Something Different

So a lot has changed since my last post.  I won't go into detail except to say that one of the biggest changes is that my wonderful wife has retired and that we went on a 4000 mile camping excursion while driving through about seven states!  What an adventure; complete with beautiful scenery, truck trouble and one evening fraught with a huge swarm of mosquitos that even troubled our dogs.

After that trip I decided to step out and start experimenting with new creations.  I made cedar walking sticks, cheesy signs ( All my friends have paws, etc...) and even started working toward my old indulgence of knife making.  What can I say, I live in the Ozarks and "We Love Knives".

So because I am so new at it I decided that instead of creating knives from scratch that I would repurpose old tools and such to see how I liked it before throwing down a ton of cash on an anvil and other such tools.  I ventured out to our local swap meet looking for old broken pieces or things that looked like blades that I could slap a handle on and sharpen on my belt sanders. 

I found that old grass shears as well as pruning shears have very high quality steel blades ready made for my needs.  Then I found this: (see picture) minus the handle.  This was a very old machete with a 14 inch blade and a handle that was broken into four pieces and held on with electrical tape.  It was a perfect find especially at three bucks...

I took it home and knocked some of the rust off the blade with a wire wheel then I spied an old piece of driftwood that I pick up off the bank of the Mississippi River several years ago.  It was the perfect looking handle to turn the old machete into something new and exciting.  Well, in my mind anyway, my wife had doubts...  The wood is very hard and seasoned so it should hold up well with use.  I fitted the blade into the wood and pinned it in place with three brass pins.  Behold, a 22" "Pirate Cutlass" with a 14 inch, high carbon, spring steel blade.  Insert cliché pirate noise and...  done.

"Fade to Black 2" - 24" x 24" x 1.5" - Acrylic on hollow core door panel - $250.00

Here is another little 24 x 24 inch painting created for my mobile art business.  As often happens in art this piece involved a happy accident.  I was using an empty gesso bucket to create a black circle around the large "planetoid" (??) at the bottom left.  I had a sheet of wax paper with black paint on it and was moving the lip of the bucket around in the paint so I could transfer it.  When I was done I looked at the wax paper and really liked the effect that I saw so I duplicated it in the top half of the painting.  The result becomes the story behind the painting.

Who knows how long the earth has been here, some say 6,000 years and others 4.5 billion.  What we do know according to the Bible is that one day the earth will be destroyed by fire. 

 2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

This painting then is a before and after; the current earth below and the blackened cinder that it will become before crumbling away once again to the dust that formed it.

"Heavens Gate" - 24" x 24" x 1.5" - Acrylic on hollow core door panel - $250.00

Here we have a wet on wet painting, a technique I like to use to diffuse colors and achieve an organic effect.  It is hard to see the effect in the photo and I really had trouble with the white areas so know that they are not as bright in the actual painting...  Of all creation outer space is perhaps the most mysterious.  On earth we see the minutia of life, from a blade of grass to a lady bug and the mystery of life in general.  In space we see a vastness that is simply hard to comprehend and in those light years of time and space the mystery of God unfolds for me. 

"Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool:"   

How great is our God?  The Psalmist says it the best:

 "Ps 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods."

Amen and amen...

"Tranquility 2" - 24" x 24" x 1.5" - Acrylic on hollow core door panel - $250.00

Initially this painting was a follow up for an earlier painting called "Tranquility" which was reminiscent of a peaceful Island paradise.  I leaned this painting against a wall upside down (as it appears now) and things really changed.  A young man walked by and asked me if it was a transformer jumping off the canvas.  Another person saw a sea turtle and so on... Little did I know that I had created an ink blot test of sorts but that is the wonder of abstract art; each mind see's something a little bit differently and I suppose it is not un-like laying in the park and watching clouds float by on a summer day.

Turtle or island paradise...  I hope you see something you like in this painting.  Perhaps it is the simplicity of it all or the cool relaxing colors and the good news is that you have four different ways you can rotate this little gem so you can always change your latitude...

"Cold Front" - 24" x 24" x 1.5" - Acrylic on hollow core door panel - $250.00 (SOLD)

"Cold Front" is another in my series of smaller works geared to sell on the street and out of my mobile art gallery.  Well actually it is more like a mobile painting storage unit that I unload where ever people congregate and then begin the process of shameless self promotion as I sell the populace on the concept of buying local AMERICAN art and not a bunch of cheap knock offs from China.  I mean have you looked on EBAY lately?  Sure you can buy a 24 x 36 abstract oil painting on canvas for 49.99 but when you get it, it may not look at all like the photo and additionally all you get is the canvas which then has to be stretched over a frame.  Most people cannot do that themselves and end up paying Hobby Lobby to do it for them.  This generally costs as much as the painting and if you want a gallery wrapped look then your painting goes from 24 x 36 to 21 x 33.  If you choose to save the entire painting then you are left with a piece of art with either a white border around the sides, or you could paint it black or frame it which costs even more money....

I know everyone cannot dish out $150 for a painting in these hard economic times (which actually are not that hard...) so I do accept offers when I sell my work on the street or when you call or email me from this site!  If you love a painting then work with the artist.  Trust me, we want you to have the painting and many of us will reduce the price to accommodate your budget.

Stepping down from my soap box...  This painting was inspired by some crazy weather patterns we had this spring.  One day it was 96 and the next day it was 68.  You could actually feel the air cooling down while the deck was still hot under your feet.  I thought to myself:  "What would that look like visually?" and here is where we ended up, letting warm and cool colors do all of the work!

"Nuclear Family" (SOLD) - 24" x 36" x 1.5" - Acrylic on hollow core door panel - $350.00

So...  Little did I know that the title of this painting would end up being controversial.  I saw a really old magazine from the 50's and it had this picture of a family ducking and covering in their white picket fence - leave it to beaver house with a mushroom cloud in the background; and then I painted this little piece and called it "Nuclear Family".  Next thing I know someone is telling me that it is not politically correct and all that...  Really?  I was just having some fun with a play on words.  (Hence the mushroom cloud)  Relax and enjoy the painting already, I promise there is not an ounce of hatred or judgment in it.  Scouts honor, no groups of people or animals were harmed in the painting of this painting... 

"Quandary" - 24" x 30" x 1.5" - Acrylic on hollow core door panel - $225.00

SOLD!!  I was out on the street last Friday evening trying to sell some paintings and this monochromatic piece was among those works that I was displaying.  I must have had five or six people ask me "what does that say, are those letters?"  

Honestly, I was not being intentionally cryptic when I painted the white line.  It is just what happened after I picked up the squeeze bottle of white paint and started moving it over the painting.  Later I did notice however that it seemed to resemble some semblance of a word, maybe...  I also did not intend for the black and grey space to resemble an aardvark but it sort of does doesn't it?  Quite the "quandary" isn't it? 

"Diatribe" - 36"x48"x1.5" - Acrylic on Masonite panel - $525.00

This large piece is an example of "automatic" drawing and painting.  Some also call this style of art "expressive" painting.  The goal is to express what is inside of you automatically with little or no thought toward what the end will be.  This is an exciting exercise as if forces you to completely abandon you creative inhibitions and open yourself to endless possibilities. (and of course, criticism...)

I started with black paint, white gesso and a three inch house painting brush.  First I gave myself one minute to apply black on the already primed Masonite panel.  After a minute and even before the black dried I came back in with the white.  This process repeated until the painting began to speak to me and then I stopped and took it in.  This is what it looked like after about ten minutes of work...

Though there was not any actual form to the painting my mind began to put the pieces together (gestalt...) and with just a minimal effort the "faces" emerged.  I began to add more color and refine the work until it "felt" finished.  A great example of the abstract version of Bob Ross's "happy accident" can be seen in what appears to be two crows sitting on the right side taking in the view.  Those two birds get a lot of attention from the viewers and I made zero attempt to put them there, they just happened.

If you are an artist and you feel stuck then I encourage you to try a painting in this style.  Don't worry about the finished project, just go along for the ride!  You can always paint over it if you must....

"Blood Moon Rising" - 20"x34"x1.5" - Acrylic on canvas - $225.00

A "blood moon" is a phenomenon that occurs during a lunar eclipse.  The earth passes between the moon and the sun blocking a lot of the suns rays and some of the light actually bends around the earth causing the surface of the moon to appear reddish in color.  There is a belief that when several blood moons occur in close proximity to each other and the days coincide with Jewish feast days that something remarkable is about to occur regarding the nation of Israel.  This coinciding of the blood moons to the four Jewish feast days has occurred 10 times since 1 AD and three times since 1492.  (When Columbus sailed the ocean blue...) 

Many people believe that these blood moons are a token of a radical change ahead such as the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the beginning of the tribulation period.  Blood moons have occurred on 4/15/14, 10/18/14, 4/4/15 and the fourth is set to happen on 9/15/15.  These four dates fall either on the Jewish Passover or on the Feast of Tabernacles.  What will happen on or near Sept. 15, 2015?  Well the fact is that no one knows for sure and even Jesus said that no one knew the date of His return except for His father in heaven. (Mark 13:32)

What we do know is that the day of His return is closer than ever and that we need to be ready for it.  Are you ready?

"Canyons of Io" - 32"x38"x1.5" - Acrylic on repurposed hollow door panel - $525.00 (SOLD)

Io is Jupiter's fifth moon, is the fourth largest of all of the moons orbiting Jupiter and is slightly larger than Earth's moon.  Io is the most volcanic celestial body in the solar system and volcanoes there reach a staggering 3000 degrees F while the surface of this moon is -220 F, making this the moon of fire and ice.  It actually snows on this moon however the flakes are made up of sulfur dioxide and not water. In mythology Io was the mistress of Zeus who turned her into a Heifer to avoid detection by his jealous wife Hera.  This story continues with all of the assorted drama of the ancient gods...

I really like the colors in this painting thought this picture does not do them justice.  I also enjoyed making the wet on wet "lava river" that runs across the paintings surface.  The blending of colors gives it an almost marbled effect which is beautiful to me due to its organic nature.

Ascending Into the Blue 20"x28"x3" - Acrylic on repurposed wooden shipping crate - $275.00 - SOLD

This is an acrylic 20 x 28 that I painted on an old shipping crate that is about 3 inches deep.  In the early days of abstract expressionism some artists (Franz Kline, Gerhard Richtor, Pollock) started making a big impact on the viewer by painting very large pieces of art.  Some artists rebelled against this stating that they felt they could achieve the same effect with much smaller paintings (some less than 20") by simply controlling the scale of the images in the work.  These small abstract works later became known as "suitcase paintings" and are still on display and very popular today.  I will confess that I am drawn to looking at as well as creating large pieces of art.  However, large pieces do not always suit the needs of the collector due to either space or budgetary constraints.  So here is my attempt (along with CERN #1, #2, Untitled and Rush Hour) to create my own version of an abstract suitcase painting.

"Focal Point" - 16"x20"x1.5" - Acrylic on repurposed canvas $75.00 SOLD

This is a small painting that I created for the singular purpose of creating affordable art that most people could easily purchase.  While this painting may not have been "Inspired" (some might call this style soul less or décor art) it is still an interesting piece full of color, texture and interesting technique.  I was also pleased to see it sell very quickly which made me think that I might have opened up a new venue.  Time will tell.  Look for more smaller pieces to follow as I try to compete with the inexpensive Chinese art flooding EBAY as well as all of the cheap prints at Gordman's and other home stores...

"Sequence" - 24"x24"x1.5" - Acrylic on repurposed hollow core door panel - $125.00 SOLD

Yes, I admit that it is strange, but the inspiration for this painting came from mosquito larvae in a bucket of water.  It has been reported that the similarity between human and chimp DNA is between 95-98.5%.  Well, before you start thinking that maybe evolution is true, you should know that scientist also claim a 60% similarity between human DNA and that of a fruit fly or mosquito!  All DNA is made up in combinations of sequences of threes and these are called triplets.  Which of course brings us back to the magic number three...  Everything that has ever been made was created by Jesus Christ and this is a true statement if you choose to believe your Bible.  So just because there are basic similarities between my DNA and that of a monkey or fruit fly does not necessarily mean that I used to be a monkey or a fruit fly.  There is also a 75% similarity between the DNA of humans and nematode worms.  So what is it then, did I come from a monkey or a worm?  Or perhaps the Bible IS true and we were all created independantly by God.

"The Space Between Us" - 30" x 34" x 1.5" - Acrylic on hollow door panel - $425.00 SOLD

There is a certain amount of repetition in the universe.   Spacial relationships are governed by unseen forces such as gravity and electromagnitism.  The earth rotates around the sun at a distance of about 93 million miles.  If the earth was moving faster its orbit would be even further out from the suns surface.  This painting however, is not about planetary objects, but speaks to the spaces between sub-atomic particles.  If a single hydrogen atom were enlarged to the size of the earth, with its nucleus of a single proton in the center of the earth; then the electron orbiting the nucleus would be located somewhere out in the earths atmosphere!  I have read that if all of the matter in the universe were compacted to the point to where there was no longer any free space between the individual particles; then the resulting object, if shaped into a cube and placed in the center of our sun, would reach out to where its sides would be located at the orbit of Mars.  This means that we are surrounded by and made up of, a LOT of empty space!  Did you know that a neutron star has been compressed so tightly by gravity that its core is a giant diamond?  Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.  Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky...

The Life Is In the Blood - 32" x 38" x 1.5" - Acrylic on hollow door panel - $525.00

Blood cells, veins and cappilaries...  The "LIFE" is in the blood.  Blood cells carry oxygen to the body and ultimately CO2 and other wastes from the body.  Blood, if you really think about it, is simply a transport mechanism.  Without it we die for it carries in it what we need for life.  The Bible even makes a statement about our blood:  Le 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood:  This speaks of course to human life but when we take a look at this concept with spiritual eyes, it becomes pretty easy to see a parallel story line.  If we want to have "spiritual life" then we can also find that in the blood.  Not in our own blood however, but in the precious blood of Jesus!   His blood washes our sins away and replaces them with His own Righteousness.  Now that is a blood transfusion!

Stratospheric Anomoly - 24" x 31" x 1.5" - Arcylic on hollow door panel - $325.00 SOLD

There is not a lot to say about this painting other than it was an experiment with color juxtipostions and using a wet on wet technique to bring to mind cloud formations.  I also use a paint removal process to expose the red beneath the greens...  It ended up looking like a view of a weird purple lake from an airplane at about 30,000 feet!   I will say, that this piece is much richer looking in person that it looks in this photo.  I will keep experimenting...  You never know what might happen next.

Into the Shallows - 9 x 36 x 1.5 - Acrylic on Hollow Door Panel - $165

After fishing all day and catching almost nothing we headed back to the boat ramp about 10 pm...  There was a bright yellow spotlight hitting the water and as we pulled the boat up the ramp I went over to make one last effort before heading home.  As I approched the shore I started seeing dark shapes moving in the water and soon realized that they were walleye searching the shallows near the shoreline for shad.  I stayed there for almost two hours watching the fish; sometimes close enought to the shore that I could have scooped them out with a dip net!  (not allowed by law...) Some of them were nearly three feet long and they paid absolutely no attention to me at all.  I ended up catching only 2 (by accident I am sure) but getting to see them so close up was a real treat for this nature lover.  About a week later I started an automatic or expressive painting and this is what emerged.  As the painting was only 9 inches tall and fish shapes were emerging; I thought back to that night and the fish in shallow water...

Beneath the Thermocline - 34 x 36 x 1.5 - Acrylic on hollow door panel - $525

This last summer I started fishing again for the first time in about twelve years and I had a blast.  It all started with the white bass in the spring and I fished a lot in the rivers heading into nearby Stockton lake at that time.  In early Summer we would fish the lake and stay near the shoreline and around cover.  By mid June it started getting harder and harder to find the fish as they started going deeper in search of cooler water.  One day I was fishing near a bridge in a really great boat (not mine, i do not have a boat) with a state of the art fish finder. I noticed that for the first 20 feet or so of water, that there were barely any fish at all but below the 20 foot mark they were just thick.  I didn't catch many fish that day but it did inspired this painting so all ended well!

"THREE" - Acrylic and mixed media on wood panel - 12" x 20" x 1.75" - SOLD

This is one of the very few "collage" pieces that I have ever made.  The work itself is not extraordinary to me but the concept is.  It was about 20 years ago when I was reading my Bible as a new Christian, that I discovered Gen 1:26 for the first time.  In this verse God speaks and says a very profound thing.  He says:  "Let US make man in OUR own image, after OUR likeness..." 

I was simply blown away by this passage, I had never thought of God in the plural sense before. Soon, after much conversation and study, I came to realize that God was speaking of the three parts of the Godhead; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This led to the realization that I was also a three part being, having a body, a soul and a spirit. Further investigation led me to an almost unbelievable conclusion; ALL of Gods creation is immersed and contained in the number three!!  Here is a list of examples for you to think about:

 

Time = past, present and future. (1-2-3...)

 

Space = is measured in height, width and depth.

 

Matter =  solid, liquid gas

 

Creation = animal, vegetable and mineral

 

Reality = space, matter and time

 

Electricity = positive, negative and neutral

 

Atoms = protons, neutrons and electrons

 

Colors = All colors are mixed from the three primary colors RED, YELLOW and BLUE

 

I could go on and on...  Blood is made up of red cells, white cells and platelets.  Even electromagnetic energy is considered to have three variables which are frequency, wave length and energy.  You yourself, where ever you are, have descended from the THREE children of Noah; Shem, Ham and Japheth...  Why is this concept so important?  It is perhaps one of the greatest, if not the greatest argument to establish intelligent design (GOD) over evolution (NO GOD).

"Tranquility" - 24" x 24" x 1.5" - Acrylic on door panel - $225.00 SOLD

This little gem is hanging in the second floor gallery at Springfield Brewing Company down on Market and Walnut in Springfield, MO.  This is perhaps the most simplistic painting I have ever created but my wife just loves it.  Perhaps there really is something to the old adage "less is more."  At least three people have commented that it reminds them of islands.  I of course was thinking "nebula" but...  who am I to tell anyone what to see in art even if it is my own.  The eye sees what the eye sees and the heart wants what the heart wants.  My heart seeks peace, calmness and a certain tranquility.  There is another old saying and it goes like this:   "No God, no peace - Know God, know peace....."

Think about it....