girl at large

sightseeing for the soul

...a trip out of town did me so much good, am at last seeing images that inspire painting, itchy to pull out brushes and canvas again after so long...

where's Kevin Bacon in all this?

Bjorn, a retired chief of police from Norway, currently working part-time for a publishing company specializing in true crime stories, has a brother whose son is attending university, studying music, in Lincoln, Nebraska, where my father attended college not too far from his own home town of Edgar, Nebraska. Bjorn's favorite true crime story of the evening involved a Danish airstewardess who was murdered and then dismembered in a wood chipper by her American husband, much the same as the victim in the movie Fargo from the Coen brothers, originally from Minnesota, my home state's northwesterly neighbor, and home of the camp where I first learned French. Bjorn's best friend's wife is an artist, a painter. Bjorn's friend looks just like my father, though my dad never sported quite that elegant a moustache. My father's side of the family is Danish (hence Mikkelsen and not Mickelson, which would make us Swedish, possibly German or just poor spellers). Bjorn, here on vacation every August for the past four years, works with a Danish man who has also brought his family on vacation here in Antibes this week. Bjorn and his wife spent a three week vacation in the States, visiting places such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and of course, Fargo, where they were greeted like family when every third person they met shared their last name. They also went to....Portland.

Did I mention Bjorn and his wife bought one of my paintings last night?

blank

I've been trying to paint this week....emphasis on trying....Don't know what it is; summer lethargy or perhaps the stress of attempting to arrange this big move back to the States, but everything is turning out crap. I think my life is too disorganized and uncertain at the moment to allow my mind to make confidant decisions with a brush or pencil. It's hard to face a blank canvas when your entire LIFE is blank at the moment!

I did manage to get some creativity going in the house though, little Miss Grace joined me for a morning of painting---she loved it. She has a technique of mashing the brush with such force and concentration that she vibrates bodily. Admirable dedication to the work little girl!

easel update

Another archway, acrylic and sepia on paper

easel update

contrary to popular belief, i am not deeply troubled....

all in a week's work

...this isn't the first plant to get the best of me...

a little of this, a little of that

oil, watercolor, sepia pencil, acrylic....trees, landscapes...

sketchy

studies and sketches, falling in love with that sepia pencil...

artists hard at work....

...well, except when Dominique and I were off having coffee and smoking....

....and some say it isn't real work....

I'm exhausted, brain-fried, beat, bushed and battered. Oh, and happy. I've survived another week at Maison des Arts with my desire to 'paint better someday' intact. I believe I've made a satisfactory amount of progress this year, I'm especially pleased with my figurative work (which of course, is not a hot seller like the boats--damn boats!), but the more I work the more I feel I've got another decade to go before I'm able to reproduce on canvas what is in my mind. Well, that decade will pass whether I'm painting or not, so I'll just have to keep at it. I'll have photos posted in a few days.

easel update

Archway, Haut de Cagnes, acrylic and pastel on paper, 19.75" x 25"
Safranier, acrylic and pastel on paper, 19.75" x 25"

easel update

Fort Carre II, acrylic and oil pastel on paper, 19.75" x 25.5"

easel update

Fort Carre I, acrylic and oil pastel on paper, 19.75" x 25.5"

sold!

Pomodoro restaurant down rue Migrainier

i sold More Boats (Left) today! it was one of the ones hanging in the Pomodora restaurant, and it's gone to a good home with lovely Miss Lucy, an artist herself (and furniture designer!) currently working on the boats who treated herself to the painting she loves for her 30th birthday--how appropriate.

easel update

Rue III, acrylic and oil pastel on paper, 19.75" x 25.75"

watercolor sketchbook

old town study, Grace, rue study

i've been studying watercolor techniques---it's a medium i previously thought fiddly and 'grandma sunday painter'-ish, but the more i work with it and the more i read, the more i respect it and am enjoying what it can do---the clarity of color is well suited for the light here in the spring...we'll see where it goes from here....

have hammer, will hang

More Boats Left, Windows, and Two Blue Boats, the three pieces that i've just hung in a little local pizzeria. yeah!

Haut de Cagnes II, watercolor and oil pastel on paper, 31" x 42"

unique job opportunity

my sister Margaret just sent me this interesting posting from the London branch of Craig's List. think i might qualify? ha ha.

debutante a la poterie

i might be a little homesick, do ya think?

Balcony, acrylic and pastel on canvas, 32" x 39.5"

this is my beloved little balcony in Savannah--according to Bob, a death-trap waiting to happen. it's slated for complete replacement in a few weeks. shame, after i went to all that trouble matching the cement-floor paint to the table color. (i do realize i have a problem). i'm hoping to be able to enjoy sitting out there with a bottle of wine and Miss Dawn and Miss Sony (and who ever else is still living there?!? where is everyone going? oh, right, California) again someday.

sketchy

charcoal and graphite live figure study drawings on paper, each approx. 20" x 25.5"

Maison des Arts, round two

i wish every week could be like this one was.

Bert: "THAT is YOU!"

Abstract/Expressive Self-Portrait, acrylic on paper, 20" x 25.5"

i didn't intend to look so cross, that's just my natural expression when i'm concentrating. i'm pleased with this one---a good example of academic study with my own personal expression and preference for strong line, composition. blah blah arty farty blah blah blah... i think it's pretty cool, that's enough said.

more naked ladies

Marta, seated, oil on paper, 20" x 25.5"
Seated Sophie, acrylic on paper, 20" x 25.5"

figure studies

Vanille, oil on paper, 20" x 25.5"
Reclining Woman, acrylic on paper, 25" x 20"
Sophie, reclining, acrylic on paper, 9.5" x 22"

Elizabeth Taylor (young) meets Liza Minelli (aged and drugged out) meets Velma (of Scooby Doo fame)

Then: Classic Self-Portrait (not completed), acrylic on paper, 20" x 25.5", May 2003
Now: Classic Self-Portrait, oil on paper, 20" x 25.5", February 2004

self-portraits suck. even I don't want to look at myself in the mirror that much. the double mirror approach (so that the true image of yourself--how others see you--is shown) doesn't help the matter of the double chin. it is an important academic exercise and good practice but it's making me dizzy and giving me a headache. or it could be all those fumes---the weather has gone crap-ola and we can't open up the studio windows as much or as often as in the summer time.

update: marked improvement from the first session at Maison des Arts to this one, if i do say so myself. just having completed it this time is an improvement!

what day is it? where am i? did i just stir my coffee with a paintbrush?

view of St. Paul from the bus stop in La Colle sur Loup

i'm taking a week's intensive painting course again at Maison des Arts in nearby (only one train then one bus ride, not too bad) La Colle sur Loup this week---long days--up at 6:30am in order to get the doggie out before i go each morning--then lots of work with new live models each day and then back home late. i'm exhausted. but a happy exhausted--sleeping very well. and painting not to badly either. more updates and posts of new work to come when i am less nicotine and caffeine dependant next week.

potting around

i've really been enjoying my little pottery group (both the clay work and the French conversation practice) and now that i have a few hand building techniques under my belt i've been more experimental/expressive --pics of recent work to come, they're being fired later this week. i found a little art society/studio here in Cannes awhile back and now can finally join up later this week. with membership comes the perk of access to both the drawing/painting and ceramics studios during three open sessions each week--AND they have a RAKU kiln! yippee!

with my interest in pottery growing, i've been looking for some pot blogs (ha ha) and haven't had much luck--seems i'm not the only one.

FYI

i'm farting around with the categories and organization of the GALLERY site, so it may be goofy until i've finished sorting it in a few days.

easel update

Red Shirt, 20" x 25.5", oil pastel, watercolor and graphite on paper
Lemon, 20" x 25.5", oil pastel on paper

easel update

Coast II, acrylic and ink on paper, 25.5" x 20"
Coast Night, acrylic on paper, 20" x 25.5"

easel update

Olives, acrylic, pencil and pastel on board, 25.5" x 19.75"
Coast I, acrylic and pencil on paper, 25" x 20"

two very different takes on Cannes

Cannes I, acrylic and pastel on paper, 25" x 19.75"
Croissette/Cannes, acrylic and pastel on canvas, 35.5" x 29.5"

MoBA

this is classic...the Museum of Bad Art.

easel update

Lilies, oil pastel on linen canvas, 29.5" x 35.5"
Wall I, acrylic on heavy paper, 20" x 25"
(click on title for details and price)

i had a really good time getting messy with Lilies---oil pastel on canvas is yummy. the subject matter is a tad twee, but the medium is expressive--you can see my fingerprints even. and yes, the second piece is more abstracted than usual, but i'm going that way these days, and i like it. it's more about studying contrast and color combinations than anything--expect more of these--how the light affects the structures here, light and shadow and color simplified, abstracted--i'm seeing a whole series coming this spring.....

don't panic, more boats are coming too. damn, what is it with everyone liking the boats so much?!?

still love my barns...

Midwestern Landscape Study I
Midwestern Landscape Study II

i got quite a few holiday cards from Wisconsin this year...and with all this cold and rain we've been having no wonder i'm thinking about scenes like these...

c'est fini

i've finally finished the portrait of my brother-in-law and his sister for my sister Margaret (a Christmas gift to her in-laws). i must confess, i'm not crazy about it--working only from photos is not fun, and i'm not a portraitist. i'm taking another weeks course at the art house in La Colle sur Loup in February however--an intensive week focused on portraiture so maybe there's hope. i'm just so much better at drawing naked people.

look this way

Antibes (Abstracted), acrylic on paper, 22" x 16.5"

i keep painting things that that look better when viewed from the side. have i developed a periphial-vision specialty?

busy bee

click on thumbnail for larger image, click on title name for purchase details
Centre Ville, acrylic on linen canvas, 20" x 29"
Rooftop Study, acrylic on heavy paper, 16.5" x 22"
Square One, revised, acrylic on linen canvas, 32" x 40"
Winter Night Boats Study, acrylic on heavy paper, 22" x 16.5"
Evening Windows, revised photo, acrylic on heavy paper, 20" x 20"

painted Savannah

This week's work thus far, click on title for info in Gallery:
left: Savannah Study, 18" x 24", acrylic on paper
right: Square One, 30" x 40", acrylic on canvas (apologies for glare, better photo to come)

truly, i'm not a drunken slacker, i promise

just an update: i did work quite a bit this week, just today finished the largest canvas to date, 2ft x 3ft...a view of the mossy-ness of a Savannah Square. i prefer to work from life, but with some patient work, the photos were reference enough i think to work from for quite a successful painting. pity i can't download the pics from here, but will get over to mom's computer this weekend so all can see and enjoy soon. bigger and better!

hanging around for the holidays

it's getting on to Christmas shopping time, have already had a number of requests for work from the Gallery as holiday gifts..be sure to let me know what you would like or have in mind prior the first of December, that leaves plenty of time even for international shipping. happy shopping!

do not attempt to carry home large canvases accompanied by hyperactive terrier; two blocks will suddenly feel like ten

neglected to mention, that whilst pining for boy, am not entirely useless..have started work on large format series...continued studies today, preping canvases tomorrow--four to five pieces, each 4 ft. by 5ft, inspired by that gray-silver-green mossy business going on in Savannah. can you believe that? here i am, in one of the most overly-painted, classically idylic locales and i'm painting images of Georgia? go figure.

easel update

Evening Windows, acrylic and pastel on paper, 20" x 20"

i've posted quite a few new pieces recently, visit the girl at large gallery here. any last minute requests from the States, let me know now and i'll throw it in my suitcase!

easel update

Horizon/Harbor/Bicyclist at the Port.

(click on titles for more details in the GALLERY)
finally back at it! completed these three the past few days in Cannes...nice light to work with in that front room and i finagled the digicam from Mom for these shots. "Harbor" is more abstracted than most i've previously done (it still holds to my motto though, you can indeed tell that the boats are boats), and i love it. that's Bert on his folding bike in "Bicyclist".

mom:"you always use that funny gray." me: "step away from the easel!"

Rue Docteur Rostan After Rain, acrylic and charcoal on board, 21" x 25.5"

finished, much better photo. i quite like it, despite the 'funny gray'.

rainy day painting

working on this one, as yet unfinished..and currently horrendously photographed..sorry. will complete tomorrow and take a natural light shot..just want to assuage my guilt over not having painted more this past two weeks by getting something up!

in a bad way

never, ever begin a pottery course horrendously hung over. sloppy pots.

painting dead things

Three Apples and a Nectarine, acrylic on board, 21.5" x 18"

i felt i had to do a still life study to practice or, um, "brush up" (horrendous use of pun) on shadows, etc. turns out it was a much needed break from boats and i might continue with the still life theme for a few more days. the french term for still life is Le Nature Morte...i like that, "dead nature".

ok, so i'm sticking with boats for awhile longer afterall

Two Blue Boats, charcoal, graphite and acrylic on heavy (400g) paper, 22.5" x 30"

i might be getting sick of boats

Masts, acrylic on linen, 18" x 21.5"
ok, so a little more abstracted than usual, but with the title in mind you can see what i saw this morning on our walk above the port, near the fort..masts as far as the eye could see. i think i'm going to start a different subject tomorrow though, but don't panic..i'm sure i'll go back to the boats in no time.

never enough boats

More Boats Right, acrylic on linen, 20" x 59"
finished up the companion piece to More Boats today..they could be hung separately of course, but i imagine them side by side for a panoramic-style view of part of the port. i'm really enjoying working on canvas, but i need more room. i think 59" long is the max..any longer and the canvas will stick too far out the window!