Milwaukee Yacht Club plein air

On a recent morning this summer I stopped down by the Milwaukee Yacht Club. It was 6am and I wanted to get a painting done before going to the office.  This 12x16 set up perfect right outside the main marina area. Their MYC boat with a small sailboat positioned just perfectly. I set up right next to these two and got to work. I liked it. Just need to find a MYC member to sell it to!

2nd Place & Artist Choice- New Berlin Plein Air Competition

Lucky me: The urban landscape of New Berlin, Wisconsin. About 50k people, lots of office and industrial parks, main artery freeway and a couple of winding roads and vanishing barns. But I went to one of my favorite places in NB, Calhoun Park. Three soccer fields, a baseball diamond and one pond. The pond with a bridge. I love it. Reeds, trees, scum, ducks. It's a painting waiting to happen. And the verdict is 2nd place PLUS the coveted Artist's Choice. Thanks people.

I went out of the box with my approach and got all impressionistic. Cape Cod school of art was my influence with 5 layers and heavy palette knife. Painted 9:30-11:30am on a sunny Saturday morning.

Plein Air Mexico Style

A went on a late winter vacation to Huatulco, Mexico. Located on the Pacific coast as far south as you can get before you reach Guatamala, this area is full of great surf and sites. I took my newly made cigar paint box and a bunch of pastels, with a goal of painting while relaxing at the resort. Lucky me, there was great coastline, super surf, rocky shores and just awesome light. I managed to paint 5 pieces, selling one right on the beach as I was finishing it! Here is a sample.

As the year ends

I realized making blog posts is not a habit of mine. Go ahead, click on "Next Blog" and see when the last day a post was made. I'm not alone. We all have good intentions. Most of us fail. This blog was supposed to be a recap of my artistic ventures. I just don't think about posting every time I paint or have a creative thought. More than likely I'll videotape my antics and post to my YouTube Channel. Hey, I enjoy writing, it's just with work and things, this is not my default method to communicate online. Part of me thinks "who cares anyway?" Most don't.

I did recently complete a pastel painting. Of course, Blogger doesn't allow uploads from your local drive, and I didn't take a picture with my Android phone and it resides nowhere else online, so at this exact moment I can't post it. Ugh.

I do have some goals set for next year. No it's not buying Eric Rhodes Artist Boot Camp DVD, but it does sound interesting. And I do have the money. But I have to ask myself, how serious do I take myself with respect to art? Shit, I just started a new full time job. This is my focus. Three years to retirement...I hope. Then I can paint all I want...I hope. If I'm lucky, I'll double my blog posts from this year. And that's good enough for me.

Painting Live at Open Canvas 2012

Last night was another awesome opportunity for me to paint for my 6th year at Open Canvas. Organized by Jeff Kursel with art scholarships to MIAD, this year the date was wedged into a Thanksgiving weekend. It's such a classy act with tons of original art being created before your eyes. What a concept for the viewing public. A charitable event where 80 or so local Milwaukee area artists paint live and all the work goes up for silent auction during the evening. Lots of food, fun, people and ART.  I heard pre-sale tickets were down 20% but it sure looked like a nice size, good looking crowd was in attendance again; maybe 500-600?

2012 has been the year of the abstract for me. For some reason, I've stumbled upon some inspirational artists on YouTube and found other in art magazines. So it only seemed appropriate I do an abstract for this event. It did sell, not where I hoped, but this year has been tough for 2D sales everywhere for a lot of people. I liked what I did and had fun doing it, so nothing else matters.

139 and Counting

For some dumb reason I walked into a closet I have downstairs and wondered how many paintings I had in there. So I started counting. These are paintings/drawings I've completed over the last 12 years.

10 years is about the amount of time I got "back into" my art. During 2000 when I lived in Grand Rapids, MI I took a class on figure drawing. It was fun. Then I found a local arts group called Grand Valley Artists, GVA. This was more fun, and I met some very well known national artists; Jim Markel PSA, Larry Blovets, and a few more. It got me back into art, something I had given up during the previous 10 years as I pursued a career and got married.

So around the house I went. And in the end...not counting a drawer full of smaller canvases and my "paper" box of sketches and pastel works: 139 pieces. I was kind of shocked. I've also got, without going to my inventory list, another 40 pieces at galleries and two dentist offices.

139 and still counting. I need to have a show, even if it's my own private show just to look at how far I've come as an artist. Maybe I'll do that. Stay tuned.

Summer Sunset

Painted during the last 30 minutes of a beautiful summer day, from the front seat of my car.

Murals, portraits, and more

I've been busy working up comps for the large church mural paintings I've been asked to do. No deposit yet, but its' God's work, so I'm confident in getting a deposit before I get too far. This has been very challenging coming up with inspirational concepts around things like; service, praise, hear God, taste God (communion), etc.

I've also backed myself into a corner with a portrait commission that's due the same week as my church commission. Shouldn't have put it off for 2 months!!

Original Acrylic Artwork- Sea Churn

This painting was inspired by my trip to Hawaii last year. I took several photos from the ship as we skimmed along the ocean. The foam along with the aquamarine color of the ocean was awesome. So I took a fragment of the water and created this painting.

16x20- Acrylic.

Opportunity

Yesterday presented two new opportunities for me and my artwork. I met with the pastor of a large local church. He apparently had received a grant or donation of $3k to have some original art produced for the church. The project looks interesting and can offer a chance at some PR for me. The space is about 10x7 and will get plenty of eyeballs as you have to go past this wall to enter the worship area. Praise be to God.

I also had someone contact me regarding support for a local animal cruelty prevention gathering. I love animals and have done a couple pet/animal portraits, so this could be another great opportunity to get in front of other pet lovers for possible future commission work. Stay tuned on both these new projects.

Slow start

I just finished my first piece of 2010; abstract acrylic. I'll get the photo up shortly. I've got a portrait of my daughter on the easel, where it's been on and off for two weeks. It's a bit intimidating...the biggest canvas I've ever worked on...and a 3/4 figure with hands, which is always a bit tougher. I have to get over the thought if I screw it up it's a bust. Fact is I can just gesso it and start over.

Hope to get some paint down soon.

JD

My nieces' first child JD. Born with special needs, hoping this will be a nice xmas present ordered up by Dad.

Fridgid Plein Air

Last Saturday I went out in Menomonee Falls to paint with the WIPAPA local plein air group. OMG was it cold! The paint got real stiff and my fingers were numb after an hour. Thank God a coffee shop was a mere 200 yds away. But, I did paint! Two versions, same subject, photos taken back in my (warm) studio.