Ruminations on painting

Hurry Up and Wait (or 'not so fast!')

2010-03-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

As the semester wound down, going into the unknown is both daunting and liberating. With several possibilities in the mix, the subject of these paintings reflect that nearness of decision and choice.

Waiting Room, 2009-10, oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches

The waiting room. Are we about to go in, or are we already through and having a quick re-think? Run for the exit?

Last Minute Enticing, 2009-10 oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches

Worked on simultaneously with the Waiting Room, this is more about the distraction near the exit. Last minute opportunity around the corner?

Indeterminate Reaction

2010-03-05T12:03:00.000-08:00

Early into the semester, I was graciously informed that I wouldn't have a class to teach for the following semester due to further cuts in the community college budget. I've never been one to put all my chips in one basket, so having the various other part time jobs in the mix was a blessing.

Indeterminate Reaction, 2009-10, oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches

Following from the games played in Contract: Variations of Red, the subject matter takes on more relevance. There is an unknown quality about what is going on in the subset images. In one, there is what could be either a funeral or a celebratory bonfire, while the oversized cropped figure looks on, caught between a state of horror and laughter. The tabletop items continue themes from earlier paintings.

Contract: Variations of Red

2010-03-01T11:34:00.000-08:00

Momentarily freed from the worries that had been plaguing my focus all year...

Contract: Variations of Red, 2009, oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches

Initially an exploration of reds in a color field, this image is more about the abstraction inherent in composition and games with the picture plane. I've always enjoyed painting colorfields. The subtle variations of color and surface handling can simultaneously suggest infinite distance or a literal physical presence. There is the plane where the image begins to 'congeal', creating the sensation that you could reach into the space and touch things. There is also the physical plane of the surface of the picture. In this painting you get a sense of multiple planes competing (or getting along). Unfortunately, subtlety isn't something that is captured well in digital images. Art is best seen in person. Go see some art!

Third Quarter, 2009

2010-02-27T13:04:00.000-08:00

Entering the second half of 2009 was quite a whirlwind of uncertainty. As the semester ended, it was unlikely that I would be offered a class for the fall due to the California budget crisis affect on the community colleges. Going into the unknown with a negative outlook definitely seeped into my painting, continuing the themes from the beginning of 2009.

Shell Game, 2009, oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches

The character in the window (or mirror) is supposed to be in charge of the shell game, but it looks like he has lost track of his own game. In the meantime, the exit appears far away, through what feels simultaneously like a void and a monolithic wall.

Comfy Chair, 2009, oil on canvas 28 x 22 inches

The comfy chair unoccupied in a corner awaits. Yet the distance to it seems suffocatingly far, and there is a glimmer of the garden exit perhaps just a little further away through another room. Oh the decisions!

Beckon, 2009, oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches

At the end of the summer, not long before the semester began, I was offered a drawing class to teach! In the meantime I had been working with several local galleries updating their databases and preparing their operations for the next transition in the artworld. The garden exit feels a little closer, though things are still a little topsy turvy.

Some landscapes

2009-06-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

I can only hope the weather warms up again soon for some more landscape painting while I have the time and the light. The wind in San Francisco can take the fun out of standing in one place for a few hours. The locations I choose are often determined by presence of sun and lack of wind (and maybe the proximity of a restroom). I suspect that if i were to drive 20 miles north, south, or east, this wouldn't be an issue. I know that serious landscape painters would laugh at my thin skinned approach - bourgie bourgeois, a pleasant picnic in a pretty place with nice weather. Ahh the life!

I do want the paintings to have a pleasant seriousness about them. In contemplating form from nature and the thing we call 'art', i hope to capture more than a picture of a place.

Presidio - Lovers Lane Tree, 2009, oil on canvas 20 x 16 inches

Presidio - Grove Receding, 2009, oil on canvas 20 x 16 inches

Reflecting

2009-05-31T14:36:00.001-07:00

While I didn't set out to make paintings about the crashing of the economy, the paintings from the first half of 2009 have certainly reflected it.

These empty hallways have a story to tell. Their pictures within converse with each other, simultaneously pulling you in and pushing you out. There is a purposeful 'kookiness' to them with their distorted perspective and loose rendering a mild affront to 'civilized expectations'.

Of course, on another level they are continued explorations of picture plane and color theory.

The Hammering, 2009, oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches

Emptied, 2009, oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches

Herald, 2009, oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches

Floor space

2009-05-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

I am adjusting my working methods to the new realities. I had been spoiled before with the option to leave something on the floor, walking around it or simply not going near it for weeks. The floor gods and i were on pretty good terms. Nowadays, anything on the floor is in the way and must be dealt with immediately. Learning new habits isn't easy though. Another difference is going from a slick wood floor to rugs on carpet. There is a stickyness to walking on rugs on carpets. I feel i may trip over myself at times. So it goes.

I also knew that changing my studio space would change my work. Not having the space to set aside and contemplate almost finished work, the next grouping has felt like it was filling a vacuum. In the past, one work flowed out of and responded to the recent and nearby works. The current set of paintings feels separated, revisiting instead an idea that had begun previously. Now it is taking on the feel of the space. The following three paintings are small. Cramped corridors.

Carrot and Stick, 2009, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

Interjection, 2009, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

Happy Couple, 2009, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

Studio transition paintings

2009-04-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

To help make the transition to working in the new space easier, I purposefully left a few paintings in a 'mostly finished' state so that i could walk in and start right up. The overall forms and scheme had been established, leaving a few decisions to make, but mostly they needed some minor adjustments and surface refinements. And it did work. I was excited to get into the studio and work on them.

Changing the workspace has definitely affected the 'headspace' that i need for contemplating the final touches. This is the time that the painting looks pretty good and seems like it might be almost finished, but still needs something. That something can be dramatic (change all the colors, add elements) or subtle (shrinking sizes, adjusting angles etc). Often during this phase of painting i'll leave the work up and start another or do some prep work on new canvases. I like to see it out of the corner of my eye, and have it catch me by surprise in order to see it with fresh notions.
But this is a luxury that has been erased by the new studio. The limits of wall space leave me no alternative but to focus on the painting. The process feels more concentrated than contemplated.

So here are the transition paitings

Negociation, 2008-09 oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches

Elusive Assessment, 2008-09 oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches

Pass, 2008-09 oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches

Transition

2008-12-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

Sprawling in the Onramp studio. 36 contiguous feet of working wall, and room to make a mess.

The new walls.

I'm interested to see how my work and working habits will change in the new space.

End of OnRamp Studios

2008-12-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

All good things come to an end. We heard the warnings- the owner of the building had died, and left no will and had no direct heirs. His real estate friends are in charge of the estate, and as they are in real estate, they have no use for a building that is in a strange location and renting under market. To sell the building, they had to bring the tenants up to market rate ($1/foot), which is great (don't forget the 15% 'building load fee'). For us, we had too much space- about 1000 square feet of hallways, and then another 800 of under rented space that would need walls built (and people found and manged). And we would be put on a 1 year lease (with the implication of a rent increase or eviction with a new owner). Regardless, there was/is no way we could afford $3000. The new manager whose job it is to sell the building was quite friendly and willing to cut the space down for us, but by the time this became an option we had already mentally moved out.

So the short story- we had move on to another smaller studio space, for more money. Dana, Tina (my studiomates) and i found a reasonable space in the 'dogpatch' area of the city. I promised myself i wouldn't compare it to the previous space, which was a dream. I like to think of it as 'back to reality'. Now when people walk into my studio, they won't be in awe of the space and ignore the paintings.

The final twist is that during this time, the economy tanked and the new executor realizes that the building isn't going to be sold anytime soon for the 15m that they are hoping for. The exeuctor also now sees the benefit of artists in the building renting out smaller spaces, and is working with two studio profiteers (who we actually introduced into the building a couple of years ago) that feel comfortabel charging artists $600 for a 275 sq ft room.

And that's enough of that.

Summer

2008-07-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'll start off with that i've finally posted an update to my website (www.bencressy.com) and made a few changes. Well, maybe i'm testing a change. Instead of forcing the viewer to navigate via 'superthumbs' to pages of a few select paintings that fit together, I've put all the thumbnails on one page. The page ends up being 315k and this is what i would call sloppy web design, or maybe design for the broadband age. Of course, it probably doesn't work so well for those lucky enought to be able to browse the web on their phones. I also implemented 'thickbox' which makes it easy to browse through images via 'next/previous' links instead of having to go back to thumbnails and then click the next image. For the time being the change is only on the studio side.

Anyway, on to painting news. I've been plugging away and trying to finish a couple of paintings. One is another exploration of a 'bar' painting. I've been battling the color relationships of the major forms, and spent some time moving tape to find the placement of the pure abstract element that i have yet to label with an easily understandable explanation. Well, here it is... I think it's close to finished, but anything can happen.

Icarus or Annunciation, 2008, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

Another painting that I had been working on for awhile is complete. It stands out as something different, so i'm not sure how or if it will be presented within the current body of work. Perhaps a few more will follow it and flesh out the notion. It came out of the earlier hallway interiors.

Guardian Exit, 2008, oil on canvas, 48 x 36inches

I made a few studies of the figure (admitedly from a photo) before diving in and enjoyed that each time had a very different expression.

Situational experience

2008-07-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about how a painting lives in the world.
Most artist spend inordinate amounts of time contemplating an individual piece while in the process of creating it, and there by gain a multitude of insights and associations that are rarely communicable in this age of elevator pitch statements. But 'expressible content' and immediate 'visual parsing' aside, there is often so much more to the reality of the individual piece that gets left out of the representational image that we're used to seeing. Much of this is dependent on the situation that the painting is seen.

To get specific, I have a painting (Entice: Existent) that looks a warm red-purple under regular household or gallery lights (which are super yellow). Seen in natural light the color has a strikingly different experience - it turns to a periwinkle blue purple. And then there is the reality that there is often glare in a house that can make a painting difficult to see, but if you're lucky it shows off another aspect to the piece. Relative reflective qualities are something that i've been trying to incorporate for awhile, and it plays nicely with between colorfield and 'object' elements .
Here is an example.

The presence of surface qualities is something that never really comes across in a photo. Seeing the play of glazes, or the sensation of bushwork is almost always lost. I would rather have the painting give more to the viewer in person than the representative image of print and web though, but sometimes it is frustrating knowing how much is lost.

The final thing worth mentioning is how a frame finishes a piece. There has been a trend in contemporary art to not frame a painting. It gets expensive quickly, and framing styles tend to date a piece, but simply addressing the edges makes for a more elegant finish... Call me old fashioned.

Threshold revisted

2008-07-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

A painting can be perfect in a particular situation and fail in another. I had a painting that would absolutely sing in a dark red room. Unfortunately, i don't have a dark red room, and while i know it would look great in that situation, it looked a bit heavy on white walls. The gallery situation of white walls is unfortunately the standard, and most people have light colored walls. so it goes...
So i decided to revisit this painting and make it more 'white wall pleasant'. Now it might go even better on a dark red wall ; )

Threshold, 2007-08, oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches

Some Landscapes

2008-07-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

It had been a rather cold and windy spring for San Francisco and the surrounding area, making it less pleasant for painting landscapes. I was able to paint a few that I'm happy with that seemed to bode well, continuing from the fall seasons work.

So here are a couple...

Golden Gate Park, Wispy Fog, 2008, oil on canvas, 20 x 16

Lincoln Park Hole 6, 2008, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

And a few more.. For the most part I try to stay true to the oneshot plein air tradition, but these required some touch ups in the studio.

Golden Gate Park, Marx Meadow, 2008, oil on canvas, 20 x 16

Presidio Bluffs Loop, 2008, oil on canvas, 20 x 16

Occasionally I try to push the abstraction even further while remaining true to the location. At a certain point though the work can be done in the studio (it was cold!).

Muir Beach Hills, 2008, oil on canvas, 20 x 16

Where Next? Directions to the flippant and the sublime

2008-04-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

I don't really know what it is about a linear evolution that i so desire. Perhaps it's because i've normally worked in seemingly unrelated cyclic bodies of work. Having embraced working in series a few years ago, it would make sense that the work evolves in a nice, orderly linear fashion. At least that would make it easier for the presentation.

Within the flow there are subsets. And this is where i put them...

From the recent Bar Interiors, maybe I should make another to fill out the body of related work, but in the meantime i've started some explorations of directly depicted interiors. They are loosely representing the 'dead space' of hotels. Specifically the large hallway with the obligatory (my own or theirs?) table with lamp and literature. And the exit to the outside world. More about the subject aspect of it later. What they depict and what they are about are separate entities. Anyway, I've started 5 (22x28) and another 3 (14x11).

What I like about them:
Places for your eyes to travel and to rest. The compositions bring up a notion of speed- how fast can you reach the exit?
Quirky moments where wall and ceiling/floor start to blend together.

The downsides (i know, i'm not supposed to openly critique/disparage my work):
They feel like an illustrated idea in some parts. When the outcome is known or expected, the journey of the making of the painting is less of a discovery, less 'felt'. The impulse or impetus for the paintings existence, its drastic 'need to be' is lacking. This is probably my own issue with illustration or work that feels to easy, and the fact that i'm piling up storage issues. However, the first few are often easy, so maybe the next will have that required urgency built back in..

What i'm interested in is the broader form that carries those elements. The energy and direction of a wall or floor or architectural element. And I'm also curious about how the 'mental map' of a scene starts to degrade, either through memory or diverted attention. Eg- if my attention is on a door or scene outside the door, my vision or mental map will blur the things that are less important. (how do we represent that when the pictorial tradition and photography demand clarity?). That blurring holds potential for me- like a door to another universe is opened in places we aren't currently using in our consciouis mind.

The mystery is How!? Too fussy feels heavy and overworked. Dirty. The one shot version feels flip, illustrated. tah dah! Somewhere in between? And sadly, it cannot remain as a formula. Once discoverd, twice or three times investigated. A few more times is 'product'. Even more is 'rote'. Even more is a deadly crutch. If it gets that far, I hope it laughs regularly to the bank.

28 x 22 inches

Exhibition at Cañada College theatre lobby

2008-02-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

I have been invited by Bill Morales of Cañada College to install some paintings in the lobby of their theater. I figure it is good to get the paintings out of the studio for any exposure, and of course it's always good to see them up in another environment. We chose a range of work from plein air landscapes, small 'still life' combinations and two large synthesis paintings. It was interesting to see my largest paintings (68 by 83 inches) dwarfed by the scale of the walls. Here are a few photos of the installation.

Thanks Bill and Katrin

Installation view 2

2008-02-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

View 3

2008-02-18T13:36:00.000-08:00

Interview online

2008-02-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

I had received a request for an interview via email. It was a little while ago, but here is the link. Thanks Spraygraphic! It was fun to do.

http://www.sprayblog.net/spraygraphic-artist-interviews/spraygraphic-interview-with-ben-cressy/

or click here

Close but how close?

2008-02-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

It has been a slow season. Finishing up the semester teaching and all the holiday stuff, and perhaps a long preponderance of the direction the paintings are going in, have made for a limited trickle of paintings coming out of my studio. I have been slowly tweaking one painting that has been quite pleasant, but not quite ready to call finished. The process has been slow. Decisions to make a drastic change have been long drawn out. Minor studies ensued. And then jump! And then watch and stare and stare and think and try to feel. I know what i need to do, but the exactitude of it eludes me. So it goes.

Refreshed Tabletop?

2007-11-29T17:15:00.001-08:00

I was feeling like my series had run its course. What had started off as an abstraction of reflections on living- fragments of recognizable objects, broken words, letters and numbers - had congealed into some objects on a tabletop. First it was in abstract space. It slowly evolved into a more concrete symbology and moved into the landscape. Looking through my sketchbooks, I realize i haven't really taken on my interest in architecture of public/private spaces- bars in particular. I've got a pile of drawings made in various bars. So when i came back to the canvas, it was only natural that i bring the tabletop back into a barspace. What i found surprising is the rendering of the people in the reflections/windows. It is another language to the painting. More pressing is the color- sense of darkness glowing and glazed colors reacting in extremes to natural or incandescent lighting.

Breaking Reticence, 36 x 48 inches. oil. 2007

Entice Existent, 48 x 36 inches. oil. 2007

Displaced Interiors

2007-11-29T17:12:00.001-08:00

14 x 11 inches

Interjection

2007-11-29T16:50:00.001-08:00

In the face of the unknowable, we tend to impose simplistic notions of how the world works. It would be easy to never notice anything beyond our self imposed/created visions of the universe, but I cant help but think there is more out there. This might capture some sense of the interruption with its ominous pure abstraction of the monolith.

Epic, 68" x 83"oil on canvas, 2007

The story: Here I am going along my way trying to figure out with all my heart, what combination of luck, beaurcratic ability, talent, skill, and determination it takes to bring my little world of art to the pantheon (yes, call me a self absorbed and egotistical artist if you must) and along comes a hint of mystery so large and strange, that makes it all seem incredibly futile and piddly. Is that the life of the artist?

Gesture Fields

2007-07-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

I recently had the itch to do some gestural abstraction- which is something that i've done much of in the past. It starts with a personal calligraphy, a set of marks which form a visual phrase. It is as much about the space between the marks as the nature of the marks themselves. Through a process of layering my calligraphy and attempting to fit gesture within gesture, a field is built up which is simultaneously flat and voluminous.

36 x 24 inches

17 x 14 inches each

In the past I had the tendency to look for a composition to pull out from the field of gestures, which would eventually develop into a figurative mode in an attempt to discover purpose and meaning within. This time around i've allowed for it to just be itself.
I have to admit that it could easily fall into the category of an 'art by the yard' process.

Concerning rabbits and the importance of experimentation

2007-07-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

Much of painting is about trying to find some little piece of magic which will make the piece come to life and take on meaning beyond the image. I find myself occasionally struggling along and then somehow, after periods of despair that it has been a wasted effort, manage to pull a rabbit out of a hat. That eureka moment can come from any direction. Recently while painting a landscape, the moment came from a mode of abstraction used to render the sensation of leaves overhead, creating a mass of flatness and volume..

And other times i know i've got a few tricks up my sleeves to help solve a given situation, but wary of the gimmickyness factor that can squash the essence of discovery that i hope to achieve in each piece. A trick repeated too often looses its magic. In the weeks prior to painting this landscape, i had been working on some abstractions (for fun) that seemed to me to be not much more than pretty "art by the yard" process painting. It was a revisiting to a prior mode of picture making that once held my passion, but couldn't seem to come to a point of true fruit.

Summer Excursions

2007-06-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

San Francisco in the summer is generally a pretty cold place. I'm lucky enough that when the weather does become nice, I can often take advantage of it and go out and paint plein air landscape- usually in Golden Gate Park or the Presidio. The window of opportunity might be brief, and the wind can make the most beautiful of places bearable only for brief visits. Standing around in one place for a few hours is another thing. Luckily, I've found a decent spot that can be roughly in the sun and out of the wind and with a decent compositional possibilities.

So here are a few..

Largeness

2007-05-24T15:08:00.000-07:00

I was presented with the opportunity to work large when an offering of pre-built stretcher bars came my way. I've worked large a few times before and was excited to have a set of 6 stretchers all the same size (68" x 83"). The uniformity of size/proportion can help with a sense of continuity.

Confronting a canvas that is larger than yourself can be quite liberating and daunting. The sheer expanse of canvas and the massive block of color mass seem to have a gravity of their own (at least in person- - reproductions leave one ignorant of that experience).

The first one came out rather fast. I made a number of sketches and eventually settled on one, guessing what i wanted the color to do. And it felt great! Loose gestures and tight, quiet, refined passages all seemed to work together. The scale changed within the painting despite being roughly the same size as what i might normally put into a smaller painting.

The next one was a bit more finicky. Again i chose a few parts from sketches and created another drawing to familiarize myself with the composition, hoping for a repeat experience of the previous painting. One thing about working large is it is difficult to imagine how an expanse of paint will read in person. When looking at smaller painting, or a reproduction, the forms become more condensed. Eventually i managed to get the colors right- switching a few of the relationships around. Still- it was quite a fast, fresh painting.

The next piece has been another story. I suppose it picks up where i left off with a grouping of 3x2 paintings- where the form, colors, and content demanded drastic changes and minute refinements. A few months fly by as it seems to near completion but then demands something extreme. A confrontation of sorts. Perhaps it reflects an attempt to break the slight case of summer malaise that has crept in.

but more about that later...

Phases

2007-05-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

Cycle.
Excitement about the current and upcoming painting.
Satisfaction with the previous work.
Anxiety about finding a place that someone else might see them.
Disappointment that they remain invisible to the world at large, cluttering up my storage space.
Repeat cycle a few times.

Experiment with other subjects and styles, eventually returning to the main theme with a few more elements.
Repeat cycle.

Elemental Conflicts

2007-04-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

One of the ongoing conundrums in my painting (and painting in general) is the separation between the subjects implied narrative elements and the more formal painting elements. The essence of the story and reason for the picture wants to be the primary interest, but the pure abstraction is often what engages me while i'm making the piece.

A current example: trying to find the right balance between two blues in relation to two greens. The 'story' (as i see it) is about the scattering and isolation of elements- perhaps a drifting apart, or (hopefully) a coming together. or maybe it is stages of a journey? Some would push for leaving out the 'narrative subject stuff' and only have the abstraction, but that isn't enough to hold my interest. In the end, I'll enjoy the curious, veiled id expression and the open koan nature of relationships between symbols. In the meantime, it's about feathery vs. flat, blue and blue to green and green etc.

so it goes.

open and closed

2007-03-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

I'm in the process of trying to make my painting more like my sketchbook drawings (18 books are currently scanned in and up on my site under 'drawings'). In general, i see a back and forth over time between open and closed forms. That has always been a big question- how does one go from line to shape if the line doesn't connect to close a shape? The mind is good at filling in the gaps and accepting vague form, especially in drawing. In painting however, color begs the question- where and how does one color end and another begin. sharp or fuzzy? Not wanting to deal with all this perhaps explains why i love color field painting when it works. So here are a few recent little paintings.

Presentation

2007-03-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

So I just returned from New York where I ran around to as many art fairs as I could fit in. Unfortunately there was no way for me to do them all. I had some paintings with Andrea Schwartz Gallery who was in the Red Dot fair. The Red Dot is a new fair, held in a hotel. The gallerists had a restriction that they couldn't put holes in the wall (no new hooks), and no lighting assistance, so there was much improvising.

What I learned from seeing my paintings in that less than ideal situation is that i need to bring more painted light into the work. They need to look good in the dark. My studio is super deluxe in that i have gallery lighting with some natural light, but paintings don't usually live in that condition very often. To see it in a dull ambient incandescent/fluorescent light made me realize that the work could stand to incorporate a bit more (?what's the word i'm looking for?) glowing tonal richness. Still, lighting is key to optimize the viewing of any subtle work. And i'm interested in a color field variation, not Thomas Kinkade/ Bob Ross style illustrated drama.

Another thing- Framing! It is popular to show unframed paintings, and i think that can be fine if the stretcher is large and substantial, but one thing i learned from all my gallery experience is that frames can make an artwork seem worth the price tag. Even an artist gallery frame (something to protect the edges) helps make the work feel a bit more finished. So next time....

I also got to catch up with some old friends and see that they're up to some great painting.

Little Fast and Loose

2007-02-08T17:48:00.000-08:00

The year has had a pretty good start. For a release, I've been making small paintings with an artificial time limit while I labor away on a 3' x 2' painting which has fallen off the map. The speed and scale (and lesser commitment of materials) allows me a greater experimentation. It is much easier to accept a total failure of a painting if it isn't going to hog up a bunch of rack space. Now of course I'm wanting to put that looseness into the larger works which i've been avoiding.

Attendance, 14" x 11"

Circumbendibus, 14" x 11"

Redfield: Embark, 14" x 11"

Lingering

2007-01-13T17:48:00.000-08:00

I'll try to blame it on the holiday season and its many distractions.
I walk into the studio and stare for hours at the same painting. Put something in, wipe it off. Repeat. I stand in front of the painting waving a brush in front of the thing, never making contact. I had already done the fun explosive growth part of the picture making process, and perhaps even figured out what it was all about. Call it 80% finished. Unfortunately, a large percentage of time in painting is fine tuning. I'll even take a photograph of the piece and play with a few ideas on it in photoshop before executing what feels like a bigger move. At some point I put it aside and move on. It could be done, or maybe in a few months (or years for that matter) i'll realize precisely what it needs. So here it is, another painting.

Labyrinth, oil, 36" x 24"

flow

2007-01-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

perplex encounter, oil, 36 x 24

I'm not entirely sure about the title. Something offstage looms- enticing and strange.

Dawn

2006-11-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

Staring down the barrel of my own personal history.

I slowly begin to understand a broader depth. Of chess, or go, there are volumes written on set plays or individual moves, and the philosophy or possibilities for what can come next.

Lately I've been feeling this sensation while painting that the underlying forms I create are innate- that I've made them many times before. Sometimes they might take awhile to re-surface or cycle through. The contradictory twist from top to bottom, pushing. Distant to minutely up close. The swoop. It has been said before by many teachers that we have only a few forms in us and that we constantly fight our repetitive nature. Or give in to it thoroughly. It can look vastly different each time in its' superficial appearance (it might be a picture of people playing croquet, or cars in a parking lot or blobs of color gestures), but the fundamentally pure form of the painting is still there regardless of subject.

And the issues never resolve! There is no argument. It is only a situation.

Another start

2006-10-31T13:42:00.000-08:00

I thought i would try to show the development of one of my paintings.

So I begin again. 2 canvases, both 3' x 2', primed and ready to go. I prefer a smooth surface, free of the canvas texture, so this takes 5 coats of primer and sanding. And of course, I don't have a specific image in mind as i start. Here is the evolution of one.

!!! Blurt- draw doodle, wipe it out and gesture again until the balance feels right.

Open blank spaces seem to have so much possibility, but I guess I'm the one to explore that field. Who looks at art with their imagination fill in the gaps these days? So I fill it with some color and substance. I think i want a slate blue painting...

There is a mystery to the pieces that I'll live with and eventually figure out what it might all mean. So I tweak the forms and colors for awhile..

Stepping stones. The seed and flower lurch out beyond their location, pulling their field closer while it seems like it should be a bit more settled.

My eye keeps wanting something to bring it back around into the composition and it would make sense that those (tiny) trees are marching off into the sunset/moonrise.

and now for some contemplation. cycles of life, decisions between options, things not quite seeming like what they are and some things that we'll never truly understand. Acceptance of abstraction might be the answer.

so on this note i think i should mention that there are often paintings that fall off or out of the linear series concept of art that we have been led to believe in.

Anticipations (bingo bar)

2006-10-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

So this is the painting that i had been working on before the studio break in/laptop removal program. I had hoped to show the various stages of its creation, but that'll have to happen with another painting.

Anticipations (bingo bar), oil on canvas, 56 x 42 inches

process

2006-09-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

So i thought i would share the steps of one of my current paintings. My process has always been one of discovery, with both form and 'content' evolving through trial and error. I'll start a composition with a notion of intent, but knowing that it can go any which way. Elements get added in or deleted. The decision to make a move can take weeks. Sometimes I'll hit a wall and have to make a brash move - cathartic destruction to open up a new avenue of creation.

So I am certainly not an illustrator, rarely crafting a preset image.

I find it is good to voice out loud what the painting seems to say to me and what i want it to say. Of course too much of that and ones paintings run the risk of becoming over simplified and locked down.

2 half tables in a bar. An fun but awkward space, with a sense of imminence. A door comes and goes, only to return again. Lights with numbers (i'll call it the bingo bar maybe) to suggest possibility, that your number has come up.

This is where ones community comes in. We need others to ask questions that we cannot think to ask. Whether the questions are relevant or not is an other issue. Today i ask myself, 'where do i want my eye to settle, and how do i want to achieve that?' Maybe that isn't necessarily important, but it could be so i should consider it. How can i vary the physicality to make a stronger impact?

and the list goes on.

And then we had a studio break in. I had hoped to insert some previous states of the current painting, but they went with my laptop. argh...

and life goes on....

minimalism

2006-09-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

Fine Tuning Sensibilities

2006-08-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

My latest explorations have brought up an issue that I haven't verbalized lately- that of scale. Scale is one of those words in painting that has many meanings. I wont go after the dictionary to bore you with the standard definitions, but one idea is the size of the representation relative to its borders- say a small dot that represents a city, or a picture of a flea that fills the frame. Another more obvious idea is the physical size of the piece. There is a tendency of reproductions to flip the relationship of size perceived- small paintings seem large, large seem small. So i've begun a 'large' painting (really what i'd like to call medium- but there are some practical constraints in my world) and there is something about its forms that make it feel quite small- in person even. Smaller than it is. It feels more like 14 inches instead of 56.

I ramble about this sense of space in painting because the abstract pieces that i'm working on are very much about that. And presence. Through looking at these minimalist abstract paintings, i find my senses becoming more fine tuned. One compositiion might feel 'drifty', another somehow 'intent', and another 'exclamatory'. The elements, despite being a simple line or patch of paint, seem to have independent character. Humble, snarky, I don't know how else to explain it. sleepy, curious, watchful. It is something one might only notice after spending much time with them- they aren't illustrations after all, so they won't hit you over the head with intentional content.

photos to follow.

pure abstraction

2006-07-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Well, as long as I'm presenting some of the experiments and side projects, here is some pure abstraction. I've often played with what I'll call 'straightforward abstraction' over the years. My initial eureka moment (when I new I had to do art) was primarily about an abstract construct of space. I could say it is also about a state of flux between related parts within a greater whole. Whatever it is, it isn't easy to describe with words- hence the need for visual art. So here is an example of the latest incarnation of the idea- I think of these as a triptych, and hope that one can get a sense of communication between elements in each panel.

recent experiment

2006-07-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

And another. Well, you have to read the previous post to know what it is 'another of'.

But i have to admit, picasa does make it easy to crop and post straight from my raw library. So this one is all graphic- taped off edges for a stark feel, but contrasted with defiantly quirky brush strokes. Blocks of flat and impersonal paint vs. variegated and detailed areas. I have no idea if it'll take me anywhere with my main body of work. Perhaps it'll end up on the alter ego site... more about that some other day.

experiments

2006-07-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

So, one of the beauties of being full time is that i now have the freedom to devote some energy to experiments that have little to do with my main body of work. I know that sometimes these can influence my main themes and ideas, and allow more fresh discoveries. It is a healthy process which i hadn't allowed myself much of over the past few years. With less pressure to make something conform to a set of rules, anything can happen. Of course, if that's all I created, it would be an uncohesive pile of random ideas.

Hmnn. That brings up a notion: most bodies of work are built up upon a base of a self referential history (i dont have the right word at the moment), a set of beliefs and ideas that can crumble without a context. The experiments dont have that, and therefore are somewhat immune from criticism.

Anyway,Here is one from awhile back. Thick slabs, dense brushy field, tenuous lines and an advertisement.

And this is also an experiment testing picasa software. from photolibrary to blog in 1 click. unfortunately, the posting window lacks a few of the normal buttons- for inserting extra images and saving as a draft. so it goes.

Blast away

2006-07-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well, i think i managed to finagle a shift. The struggle to bring some of the pieces that were mostly finished but not yet cherished has finally brought some reward, and relief. The colors that i had were causing me some grief- decidedly foreign to me, i would describe them as 'particularly feminine'. It's vaguely embarrasing sometimes- after all, i'm a macho man ; ) I had arrived at a deep yet chalky purple that made me want to wretch. A mawkish combinatation that could be used for a purpose, but inappropraiate for the painting. At least it turned out to be a good undercolor for the greengrey that it had ended up with.

Another i had received early complements on, and felt compelled to leave. But in the end, it's my painting that i've got to live with having created, and i knew it needed a push. So i made it a bit more intense and brought out more contrast in color and tone. And now i think i could live with it (though it would look fabulous on one of your walls, i'm sure!).

And I might still have a few more tweaks in store.

Working Processes

2006-06-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

When I walk through the studio door fresh in the morning, I usually look at the work on the walls and write a cut list of things that I think need to happen in a painting. It can be a bit like this:

Black blacker
highlight flower
counter circle bottle
shadow
dark red table edge.

In doing this, I find it easier to get up and motivate with a brush, and I don't have to remember the flash of inspiration that happened to get squashed somewhere in the routine of the day. My list also has mundane things like clean table, prime canvas, email, add link, choose 4 for Friday deadline. Some lists take a few days, and it is just another dayjob after all. And it's mine to create and crack the whip.

The throes

2006-06-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

Often I find that a painting will reach a point where it looks almost finished- as in the composition works and it is basically 'painted', yet for whatever reason lacks in 'punch'. Figuring out what to do next is often a long, cumbersome and drawn out period. It can take me weeks or months to discover or decide what the missing element is. Sometimes it's best to give up and accept the piece for what it is, while other paintings demand that extra mile of effort. One of the hardest things to accept is that it's often going to get worse before it gets better. Nobody really likes to look at their creation and think 'you sure are ugly- and a bore! what was I thinking?!'

So what next? destruction in search of creation? I can only hope that each additional element augments the visual/emotional impact of the painting, or that it might lead to a moment of revelation. The rewards can be great, but sometimes you will be left with an overworked, tired and lifeless waste of spent materials.

Somewhere along the line....

Direction? graphic

2006-06-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

I want to believe that it's hard to believe that we're still waiting for DSL to be hooked up at the studio after first placing an order 14 days ago, but then again, it is TPC (the phone company) i'm talking about so it should be expected. It has been a minor irritant and a distraction (there i just had to get that out)

Painting is still going well.
Recent notions:
I've been slowly heading in a more graphic direction for quite a few years- harder edges, clearly defined colors etc, but i'm not entirely sure that's where i want to go. It seems that some of the energy and depth of an artwork gets lost to the ends of making an image. Still, i've made a point of making the paintings do something that is near impossible to capture on film or pixels- Layered translucent colors and the sensation of brush strokes in paint never translate very well into reproduction. That is good for the pleasant surprise of seeing the pieces in person vs an image of the piece- something that i'm not so sure happens with much of the work that i see coming out of this decade that is purely graphic and flat and perhaps intended to be reproduced. Usually these works strike me as drawing or illustration or graphic design. So here is an image of a recently finished painting...

Compulsion Entranced, oil on canvas 36" x 24"

Next comes my issue with how an image is made... through a long struggle to find itself, or simply draw it and fill in the bits and done?

Technically goofing off?

2006-06-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up in no particular mood to rush off to the studio, instead having a list of odds'n'ends that I could do on the backend of my production - database entry and the likes. Somehow, I ended up surfing (surprise!) and found myself trying to figure out how to get a map application to work for me.

After many hours of tweaking and tearing my hair out trying to figure out a specific detail (which I never did really solve) here it is....

http://miscellaneum.com/ajax-yahoomaptest.html

It's much like a google map in that you can click and drag and have the map unfold as you need more. I've added specific locations from where I painted some of my recent landscapes. Maybe I'll even update it, or do some of that dreaded back end work to catch up on entering more from the past.

...

And then I find there is another prebuilt service which let me put this together in an almost painless matter of minutes, and it uses the google map system.

http://miscellaneum.com/pixagogomap.html

Return

2006-06-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

Now I can say that the beginning is beginning. Vanessa and I just returned from a short 10 day trip to London and Paris, where we reconnected with friends, drew in pubs while drinking proper English beer, and experienced acres and miles of fantastic old master painting. It is sad that we don't have more old European masters here in San Francisco, or America for that matter (excepting the Met), so we gorged on it. The National Gallery, Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, and the old Tate. If we had more time I would've like to have visited the Tate Modern, but I figure we have access to the type of art they have on exhibit. So with all that fresh in my eyes and washed over my artsoul, my excitement to get going again is making me bounce off the walls.

Walls. Our studio had been the site of a benefit auction, so I had cleared out my space to allow for their presentation. Upon returning, I decided (despite the urge to jump in) to make the most of the clear space and refinish my rather thrashed walls. Holes filled, skimcoated and painted, I then chose an new configuration of the various sizes I'm starting in order to break up the space.

And in between coats, we signed up for dsl, so we'll be able to research and post from the studio. So hopefully next week I'll be able to post an image, so this isn't all blather and no glitzy images.

Floodgates opening

2006-05-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

Bliss. Rolling along, I'm on day 4 of being my own boss and it's great.

I had been staring at 3 blank canvases for the last few weeks trying to get an idea of what i wanted to paint. The previous paintings had been a struggle- both in terms of the imagery and the physical materials refusing to dry. I'd gone through the cycles of loving, despising, enjoying, and accepting the three for what they had become (actually, one of the previous 3 is still open to some destruction/creation), but the journey had left me a little intimidated by the unknown of the paintings that were yet to begin. I had also made 3 smaller explorations in abstraction which were hanging next to the larger blanks, influencing where i thought i might want to go. I ended up having to remove them from the mix on the wall. (more about my acceptance of pure abstraction another time)..

So finally, after leaving the dayjob, i get a sense of relief and satisfaction. I started in on one with a rough sketch. The composition seemed right, and so i started blocking in the colors (lately i've made a move to breaking up my composition and working with more high key set of colors). Somehow, this painting seems to be coming together surprisingly well- almost too easy. But maybe i deserve an easy paint this time around.

Inspired, I begin composition number 2, and maybe number 3.

In the meantime, I've finished prepping a slew of canvases for landscapes and smaller studio works, and have started a design for a postcard to promote the landscapes to people who ask me about them while i'm working.

pictures to follow (or precede given the recent to older format)

Studio intro

2006-05-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

So here's a picture of my studio space. I've been lucky enough to share a large studio with 3 other artists- Dana DeKalb, Tina Vietmeier, and Andrea Antonaccio. Dana and Tina walk through my area to get to theirs, so i always try to leave them a path through my 'floor clutter' (more about my relationship to the ground plane later). Needless to say, there is lots to dodge on any given day.

We don't have internet access there yet, which has been a good thing for making paintings only. Now however, the studio is also my office. I promised myself i would get better with emailing friends and associates, as well as constructively researching opportunities to show the work. So hopefully soon i'll be posting from the studio as it happens.

So begins another journey

2006-05-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

I quit my comfortable dayjob at Hackett Freedman Gallery where i was a prepartor for the last 3.5 years. I learned much and it was a great experience, but now it is time to focus on my creative career. I've been really good at going from the day job to the studio and making art, but i've failed to promote my paintings and do the things that can help my future as an artist.

This will be my art diary, exposed to those who are curious about what goes on in the studio. I'll share various stages of paintings as they happen along the way, as well as some of the other concerns of being an artist.... like what do i wear now that i dont have to blend in ; )

And of course, i have to learn how to use blogger...
So here is painting i thinking of donating to an aids benefit auction, if they'll accept it.

"Flirting Disaster" oil on canvas, 2006, 14 x 11 inches