Spring Green

Been framing up some of my spring plein air paintings. For those who might be interested or in the area, I will show my work 3 times this summer. I will have about 25 paintings at Spring Green, WI this Saturday and Sunday. After that, I will be in Lake Geneva August 13th and 14th and then Barrington, IL on September 24th and 25th.

Fall

We've been spoiled this fall with nice, pleasant weather. With the nice temperatures, I found myself outside painting as often as I could. Some reason I only ended up with a few "keepers" though. The truck painting is 11x14 and the others are 14x18.

Halloween Art Show

I will have a few pieces in the annual Halloween show at ArtWorks of Kenosha from Oct. 1st-Oct. 31st with the reception on Oct. 31st from 6-9. Here are two of mine. The van piece is 14x18 and the other is 22x35.

2 Man Show

I will be having a 2-man show the month of August at the Beloit Fine Arts Incubator with Kyle Martin. I'm super excited to have the opportunity to show with him! The opening is August 7th 5-8pm. I will have a new series of figurative pieces, painted from life (along with interiors and landscapes). This 14x18 is one of them. That same weekend I will be at Lake Geneva Art in the Park on August 8th and 9th.

Art Fair

I'll be at the Spring Green art fair this Friday and Saturday with about 24 paintings. If you're in the area, swing by. Here are a couple of smaller pieces that I'll display.

Janesville Solo Show

I thought I'd post a couple photos my mom took of the opening night at my show, "Surroundings". I had a great time and it was a very nice venue. The show will be up until the 26th.

Solo Show Coming Up.

I've been framing a lot and finishing paintings in preparation for a solo show I'm having. The opening is Friday, April 24th from 6-8 at Raven's Wish Gallery in Janesville, WI and will run for a month. The title is "Surroundings" and I will have about 30 recent paintings, with a decent balance of interiors, landscapes, and a couple figures. Here are a couple recent ones. Basement is is 24x20, and the kitchen painting is 14x11.

Recent Interiors

Painting out the Window

During the winter, I find myself often painting views out my window. This one is from a few weeks ago. 20x24.

Merry Christmas

A little late but we were traveling. Thought I'd post anyway.

Recent Small One

Recent 11x14 painting. This is at a small body shop in town that seems to only have white work vehicles that they work on. It was a fun one.

Plein Air 11-7-14

This is a small (9x12) from this morning. What drew me in was the dark zig-zig shapes contrasted by the lit shapes. I always have to remind myself not to lose the elements that drew me in to begin with and not lose it by unnecessary details.

Figure Drawing 10-28-14

I can't always or don't always want to make the 40 or so minute drive to once-a-week figure drawing. So, when a model is a no show, I'm pretty bummed. Last night she was a no show and as we were packing up, three of the artists quickly filled in for some quick poses which was pretty awesome of them.

A Few

Here are a few recent smallish outdoor paintings. 12x16, 14x11, and 12x9 in the order they appear.

Halloween Witch Painting

This is a painting I recently completed this week. 20x16, oil. It's for a Halloween show in October in Kenosha. I limited my palette for this painting and probably could've limited it more (Cremnitz White, Yellow Ocher, Cadmium Red Deep, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue Deep, Viridian, and Ivory Black). I try to keep from posting show pieces well before the opening but I figure no one who reads this blog will be at the event.

Plein Air 9-3-14

When I go out to paint stuff in the landscape, I don't merely find an old tractor and say, hey I'm going to paint an old tractor. I stare at the scene and squint and figure out what really drew me to the scene. I think about the underlying abstract design and value structure of the scene. What drew me to this scene was the dark arc of shadows that arc up from the left connecting the lower parts of the tractor up and through the shed. I liked the way this was balanced with the grain bins and how they also tapered down in size from left to right. When I did this piece I thought there was a lot of chroma (bright colors) for me but when I took a look at it when I converted to black and white I thought the values (lights and darks) held up very well. 14x18, oil.

Plein Air 9-8-14

As I was driving home the other day, I discovered this place and I knew I wanted to paint it. It's called Bobby Rockets and is about 20 minutes from home. I went back there this morning and painted it. 14x18, oil.

Studies

The last couple days I've been doing some small loose sketches/studies/copies....whatever you want to call them, of some paintings by artists I like. I kept them small (5x7 panels) and quick, about an hour or so each. They were a lot of fun and I hope do some more as I learned a lot from each.

Plein Air 8-6-14

This Saturday and Sunday I'll be at Lake Geneva Art in the Park. It's a nice little show...come on out! This is a little 11x14 from this morning. I really enjoy being out at this farm painting which happens to only be about 5 minutes away.

Plein Air 7-28-14

I painted this one today, beginning in the morning. It was one of those days where everything began going well. I knew exactly what the composition was going to be and it started to fall together quickly. Then, the remaining hour, I became hesitant yet anxious at the same time to wrap it up. I also was a bit rusty, as it had been 3 weeks since I last painted. Some of my hesitation was due to multiple garbage trucks going up and down the alley directly in front of me kicking up dust. It was also super windy. I thought these Beauport easels are rock solid in the wind, yet I had to literally catch it as it fell forward from the force of the winds. Anyway, I thought I'd post a photo of it at the scene, where I painted it. It's amazing how much the lift changes and will flip flop especially when you compare the light sides of the house. 16x20, oil.

Plein Air 7-7-14

My friend snuck phthalo blue and phthalo green on my palette yesterday while we were both out painting. A couple colors I've always been fearful of because of their intensity, but I went with it. This is a farm only a few minutes away that I've been eye-ing since last year. All the buildings are white with a few others not included in the painting. I will definitely explore the whites at this farm on future occasions. 14x18, oil.

Plein Air 6-23-14

Outdoor painting "gurus" preach about "not chasing the light." Well, in my opinion, if the light changes for the better, I'm going for the latter. In this case, the scene went from full sun when I began to a cloudy/fox mix rather quickly near nightfall. I'm a sucker for understated grays. Painted in Cedarburg. 16x20.

Plein Air 6-30-14

My good friend and painter, Kyle Martin, was in town for a few hours today so we hit a rural scene. It's always fun painting with him. 14x18, oil.

Plein Air 6-16-14

Today, I had about a 2 1/2 hour block of painting time. Sometimes, having these set time limits, helps while painting decisive marks so that I don't fuss too much with the piece. This was done mid-day. 11x14, oil.

Plein Air 5-29-14

This is an 18x14 I painted about a week and a half ago. It was a very busy scene with a lot of fallen timber, sticks, debris, etc. It caught my eye though and I knew it would be a challenge to paint.

Plein Air 5-22-14

I enjoy painting in alleys. They offer a disheveled, non-contrived composition that appeals to me. Kind of a behind-the-scenes look at how people live. 16x20, oil.

Figure Drawing 5-13-14

Some quick sketches from last night's figure drawing session.