Category: Recent Work

Suburban Landscape with the Artist Jackson Pollock Painting, oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

This is a medium-sized painting depicting a night scene, with light spilling out from the houses onto the street. In the distance, an open garage reveals Jackson Pollock creating one of his Action Paintings. This artwork draws inspiration from the Mannerist Inversion paintings of Peter Brueghel, particularly his “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.” The image of Jackson Pollock is derived from a famous photograph of the artist at work. By depicting him as small in comparison to the other elements, the painting makes an ironic comment on Art History’s perspective on the world.

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Birds of a Feather, oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″, 2024.

Birds of a Feather is a medium size painting, oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″, painted in 2024. As its title suggests, it depicts several “flocks”. There is a flock of black birds casting their shadows on the red roof, a group of children kicking a ball in the middle ground, a group of sailboats racing, in the distance. There is also a village of houses, trees, and shrubs (a kind of flock) scattered throughout the scene. Plus, there is a group of adults doing adult things like riding a bike, running, talking, looking out a window.

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The Midnight Hour, oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″, 2024.

The Midnight Hour is a medium size oil painting on canvas. Finished in 2024, it is based on a previous painting – The Witching Hour. On a video monitor this painting looks almost the same as its predecessor, but not in person. Paintings are physical objects. They have physical dimension. In this newer version the water in the pool is first painted with an impasto white which is then glazed with a transparent blue paint. This creates a tactile watery texture when seen in person. Whether or not this technique is “better” remains to be seen. Constant experimentation is necessary. Throughout Art History artists have made second, even third versions of the same image. This always invites comparisons.

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The Green Valley, oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″, 2023.

The Green Valley is a medium size painting in oil on canvas. Finished in 2023, it is Surrealist in style. The idealized houses, roads, and trees are more symbolic than real. They create an image of a symbolic suburbia. The lines of this surreal landscape lead to the church in the distance. It’s position emphasizes the importance of religion in contemporary suburban culture, while its small size places it in perspective.

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The Man Cave II.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

Not happy with the original painting, I brought it back into the studio and reworked it. I lightened it and added people in the windows.

The Man Cave, oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″, 2021. This is a medium size night scene, which was inspired by my brother’s suburban home and neighborhood. It is not an exact representation, it is an imaginative recreation; an attempt to capture the spirit of a place, rather than just it’s appearance. It is dreamlike, and surreal. A soft blue light pervades the dark scene. Light penetrates the darkness, and emanates from many sources; it pours from a garage, a window, a doorway. The people, though not interacting, belong to the place. They are a family, and this is their home, their world. All five of them. Five? Where are the other two? In the bedroom?

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The Sunday Painter.  Oil on canvas, 26″ x 42″.

The Sunday Painter, oil on canvas, 26″ x 42″. This medium size painting represents that moment when a storm rushes in, the sky turns dark, and day becomes almost like night. The foreground is illuminated while the distance is dark and covered with clouds. The clouds seem to slide over the land. People and birds are just beginning to notice and react. The Sunday painter is bathed in sunlight while just beyond, a car, in shadow, has already turned on its lights.

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Storming In.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

Storming In is a medium size painting – 42″ x 26″, oil on canvas. In this surrealist composition a sailboat drives through the chop toward a rocky shore as billowy clouds move in. A strong wind creates waves, foam, and spray. Two distant sailboats race across the water. On the shore a church is surrounded by houses. A flock of birds flies in from the right. We see the people on the boat. Are they excited, or afraid? Do they wish they were safely ashore? When faced with the power of nature, our solid structures, such as boats, houses, or churches can seem puny by comparison. We may feel threatened. Time seems to stand still when a sudden storm darkens the sky. Yet seen from a distance, storm clouds are captivating, even beautiful.

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Cloud Illusions.  Oil on canvas, 28″ x 48″.

 

Cloud Illusions, 28″ x 48″, is a medium size oil painting on canvas. As the stormy clouds roll across the land, people run. Is a storm approaching? Is it a false alarm? Time will tell. The round clouds turn into wispy fingers that contrast with the geometry of the houses and streets they are about to cover.

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Stormy Days.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

 

In this medium size oil painting the storm approaches and the cyclists head home. Is this threatening weather, or a false alarm? The cloud fingers reach out to surround the cyclists. The riders go one way, the birds another; both fleeing the coming rain and wind. The beauty of the cloud forms and their suggested motion belies their dark potential.

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Isolation.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

Isolation, is a medium size painting in oil on canvas that expresses the isolation that can be experienced in a suburban neighborhood. The warm colors of the lighted interior contrast with the cool, dark, outdoors. A man, arms crossed, looks out. He is separated from others, whose presence is implied by the surrounding homes. His shadow suggests the anxiety of his self-imposed confinement. He is on one side of a glass barrier, while his shadow reaches out and away. Is he in a prison of his own making? The light and shadows unite the interior and exterior spaces.

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