"Cantaloupe & Peaches"

Private Collection, Ft. Worth, Texas

This 6 x 8 inch oil is the companion piece to "Silver Cup & Peaches", sent to Galerie Kornye West recently for their annual Fall Art Walk.

Of the two, this was painted first, as an homage to Chardin. His painting, "The Cut Melon", remains one of my favorites.

As I tried to set up the cantaloupe so that it would have a shadow pattern similar to the original, I received my first "aha!" surprise from the great Master. It was impossible to set it up in the same way, tho I tried many times. With my daylight source coming first from the right, then from the left, moving the cantaloupe slice this way and that, it slowly occurred to me that Monsieur Chardin painted reality as he wanted to see it, not necessarily as it was.

His work reminded me that representational art is not simply about copying, but about creating something poetic with the look of reality.

As Degas said "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."

One Shoe

20 x 15 inches, conte drawing

Drawn as one of a series, this was inspired by studying the drawings of Tintoretto, Degas, Ingres, Annibale Carracci, Andrea del Sarto and John Singer Sargent. I also found inspiration in "Richard Schmid Paints the Figure", an interesting approach, enhanced by his incredible drawing abilities.

Who wouldn't be inspired after looking at so many wonderful masterpieces?
The real trick is not to meltdown and to not give up.

It was Degas, I believe, who recommended to a student "Lines...draw many lines".

Truly, life is not long enough to do everything.

Birthday Bash & Japanese Woodblock Show at the Art Institute of Chicago

"Cafe Du Monde", pastel, 22 x 28 inches.

Idaho was fabulous. I fully expected to come back, chain myself to the easel, and paint for weeks, coming up for air once in a while. I did manage one day in the studio, when a spur of the moment opportunity came up to spend my birthday in Chicago, visiting the Art Institute by day and listening to Astral Project at the Green Mill Jazz Club by night.

Splendor itself, there is currently a show, "Evening Glow" of Japanese prints on view from September 22–December 9, 2007 in Gallery 107. Overview from the Art Institute: Over the centuries, Japanese printmakers have expressed the many aspects of evening. From the soft light of dusk to the darkness of night, the sky’s changing moods have been captured by Utagawa Hiroshige, Kawase Hasui, and others. On view are over 30 woodblock prints of nighttime images.

Additionally, the Art Institute has 2 Chardin pastel portraits on display. Museum policies prevented me from following my natural urge to build an alter and strew roses at the base in front of Monsieur Chardin's late pastels of his wife and his own self portrait. Mon Dieu!!

I felt a similar urge in front of The Great One, Degas.
"At the Milliner's Shop" opened my eyes to new possibilities.
Made me want to paint; changed my vision.

I'll be re-visiting and posting drawings and pastels that I painted several years back. I feel the strong need to look back at what inspired me, what work I did before I worried or thought about galleries and sales. I have no way of knowing how long that inspiration will last- days, weeks or months- but in looking back I also look forward. There's no more difficult task for an artist than to find your own voice. I must embrace every opportunity to find my own way, irregardless of gallery sales, what collectors want, what I painted last week or last year. Inspiration is everything.