Where did you come up with…”

The work at Providence Art Club came down this weekend. During the show’s run, I was asked, “Where did you come up with…” often enough that it felt like the right time to share what inspired me.

Frederic Remington, The Stampede, 27 x 40, oil on canvas, 1908
image from Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum

This Remington was one of my favorite pictures when I was a kid and lived out West and wanted to be Pecos Bill – and remains one to this day. More of his late nocturnes – his best work – can be seen in Frederic Remington:The Color of Night. Great reproductions & even a section on his palette.

2 filmmakers: Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris, Andrei Rublev, and The Mirror.) and Akira Kurosawa (inc. The Lower Depths, below, which very specifically helped salvage my Brawlers drawing.) Not everyone’s cup of tea- long sequences of silence or little movement, distant shots, slow panning, subtitles, often in black and white…but magic.

The photography of Ansel Adams and Paul Strand.

The books of Barry Lopez (About This Life) and Rick Bass (The Hermit’s Story, The Lives of Rocks) as well as Junichiro Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows.

OK, the book report’s done – Back to the daily study posts tomorrow – ’nuff said.

Ribeye

ribeye, 8×10″, acrylic

“Once in awhile, it takes off – that’s the kind of opiate of painting. That’s what makes you work every day. Then, when it clicks it’s really fantastic, but those days are really few and far between.” – Jamie Wyeth, on painting

The ribeye, a slightly larger work finished in 2 quick sessions, is something I couldn’t have attempted with the same confidence – or with the assurance that it would still be good for the grill – 6 months ago.

But on the heels of that small victory dance, I’ve been struggling to bring some of my charcoal studies to fuller vision in paint. Hopefully they’ll pull together – but in the words of Otis Rush, “Well, I can’t quit you baby, but I got to put you down for awhile/ Well, you know, I can’t quit you baby, but I got to put you down for awhile/ Well, you know, you messed up my happy home baby…”

Daily Study: tomato…and sneak peek.

tomato III, 4×6″, acrylic

There’s something a little wrong about a tomato like this showing up at a grocery store right now…but maybe that’s just the Jersey in me. needless to say, it caught my eye – and did come from a great local market.

More updates: added photos the ‘Show Opening’ post. Also added the lemon piece to the ebay lineup.

Last but not least – i’ve been working larger studies for an upcoming show – more to come on that soon. for now, here’s a look at my setup and an 8×10″ work in progress – apologies for the poor color balance in the photo.

Daily Study: Cosmo on ebay

cosmopolitan, 4×6″, acrylic -BID NOW-

I’ll have new studies up tomorrow, but in the meantime wanted to offer a quick update on the WPFF project – there’s been some great developments recently and we should be able to announce a few more in the coming weeks.

Through inquiries via the blog in the past few days, the studies have sold to: a small farmer, a well-known area food writer/author, and the food section editor at a leading daily American newspaper. We hear that another, sold thru the studio, even boarded a plane for a trip to the west coast a day after it was purchased.

So we’ve decided that it’s time to widen the scope and start selling on ebay. The first offering is one from the vault – the cosmopolitan study, the sole original left from the set of 12 images used for the notecards.

As with the rest of these sales, I’m donating 25% to agencies working to end hunger in our communties. Thanks again for the support!

Show Opening, Gallery Night

Thank you for the outpouring of support this weekend! We got a lot of great emails from wellwishers afar, saw some old friends and new faces at the gallery on sunday, and – to ice the cake, we sold work – I feel tremendously fortunate.

If the wind and rain were just too much, you’re in luck – the gallery has extended hours (5-9pm) this thursday (Apr 19th) as part of the kickoff of gallery night’s 11th season!
More show info – hrs and directions – can be found on the sidebar to the right.

As promised, some images of the newer works below. I’ll have some new food studies up in a day or 2. Thanks again!

Daysleeper 22×30″ (click on all images to enlarge)

Dozing 16×20″

Brawlers 16×20″

Marshal 15×20″

Nightswimming 19×22″

**new photos added 04/19**

Drawings on Display

Drawing rarely seems to get its due as a medium in gallery venues.

I’m taking the opportunity to buck that annoying trend- 21 of my charcoal drawings are now on display as part of a 3 person show at the Providence Art Club today thru April 27th.

If you’ve been by the site or studio, chances are you’ve probably seen some of the bulls…joining them are some brandy-new farm pieces and 3 drawings of my trusty ol’ mutt. Some are studies for paintings to come and others are there purely out of love for charcoal and paper and light.

I’ll have the works posted online starting next week, but if you’re in the area next Sunday, stop by from 2-4 for the reception. The show also features the photos of Ron Rosenstock and paintings of Jim Bush.

show info:
Recent Works, April 9-27 Maxwell Mays (upstairs) gallery
Providence Art Club 11 Thomas St, Prov RI 02903 401.331.1114
Reception Sunday April 15th 2-4pm