Art, Nature & Soul #62

What & How we see is equal to, how we convey it. A visual translation into its own language is how I choose to speak to an audience, hungry for a commonality expressed in paint. In an age of mechanical reproduction, from the most basic of tracing or graphing the image & modified digital recreations, masquerading as original art, makes the search for ‘art’ a more difficult task. Like all academic skills they have their place, but creation is creation, an original, an original, & a copy, a copy.

Even more so, it seems now a days anyone with a digital camera or cell phone, is a photographer. Please push the envelope if you’re going to claim said status, pretty pictures are a dime a dozen, even the misappropriated ones which seem abundant. That said, a photo is a great way to remember a moment you’ve experienced, so when I’m not painting on location I use them as emotional, as well as visual references, for both great times had & potential future paintings, expressed. In this photo capture the serenity of the beach, the quiet sounds of the waves rolling in as the birds, seagull & sand piper alike , spend their time looking for breakfast, along the shoreline.

The photo I’ve taken has seemingly crisp lines separating all entities and our eye has averaged the colors into blocks for easy understanding. Having been here, to this location, a beach, and making mark, a visual memory, I know that the color and light are much more dynamic in person and have set out to paint there depth and interactions.

Here I’ve begun by toning a 24”square canvas in an acrylic prism violet. The violet gives a subtle color continuity to the painting as a whole and when my sgraffito technique is used to scratch into the surface paint, thus giving an even greater depth. This also helps to give direction and the allusion of motion. After brushing in preliminary shapes and blocks of color, I get busy with a variety of palette knives, layering in the water, sand & birds along the shoreline. Artistic license is used here as I’ve made just a suggestion of the Sand Pipers, as to keep our primary focus on the Seagull. With the Seagull in mind, I’ve also modified its location and changed ever so slightly the shape of the wings & legs to give the appearance of lift off, where as the photo it’s running toward that moment.

I’ll spend weeks, days & a great many hours thinking about my approach and what my intended statement is, before ever picking up a brush. Once it’s in my head though, I work very quickly, blocking, layering & building the image, as to make it a non static representation, trying to keep it fluid, moving and changing. That being said, rather than a moment trapped in amber, I’m creating a moving , living landscape of the world we live in and you’re invited to come along as an active participant.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into my thoughts & creative process.

As always, you questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

Shoreline, Seagull & Sand Pipers

24”x24” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #57

Sometimes what we say, is being said so loud no one can hear us, much less listen. Over the past 5-10 years, here in the good ole U.S.A. it seems to be the case. Our government, a democratic-republic and it’s system of checks and balances’ is the best in the world, but it works much better when the pendulum doesn’t swing quite so wide. Respect, diplomacy, & critical thinking seems to be at an all time low, second only to that during the civil war.

Humans are a fearful lot. Especially when it comes to persons of different ethnicities, cultures & belief systems. What we do not understand, we try to destroy. Historically, the fight for survival, is a brutal one. Humans are a nomadic lot, seeking abundance...an abundance of food, shelter & freedom to be, to have choices, to live in the ways we think best for our selves, our group. Often times, either intentionally or inadvertently taking away those same choices from others in the process, in a power struggle, forgetting that all of humanity is our group. With this in mind, I celebrate the mix, the American melting pot, the search for, the choices & freedoms we have as individuals, as conceived by those who fled one land, for another , plus the founding mothers & fathers intentions. I embrace the differences, the choices, the freedoms & advocate the sharing of the abundance, the harvest. Sit down with those persons you do not understand, ask questions, hear truths, seek facts, understand history & context, be respectful, break bread and share the abundance, the wealth, the harvest and by all means be grateful for all these opportunities, given & received, moving forward.

The Pilgrims Monument, was erected in Provincetown MA. a reminder of our early roots, our history, the intention, the reality, its cost. Today it stands as a beacon and safe haven for people of belief systems of diversity, acceptance & respect, from here & around the world.

On November 23, 1977, my brother Rodney, age 4, passed on from this world, the 24th, Thanksgiving was the day after, we buried him days later, I was just 13. He had CP and other health complications. These four years were perhaps the most influential & defining of my life. I learned in a very short time what it truly meant to be human, to be alive and the purpose. As it turned out, the lesson was a very simple one, to choose love.

So many people come and go, pass by, throughout our lifetime. Sometimes by death, but often times the various stages of a life and transitory nature of people, are the other necessary factors. From the time we are born, we are growing, mind, body & soul, striving to survive, searching for the more permanent connections of our lives, in the pursuit of happiness. We seek out the people , persons and things that validate who we are or want to be. Often times, by circumstance, not choice we loose touch with family, friends & acquaintances…those influential teachers of our lives, whom we’ve had those intimate times & lessons, on what it means to be human, to be alive. All these people stay in my head, my memories, in a time capsule of sorts. The memories flash, I remember, I wonder, I hope they are well, as they appear in my head, as they did the last times I saw them, but knowing full well their lives have also changed or ended.

I’m a bit of a romantic, sentimental guy, my memories are intense, while I know things, people, myself, aren’t perfect …my memories are flooded with the perfection of the imperfect moments of our time held in amber, all these relationships and their lessons. People have become even more nomadic, often times scattered to the four corners, even more so in the past quarter century or more. However, with the internet and all the social media networks, I’ve been able to stay connected or reconnect with many, many people from my past, plus meet new people from various backgrounds all over the world. I guess what I’m trying to say is, whether or not, we are actively in each others lives these days or we communicate more regularly, know you’re all in my thoughts & fond memories. Know that you are thought of kindly & loved, with hopes that you’re living your best life as you see fit. I am so grateful to have or to have had, all of you in my life! Remember, sometimes what looks like a sunset is really a sunrise.

~Be Thankful, Celebrate Life & it's Diversity, Peace & Love Richard

Beacon 30”x30” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #52

Some of the simplest subjects, make for some of the more compelling paintings. When we set off for home, leaving Ptown, we have got into the tradition of stopping off at Nauset Beach along the Cape Cod coastline.

On this occasion we had picked up breakfast, then stopped at the beach to eat as we were heading off the cape. It’s usually pretty early when we leave 630-7a.m. so the beach is usually pretty vacant, though we have run into the same elderly woman, seemingly doing her morning meditation there, twice now. I have painted her twice now, as well. First time she was sitting oceanside on a massive slab of rock, another she, walking stick in hand, traversing the path, to the top of the sandy cliffs that over look the beach. However this morning, at the beach, was covered in dense fog. Two people were shore fishing and one little bird nestled in the dew covered branches of a pine tree were all the life that could be seen.

The lighthouse swung around beamed across the sky and the fog horn echoed as it blasted through the wet air. We walked along the beach listening to the surf gentle splash upon the sand. It’s an amazing thing, the colors that reveal themselves upon a seemingly grey morning. Wherever the light hit made the colors vivid, a branch, a bird, the sand, sea and air. A lone, unattended Lifeguard Chair revealed itself upon the beach, against the ocean and sky, barely distinguishable one from the other. It seemed the perfect subject in which to find the light and paint the colors it revealed.

After some studying of the surroundings the colors were discovered and painted. Whether I paint on location or back at the studio, I almost always take photo of my subject, sometimes for reference, other times for a record. My color studies are typically done on small hardboard panels. A variety of brushes, palette knives, sculpting tools and tissues were used to convey the more subtle design elements of the scene and a foggy grey morning is transformed.

As always your comment & questions are welcome, Richard

Color Study #24, Off Duty 10”x10” oil on panel