Checking out my Art Prize Installation

Latest painting

Orange Light #2, 30 by 40 oil on canvas. Gift to Diane and Gary Kurek

Art Prize #2

Today I finished the back (or the front, depending how you approach it) of my Art Prize contribution. I think it is a bit more interesting than the first side. I had cataract surgery yesterday and everything seems a lot brighter.

Art Prize 2012

This year's Saugatuck entry in the Art Prize exhibit in Grand Rapids is a complete departure from last year's entry. (see earlier posts) It is also something new for me, an exercise in color and shape only--no representational work or curved lines.  This is the front of the piece--I am still working on the back.. It is 8 feet by 18 inches.  It will hang with 18 others in a "walk through" environment in September.

Latest Work

I finished this piece last night and hope to present it to its new owner next week. Many liberties were taken with the composition. The buyer wanted a vertical composition of what was a horizontal image. With apologies to Mr. Chiluly, his spheres were made transparent.

A new Commission

When we return to Michigan in late May, I will begin a large painting based on a visit to Fairchild Gardens in Miami, actually a photograph of a piece by Dale Chiluly that was installed there a couple of years ago.  I visited the place a couple of weeks ago to take more pictures only to discover the piece had been replaced by another work. So my work will probably be a combination of images based on this and the new photos. Stay tuned.

A not so recent commission

A couple of years ago, a friend asked if I would do a painting of his house. I photographed it a couple of times but never seemed to get a shot I liked. The house is quite large and rambles across a small rise.  It is mostly obscured by a row of trees, several of which have been removed for the purposes of this painting that I finally finished yesterday.

We are returning to Florida next week via Venice Italy and a Mediterranean/ Transatlantic cruise that terminates in Ft. Lauderdale. I won't be painting or blogging for a while but should have lots of subject matter when I get back..

Memory of Shelter Island

At the end of the lane near my son's home on Shelter Island ,New York stands a picturesque ruin of an old grainery covered with ivy.  The ruins of a concrete pier thrust out into  the bay.  I painted this as a gift to my son's family.

A couple of new works

I was asked to decorate a door panel for a close friend and produced the cherry blossoms above.  The second painting is of a friend's backyard pond in neighboring Fennville.

Goshorn Lake Before and after

Phase 1

                                         The finished painting

I finally got around to finishing the painting of our little lake from the top of our dune.

A small commission

This is a  present for a lady who loves blue. It will be travelling to the Seattle area for Christmas.

Beach Walk

This painting was inspired by a cover photo on a local visitor's guide. I tried to convey the heavy air of a cloudy day when Lake Michigan is comparatively still.

Latest Paintings

These most recent paintings are views of the property near our cabin. They will be part of an exhibit of my work at the Douglas Congregational United Church of Christ in Douglas, Michigan during the month of August.

I'm on a roll

I actually have three paintings in various stages of completion. After almost 2 years of inactivity, I really feel great about it. Gregg commissioned this one for this year's Christmas card. He took so much flak over the photo on last year's card "Flipping off Christmas".

Graham

July 4th weekend is almost here and I finally finished the portrait of my youngest grandchild who will be arriving for the weekend. We have hung it beside his bed. I hope he recognizes himself. He is the last of the grandchildren to be painted. Maybe he's the last of the grandchildren????

Painting again!

This is the finished painting I started in September '09 and have been staring at ever since. Our pastor asked me to have an exhibit at our church this summer and this was the motivation I needed.

The unfinished work is shown above for contrast.

Phase One

This is the underpainting of a new work, the view from our back porch. As I work on it I'll post various stages.

Bowl of Eggs

Continuing the tradition of the offbeat still life, Kirk presented us with this bowl of eggs for our last two studio meetings. Of course the eggs got mixed up between classes, so we were sort of flying blind last night. The painting measures 16x20.

Purple Orchids

I completed this little painting last night. It utilizes a wrap-around canvas and is painted on the sides so it does not require a frame. It is 10 inches square.

Hidden Dunes

Our Michigan cabin is buried under 40 inches of snow. Our friends Chet and Bill will take some photos and email them to me in Florida. I'll do a companion piece to this one I just finished of the place just before the snow season started. We are not sorry we didn't go north for Christmas.