Eye of the Beholder

 

acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Here's my third blind painting.  A rather mysterious composition.

Hand Dancing

acrylic on canvas, 20"  x 20

This is the second in a series of blind paintings.  I've already done a third and conttemplating a fourth.  It's a great exercise to spark inspiration!  At least it seems to be for me.

In Blindsight

 

acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

My therapist challenged me recently to try painting blindfolded.  At first, I scoffed at the idea.  Then I tried imagining it.  Then I found the perfect blindfold to use:  the one I brought home from the hospital from having brain surgery.  This is the result of a 45-minute play session.  I used my free hand a lot to feel where the canvas edges were, and lifted the blindfold to load the brush or other implement with paint.  It was a fun and freeing exercise.  I kept the palette brief, using only naphthol red light, turquoise and yellow ochre, plus white.  So, a red, a blue and a yellow.  An interesting experiment.

Joely

 

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 9"

Another 4-hour affair, a portrait of Joely Richardson of the Redgrave clan.

Sergei

 

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 9"

A portrait of Sergei Polunin, a ballet dancer, from Portrait Artist of the Year.  This one took the full 4 hours.

Philip

 

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 9"

Here's another portrait study of a sitter from the BBC series Portrait Artist of the Year.  I'm trying to finish these studies in 4 hours and under, and so far so good.  This one took about 3 hours.  I'm gearing up for a figure painting workshop with Jacob Dhein in Italy the last week in August.

Alexa

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 9"

This is a study of Alexa Chung, a British clothing designer and style influencer. I felt drawn to paint her with that quirky pose.

The Deflecting Pool

 

acrylic on canvas paper, 18" x 12"

Reflecting upon recent events, here's a quick pictorial of my imaginings.  Surely a swamp by any other name...

Just Passing Through

oil on canvas paper, 9" x 12"

Here's another in my animal sketch series, a galloping horse.

The Opacity of Algae

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

Two ducks swimming in algae.  There is no reflection, no transparency, no clarity.  An apt metaphor for these times.

Young David Hockney

 

acrylic on canvas, 30" x 15"

My painting idol, David Hockney, has died at the age of 88, and so I'm reposting this painting I did in 2015 of him as a young man, in his honor.  It hangs behind my couch and looks out at me wherever I am in the room.  He's been my inspiration for a long time.  RIP, David Hockney!

Buoyant

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

I'm on a roll with these animal sketches.  For this one, my palette consisted of azo yellow, pthalo blue and titanium white.

Mind the Gap

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

A polar bear leaps across the water to a dwindling iceberg.  This was a fun, quick little study.

Ye Shall Know Me By My Stripes

 

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

Looks like another one has come along.  These are fairly quick studies, taking anywhere from 2-4 hours.

Udder Relief

oil on canvas paper, 9" x 12"

Yet another cow painting.  I'm on an animal kick right now.

Cream of the Crop

 

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

It's back to cows with this study.

Old Cherry Blossom Tree

acrylic on canvas, 22" x 28"

A fun project.

Juste Entre Nous

 

oil on panel, 12" x 16"

Just for fun.

Paco y Amiga

oil on panel, 20" x 20"

I keep thinking this is the last of my "bird girl" series, and here we are with yet another one.  I've amassed a lot of these by now, but this one is special in that the bird in it is my very own Paco, a red-lored Amazon parrot that I lived wih in New York and South Florida.

Riffing on a Richter

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

This is just me fooling around, playing with other artists' ideas.  The inspiration happened to be a Gerhard Richter painting, but it just as easily could have been, say, a Kandinsky.