Father and Child

“Father and Child” 6x6in. Acrylic on MDF.

I began work on this painting over a decade ago. When my hand tremor appeared, I quit painting. But I revisited the pencil version of this piece over the years to make minor changes to it because I was not satisfied with it. It was originally 24″ x 24″. After a number of revisions, I painted this tiny version, and I’m satisfied with it.

The “style” is a combination of Ancient Egyptian art, Graphic Design, Art Deco, and Art Naive— and it’s my favorite style to work in. I developed this approach in the mid 1980s. But I expect this is the last piece I’ll do in this style; the hard edges are too difficult do with a trembling hand. Yes, the image is riddled with unintended symbolism (I’ve no idea how that happened).

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Bucky

This painting is available as Note Cards.

“Bucky” Acrylic on MDF, 6″ x 6″ (See Note Card option below)

Growing up I was fortunate enough to have 3 dogs I loved (at different times), and several cats I adored. But each time my family would move to another state, my parents would give away my dog to strangers and drive off leaving my cat behind to fend for itself. To my parents, dogs and cats were animals with jobs to do around the farm: kill the mice, ward off intruders– my dogs were never permitted in the house. Dogs and cats were not something to be hauled around from state to state. Obviously, I grew up with a highly distorted attitude toward family pets.

By 10th grade, I’d become indifferent to pets—I’d loved and lost too many.

When I had kids of my own, my wife made it clear that pets are essential to the needs of children, and are full-fledged members of the family. Pets were to live indoors and sleep at the foot of the bed.

So, in 1979 we adopted this little guy, and named him Bucky (Starbuck). It took my wife and both kids to shatter the indifference I had acquired over the years. Them and Bucky. It would be 17 more years before I was again able to love cats as I had done as a child (also thanks to my remarkable kids). 2017 marks the 20th year I’ve had a pet that lives in my home, and has never had to earn its keep.

This painting is in memory of Bucky, beloved his entire life by his family.

NFS

“Bucky” Note Card

This painting is available as Note Cards (4-1/4 x 5-1/2″). Note Cards can be viewed and/or purchased here: “Bucky Note Cards” (Secure Zazzle page will open in new tab.)

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So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams, 1949)

“So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams, 1949)” 5x7in. Acrylic on MDF.

A cold, early, shadowless spring day in the Rockies, nothing much going on outside except for this lonesome robin. Probably scouting nesting areas. Reminded me at once of the old Hank Williams classic song, “So Lonesome I Could Cry,” in which he asks, “Did you ever see a robin weep?” I learned about Hank Williams as a kid from my mother. He was her favorite– she even helped get him an early gig in her little town when she was a teen. Mother’s Day was not far off, but Mom has been gone for a couple of years now. I painted this in her memory. The poor robin had ten more weeks of intermittent freezing weather, with our last snowstorm on May 18-19.

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Mark Twain

Mark Twain painting done on a Lenovo 10″ Pad

Painting of Mark Twain

This piece was created with SketchBook app (AutoDesk), on a Lenovo 10″ Pad, using a MEKO stylus. I’m a big fan of author and humorist Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). This is my first painting using the SketchBook app (after a bit of mucking around to try things out) and I find the app is quite powerful! I don’t paint well with my hand tremor, but SketchBook has undo levels, paint over, erasers, layers, even limited cut, size, and paste options, for those of us who blunder our way through a painting.

Typically, my paintings are for sale, but since this is a digital painting, and not very large, there is nothing to sell, unless I offer prints or mugs or other products featuring the painting (watch this site for info).

Trees Along the Banks of the Saône

Silverpoint drawing of trees along the Saone river in France

A silverpoint drawing of trees along banks of the Saône

Creatively planted and groomed copses, such as this one, are spaced at intervals along the banks of the Saône river in France. I made a sketch of this one late one morning in the fall.

I’ve drawn this image from my original sketch using a medieval drawing technique called silverpoint (or metalpoint). The method flourished during the Renaissance, but was obsolete by the 18th century; graphite had become the preferred medium.

Light reflecting off silverpoint drawing.

This drawing is done entirely by dragging metals across the gessoed surface producing a light gray tone. Darker values are achieved by going over areas several times. For drawing tools, I used what I had handy—a brass belt buckle, gold and silver jewelry, a sliver-plated spoon, and a cast bronze belt buckle. Because the image is drawn entirely with metal, it reflects light when viewed from various angles (as shown here).

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