I have found that when I get stuck for very long in my painting, it often helps me to get unstuck for me to paint a new style of self- portrait. So, yesterday, I painted this little doodle: sort of a combination abstract and pointilist self-portrait, with lipstick and glasses.
It is on a 12″ diameter stretched canvas. If you really want it, talk to me. we can haggle. Therapy not included.
Most of the artists I know took lessons, or went to school to become artists. I did not. Some would say that it shows. Oh well. Many have remarked that my collection of works is diverse; not confined to any one style. I have mentioned that I stumbled upon monochromatic painting by doing two pieces in two days, then discovering what the term ‘monochromatic painting‘ meant.
Classically, artists would start drawing, sketching, shading, objects, then move on to painting still life. These are arrangements of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and some household objects. The idea is that one learns about perspective, light and shadow, texture, etc., before moving on to more complex subjects. One learns how to keep the rules of realism, before one breaks them for abstract art or cartoons. I started with a cartoonish self-portrait, and went on from there. I started late, so had to make up for lost time. Many people, who know some of the subjects of my portraits, have told me that I have really captured their essence. I don’t always hit it out of the park. I have canvasses I am painting over. Yet, my works have been used in several lecture series & plays at several universities around the US. Some of them are hanging on walls across the Atlantic. They can be seen in homes or dorm rooms in seven or eight states. People tell me they like the bird mural.
I call this painting “Still Life” because it was an exercise for me in emulating a couple of artists’ styles; not slavishly, but paying homage nonetheless. The bright, fall colors on the hill behind the Mexican Gray Wolves and in the turning leaves of the tree are a nod to Vincent Van Gogh’s post-pointilism. More subtle yet, there are scribble lines through two thirds of the painting that pay tribute to Jackson Pollock.
The title is also a play on words, of sorts. This family of wolves are on a wolf reserve for endangered species and breeds of wolves. They still have life, thanks to some extraordinary measures taken to save them. A photo of them went viral on the web. That photo is the basis of the composition of this painting. When this painting sells, a portion of the sale will go to the Wolf Conservation Center.
The painting is acrylic on 24″ x 24″ gallery stretched canvas with edges painted black, so framing is not required.
Price: $240 plus postage
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Doctors did a study of Vietnam veterans with brain injuries and found them to be much more religious and tending toward fundamentalism and orthodoxy than those who did not have brain injuries. They explored further and found that decreased activity in the right parietal lobe is associated with feelings of oneness with the universe. “People with injuries to the right parietal lobe of the brain reported higher levels of spiritual experiences, such as transcendence,” according to Brick Johnstone. The right parietal lobe is associated with visual-spatial perception. I have a unique defect in my brain there. The right side of my brain never developed adult arteries to feed blood to the right parietal, temporal and occipital lobes. I have a single fetal artery from my vertebral artery feeding three fetal arteries each to these lobes. Two of these should be fed from adult arteries from the carotid and only one from the vertebral. They had never seen anything like this at HUP. Consequently, I have had six little strokes in my right parietal lobe as a result of migraines and 50 TIAs. I first heard about this study in a radio interview on NPR with Frank Schaeffer about six years ago, about the same time I was learning out about my brain defect.
I have finally concluded that my experience of god was just my right parietal lobe having fun with me. So this is my abstract rendering of it done with a pen cap and a pencil eraser.
The painting is acrylic on 12″ x 12″ stretched canvas.
Price: $60 plus postage.
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I first saw this Carousel Ladybug in a photo of the carousel at the Kansas City National Park. I saw it again at the company who manufactured it from hardwoods: Carousel Works. They will make carousel animals to order of any animal or insect one could desire. They even made one non-animal: a baseball bat, with the glove for the saddle! I painted this mostly using a pencil partially sharpened, then the eraser for the large dots.
Painting is acrylic on 6″ x 6″ stretched canvas.
Price: $30 reduced to $10 plus postage
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This is another painting of my cat, Skittles, done in dots, then surrounded by brightly colored feathers, on a black background.
The painting is acrylic on 12″ x 12″ stretched canvas.
Price: $100
SOLD
This daylily was painted entirely using a pencil instead of brushes to apply the paint. The large dots were done using the fresh eraser end repeatedly dipped and dotted. The medium-sized dots were accomplished by sharpening the writing end halfway, so the lead was not quite exposed. The small, bright yellow dots, for the stamen, were made by sharpening the pencil to a point, then rubbing it down to a blunt point. For the effect, it helped that the yellow paint was thicker, as well. I even titled, dated and signed it in dots, but that is in fine tipped artist marker.
Painting is 20″ x 16″ acrylic on stretched canvas.
Price: $150 plus postage
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This is my fourth self portrait. I painted it while everyone was neglecting my carefully set up display at Teich & McColgan Daylily & Hosta Farm last weekend. No one wandered through to see my more than 80 original works for sale at free admission. Once I am dead these works will be worth a mint! Van Gogh and I have much similar stories. We were both prison ministers. We were both disapproved by our older brothers and fathers. We both suffered from severe depressive disorder. The difference is that I don’t let my brother commit me to an insane asylum. I told him to go to hell and stopped talking to him. Vincent Van Gogh painted 46 self portraits before he committed suicide.
I have been painting for 17 months so far. Other artists tell me that I capture the ‘essence’ of my subjects; and that my paintings carry ’emotion’. I just know that I couldn’t do this before I had six strokes and now I can. Now it lowers my blood pressure. This is more a caricature of me than a portrait – but, oh well.
Painting is 16″ x 20″ acrylic on stretched canvas.
Price: $150 plus postage
Fill out the form below so we can arrange payment and delivery. I take PayPal, so all credit or debit cards are accepted.
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