In one of my recent paintings I wanted to capture a feeling of visual perspective, and explore the shape of object/art. I built a cradle box with a tapered shape that echoed the perspective in the visual subject. The edges of the top and bottom were from the subject as I saw it from across the street. The shape also was interesting to deal with, and a departure from the squares & rectangles I've been working with. I worked with elements in the subject that struck me such as the white graffiti on the dark galss. The details in the subject reminded me of the graphic elements I'd so enjoyed as a kid building model kits. Yes, I did build a few of my glue-thumb-printed masterpieces in my youth. Exploring the details, and interpreting the shapes furthered my awarness of the dialogue between them. The subject for me is influenced by painters like Edward Hopper, and the shapes by painters in the geometric abstraction spectrum.
Diner - oils on panel, approximately 36 by 22 inches.
Diner - detail
The following painting was subject I gathered several years ago, but always stayed in my mind. I photographed the subject on a hot day. The pavement had a bleached quality. The painting was again on a cradle box I made. The smaller size felt appropriate, and I wanted the scale of the object to be more intimate when viewed. It's a common urban subject, but by making the painting smaller, I felt it drew me in.
In for repairs - back of local motorcycle shop. Oils on paper.
Figure drawing drop in. Yes, she did have a couple of band aids on her cheek.
Figure drawing drop in session.
In my own work my sketches, or drawing ends up gone. Wallpapered over with oil paint. I've had a passion for the idea of edges , whether soft or hard in painting. The purity of drawing is something lately I've wanted to feel again.
Well one of my oldest illustration clients are doing a big move. Rothman’s Men’s Clothing, which has anchored the northeast corner of Manhattan’s Union Square for 25 years, is moving to a larger space a block away on Park Avenue and 18th Street. The new space, at 222 Park Avenue South. Rothman’s was founded in 1926 by Harry Rothman. Ken and Jim Giddon, his grandchildren, took over in 1986. Rothman’s also operates a location in Scarsdale, NY. I've been working with Ken Giddon at Rothmans for roughly fifteen years.
My painting Rail along with another of my recent pieces, will be in a group show opening on January. In this piece, I'm embracing the horizontal nature of the scene, and subtle levels of distortion. It's also influenced by a Kenneth Noland piece I'd seen last summer. I wanted to express the stark horizontal bands, and lines of the foreground. Also the subtle tones of the grain cars with faceted breaks between them divides the foreground from the large blue of the prairie sky. The light pole had a mild waver to it. Which gave it an organic nature much like the bright green grass around the tracks. I do miss the summer heat during these short days of winter.
