Barbershop in Hyde Square 18″ x 24″ Oil on canvas 10/2008
Another painting I just finished after being on hold for over a year.
cityscape
View of Hyde Square from Cranston Street, JP
View of Hyde Square from Cranston Street, Jamaica Plain approx. 18″ x 24″ Oil on Canvas 9/2008
Another Jamaica Plain – Hyde Square painting that I just finished in the studio after being on hold for over a year when I moved to San Diego.
Behind the StarLight
Behind the StarLight 30″ x 42″ Oil on Canvas 10/2008
Behind the StarLight is a larger painting that was started from life in Balbao Park in a spot that was behind the Star Light Outdoor Theater. I was moved by the play of light, gestures and abstract shapes of the scene as well as the funky topography and mood of the place. For several reasons I decided to finish the painting in the studio and wasn’t a plein air work.
Balboa park’s overwhelming number of picturesque scenes keep many San Diego painters busy however I am more attracted to off beat and the un-picturesque spots like this painting’s subject in the thinking that it more interesting to find new forms of beauty and wonder in the unexpected and mundane.
Under 15
Under 15 30″ x 46″ Oil on Canvas 9/2008
When I was a teenager I used to spend a great deal of time on turnpike on-ramps hitch-hiking alone to where ever I could get to, Washington, Detroit, Philadelphia, sometimes with no particular destination – just to keep moving. Over the past year I keep returning to these images of highway overpasses and on-ramps in part for my nostalgic wanderlust as well as their often overlooked monumentality.
Finally! getting back to this blog
Triptych (each panel 36″ x 36″ oil on linen) San Diego as seen from Coronado.
This past March my father passed away, that plus a million and one other things has been keeping me away from updating my website and blog. However, I have been very busy painting and have a number of new paintings to post soon. I am working on an upgrade to my system for photographing my paintings and hopefully will retake some of the paintings (like this one) with much better photos.
This painting was done from photos I took from just across the street from where my father lived. He used to hang out at the Coronado bay front watching the ships pass by. In part, this painting was a bit of a tribute to him. I usually work primarily from observation but this work was done completely from photos and invention.
Balboa Park with view of Cabrillo Bridge
A one sitting plein air oil on panel – 12″ x 14″ of San Diego’s Balboa Park with a view of the Cabrillo Bridge. I was particularly attracted to this scene by the play of light, rhythms of form and shape, and the dramatic bridge with its reflected light illuminating its underside.
Despite how much I like this little painting’s freshness and tonal resolutions, I am thinking a larger, more ambitious painting might capture even better how spectacular this scene truly is and I am planning on returning very soon to work on a new painting with the same view, probably in the 30″ x 40″ size.