Day 29 - Pear Pair

Pear Pair, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 29 of the 30 Day Challenge

This pair of pears started out as a much different painting. It is one I worked on during the last 30 Day Challenge in September that I never liked. This is much better and has a whole different feel to it. It is also much more abstracted than the original which was the goal.

To Purchase:  If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page of my web site where you can make your purchase. Alternatively, you can purchase this painting through Daily Paintworks - just click on the icon at right.

Day 28 - Construction

Construction, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", NFS

Day 28 of the 30 Day Challenge

Another experiment. In this painting, I wanted to work with the idea of the cruciform composition. Starting with a neutral ground, I added a dark structure to create the cruciform shape. Then I gradually added color to the darks. This is pretty rough but it has a vibrancy. I will need to go back to this to figure out how to take it further.

Day 27 - Autumn

Autumn, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", NFS

Day 27 of the 30 Day Challenge

Still working on how to abstract the landscape.I'm not sure this works as well as I would like.  The orange tree wants to come forward. I'll go back to it in a few days once I get a better idea of what it needs.

Day 26 - Windswept

Windswept, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 26 of the 30 Day Challenge

Another shot at abstracting the landscape. I used layers of paint, a palette knife and my trusty squeegee to create the loose shapes and color variations. For me, the hardest thing about a painting like this is letting the rough edges and splotches of color be - my natural inclination is to define, refine and confine. I titled it "Windswept" because both the tree and the landscape feel windswept to me - kind of a harsh, scoured look, yet oddly beautiful in a craggy, minimalist kind of way.

To Purchase: If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page of my web site where you can make your purchase.

Day 25 - Spruce Swamp

Spruce Swamp, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $75

Day 25 of the 30 Day Challenge

An abstracted landscape today. I had a ton of fun with this one, not least because everything just fell together. Don't you love it when that happens? I do. I started this painting with an orange under-painting followed by a light gray coat (Payne's gray and white) with some random dark gray brush strokes added. Once that was dry, I went in with a palette knife using yellow, blue, magenta, and Payne's gray shapes, smearing them here and there. Then some adjustments with my squeegee to create trees and reflections.
 Finally, back to the palette knife to create water patterns and tree trunks, and a little dab here and there to finish up. The result - loose, abstract, vibrant. Yay!!!

To purchase:  If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page on my web site where you can make your purchase.

Day 24 - Framework

Framework, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 24 of the 30 Day Challenge

I really liked some of the elements from a piece I did several days ago, so I thought I would revisit the concept and see what else I could do with it. This painting is really simple but I like the lines and division of space.

To Purchase: If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will find yourself transported to my website where you can make your purchase.

Day 23 - Seaweed

Seaweed, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", NFS

Day 23 of the 30 Day Challenge

Today I was able to remind myself of why I switched to acrylic from watercolor - too fussy and too much time spent drying individual layers of paint. I started this painting with layers of really wet color that I allowed to run down the board. Once that was dry, and deciding that it looked like seaweed, I added stronger seaweedy shapes in blue, magenta, and purple, followed by black lines to create more seaweed shapes. Finally, I colored in some of the seaweed shapes with opaque color to make them emerge from the background pattern. Although a reasonable concept, I'm not all that happy with the final result - I got impatient and didn't think through the final colors and shapes for the top layer. Still, it's an interesting idea.

Day 22 - Plaid

Plaid, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", NFS

Day 22 of the 30 Day Challenge

Today, I decided to play with transparent layers that overlap to create a plaid pattern. I used magenta, yellow, and pthalo blue to create the patterns - where they overlap, I got green, orange and purple. I used black lines to create movement and variety. I got stuck when I got to the two rectangles I had reserved as a focal point. I like the brightness of the transparent brush strokes and the variety of the overlapping areas. I clearly have more work to do on the overall composition, not least figuring out the purpose of the middle rectangles.

Day 21 - Out of the Box

Out of the Box, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 20"x10", $200

Day 21 of the 30 Day Challenge

This painting is a real leap of faith for me - completely out of my comfort zone. I like a lot of what happened here, but I can also see that I have a lot to learn about composing abstracts like this. As with all of the challenge paintings, I am setting this aside and moving on to the next one. Maybe I'll revisit this, maybe not.
A note on the color: the background is Payne's gray and white, hence the bluish tone in the photo. The reality is more gray and less blue.

To purchase: If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will be transported to my web site where you can make your purchase.

Day 20 - Scarlet Bouquet

Scarlet Bouquet, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 20"x10", $200

Day 20 of the 30 Day Challenge

I got brave today. At 20"x10", this painting is quite a bit larger than my previous paintings (at least this month). I started out by painting a light side and a dark side. Then I added the bouquet of flowers - the bunch started out with a lot fewer flowers than it ended up with. Since that is as far as I had thought through the composition, at that point I got stuck. I went away for a while to think about the box I had made for myself.  After some consideration, I decided I needed more flowers, a solid mass of stems, and I needed to add some of the flower colors into the area at the bottom of the painting. I think I got an interesting result - the flowers are bright and bold, just the thing for a cold, snowy day in January.

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page on my website which is set up to handle on-line transactions.

Day 19 - Making Maps

Making Maps, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 19 of the 30 Day Challenge

In this painting, I returned to the idea of lines and grids. It sort of went one way and then went another. So I decided it was time to stop until I got a better idea for where it needs to go. That said, it looks like a map to me with its areas of water and areas of land with geophysical boundary lines wandering across it.

To purchase this painting, please click here to go to my web site which is set up to handle the transaction.

Day 18 - Statement

Statement, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 18 of the 30 Day Challenge - Catching Up

In this painting I decided to get a way from the design aspects of painting and go with my intuition. This painting started with a blue under-painting which I let dry. Next I added blue and white patterns and let that dry. Next I added the orange-red patterns, and finally the black lines.

I called it "Statement" because it reminds me of Asian characters painted in an emphatic tone of red.

If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page of my web site where you can make your purchase or browse the other works on display.

Day 17 - Untitled Experiment

Untitled, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", NFS

Day 17 of the 30 Day Challenge

I got a little behind in the last few days. In this painting, I started with a concept that didn't have enough meat to it and got stuck. I started with the dark background and the cascading green and yellow shape (reminiscent of draped fabric). Then, although I knew I wanted to go in with orange, I wasn't sure how to tackle it, so I left it overnight.  This morning, I added the reds and oranges plus the upper wedge of green. It's actually kind of interesting and I don't know what else to do with it, so I am going to leave it and go on to something else.

The main thing I have discovered with the 30 Day Challenges is that the daily posting requirement gives me permission to do something and then move on rather than engaging in my usual habit of working on something until it is done. The result is that I do much more and I don't get as bogged down if I can't figure something out right away.  The other result is that I don't work on larger pieces that require more thought and time. So good and bad.

Day 14 - Nautical Lines

Nautical Lines, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", NFS

Day 14 of the 30 Day Challenge

This is a follow-up on yesterday's experiment. Today, I started with a phthalo blue under-painting and covered it with light gray, adding lines using a palette knife while the gray was still wet. Once dry, I added the red and black lines and shapes, as well as strengthening some of the blue areas.

The result reminds me of the shapes and colors I associate with sail boats and nautical themes, hence the title, "Nautical Lines." To go further (future pieces), I think I will need to add larger shapes and some additional layers to get more depth and visual complexity. I'm still trying to figure this out - it's definitely out of my comfort zone.

Day 13 - Words

Words, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 13 of the 30 Day Challenge

Something really different today. I started out by painting the substrate dark gray and let that dry.  Then I used a light tan (Titan Buff) to cover the gray with a fairly thick coat in most places letting a little of the gray peek through here and there. Then while the buff paint was still wet, I went in with a squeegee and a palette knife to create lines and patterns of varying thickness. I used the palette knife to wipe through some of the patterns to break them up a bit, then let the whole thing dry. I was planning to go back in with color but decided I like this the way it is. The color will have to wait for another painting.

As for the title, "Words," this painting speaks to me of the symbols societies create to communicate. All of our alphabets, glyphs, runes, etc. are just lines and shapes that describe what we want to say. Yet most of us can only comprehend one or two sets of symbols or alphabets, rendering other languages and alphabets mere calligraphic shapes devoid of meaning.

To purchase: If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page on my web site where you can make your purchase.

Day 12 - Orange

Orange, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 12 of the 30 day Challenge

For this painting, I started with an orange painting from a couple of years ago that I wasn't all that happy with. I eliminated one of the two oranges, and then abstracted what was left. The palette went from all hot (red, orange, browns, with the oranges being the cool note with hints of green) to mostly cool. I allowed a lot of the second orange to be lost in the background - just because. The process of destruction and reconstruction was interesting and fun. Interesting because I had to override what was already there to create something new. Fun because it's a lot better now.

To purchase:  If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page of my web site where you can make your purchase.

Day 11 - Barriers

Barriers, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 10"x10", $75

Day 11 of the 30 day Challenge

Today's painting is the result of what Twyla Tharp calls scratching -when faced with a lack of ideas, search among the experts for new ideas or avenues of exploration. I discovered some wonderful artists using basic elements such as fields of color, spacial division, lines, and layers to create wonderful, dynamic compositions. So I selected a few of the ideas that I really liked and decided to see what I could do with them. This painting primarily uses color fields and lines to create a unified, yet interesting composition (I hope.)

After painting the color fields, I added the line-work. I started with the thin, curly lines, then decided they were too consistently alike. So I pulled out an old credit card and added the thick, straight lines to add strength and direction. I think they helped.  In the end, it think it looks like a series of barriers that have breaks in them so you can work around them if you try hard enough (kind of like the mazes in childrens' workbooks.)

To Purchase: If you would like to buy this painting, please click here to proceed to my web site where you can make your purchase. Alternatively, you can make your purchase through Daily Paintworks by clicking on the Daily Paintworks icon at right.

Day 10 - Snow Beads

Snow Beads, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 10 of the 30 Day Challenge

This painting is based on a photo I saw of snow melt in a stream. The rocks were covered with snow and the water was running around them making a pattern of white beads in the dark water. Unfortunately, the camera refuses to capture the pale greens of the large areas of snow.

To Purchase:  If you would like to purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page on my web site where you can make your purchase. Alternatively, you can purchase this painting through Daily Paintworks - just click on the icon at right to go there.

Day 9 - Red Flowers

Red Flowers, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 9 of the 30 Day Challenge

I was playing around with a grid - you can see some of it in the background. I started adding red splotches to break up the solid divisions and discovered - flowers! So here they are - a spontaneous bouquet.

I'm finding that I need more time to think about composition, so I am going to have to figure out how to incorporate that in the process - maybe do the composition one day and the painting the next. Another problem to solve.

Purchase: If you would like to purchase this painting, please click here to go to my web site or click on the Daily Paintworks icon at right to make your purchase there.

Day 8 - Firebird

Firebird, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 8 of the 30 Day Challenge

In this painting I wanted to see what happens if I just go with intuition rather than trying to design it first. I think it works fairly well although it ended up being pretty low key. I think the small value range actually helps keep the orange-red from getting out of hand.I like the feeling of a bunch of feathers blowing this way and that - hence my title, "Firebird."

To Purchase:  If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page of my website where you can make your purchase.

Day 7 - Roses Are Red

Roses are Red, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 7 of the 30 Day Challenge

This painting kind of got away from me. I started out with a warm yellow-tan background and started adding the red-orange shapes. They almost instantaneously turned into flowers. So I decided to let them be. Then I added the stems and green pattern to finish up. I'm discovering what many of you already know - abstraction is really hard; we have an amazing ability to turn every mark into "something".

To purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page on my web site where you can make your purchase. Alternatively, you may purchase this painting through Daily Paintworks (click on the icon at right.)

Day 6 -Winter Trees

Winter Trees, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 6"x6", $50

Day 6 of the 30 Day Challenge

After spending the last couple of days running around, I decided it was time to use my fall-back painting to help me get back on track. This painting uses just Payne's Gray and White. I made the reflections and sky areas using a palette knife and squeegee, then followed up with the knife to create the tree patterns. I have to admit that the trees and reflections were "discovered" as I smeared the paint around with the squeegee.

To Purchase:  If you would like to purchase this painting, please click here. You will be transported to my we site where you can make your purchase. Alternatively, you can purchase this or one of my other paintings from my gallery on Daily Paintworks - just click on the icon at right to go there.

Day 5 - Progression

Progression, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 8"x8", $50

Day 5 of the 30 Day Challenge

In this painting, I continued to work on the cruciform composition as well as the play of colors against each other. Here I used cool colors and relatively loose shapes to create a pattern that brings to mind stepping stones (metaphorically speaking) with a progression from top to bottom in which each step moves beyond the reach of the one before it.

To Purchase: If you would like to purchase this painting, please click here to go to my web site. Alternatively, you can purchase it from the Daily Paintworks web site (click on the icon at right.)

Day 4 - Land Forms

Land Forms, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 4 of the 30 Day Challenge!

In this painting, I combined line work with a cruciform composition. I like the strength of the shapes but I think the overall effect is kind of rigid.  Ironically, the shapes didn't work as well before the lines were added. Also, in this painting the cruciform is very strong and obvious. I'll need to try a similar structure where the cruciform is less pronounced. I'm learning something new every day! There are so many different ways to design a painting.

To Purchase: If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will be transported to my web site where you can make your purchase. Alternatively, you can make your purchase via Daily Paintworks (click on the icon at right.)

Day 3 - The View Out The Window

The View Out the Window, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 3 of the 30 Day Challenge! 

I've been fascinated with grid, cruciform and strata compositions for some time and I've avoided them like the plague. Why? Because I had no idea how to make such linear compositions work. And I figured my engineering training would intrude and amplify the potential for rigidity and dullness, so better to stay away.

Well today I decided to challenge myself to tackle these compositional forms. This painting uses a grid pattern. I chose to amplify the lines and wound up with a stained glass effect. I plan to spend some time messing with different ways to use these compositional structures. When done well, they create some really interesting paintings.

To Purchase: If you would like to purchase this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 Day Challenge page on my web site which is set up to handle electronic transactions.

Day 2 - Floating on the Deep Blue Sea

Floating on the Deep Blue Sea, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", $50

Day 2 of the Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge. 

In this painting, I was working with the colors and shapes and how we perceive them. As I worked from top to bottom, I saw that the yellow shapes appeared to be floating on the blue and that they seemed to recede in the distance.

To Purchase:  If you would like to buy this painting, please click here. You will find yourself on the January 2016 30 day Challenge page on my web site which is set up to handle electronic transactions.

Day 1 - Across the Water

Across the Water, Acrylic on Gessoboard, 6"x6", SOLD

Day 1 of the January 2016 Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge 

Another January - another Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge! I thought I would start 2016 with 30 days of abstracts. I've been fussing around the edges of abstraction for a while and decided I should go all in and learn how to actually make a good abstract painting. I got a couple of books with exercises to help me learn the basics and I visited a bunch of websites to look at other artists' work to see what I like and try to figure out why I like it. After that, I think the rest involves doing - try things out, evaluate the results, then try more things. By making this the theme of my 30 Day Challenge, I know I will do at least that many exercises and experiments. I am starting small, but I may find that I need to go bigger in order to have room for expressive application of paint.

Today's painting is my first experiment. I started with a dark blue, mottled background and used a palette knife to add colors and shapes. When I got done, I thought it reminded me of boat masts or buildings or trees and water.

To Purchase: This painting has been sold, but I may have other paintings that you like. To go to my web site,  please click here.