swingin and jack of clubs continued

We have had a big snowstorm at least 9 inches and the electricity was off for 36 hours. I painted in the studio when it was light. I am still working on these 2 paintings.

swingin...

another update... it continues

3 paintings in process...

I have had a wonderful studio day with no interruptions. It is really cold out and our heater won't stay lit in the living room, but it is toasty everywhere else. I get to stay home all day and tonight, glorious. Posting 3 paintings in progress and a detail of one.
Jack of clubs 18x28, Swingin and Tiny Tim all in progress.

tiny tim. two horses

I seem to be enjoying starting paintings, but not spending any time finishing. I will go on a finishing binge later. Finally got some time to work in the studio over the weekend. I started drawing this over a painting I didn't love or want to work on any more. I really like working on a surface that is already marked up.
The top image is the first block in and the bottom image is the next stage. I was just in the mood for horses.
24x32 acrylic mixed media on wood panel.

january self portrait

I gave a self portrait assignment to students last week. I thought I would do it also. I am finding that I really like drawing on the toned and gessoed wood panel. I wanted to experiment with it and draw from life. I had a limited amount of time about 2 hours. I want to do more.
24x24 vine charcoal on wood panel.
I love drawing on wood!!

no title, any ideas?

Still working on it. not that happy with the face in the figure in the foreground, also questioning the heart on a stick. I think it is trite....actually my original title when I first started working on this was " i know the heart is trite", but when I wrote it down it looked like "I know the heart is true". Hmm, am I receiving a message that I should be paying attention to?

I don't know where my previous post went hmmm.
Anyway, I haven't posted for a while due to some computer problems, but I am happily back with my computer and am ready to go again.

This is a painting I started a couple of weeks ago, finally getting some time to get into it. Less time to paint soon as school starts next week.
28x40 acrylic on wood panel.

Lots of snow here, I have gone cross country skiing 2 days in a row. Wonderful. I haven't been driving in the snow yet. Tomorrow off to town, office time and grocery shopping, must get catfood.

gouache self portrait

Not flattering, but I have been wanting to spend some time on gouache portraits and I was available.
10X12
gouache on paper

Abundance2 and Swingin' (in process)

It has been a long while since I updated. School started at the end of August and it has been a whirlwind ever since. Today I am going into the woods to look for mushrooms.
Inspired Visions from Studio B opened at the Parkersburg Art Center on September 11 and runs through October 17.The opening went well and I had a great time.

Images posted today;
Abundance 2, flowers, two babies and woman, finished and sold. 12x36 acrylic on wood

Swingin' 24x30? I really need to check the size, that is roughly it. This is phase 2, to be continued.

My date with Mr. Ed

I think this is finished. I don't know why it looks so washed out. hmmmm. I will have to play with the photo, but enough computer time for now. later...

new images, some almost finished, one just started

The drawing is a starting point for something... it is stewing right now. Charcoal on toned wood panel. It makes me want to draw more.




My Date with Mr. Ed- 24x28 acrylic on panel. I still have a bit more to do on this, but it is almost there.... I think.
Man, Woman, Guitar, 24x28 acrylic on canvas. I don't love the title. Just a few touch ups left.

It's been a while...

I can't believe it has almost been a month since I have posted anything. Busy summer. Back from a love fest vacation with friends in Cape Cod. Painting as much as possible. Reading lots of books. The garden is producing and vegetables abound, green beans, zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, cucumbers and more. Enough about that.
New painting starts, no name Horse 2 versions, more to come, 24x30 and a still life 18x24.

Off to Boston Mills artfest,

not a lot of info today, I should be packing instead of fooling around on the computer. Here are 3 finished paintings which are going with me to the show.
Box o' party, 18x30
The Moon and Richard Thompson, 24x30
Red Coat, 24x30

cat phantom

12x12 on wood panel
I painted this on an old painting that I didn't care for and cut up.

whispering wind

I had some trouble uploading images this morning. I just have time to add this one, if it works.
Big day in town with a long list of things to do. I have a lot of images to upload, Painting like crazy all day and early morning and evenings in the garden, The weather has been grand.
This painting is now finished, I decided to take the mask out I just couldn't get it to work in a way that I was happy with.
The photo looks a bit light also...
I guess I will spend a day before the show photographing all of my new work properly.

woman with water, lemon and apples, day 2

24x24 liquid and open acrylic on wood.
I sanded a painting from last year that I didn't like and painted over it. I like the textural effect that is created from sanding off some of the layers of paint. I like to paint over old paintings, it always makes it more fun for me if I have some underlying colors, shapes and textures to work off of.
And of course, it is still in progress.

beginning stage, you can lead a horse to water

acrylic, liquid and open on wood,
24x30

this needs a title and I don't have one

I need help with a title on this one. anyone out there have any ideas?
liquid acrylic, open acrylic and mixed media on canvas mounted on board.
I have had this painting sitting around in my studio for a while. I got bored with it and didn't like the direction it was going. Recently I started fooling around with it and found a direction. Now it is almost finished. I have a few things to fool with, but now I need a title and would love some help from anyone out there.

tommy, 24x24 acrylic, mixed media on wood

Yellow dreamer...in process

24x28 acrylic, liquid and open on canvas
here are some photos of the work in process. the bottom photo is the beginning, the top where I am right now. I think it is going to go through a lot more changes before it is done... I will have to wait and see.

Don Dixon at songwriter night at the Galley, April 09

yet still more sketches from musical venues. I have a backlog of images... several paintings in progress which I will be showing soon. These are from songriter night a couple of weeks ago featuring Don Dixon and others. He is the guitar player in the striped shirt. Most of the others are people in the crowd.

Fur Peace Ranch, Tony Rice Unit, sketches

sketches from Fur Peace Ranch, 4/4/09
Tony Rice and band members

It was very different to draw these bluegrass type players. They are very still on stage, don't move there arms much at all most of the movement is just in their hands. It was much easier to draw since there was so little movement, compared to other players I have studied. I have some earlier Tony Rice drawings I will have to search for from a concert with Peter Rowan from a couple of years ago.
Wonderful concert also, such masterful players. The drawing labeled Miles Davis was from a tribute that Tony Rice was playing.

Todd Snider, Stuart's Opera House, sketches

Catching up on several concert sketch series today.
Last Friday went to Stuart's Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio to see Todd Snider.
The crowd was very excited to see him. Funny and entertaining. I really liked hearing his newer stuff, even though the crowd seemed more excited to hear older material. The opening act was Ashley Flynn, she is the girl with the guitar in the sketch.
Also got a drawing of the emcee.
I really have lot of fun drawing at live music venues and going to Stuart's Opera House is a great experience

Liz Carroll and John Doyle,Evergreen Arts and Humanities Series, sketches

Liz Carroll and John Doyle at Washington State Community College in early March.
They performed for the Evergreen Arts and Humanities Series.
There were no seats available as I arrived a bit late, but I stuck around and got a seat after intermission. They were great. Fabulous players and highly entertaining storytellers. I got to meet Liz at an after concert get together. They were going to be performing at the White House for St Patrick"s Day.

al dimeola concert, pittsburgh, pa. jan 09

Here is a small group of sketches from the Al Dimeola concert I attended in Pittsburgh in January of this year.
Marvelous concert. I was seated in the back so I couldn't get a lot of detail, but I love the arrangement of the players onstage. I didn't know that Al Dimeola was that beautiful. Radiant actually. The guy with the hat and glasses is just a random person in the crowd.

party hat

liquid and open acrylic on wood panel
24x24
three stages
still unfinished
top is the latest version, bottom is the beginning.
I spent the last week sowing seeds and putting in a new row of asparagus as well as getting some painting time. Stayed out way too late last night, but what fun. I spent the day with good friend, visited the Kennedy Gallery in Athens viewed the print collection. Inspiring. Ate a wonderful meal, or wait, that was 2 wonderful meals. Came back home and went to hear some marvelous celtic music by Liz Carroll and John Doyle, followed by an after music get together with more good food and lots of interesting conversation. Went to bed, a bit wound up, not enough sleep. I think a nap may be in order.

More images soon

It has been a busy couple of weeks, but I am now on spring break. Yippee. the weather has been great and I have been spending time outside readying the garden beds. The greenhouse is in full swing. I have tomato, eggplant, pepper, cabbage, broccoli and flower seedlings all emerging. The worms are flourishing and I am debating about investing in another worm bin. I think I have enough veg garbage to keep another bin going and then I could have lots more fertilizer...hmmmm. Lots to do and I want to spend time in the studio as well so.... I will post more images soon....

untitled continues

the fool continues.... and more

While letting "the fool"(below) simmer away, I started on another painting last week. I intended to stay completely abstract, but a figure insisted on emerging, or at least I allowed it to come out. Mainly playing with liquid acrylic turquosie (pthalo), transparent red oxide and prussian blue. Needs a lot more time and may develop into something totally different. Who knows?
The image at the bottom is day 1 , with day 2 and 3 above. The top image is where it is at today.
mixed media. liquid and open acrylic, charcoal on canvas

































































I continue to make changes to this painting... still working....needed to stop and let it be for some time. I painted this on a gessoed canvas that I took off the stretchers.... now I need to mount it or restretch it. I should have done it before I started painting on it, but I didn't so I shall see how this all works out. Maybe I will work on that today.
I thought it was my batteries that were dead on my camera, but found out it was the actual camera that was no longer working. I purchased a new camera and am trying it out now. Of course, I need to upgrade my operating system in order to run the software. Argghh. I will need help with that. Using another computer to download from the camera right now, so I can decide if I like the camera or not. The image looks really light on my monitor even though I tweaked it a bit in photoshop.

the fool, continued

charcoal drawing 22x28
much easier for me to draw when the light is not as clear as I would like for painting.

Dead camera batteries and no electricity for three days. Big ice and snow storm. I actually had a very relaxed and lovely time without power. The house and studio were warm and cozy. I worked in the studio in the daylight hours, went crosscountry skiing in the afternoon and ate way to much food. I guess I thought I was going into hibernation. Read by candlelight in the evenings and went to bed early.The electric came on Friday evening, but we had ventured out to town, so weren't here to experience the initial excitement of electric power.Anyway the snow is still beautiful, but the skiing was scary yesterday because it is a solid ice glacier in many places.
About the painting. I am still working on it but letting it simmer now as I need to make some decisions about some of the awkward places.

snow day, the fool continued

I made lots of changes on this today, this photo is from last weekend. My camera batteries are no longer rechargeable, so the latest will have to wait to be posted
Stayed home and got to work in the studio today,because of a snowy day. It didn't amount to much. I was hoping for enough snow for cross country skiing, not today, maybe tomorrow.
Last week I got to ski 4 days in a row. Beautiful. It has been several winters since that happened.

the fool, in the beginning stages

open acrylic and mixed media on linen canvas
26x30

random sketches, students

Here are some random sketches of students working on their final drawings.
Grades are in and just a bit a few ends to tie up and I am on holiday break.
I mistakenly decided to rearrange one thing in my studio and now it is all torn up. I have to get it back in order before I can begin working on paintings. I hope it only takes one more day, but I have a feeling it may take longer than that.

clockfaces

I wanted to come up with a small gift item for a little holiday show I am participating in this upcoming weekend. I also wanted to make it from a previously used item. Recycled art.
SO... I tried painting on old cds which of course I have around. I painted a base of blackboard paint on the cd and then I drew on it with derwent drawing pencils, which I then fixed and sealed with matte medium. I am making them into little clocks with some works I got at a surplus place. I have been having a great deal of fun with these. Here is a sample of 5 of the many I have made so far. I have enjoyed playing with the round format and have lots of other ideas to expanc on this. If you need to get rid of old cds you don't need anymore, I will gladly take them.

a visitor at the firestation

My town studio is across the street from a fire station. I sometimes sit downstairs by the door and draw the many activites of the firemen. This day they had a visit from a woman.

songwriter day at the Galley, Marietta, Ohio summer 08

whipple tavern

morning diners

more civic duty drawings

Although I get irritated with having to do my civic duty, it gives me a great chance to work in my sketchbook and I do find watching people to be oh so interesting.

art opening

Art show opening
7-9 Oct 24
Marietta College
Hermann Fine Arts Center

Reorder/Represent


"Ralphie rules the day"
Here is a bad photo of the piece I will be showing.
Actually, this photo was taken before I was finished...it was truly a mixed media piece, I dug through all of the excess stuff in my studio searching for things to use. I discovered pieces that I had totally forgotten about.
Cyanotype, silk screen, monotype, ceramic, paper clay, florist foam, sticky tac and acrylic paint along with found and natural materials.
Hope to see you there

This is a different kind of work from my usual fare as you can see from the rest of the images on this blog. It was a lot of work, and I had a lot of angst over it. Oh right, I have angst whenever I am producing work. Always fun to start, but the transition from start to finish can be full of stress and anxiety.

random sketches from brighter day natural foods

Marty m playing bass on Fridays and a lady getting ready to eat that I sketched while she wasn't looking.
Sneaky

Stuart's Opera House

allison moorer, steve earle and random people at Stuart's Opera House
Summer '08



















I am glad I didn't sit behind this guy in the big hat!

civic duty, part one

oops, forgot my sketchbbook, so I had to draw on whatever was handy.
These sketches are from a couple of years ago. While in the process of scanning sketch books. I came across these and remembered how much I enjoyed drawing them so I decided to post them. People are so fascinating to look at.

cocoon house

24x36" liquid and open acrylic on wood panel

This is one of my first experiments with a new kind of paint (Golden open acrylic). I admit to struggling with it at first, as it is very different from the liquid acrylic I am used to using. It doesn't dry nearly as fast as other acrylics I have used and feels very much like oil paint to me. I put some on a covered pallet over 2 weeks ago and it is still wet and workable. I am starting to love it.

songwriter night at the Blennerhasset, sketches

Friday evening diners at Brighter Day restaurant, Marietta, Ohio

Fur Peace Ranch, sketches

Quick sketchbook drawings.
Chris Smither, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassady.
Had a great time, dinner in Athens at Salaam, including a belly dancer, then off to the wonderful concert.

untitled, cheerful chair?

I am enjoying working on this painting. It feels somehow cheerful to me.
12x36 liquid acrylic and sauce on masonite panel

untitled in process,

today was a wonderful day, I painted in my studio, joyfully.
I started my day by picking peaches. Yum. Baskets in the kitchen overflowing with tomatoes. I happily didn't get picked for jury duty yesterday and the weather is grand.

self portrait in big shorts

I only want to paint from life right now.
So I guess that leaves it up to looking at myself.
I have a bit more to do on this one but this is what the second session looks like,
liquid acrylic on wood
I am a proponent of giant shorts.