Opening Night in Santa Fe

with Martine-Bertin Peterson, gallery owner/director

LA artist Shanna Galloway and her husband Jim came into town for the show and a weekend of exploring Santa Fe.

Forrest Solis' paintings, Ben Hammonds sculptures

It was a beautiful opening, the gallery looked great. It was wonderful to see the other artists work that Peterson-Cody Gallery represents. Here are just a few.

Jane Jones

Darlis Lamb sculpture, Annie Dover paintings,

Dennis Wojtkiewicz

Josh Moulton, Gordon Inyard

I'll do a post later about the rest of the weekend which included a freak snow storm that left the entire downtown without power for half a day. Santa Fe is an adventure.

"Story Within" at Peterson-Cody Gallery

The day is finally here!

"Story Within" Peterson-Cody Gallery Opening Tonight.

I'm very excited to be in Santa Fe attending the opening tonight of "Story Within" at Peterson-Cody Gallery. Stop by if you are in town and say hi. 

Peterson-Cody Gallery
130 West Palace Avenue
505-820-0010

The Magazine

Here are images of the work in the show and links to posts about them.

Our Dancing Days, 30x40, oil on panel

The Bribe, 11x14, oil on panel

Ripe Was the Drowsy Hour, 18x24, oil on panel

The Certainty of Youth and the Complexity of Wisdom, 43x49, oil on panel

Ode to Melancholy, 24x36, oil on panel

Power Struggle, 30x40, oil on panel

The above is a screen shot of the Santa Fe Gallery Association coverage of the show. You can read the article on the SFGA Web Site.

The Inspiration Equation or Ideas Percolate Like Mr. Coffee

Today I wanted to write about The Inspiration Equation or How Ideas Percolate.

X+Y = the Final Product - W Magazine uses this kind of equation to explain their fashion photo shoots and it makes sense to me. Sometimes there is a linear progression of thought for a piece. 

Mr. Coffee - In truth it's really much more complicated than that because there's no way to factor in years of life experience and emotions for example. Sometimes an artist doesn't know why they make the connections they do, it's more like percolating water flowing over ground up coffee beans and picking up a little something along its way into the pot.

"The Certainty of Youth and the Complexity of Wisdom", Diptych frame size 43x49,
each panel 29x18, oil on panel

So this is how all the following ideas added up to my painting.


Common Saying - "seeing things in black and white or in shades of gray". I think that is true and the older I get, the more I understand about certain situations, the less clear cut the issue is.

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 Billy Joel - A few years ago I heard his song Shades of Grey, for the umpteenth time and it dawned on me that there was truth to what he'd written. I frequently find wisdom in the lyrics of singer-song writers, they are indeed the poets of our day. (lyrics to the song are at the bottom of this post) 

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Make it so #1 - I sent my mind out looking for ways to visually present this very intangible idea. It literally took a couple of years for something to bubble to the top.

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Rocks? - I'm not sure when the rocks occurred to me so that will have to be a blank in the equation. 

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Awesome Models - A young model and a mature model to capture the idea that wisdom comes with age (hopefully). Both models are fellow Birmingham, AL artists. I decided that they should be depicted separately to allow for the possibility that it could be the same man at a different ages, for that reason they couldn't exist in the same pictorial space, hence the diptych. 

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Costumes - I wanted the younger model to be wearing a crisp white shirt and my mature model to be wearing a more relaxed shirt. Turns out my younger model didn't own a dress shirt, so he bought one on the way to my studio. When we took it out of the package it still had the fold creases, PERFECT, I thought for the black and white character. My older model is a sculptor so he lives in denim shirts anyway. This is an example of how models contribute to the painting in important ways besides how they look.

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Renaissance Altarpieces and Portraits - These things say "This is of import" and I couldn't resist having an elaborate frame, like the one below, built to house my diptych.

Piero dell Francesca, Diptych Portrait: Battista Sforza & Federico da Montefeltro, 1472-3

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my painting

Maybe that gives some insight into the creative process, it was a fun exercise for me anyway...

Here's another post about The Certainty of Youth and the Complexity of Wisdom that has many close-ups and other paintings that feature these models.

Lyrics to Shades Of Grey: by Billy Joel
Some things were perfectly clear, seen with the vision of youth
No doubts and nothing to fear, I claimed the corner on truth
These days it's harder to say I know what I'm fighting for
My faith is falling away
I'm not that sure anymore

Shades of grey wherever I go
The more I find out the less that I know
Black and white is how it should be
But shades of grey are the colors I see

Once there were trenches and walls and one point of every view
Fight 'til the other man falls
Kill him before he kills you
These days the edges are blurred, I'm old and tired of war
I hear the other man's words
I'm not that sure anymore

Shades of grey are all that I find
When I come to the enemy line
Black and white was so easy for me
But shades of grey are the colors I see

Now with the wisdom of years I try to reason things out
And the only people I fear are those who never have doubts
Save us all from arrogant men, and all the causes they're for
I won't be righteous again
I'm not that sure anymore

Shades of grey wherever I go
The more I find out the less that I know
Ain't no rainbows shining on me
Shades of grey are the colors I see

Serial Artist

Count Down to "Story Within"- 2 days to go!

How do you know when a series is exhausted? If the subject still has appeal for me I'm willing to continue exploring it. 

Our Dancing Days, 30x40, oil on panel, is a large piece created for this show "Story Within".

Here's a post I did about Our Dancing Days. I realize I've done three other paintings at this point that were initially inspired by the clearing in the woods near my house. The models are my son, my daughter and my daughter-in-law. I think each painting has a different feel, at sometimes being playful, sensual or mysterious.

"If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On", oil on canvas over panel, 32x39

"The Clearing", 24x18, oil on panel

"Ripe Was the Drowsy Hour", 18x24, oil on panel

How do you work in a series? Some artists work on one series at a time, designing them all as a cohesive group. I seem to have several series going at the same time and work on them for years.

I did The Clearing and If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On in 2009, and just finished Our Dancing Days and Ripe Was the Drowsy Hour this summer 2011, with many paintings in between. 

Why even work in a series? For me it is hard to say everything I want to say about a particular subject in one painting. It takes the pressure off knowing that it doesn't have to all be said within the borders one piece, especially if it's a complex subject. 

The Changing Series. Interestingly enough sometimes the series fizzles out and I know I'm done with it, but other times a series get a crazy spin off series, kind of like Torchwood from Dr. Who? or Pinky and the Brain from Animaniacs... Anyway you get the idea!

For example the Incognito Series of paintings that I've been working on since 2005, spawned The Incognito Project in 2010. It's a very specific Event and Show. 

I'm still working on that project, having completed 15 paintings with 14 more in the works. The collection will be shown here in Birmingham, AL, at a date TBA. The work is also being documented for a book.

But in the mean time come see me in Santa Fe at the Peterson-Cody Gallery for my opening on Nov, 4, 2011 with Forrest Solis, I'll be in town.

I am interested in the hows and whys you do serial work, so let me hear from you. Until tomorrow!

Triangle Power

Count Down to "Story Within"- 3 days to go!

One of the large piece created for this show, "Story Within", at Peterson-Cody Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, opening Nov, 4, 2011 is Power Struggle, 30x40, oil on panel.

This is a composition of triangles considered the most stable of design devices. The triangle also has symbolic roots in ancient culture.

In Egypt the triangle was a symbolic representation of a triad related to man, woman and offspring, think pyramids. In Greece a triangle was the door of life; for Pythagoreans a symbol of the goddess of wisdom Athena; in Buddhism a triangle symbolized pure flame and three treasures of Buddha.  In Christianity equilateral triangle signifies the consummation, closure, accomplishment, completion, Trinity.

Just a few trivia tid-bits there. I'm not sure all that had anything to do with the initial design since it's impossible to arm wrestle and not get a few triangles, however when analyzing why a composition works or doesn't, it's an interesting thing to think about.

Here's a previous post I did about Power Struggle where I used pre-varnish images. This piece was very difficult to get a good picture of and I'm still not sure the color is right.

Here are a couple posts about the tricky business of photographing oil paintings, Part 1 and Part 2.

See you tomorrow!

Golden Apples and Blues Eyes

Count Down to "Story Within"- 4 days to go!

The last piece I did for the show and one I have not posted on the blog yet is The Bribe, 11x14, oil on panel.

My model is holding a golden apple. She appears to be a modern girl, but could she be Athena, the witch from Cinderella or temptation in another form? You choose your own poison.

This is a new model for me and great to work with. It's been awhile since I painted a blond,  I had to really think twice about it.

Another challenge was that I wanted the model's face to be in very soft focus and the apple and hands very clear.

My daughter-in-law, Amy Strickland, found this model to be the Athena character on the cover for the second book (in progress) in her Olympia Heights Series of young adult, supernatural books.

We worked on the photography for her cover together, inspired by her Greek mythology golden apple I was compelled to do this piece about temptation. 

Here's the Peterson-Cody November Newsletter with more info about "Story Within", my two-person with Forrest Solis, opening Nov. 4, 2011. 

Here is my October Newsletter. See you tomorrow!

Count Down to "Story Within" - 5 days to go!

My show with Forrest Solis is fast approaching so I'm counting down the days by doing a post each day, featuring different work from the show till the opening.

Both sides of the tri-fold brochure invitation for the show.

Story Within is a reference to the popular literary device of a story within a story. It can be found across cultures and media in many works of fiction; a few examples are the Arabian Nights, ancient Indian literature, Homer’s Odyssey, Shakespeare's Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the films Moulin Rouge and Inception.

This idea appeals to me because it allows for layers of meaning and use of symbolic imagery.  In this body of work I'm playing with objects such as masks, rocks, golden apples, light and shadow.

Ripe Was the Drowsy Hour, 18x24, oil on panel

Yes, they are narrative paintings but there is room for the viewer to bring their own ideas and emotions to the painting. Several pieces in the show have multiple figures, automatically giving the viewer choices, who in the scene do you identify with? What is going on between the figures in the painting?

The story within a story idea fits this show because Forrest and I both use these types of narratives in our work.

Forrest Solis, Good Sleeping Habits, 36x36, mixed media

Ripe Was the Drowsy Hour is a continuation of my Gypsy pieces. There is a clearing on a walk near my house and I envision a band of nomadic, carefree travelers stopping there. This work touches on the sensual romantic idea and mythological idea of the Roma.

I borrowed the title from a John Keats poem Ode on Indolence, here's one verse:
How is it, Shadows! that I knew ye not?
How came ye muffled in so hush a masque?
Was it a silent deep-disguised plot
To steal away, and leave without a task
My idle days? Ripe was the drowsy hour;
The blissful cloud of summer-indolence
Benumb'd my eyes; my pulse grew less and less;
Pain had no sting, and pleasure's wreath no flower:
O, why did ye not melt, and leave my sense
Unhaunted quite of all but---nothingness?

Interesting that I found this poem after these paintings were done while I was looking for a title.  He wrote about the same mystery and languor I've been painting about in this work.

And a few details of the painting...

Here's a video of all 6 of the pieces in the show with commentary.
See you tomorrow!

Oops! The Boxed Painting Won't Fit in the Car!

The Certainty of Youth and the Complexity of Wisdom, including the frame size is 49x43 and too big to fit in any of the StrongBoxes I had on hand, first problem encountered! 

Backing up a moment - When shipping work first I wrap my paintings in Dartek, a plastic I've had great luck with. It is an archival museum product made by University Products. I find that it works great to keep foam and dust from getting on the work. I would caution that it's best to experiment with your particular varnish. I always try to varnish at least a week before the work is shipped so it's not green.

Then they are put in Airfloat System StrongBoxes, which have a puncture resistant liner and foam so the work doesn't move at all. They are expensive but reusable and I've had great luck shipping with them. They are lighter weight for shipping than a plywood crate so you will save in the end on shipping costs. 

Meanwhile back to the problem at hand - we opened up one end of my largest StrongBox and made the box bigger by canibalizing other boxes we had on hand. Ok, this is gonna work.

Then...As we are building the box we realize IT'S too big to fit in my Mazda CX 7. At this point I have already delivered four boxes to FedEx and paid for a shipping label for this fifth box and time is of the essence. FedEx had given me a deal on shipping the five boxes as a multi-piece shipment.

It seemed too complicated to try to arrange a pick up of the work so we took all the parts down to FedEx and assembled the package there.

EXTREME amounts of Extreme packing tape and many FRAGILE stickers later I finally said goodbye to my diptych.

Now I know my absolute width size limit if I'm going to haul the work to FedEx myself. Wondering, will these years be known as the Mazda years? Someone in this family really needs to buy a truck.

I'm happy to say all the work arrived safely in Santa Fe at the Peterson-Cody Gallery for my show which will open next Friday, Nov, 4, 2011.

Here are few links you might find helpful: Dartek Film,
Airfloat StrongBox  

Here's a previous post I did about  The Certainty of Youth and the Complexity of Wisdom. 

Here are a couple others about shipping art work. Good luck!