An Artist's Life

Variations

2012-02-04T11:59:00.001-07:00

It all started with a simple pencil drawing...

Jan 2012

2012-01-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

A drawing for January.

2012 New Year's Resolution

2012-01-23T21:40:00.002-07:00

I've decided that this would be a very reasonable resolution for 2012: sell one print online. And to help make this happen, I've remodeled my website to focus on my one sale. Wish me luck!

Jack Aubrey's Studio, giclée on canvas

Still learning

2012-01-17T21:15:00.001-07:00

I suppose that if I really knew how to draw, I'd stop and say something like, "Well, that's that." Which would be sad, because I'd then need to take up a hobby. Like puzzles. Or watching stuff on TV. Therefore, I'm pleased to tell you that I have much to learn, ergo I'll keep a-drawin'.

Remembering how to draw

2012-01-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

I spent some time today remembering how to draw. I'm trying to come up with a good new year's resolution and thinking it might have something to do with having some fun with art and playing a bit. The collages were really great for this, so maybe I'll explore that a bit.

Princess Feather Hat

2011-12-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

Collage #1 for 2012. (I'm getting a running start).

Three good words

2011-12-23T16:19:00.001-07:00

These collages were made for an upcoming show called "Text Messages" that the Treasure Valley Artists' Alliance is putting on at Boise State Public Radio in January. I don't know if they'll be accepted in the show, but I thought you might like to see a preview of my first text-based art.

Ho! Ho!

2011-12-18T15:56:00.001-07:00

The elves decided to go for a second color on the card this year, so we now have a two-tone card. Them elves, they slay me!

The elves make a little progress in the Christmas Card Workshop

2011-12-10T11:34:00.004-07:00

I took the day off from work yesterday to finish the carving. Today and tomorrow I'll be printin' up a storm!

...and here's the final!

News Alert: Giant Elves Seen Wrapping a Huge Gift for You

2011-12-03T22:17:00.003-07:00

I didn't have my camera handy when I spotted these elves, so I took the liberty of capturing the moment with an artist's rendering.

This is what I recall seeing last night when I turned on the light in the studio.

Muse's Doors sur l'herbe

2011-11-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's the original Muse's Doors

2011-10-17T21:25:00.001-06:00

Two's company, three's a crowd, and four's an obsession

2011-10-17T20:57:00.002-06:00

Little Gem

2011-09-28T21:25:00.001-06:00

This is a little gem. That's an Idaho word. Or a Napoleon Dynamite word, if you catch my meaning. Anyhoo, here's a gem I happened to have in my pocket.

A New Beginning

2011-09-20T20:25:00.000-06:00

Painting # 1 of Thresholds A.D.

We made it onto the news!

2011-08-11T12:45:00.003-06:00

Channel 7's Doug Petcash did a nice story on the Thresholds show. Doug is a gentleman and a scholar. He's also a super nice guy.

One Mo'

2011-07-24T18:46:00.002-06:00

Here's Just One More Painting for the Thresholds show.... Big Joe.

Joseph's Door

Those cute curlicue things have just got to go, that's all there is to it

2011-07-16T15:32:00.002-06:00

I hope to finish one more painting for the Thresholds show. This is a big canvas -- 48 inches tall -- but I think I'll have enough time before the show opens on July 29th. Here's what it looks like so far...

The prince of Saturday and Sunday

2011-06-26T21:42:00.007-06:00

Sure, mowing the lawn is great, but it'll never beat the feeling of completing a new varied series of thirty awesome four-color linocuts!

Musing on a new print

2011-06-18T17:20:00.008-06:00

Today I printed 38 backgrounds. Tomorrow I'll print the chair, floor boards, and halo on top of the background colors and I'll discard the ones that don't work.

I hope there'll be about nine left to frame once all the discarding is done and the dust settles and the sound of cussing fades away and the foot stomping subsides and the fist pounding and teeth gnashing and garment rending ceases and desists.

O Muse! I need some help here!

The Prince of Prints

2011-06-15T22:13:00.002-06:00

I've been really nervous about creating a linocut print for my show. This is probably because for the past 25 years, I've only made one or 2 prints that are NOT Christmas cards. So, it is with real pleasure that I present to you my latest linocut print varied edition.

Click the image to view it larger. C'mon! Just do it!

The Genie's Lagniappe

2011-05-30T18:42:00.001-06:00

Wish #3

2011-05-30T18:22:00.000-06:00

Wish #2

2011-05-30T10:57:00.000-06:00

Wishes

2011-05-27T20:51:00.008-06:00

It's not really much of a story. I was just sitting in the studio getting my butt kicked by an insanely tough collage and the Genie came a-knockin'. Coming out of the bottle in a big puff is no longer the scene for these guys. So, anyhoo, I asked for a little help. Here's wish 1.

Lina's lines

2011-05-26T20:08:00.001-06:00

Lina came over to the house last night and we had a great daddy/daughter moment talking about this collage and trying a few things. She took the driver's seat and solved a visual problem we were having with the wavy lines on the left. Collaboration has its rewards!

Collage 101

2011-05-22T21:16:00.015-06:00

Step 1: dump all your supplies onto the table.

Step 2: throw stuff together till it looks like a door and a floor.

Step 3: take away all the pieces that aren't helping.

Step 4: use glue on the parts you want to keep. Use the fan on its highest speed to deal with the rest.

Step 5: Done! A nice glass of shiraz comes in handy right about now.

Elphaba's Doors

2011-05-21T17:38:00.001-06:00

...yep, that Elphaba. Here's to you, Greenie.

Stripes are my favorite color

2011-05-10T21:44:00.001-06:00

Sprang Door

2011-05-07T19:13:00.001-06:00

Here's a tiny little painting that came along during the process of a larger one that you'll see soon.

A new self portrait for Modern Art 2011

2011-04-17T18:24:00.001-06:00

Sunday Painter

2011-04-17T16:21:00.000-06:00

Yes, I'm a Sunday Painter. Here's proof.

This painting is dedicated to the memory of David Ripley.

Big Flo makes the scene

2011-04-14T22:22:00.005-06:00

Grant's tomb

2011-03-26T13:05:00.008-06:00

I just found out that I will not receive a grant that I applied for from the Idaho Commission on the Arts. I was hoping to get the grant to help pay for the expenses of my upcoming show in July.

One of the good things that came out of the application process, though, was my artist's statement. I have never gotten more personal than this and I think it was worthwhile to spend time writing about why I make art. During the process I painted this:

Artist's Statement

Making art is an incredibly fulfilling experience for me. As a child I was always drawn to the old masters of the Italian renaissance and paintings and sculpture. I was fortunate enough to live in Europe for eight years and to see many of the great Renaissance works in person. I know these experiences had a life-changing effect on me.

The process of exploration through making art is something that I return to again and again. My formal training helped my technique but only through continual practice have I truly found my voice. My work comes in part from a desire to show the deep spirituality in everything. It really is as simple as that.

Perhaps my images are personal, but my hope is that they reach viewers on a level that everyone can understand. Themes that I find fascinating are solitude, peace, enlightenment, spirituality, meaning, and the inner life.

My work reflects my deeply felt connection to other artists both living and past. The images have many references of homage to Giotto, Caravaggio, and Piero della Francesco as well as profound and, to me, deeply moving debts of gratitude to Gaugin, Bonnard, Vuillard, Munch, Cezanne, Matisse, Klee, and Diebenkorn. When painting, I immediately tap in to the continuum that these and all other artists share. It is truly timeless.

I also feel a strong and enduring bond to the best of my teachers: Wilbur Niewald at Yale, Michael Crespo and Robert Hausey at Louisiana State University, Louis Finkelstein, Rosemary Beck, and Deborah Rosenthal at Queens College, Rick Paul at Purdue, and most especially Jean Pichotta and Frank Gross who helped immensely with their encouragement and support at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.

Now as I near my fiftieth year, I work in the studio every day. It is important to me to make art and to pursue a career in art, not only for myself but to serve as an example to my children and also to artists in the community.

Each new painting signifies a new exploration, a new layer revealed, a new path on the journey, and a new connection to the infinite.

Blue bits

2011-03-17T21:57:00.001-06:00

This little painting came straight out of a tube of Confetti Blue that was in the bottom of an old steamer trunk in the attic. I don't even think they make Confetti Blue anymore, so that makes it extra rare.

I would cut a woodcut... would you?

2011-03-06T15:34:00.019-07:00

This is my first ever three-color woodcut made especially for Amy Nack's Leftovers print exhibit at Wingtip Press. The image isn't all that complicated, but it still gives a great sense of accomplishment to a guy who has never done more than two colors in a single print.

Saint's Chair, edition of 20, 3-color linocut

A Little Chair for a Little Saint

2011-02-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe, kind of

2011-02-13T17:11:00.001-07:00

Eddie Manet painted a luncheon in the grass and this is my take on it.

The great thing about modern art

2011-02-07T22:27:00.008-07:00

Here's my 3-second explanation of why modern art is my cup of tea: Modern art has utopian signifiers. Post-modern art? Not so much.

If you don't believe me just ask Robert Pincus-Witten.

Here's a signifier for you:

A recipe for a painting

2011-01-22T21:45:00.004-07:00

Break a few rules, fold in the blue stripes, discard the whites.

Add a crooked, hand-made doorway. Avoid canned, store-bought, and processed doorways.

Add more stripes, but this time in the other direction. Be liberal.

Using a paintbrush, stir for 30 minutes on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

On Saturday bake for a couple hours, more or less.

At the last minute, add some orange zest.

Voila!

Uh-oh... there's another painting in the house

2011-01-17T21:36:00.003-07:00

Whoever painted this thing thought there was something crazy cool about the way the blue pops.

Takesies-backsies

2011-01-08T21:20:00.001-07:00

This is the chair I gave my wife Melissa about 20 years ago for her birthday that I took back because it's a great painting chair. For me.

Wham 2011

2011-01-02T20:33:00.005-07:00

This is a new painting I finished this week. This photo doesn't quite do it justice. You should see that aqua shine!

I had no intention of making an aqua greenish bluish turquoisey painting. It's just not in my vocabulary. I struggle with even saying the words. I only intended to start with a color wash on the canvas and chose turquoise for fun. Honest.

It's NO FUN to work on white canvas. The colors compete with the bright white all day long until it's all covered up. One easy way to fix that particular problem is to start with a colored ground. I normally use burnt something or raw something (Think sienna. Think umber). But occasionally I forget and use whatever's at hand. Like turquoise. Of all things.

As things progressed with this painting, there was a moment that sounded something like this:

WHAM!

And I pretty much had to stop. Here 'tis:

A new door to Paradise for a new year in Paradise

2010-12-31T08:37:00.002-07:00

A New Christmas Card

2010-12-05T15:06:00.007-07:00

Here's the drawing for this year...

Here's the start of the painting on the linoleum block...

Here's the finished painting...

Now, it's time to carve! Here's the image at about the halfway point.

This is a close-up of Lina-in-the-box getting a new mitten.

And this is the linoblock fully carved out. Next step, artist's proof!

The first few proofs show the errors. Whoops! Hey, fix my nose! Here's AP 3.

And here's the final! Woo hoo! Merry Christmas!

I found this painting on my doorstep

2010-11-21T14:57:00.003-07:00

S and S

2010-11-06T22:00:00.004-06:00

This painting is based on the Frenchman collage from last month. (But it's about a million times paintier. Paintlyer. Painteisher. More Painterly.)

Gift Door

2010-10-24T12:33:00.002-06:00

Here's a gift for you!

The Frenchman Collage

2010-09-26T17:25:00.000-06:00

The Frenchman, painted paper collage, 12 x 10 inches.

Yes, it's collage time

2010-09-19T17:35:00.002-06:00

Yes, it is time to make a collage. High time.

Step 1 for making a collage: take a picture of all your collage stuff.

A photo of a bike just like a painting of a bike

2010-09-03T22:29:00.001-06:00

"and it was yellow" by solivias

A New Painting of Doors, for the Love of Pete

2010-08-23T14:40:00.002-06:00

I'm working on this new painting featuring a couple doors and a little bit of light and a touch of perspective and some floorboards and a hint of an archway done in a curious mixture of scumbling and washes and sloppy brushwork and impasto.

So far, so good.

Surfing for Doors

2010-08-17T22:01:00.015-06:00

Anonymous

Where'd the Time Go?

2010-08-14T11:22:00.008-06:00

The art blog is missing quite a chunk, I noticed. My pals and I asked the Oracle of the Universe where the time went.

Came back this reply from the OOTU:

"The daggone Treasure Valley Artists' Alliance done whittled it all away, Amigo. Now, get back to paintin' or I'm just gonna hafta slap yuh."

the entirely virtual gallery of the Treasure Valley Artists' Alliance

The Angel Seed

2010-08-14T11:03:00.000-06:00

Here's where Li'l Joe came from, if you must know. This is Angel's Room, oil on canvas, 12 x 9 inches, from 2006.

Li'l Joe Released into the Wild

2010-08-14T10:56:00.000-06:00

This painting is ready to live life on his own terms and wander where he will. Good luck, Li'l Joe. Neither a borrower nor a lender be, okay, Buddy?

Li'l Joe walks

2010-07-05T17:42:00.003-06:00

Out of his baby phase and well into toddlerhood, Li'l Joe has made some progress. The Sturm und Drang of the teens loom on the horizon.

Li'l Joe

2010-06-12T19:13:00.006-06:00

Here's the first few baby steps of a new painting.

This post is dedicated to John Padlo who inspired this blog.

Big Mo

2010-06-03T20:32:00.006-06:00

This is my biggest painting ever! Sure, he'll get a new name... when I've had a chance to reflect and consider and roll it over in my mind and all. Titles of paintings are little works of art in themselves. They need to encapsulate the piece and be truthful and terse and evocative and perfect all at the same time.

But for now, it's Big Mo.

Geez!

2010-05-24T18:31:00.007-06:00

Wow, that was a fast month that just kinda flew by without any updates to ye olde blog! Here are some of the highlights.

We went on an awesome family vacation in Hawaii...

The artists' alliance made its debut in the Modern Art 2010 show in Boise...

I remembered how to draw...

Oh, yeah, and I finished "Big Moe"...

Gimme an A!

2010-04-11T12:18:00.003-06:00

The artists' alliance is gonna be in the Modern Art 2010 show. We've got the 14-foot high decorative concrete wall that looks out onto the parking lot in front of the hotel lobby. We'll hang one-foot square self-portraits and Ts, Vs, and As on it.

It's gonna be so. cool.

Here's my twinkly A and my twinkle-free self-P.

Find the Newbie

2010-04-04T16:47:00.003-06:00

The Picture Speaks for Itself

2010-03-26T13:02:00.008-06:00

To begin with,

But, I hasten to add,

because, with that and

how would we ever know

In light of all that, it's hard to ignore it from the perspective of

which leads me to conclude that, at least for now,

Just say Yes to the Red Wall of No

2010-03-14T16:04:00.003-06:00

Here's the newest painting, hot, hot, hot out of the oven! It's a new kind of painting for me because it relies so much on the burnt siena speaking for itself. It ain't easy being this willing to let my paintings speak for themselves, but I'm learning!

No more artists underground

2010-03-07T09:41:00.002-07:00

I've been workin' on the railroad, alllllll the live-long daaaaaay!

The railroad in this case is the Treasure Valley Artists' Alliance and all the live-long day in this case is every single spare minute I've had, all day, every day for the last three months with no end in sight!

The pros

The art in this town is gonna be better because artists will be supported
Boise is gonna be better because the artists are collaboratin'
I get to meet lotsa artists

The con

There isn't enough time to paint!

Boo hoo!

Is there light at the end of this tunnel? My fellow board members are helping to lighten the load by taking the lead on education, communication, events, and an exhibit, of sorts. My role is to establish structure, promote equity and collaboration, and to be a spokesperson. Well, I guess that's not so hard after all!

So, you wanna know more about that exhibit, of sorts mentioned above?

We're planning a super-dooper, wonderful, all-out, fantastic, bombastic visual display of awesomeness, no less. ...whose details I cannot at this time disclose, cuz it's pretty much top secret, classified, password-protected, and double-encrypted.

But here's a hint: self portrait grid on a massive scale. A massive, modern scale.

Okay, that was two hints.

My new favorite color: Checks

2010-02-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

This checkery floor just popped out of the tube like this, I promise.

A Little Wee Slideshow

2010-02-17T17:26:00.004-07:00

Here are some paintings I've completed in the last few months. Read 'em and weep.

The raison d'être for one-point perspective

2010-02-14T00:44:00.008-07:00

It occurred to me that Leonardo had it all goin' on with the whole one-point perspective thing in compositions like the Last Supper and the Adoration of the Magi -- two favorites of mine since I was just a lad. And by "favorites" I mean formative in a way that I haven't the words to describe.

So last year I allowed myself to be drawn in by the lure of one-point perspective and I painted Spirit Room and Franklin Studio, to name a couple examples. And I'm continuing this year to stay the course with the new painting I told you about two weeks ago.

But there's something else that caught my attention as I reflected on my painting in process, especially when I considered it in the light of those earlier works. Namely, that the Forbidden Holy Ray of Inner Peace and Beneficent Luminosity apparently has a love affair with Simple Ol' Down-and-Dirty One-Point Perspective. In other words, the light which maketh all things new spilleth into the foreground through the flung-open doors, flooding into the room, and upon arrival it breaketh down into very ray-like shafts. Or shaftth.

Maybe this is all easily explained by my always staying within the lines of my coloring books when I was a kid. I'm nearly positive that must be the reason, now that I think about it.

On your left, you'll see what I'm talking about. Here are the rays of light coming from the inner room in the new painting. I'm not sure if it will stay this way through to the end, but for now it feels right, so I'm gonna run with it.

Dividing up the light like this works wonders for the composition: it breaks up the planes, keeps the large areas from dying and being static, creates an armature on which to hang otherwise unexplained color variations and provides points of interest for the eye to land on as it travels around the picture. Those are some of the formal reasons that could explain why it works.

But, and perhaps more importantly, as long as these rays are Not Fully Explainable or Understood the painting will stay alive for me and, hopefully, for you the Viewer.

Here's to New Beginnings

2010-01-31T21:22:00.003-07:00

I started a new canvas yesterday. It was bright white and beautiful and just sat there beckoning me away from the big, much-more-serious one that I should have been working on.

This is the most exciting phase of a new piece because things change so fast. It's impossible to know this early on what the final piece will look like. It's so unpredictable that when it's finished I should be just as surprised as you are.

My best guess is that the final image will have this structure but I don't dare to guess what the colors will be or if there will be a figure or a chair or an angel's wing. Here are some shots of the work in process.

A Brave New Painting

2010-01-23T20:30:00.002-07:00

I'm working on a new piece inspired by an old piece after having painted an itty bitty piece to figure it all out.

The old piece is Spirit Room, 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas, 2009.

The itty bitty piece is 6 x 8 inches, oil on canvas, 2010.

And here's the first glimpse of the newest version in process, oil on canvas 48 x 60 inches.

Where do these people come from?

2010-01-12T23:13:00.002-07:00

I finished this painting of a girl sitting in a chair, reading. I never know when these figures are going to make an appearance in my studio. Sometimes several months go by without even a hint of their presence, then boom! A reader or an angel or a muse presents herself.

I get a little bit nervous when a painting comes along that just doesn't seem to quite fit with the others. In time, though, over the several months it takes to prepare, the show evolves and becomes something different from what I thought it would be when I started. A Boise painter that I admire, Charles Gill, reminded me of a quote from Richard Diebenkorn: "I can never accomplish what I want—only what I would have wanted had I thought of it beforehand."

I'm learning to release control over the process and find myself allowing a theme to take shape on its own.

On the Wings of an Easel

2010-01-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

When is it a good idea to put wings on an easel? When it makes the painting just perfect.

One day a few years ago I painted a little picture of my easel. Innocent enough. The more I looked at it the more I knew that there was something almost magical about that little painting and I couldn't get enough of it. In the past ten years I've done more than thirty paintings of easels. I gotta tell you, there's something in that object and in its shape that transports me to another place. Working on another easel painting a year later I found myself really struggling with making the image something special and I ended up just for fun giving it a wing.

Well, that really did it.

I thought just plain easel painting was cool, but one with a wing was real joy. I avoid displaying obvious meanings in my paintings, preferring for viewers to make discoveries on their own, so I find ways to shroud them in mystery or hint subtley at the symbols or I'll even paint something in and then paint over it. Yes, I realize now writing this that that's a little extreme. So, sue me!

I called that canvas "The Forbidden Red Wing." Here's my most recent easel, finished just two days ago.

A Resolution

2010-01-01T22:22:00.006-07:00

Last year Carol Robinson presented my show "Making Room for the Muse" in her beautiful gallery in New Orleans on the corner of Magazine Street and Napoleon Avenue. It was good to see so many of our old friends and to make some new ones. Melissa and I went to our favorite restaurant, Liuzza's, and I ate the best beans and rice that I've ever had in my life. We discovered Surrey's Juice Bar and enjoyed it so much we went there for breakfast three days in a row. We always schedule the trip during Jazz Fest so we can throw our blanket on the grass, eat good food, listen to music, and visit with friends from all over.

I typically schedule an exhibit in New Orleans every three years but I'd really like to show more often. Putting on a one-man-show is a lot of work but it's really motivating for me to make a commitment and to focus on a goal. It's a great feeling when it all comes together with twenty new paintings displayed on the clean, crisp, white walls of an art gallery, surrounded by friends, and celebrating life. Ain't art grand?

On this, the first day of the year, I resolve to work towards a solo show in Boise in 2010.

The Carving of the Card

2009-12-27T00:13:00.005-07:00

Every year on the day after Thanksgiving I begin the process of making the annual Christmas card -- a family portrait to send to friends and family. To be honest, when I started this in 1984 I thought printing my own cards would save both time and money. It does NOT save time unless you compare it to hand-painting cards for each person on your list. And I was wrong about saving money, too. Rice paper, custom envelopes, printing inks, cutting tools, and mis-prints really add up.

But it's a tradition, so I can't stop now. Besides, I really enjoy it.

The process takes about three weeks from start to finish. I begin with rough sketches and talking about various ideas with my wife Melissa "Sasi" Chambers. Then I sit down at my work table and surround myself with family photos and Christmas cards from over the years. I crank up "The Nutcracker," pour a glass of egg nog, and start the final drawing to work out the composition. This serves as the basis for a watercolor painting on a fresh, clean linoleum block.

The funnest and most dangerous part of the process is the next step: the carving. Not life-and-limb dangerous, just puncture-wound dangerous. When you make a linocut you use sharp tools like woodcutting knives that sometimes slip. By "sometimes" I mean "often." Cutting linoleum is a lot easier than cutting wood, but you can't get as fine of a line. Just carve away all the parts that aren't painted and you've got yourself a block that you can print. Easy as pie!

Each print takes about fifteen minutes to cut and fold the paper, roll the ink onto the block, press the paper onto the block with a spoon (yep, a spoon), peel off the print, place it on a shelf for drying, wash the ink off the block, and dry it. One down, 64 to go! Woo hoo!

I always enjoy this process, though there have been years when it doesn't go as smoothly as I'd like because either I start late or I can't think of a clever image or it just doesn't look like the family. But it's so nice to finally get the cards in the mail, pack up my tools for another year, and get back to something easier -- like painting!

Here's the final version of this year's card. Happy Holidays!

Little Fish in a Little Pond

2009-12-20T17:28:00.001-07:00

I'd love to show my paintings in the city where I live and work but up to now I haven't made a serious effort. That's about to change. I'm talking with a new gallery owner and things are looking promising. I'd like to finish 20 paintings and have them ready for a show in October 2010. I hope that by writing down my thoughts and posting pictures of work in process will help me to stay focused. And it'll be fun, too. Plus, nobody needs to know about this blog thing except for you and me. Our little secret.

Here's the painting that for some reason strikes a deep chord in me and that seems to tell the story that I'm trying to tell in my paintings. This is "Michael's Studio" painted in 2001.