Elan magazine - Thank You

I want to give a special Thank You to the staff of Elan magazine for allowing me to be one of the featured artists in their November 2015 edition.  Elan is a wonderful supporter of the arts and local artists.  I can’t tell you how honored I am to be selected. 

I will say that it's a strange thing to be on the opposite side of an interview and to see yourself in print.  All those self doubt questions come into play.  Did I say to much, sound dorky, or totally miss the mark in my comments?  Many thanks to the author Kathryn McKay. You took my comments and wrote a piece that made me proud to read.

One of the things I had to do when submitting my info to Elan was to write about my art career in "about" 50 words.  Most of us have an art bio.  It's usually way over 50 words (isn't it great the computer will count your words for you).  So I took what I had and edited it and it was still over 120 words.  It really got me to thinking, “how to you sum yourself up in a short paragraph, a sentence?”  I think regardless of what we do, it something we all need to be able to do.  It is an exercise worth doing.  Now I have a short answer the next time I’m asked, "what do you do" once I tell them I’m an artist. Even saying "I'm an artist" is something hard for many of us to say.  I have learned to say an oil painter, instead of "a painter."   If you think about it there are lots and lots of kinds of painters.  

My defining sentence in my short paragraph was, "My art lead me to a career in law enforcement."  A strange, but exciting journey for sure. 



Friends have asked for a link to be able to read the article.  When you open the link, click on "The Social Painter" and then click on the icon on the top right that looks like 4 squares.  

Elan Magazine Nov 2015 page 40-41

Catching Some Rays

Catching Some Rays, 9x12" oil on RayMar ($300)

I took this photo a couple of years ago in downtown Washington, D.C. and finally pulled it out to paint.  Two things struck me when I took the picture.  I loved the turquoise color on the building and the young lady enjoying the sunshine was a great compliment to that color in her yellow top.  Putting figures in my paintings is fairly new for me and probably why I'm just painting this now.  The paintings I've done over the past year have given me a lot more confidence about adding figures in a cityscape.  

The day I started this painting, I posted it for discussion with my critique group. New eyes are good even when I think I'm humming along fairly well.  Sue asked me what I wanted to viewer to look at in the painting.  I didn't know what to say.  She, like many artists I know, have a story they want their paintings tell before they begin to paint.  I rarely thought in those terms before working with this group.  Most of the time, when I paint a cityscape, something draws me to it and it is usually color.  I guess I'm thinking more about perspective.  Rats, I was hoping the story just happens like magic. Back to basics!   It all goes back to the school of doing a thumbnail sketch (which I don't do often anymore) before drawing in paint on the canvas.   
The figure wasn't my focus when I started the painting, it was the turquoise on the building that caught my eye.  But as I painted and removed a tree in the front of the building the figure became the interesting part of the painting and not so secondary.

Tony & Joe's Restaurant

Tony & Joe's 20x16" oil on Canvas (sold)

If you haven't been to Tony & Joe's restaurant in Georgetown, in Washington, D.C., I recommend you try it the next time you are in town.  If the weather's nice its great to dine outside along the Potomac River. 

Close up of the Table

Loft Gallery, Occoquan, Va.

Orange Crush

When I retired, I went back to work part-time in Washington, D.C.   I used my lunch hour well.  The National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery were only a short walk away.  For anyone who loves art, DC is a fabulous place to live or visit.  

Even before I “discovered” Karin Jurick on the wonderful blog Lines & Colors (http://www.linesandcolors.com/) and fell in love with her museum paintings, I enjoyed painting people with their heads turned away looking at art in museums.  Of course, it could have been that aversion I have to painting faces, but I also like the fact the people are basically anonymous.  Much to my surprise, I found I also liked painting miniature versions of famous paintings.  Sometimes a painting almost paints itself.  This was one of those. 

Orange Crush, 12x16" oil on canvas, $425