Another Stolen Day

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Persimmons in a Black Bowl, 3 x 5 , oil on primed watercolor paper

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Pomegranate, 3 x 5, oil on primed watercolor paper

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Rose hips,  2 1/2 x 6, oil on primed watercolor paper

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Persimmons In Bowl. 2x3, oil on primed paper

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Portraits

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I hand picked these tri-colored carrots yesterday for a soup recipe I was developing. Their delicate root tendrils took more care in peeling than the average carrot, leaving more time to ponder their individual particularities. I began to think of them more as having personalities, deciding then to paint them as little portraits.

Wye Oak and Being Humbled

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The Wye Oak was the honorary state tree of Maryland, and the largest white oak tree in the United States. The Wye Oak was believed to be over 460 years old at the time of its destruction during a severe thunderstorm on June 6, 2002.
It is believed that the acorn that became the oak germinated around the year 1540.
My friend and fellow painter,Charles Sheely, gave me a branch, clipped from a 10 year old sapling of this great old tree. This is the first year his tree has produced acorns.
I quickly jumped into painting the branch, sitting for hours trying to mix the right green, trying to create depth in the leaves. My first attempt failed miserably. Nature once again has kicked me in the ass, and made me question the mystery of observational painting.

Granate

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It was in the Fall, two years ago, that I bought pomegranate branches. I carried, what was left of that flower district purchase, back with me to New York a few evenings ago.
Fall is here again.
The pomegranates have long ago dried.
My life is still here in this little studio.

oil on primed watercolor paper, 5" x 7"
oil on primed watercolor paper, 5" x 7"
oil on panel, 8" x 8"

Cape Henlopen, Summer's End

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Finally a few days, in late August, with clear skies. We decided to head to Delaware, Cape Henlopen. The campground is set on a WWII Army site. Visible still are the watch towers in the distance. We walked through the empty barracks and looked out over the arsenal, set back on the Great Sand Dune. Our meals cooked on the open fire and the sound of breaking waves in the night hours.

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June 2010

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With Whistler in mind, I ventured back to my favorite spot. I tried to just concentrate on capturing temperature and light instead of detail. It was a hot day in June, but on the pier, a nice breeze was pushing the clouds along. If I could, I would do a whole exhibition on this vantage point. How fleeting the hour, still constant this statue .

smoke screens

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A smoke screen is a release of smoke in order to mask the movement or location of military units.
I have been thinking of the ephemeral quality of smoke. This was on my mind when I painted forty candles,some of which I painted while they burned.
That was last year. Maybe this subject is one I should revisit, for this coming birthday.
Everything is so fleeting.

Lake Tahoe From Mountain Peak

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The lake was formed about 2 million years ago and is a part of the Lake Tahoe Basin with the modern lake being shaped during the Ice Ages.
In December I was commissioned to paint a landscape from a photograph of this small island in a bay. One afternoon on this trip, as we were coming around the lake, there it was! This tiny island, the same vantage point as the painting.
It was Vikingsholm, along with the "Tea House" on Fannette Island and Emerald Bay.
I would like to think that somehow I was on the right path. Something was leading me in the right direction.

Fulgora Candelaria

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My childhood neighbor's one job was to empty the bag, once a week, in the summer, from this massive insect zapper. We would dump the bag on the ground and look for anything still intact. My entomological collection grew from this chore.

This study is oil on primed paper

Once Belonging to the Neanderthal

Fontmaure Jasper

Period: Middle Paleolithic Period 80,000 - 40,000 years ago

Provenance: Fontmaure, West Central France

Mousterian tools that have been found in Europe were made by Neanderthals and date from between 300,000 BP and 30,000 BP
Neanderthals evolved from African apes along a path similar to humans.
Their stone tools were sometimes finished well enough to show some aesthetic sense. It is here that I am fascinated. That leap. That cognitive ability to "see" an object and realize from that abstract thought.
A rock is shaped into a tool.
A blank canvas into a work of art.

These are studies for a series of larger paintings, reflecting on stone tools that once were in the hand of the Neanderthal.

From Fort Ave.

I love the smokestacks in the distance in Monet's "At Argenteuil".
Thinking about how quickly the landscape changes with time. I used to be able to see the harbor and the oil drums from my old studio window, within six months, new housing went up, along with roof top decks,and the view was gone.

This is "From Fort Ave." Measures 8" x 16", oil on primed paper.

That Was Then, This Is Then

One Summer I was noticing a willow tree, one that I would pass every day on my way to work. What an interesting tree. Willow trees are also quite prevalent in folklore and myths.
I cut a branch and fashioned a loop and hung it on my wall. Not but a day, lightening struck this old tree and split it in half.
The branch stayed pinned to my wall, the leaves turned yellow. I decided to paint it and title it,"That was then, This is then".
In Persian literature, the recognized adjective for 'willow' is lunatic (مجنون), and lover (or lovers' heart).


This painting is 40" x 60", price by request
oil on canvas

Sunny's corner

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Sunny is a Korean woman who has the most beautiful corner florist stand in NYC.
Her place is 6th st and 2nd Ave. I have been visiting her for 2 years. I bought a nosegay of tulips and lilac in 16 degree weather. My plan was to paint and then give one of the paintings back to Sunny. The painting found it's way to an Argentinean priest. Funny how a day goes.

These are small studies of a nosegay that Sunny fashioned.

Clementines From Spain

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What a beautiful site, a Spanish Clementine, leaves still clinging, as if it were just picked. Found in a New York Grocery. Here is my attempt at trying to paint this fruit in under 10 minutes each. How to grab the color without thinking too much. Just a quick moment, indoors, smell of food on the stove, Berber music in background. Winter.

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