Nature
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From the East
Thy Nativity of Christ our GodHas shown to the worldThe light of wisdom.For by it, those who worship the starsWere taught by a starTo adore Thee.The son of righteousnessAnd to know thee.The orient from on high,O Lord, Glory to Thee! Nazo Zakkak Looking East over Lake Monona This is an Orthodox hymn to Christ, celebrating Continue reading
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Quick Plein Air
I joined the Between the Bluffs Plein Air event, which included a quick paint (two hours) from the top of Grandad’s Bluff. From this vista rain could be seen to our West and North, but we were ok up to a point. I selected a site and worked on this view, looking South and three Continue reading
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Bleeding Heart
The adventure with abstraction continues. I didn’t like these I painted over #1, moved in close, switched to pallette knives and turned the black into an under layer. This at least lightened things up. It reminds me of our Madison neighborhood which embraced the plant in response to the frequent accusation of being “Bleeding Heart Continue reading
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Fall Leaves Fall
It could be a simple statement of fact: “Fall leaves fall.” It is what happens every year. It could be a direct request: “Fall leaves, Fall.” as if we could somehow encourage this to happen. I see it as a celebration: “Fall leaves fall!” This installation celebrates the symmetry of drawing from the soil, the Continue reading
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Fall Leaves Progress
It’s two weeks to installation. I’m working on layout. And color. This is a sample from using locust bean pods, beets, copper and coffee. The copper extraction paints on clear then changes green. I’m setting the sample out in the sun to see what happens. Next is assembly. Stay tuned. Continue reading
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Earth Connections progress
“Fall Leaves Fall” is the name of my installation at the Farley Center’s Earth Art event this year. I am working on oak leaves cut from wood sourced and milled on the site. The leaves shapes are actual leaves from my chosen location that were found while locating where the installation will be placed. I Continue reading
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The Rock
We attended an event about pollinators at Justin Trails Resort near Sparta. On the top of a ridge is “The Rock”. The picture is in acrylic with trees made from cast off fabric from my wife’s quilt stash. Acrylic paints allow for endless layering. Here is the result. Continue reading
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Abstract Clematis #1
Abstraction is not as easy as it appears. The first three tries ended up being representational. This time I used the colors of the plant in rough proportion to the original image. Using pallet knives and a process of pressing painted plastic wrap into the image. I’m staring at the result to see if it Continue reading
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Working towards Abstraction
It helped to think of subtraction. Subtract detail, scale and color. Notice shapes. A pallet knife helped by forcing details out. Continue reading
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Dare to Paint Abstracts
I’ve been looking for a way to loosen up my watercolor style. The current effort to do that is by taking a class through La Crosse Parks and Recreation entitled “Dare to Paint Abstracts”. This class meets weekly and we work in acrylics. I’ve used acrylic paints for woodcarvings, usually thinning them down to make Continue reading
Two Book Reflections 