Scenes from the studio

Here is another sneak peak from the studio of the painting Swimming with the fishes. It is still not done... some more glazing needed. I think this is one of those that will just live in the studio for a while.

A new rabbit painting that is in progress. This is the drawing / underpainting stage. I will be adding color tomorrow and I am sure many changes. This is a commission I am doing for a nursery.

This is the final hyena painting. The title is Portrait of a hero. 24" x 36" oil on canvas. I am happy with this painting but whenever I take a photo it seems to flatten out. I will let you know when I have it in a show so you can see it in person.

Portrait of a hyena

This is one that is in the studio and being worked on. I am doing this while Swimming with the fishes is drying. I have been having dreams with hyenas in them. I wanted to explore the character. I will be including more of them in future paintings.

Swimmin with the fishes

This is a new painting in underpainting form in the studio titled Swimmin with the fishes. I should be done with this by the end of the week and will post the final painting.

Chris Mars at the Phipps Center.... GO SEE IT!!!

Yesterday I went to see the Chris Mars show in Hudson Wisconsin. I have to say if you have the chance go see it. The paintings are more than amazing. I have not been posting because I have been working in the studio painting. I have a show coming up February 26th in the VIP room of First Avenue in Minneapolis. I will be sending out info for the show. I will be showing 15 new paintings for the show. After the show I will post the progress of the paintings. For now I need to just be in the studio.

New diptych in progress

The painting of the lamb is the counterpart to the swim painting. Although the painting is a bit more loose I think they speak to one another. Please note both are still in progress.

I finally feel that I have a dialogue with the brush and I understand the voice that is my own.

New painting for The Wapsipinicon album

The current stage of the painting still doing some glazing and color tweaking. The painting is the inside cover art. The painting is acrylic on hardboard 24" x 48".

Another shot of the painting. My studio is quite narrow so I have to shoot it from the side.

The painting in the drawing stage. I usually improv most of my paintings but I wanted to plan this out a bit more to reflect to complexity of album lyrics.

New Painting 7/27/09

This is a new painting done in the studio.  This is a painting that was commissioned to be a nature influenced abstract.  The painting took over and it is a little more representational than I intended.  I have posted the progression of the work.  I thought it might be interesting to review my process on this.  The element I wanted to focus on was composition.  I felt it were important to have a play between 2d and 3d space.  Like many of my works I started out with line and movement inspired by music.

At this early point I was still working the painting while flipping it vertical and horizontal.  Much of the composition was determined by looking at it backwards in a mirror.

At this point I had chosen a format to work in.  Line being equal to shape and color.  The color was again dictated the music.

This is the final painting.  I am disappointed in the photo.  I don't think you can capture the layers of paint and texture.  I will take a quality photo for the gallery page in my site (www.myritual.com).