"Lemmings"

This is one in a series on the old idea of "losing one's marbles".... originally thought of it as being on a 20" x 30" stonehenge, but thought then the height be too much in wasted space, or adding too much in un-needed drafting table, so did it on a 5" x 32" piece of foamboard, and think it works well....

"Welcoming Committee"

Other than the coconut, all here is imagined, and a festive tribute to the sense of joy imparted by the traditions of the Pacific islands..... there is lots more which could have been included, but those, actually, are implied in the glass and the trimmed wood - that reason is utilized for achievement and flourishing, and is thus a part of the welcoming to newcomers.....

"The Politics of Nature"

As much a study in contrasts as it is a parody of propaganda posters, this was an attempt at invoking humor into an otherwise morbid arena of thought, especially in context of today, where there is concerted and futile effort in gaining concensus in having 'intelligence' amongst the vegetables...... one could with equal aplomb call it "Passing the Day", and have it remarking on the banalities of the 'fence chats'...... the abstract theming is actually the same in both cases....

Close-up......

"Cornered Stones"

This is a redoing of an old work of years ago, which, to my knowledge, no longer exists - and in the process improve on it, giving it a greater dynamism than the old had, to say nothing of greater color and detail.....on 40" x 32" acid free foamboard, it more appropriately displays the largeness of the arena, even as its vantage point is more restricted - or rather say, focused..... it is one of my homage works to my old friend of long ago, John Paul Sherman, who gave the theme/title to the original, and by aclimation, this as well.....

"Rubicon"

Continuing with ths same general theming, turned to a marble at the edge of the table... is a small work, 14" x 8" colored pencil on stonehenge paper...... and, as a tangent, has begun a series of marble renderings.....

close-up......

"Singularity"

One idea that had been in my mind was the notion of the 'point of no return' motif.... and thought doing another leaf rendering would fulfill it rather well - hence this work, a simple rendering of an oak leaf with attached acorn, at the point of going over the edge.... is on 9" x 12" stonehenge paper....

"Lite Life"

Another in the 'cherries is life' series, this is more the quiet view, almost a parody of the previous one..... and yet, in its way, an interesting if not complicated way of viewing one's life... colored pencil on 9" x 12" stonehenge paper...

"Full Life"

This is another in a growing series of cherries - this being, of course, a visual metaphor of 'life being a bowl of cherries'..... is colored pencil on 20" x 30" stonehenge paper..... and yes, is a personal statement of my life, all considered - or many others, when one considers all the things done and seen in the lives....

"Bearly There"

Taking a break from my more serious works, did this set of teddy bears, each with its own 'personality' and uniqueness.... a fun project with color pencils on a larger than usually done scale - 20" x 30".... there is a projected second shelf - "Bearly There Too" - which may or may not be done, in which the sax player's sax is where the Fore Bear is readying to swing the ball to [Soul Bear is that one's name]... there here - Wild Bear, Ted E Baer, Bare Bear, Hairy Bear, Cannibear, and Fore Bear, with Air Bear underneath.... the slate was the consequence of a 'save' as the pencil slipped and left an unwanted mark.... all these, btw, are from imagination with the exception of Ted E, who became the instigator of the piece.... Air Bear, of course, is taken after Lucille Ball, red hair, beady wild eyes and all....... Fore Bear, of course, was inspired by the 'Golden Bear' of golf....... the really fun deal was imaginating the shadow, visualizing in my head how it'd look, then doing it.....

"The Birthing Tree"

This is a metaphoric work of many levels.... there still are, in some parts of the world, actual birthing trees, where women go to give birth, then carry on afterwards - but what was of more import was the idea of the tree itself being the source of the life sprouting over the layers of rock off into the distance, as well as the implied same with the woman as symbol of humanity doing likewise.... another of the proper function of being human, to transform the given to suiting the wellbeing of the flourishing human......

"Venus Pool"

This was, as far as known, my first color pencil painting, from the late 60's...... no longer in existence, it marked my first attempt to create a totally imaginative scene - tho there was somewhere a reference to the figure, but long lost..... and no question of the Wrightian influence here...... my presumed hoped for idyllic life-to-be...... the photo was presumed long lost, so was a pleasure discovering it among boxed materials..... may sometime try for a remake.... and perhaps call that one - "Aphrodite's Playground"...

"Presage"

This is one of the few ever done with the use of 'models'.... the tomatoes were too great looking to not try for... the rest came from the bin in the refrig... as is with all my works, there lies a metaphorical relating involved here - and particularly note that tho a veggie still life, there is NOT a sense of decay, as seen in ever so many other such over the centuries, displaying a much different sense of life.... while more lettuce could have been used, the base view of this is one of the beginnings of a salad, yet there is, as one 'sees' when reflecting on the work, several other layers - indeed, the red onion itself implies that 'layers within layers' ....

Sullivan's Dictum

This is one of my more obscure metaphorical outings, the dictum being refered is Louis Sullivan's "Form Follows Function".... and the idea, of course, was to take the bonsai and treat it as if were a natural landscape item, instead of what it really was, on a wall ledge overlooking the waves.... one of my first attempts at using color inks, did succeed in the tree, tho wish had been able to do more with the coloring of the water... in this sense it looks much as a wood block print than the painting attempted....

Close-up... the background wasn't done at this time, tho the mouse was.....

Critical Mass Revisited

This is a return to a work done last fall, only in an 'update' fashion..... as seen, there is now a crack in the jar, hence the mouse being much further away.... this, btw, was done with color pencils..... and, as was with the original, there is a 'Harnett' carving in the panel behind.....

Bird close-up of "Mother Lode"

Mother Lode

"Mother Lode" originally was to be with pregnant figure on left, where the saplings are, and a seated figure with face turned to viewer, where the auxillary trunk is... originally, too, was a background of islets, as if the vegetation 'spawned' from this overlooking the bluff tree.... but decided wasn't necessary, as well as being tired from doing all the leaves - and that, tho hard to see in this phoro [need see them in the close-up one], are birds, more or less outlining what would have been where the lowest layering of leaves would have been..... metaphorically, is a 'nature' rendering which is actually not one, but perhaps best called a parable viewing.....

"Festival"

Another in a slowly growing series rendering in color pencil, this shows a still life just a bit different from the usual - no decaying fare here, nor flies and other bugs around - just good healthy and vibrant foods, along with a container in which to eat them, and a cup by beans, suggesting coffee to join.. and a floral decoration adding to the festivity..... the metaphoric in this is obvious, tho also obvious yet not likely to be noticed is that all are products of man - even the veggies are man-created, not wild fare - so there is as much the celebrating of being human in this as anything, the flourishing as proper to being human, and the thanks to being human so that this could have come into existence.......

[close-up] 

Royal Flush

This is basically a study of a Royal Riviera Pear, when was first doing workouts in color pencil, striving to get the textures right - actually had the pear from which to work [tho had to work fast, as the pear, once ripe, became VERY juicy]... there is not much of metaphoric nature in this, tho some, as it does show healthy fruit in an uplifting form - a bright spot to see and enjoy...
"Royal Flush"

"Fruitful Morning"

"Fruitful Morning" After a long number of years, since the late 60's as a matter of fact, have decided to return to color pencil... this was based on an old one done of one of my wooden bowls and one of the wooden spoons used in stirring the pots... the cherries came from my imagination, from all those times enjoyed them - and it actually shows, as they're not so marachino in real life as they seem here, but nonetheless was a good project in getting back into using this medium and trusting my spacial sense...... note that, unlike many other still life with fruits, there is nothing decaying involved, but instead the promising of a bright and enjoyable beginning to a day, with the hint of perhaps cereal adorned with those cherries..... there is also the implication of the quality or fruitfulness of the manmade - the bowl and spoon, along with the shelf and paneling...
tho, as said, was based on one of my old wooden bowls, this was, as was with the cherries and the shelf and the rest, essentially done from my head, using my sense of light/shade and wood grains to accomplish this....

"Drawn and Quartered"

"Drawn and Quartered" ........This was originally to be a study based on a saddle seen above the bar refrig at a local Longhorn Restaurant - but, as is most often the case, a mere study would not do, and it took a life of its own in a way, becoming a paen to a past which led to a future...... for one, this does not begin to match the specific saddle seen and first sketched, tho it is indeed a proper saddle..... secondly, it is marked in a science fictional/fantasy fashion, that is it shows markings of having been involved in some fierce battles, with scar markings of claws obvious..... this goes hand-in-hand with it being called a "Dragon Slayer" saddle - which could be taken as a kid's derived dreamwork, or as if the real deal...... thirdly, due to an error in handling, there is an unintended scar in the woodwork at the bottom, running thru the stirrup, necessitating an altering, tho good one, of original intents... the quartering of the background wall came as a means of balancing the work - as well as providing another level to the metaphoric theme/title, indeed, an attempt to altering the usual negative associations to the term while at the same trime keeping it as a siderial issue with the deployment in the past of the saddle usage... finally, the blanket in little ways resembles the originally6 sketched one - that proved too difficult for me to achieve without spending the time there sketching the real one, and so was woven - literally - dot by dot, and achieving a still good used blanket for the work......

[close-up]

"The Loner"

"The Loner" This stemmed from a photo of a leaf on a shingle roof.... thought it good to try my hand at a trompe l'oeil pen/ink work - in this case just the leaf.. actually succeeded with this, as when view, one thinks is a leaf stuck to the inked paper....

"First Day"

"First Day" This was one of the four small works which initiated me back into doing acrylics after many years of forsaking it.... more of a study piece in seeing how to use the paint, tho was again, a playing on words and view - is it, for instance, a real dragon or a toy? then, too, there was wanting to see how hard to blend the shading of the egg - considering the whole was only about 5 hours, not a poor blending.... a light-hearted work showing a whimsical nature of mine...

"Confluence"

"Confluence" ......The interesting thing of this is that is merely came from the initial seeing of a sunflower sideview, and thought of a plant 'facing the wind and light' so to speak... from that, came the positioning of the leaves to effect a 'blowing', whether wind or light or both, and a fence to brace it..... obviously there arose the scene in mind of the bow on the Titanic movie - hence the mouse.... all, of course, gathering together to make, as the theme/title says - a Confluence.....

[close-up] 

"Critical Mass"

"Critical Mass" One of my favorite artists was a man named William Harnett..... so, with this series which was to display my talents of painting, after a long spell [over a decade] of not painting, I decided to try my hand at doing something in the order of a trompe l'oeil.....hence, as seen in the close-up, my tribute to him... this is another of my odd twistings of objects used before - the mouse, of course, has been in many works now - and the snake was one which was in "Laissez-Faire", one of my two bicentennial paintings [the other being "Cymbal", the flying eagle one].... of course these are not usually thought of as proper in still-life works, because they are still full of life, and still-life usually involve non-moving objects..... however, there is the sense of s 'stilled life' which would work as well - and so it is thus with this work.... here are two objects usually not congenially seen together - and thus is born the theme/title, "Critical Mass", being that thick glass separating them... of course, too, just putting them together as this involves a quirky sense of humor as well, which is fine, as it would seem the mouse could use some every now and then, the way it has been seen in some of my works... there is no big philosophical issue here in this, just a fundamental notion of 'just space' which can apply to anyone seeking security..... the rest is just playing with the paint, seeing how far it could be taken in just a few hours, as well as seeing how in my mind the idea of glass could be worked convencingly...

"Port"

"Port" This is one of the less serious pieces, tho one in which is celebrated a 'joy de vie', and a chance to do several metaphorics on the word 'port'.... there is, for example, the obvious - port means left in nauticaleze - so, the view is from the port side, the turning is to the port direction, and the leaning is ported.... 'port' also is the color of wine, a darkish yet full-bodied , a mixture of purple and blue - of which there is plenty seen..... the temprament, too, is full-bodied, and so it shows here in the waves, and the almost nonchalantness of the pilot, an exhuberance to heading home - seen off in the distance - again, on the port side..... there are more there, but these suffice to get the idea across..... note, too, that the sky, which could have been rendered as dark and forboding, is instead bright and enlightening - yet another which could be considered a 'porting' idea..