Arkansas Artist Registry

I'm now on the Arkansas Artist Registry. Click here to see my entry.

Artist of the Month?

I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I am tentatively scheduled to have my art shown at the Arkansas Treasurer's Office next January and February. Treasurer Martha Shoffner has been showing Arkansas artists' works since she took office in 2007. I'm pretty excited about this, since it will be the first time I've had my work shown in Little Rock for a couple of years. Hopefully, everything will work like a charm. I'll keep you posted on how things go. Wish me luck.

Cold Autumn

I finished this painting last night. The painting is oil on a 10" x 14" cradled wood panel, and it is for sale for $125 until November 10, 2008.

After November 10th, please contact The Frame Shop and Gallery at (479) 967-1398 or (479) 970-8085 if you are interested in this painting. Or email them at: suzannealford@frameshopgallery.net. Thanks!

[Note: the image is sharper in person than the photos show. The wet paint made it difficult for me to photograph.]

Busy Summer and Fall

I've been busy with several art related projects, but I do not have much to post at the moment. There are a couple of plein air landscape paintings in the works which might get posted soon. I have also been working on my application for the Arkansas Artist Registry, which should be ready to go into the mail by Thursday or Friday this week. Several of my paintings recently sold, so I'm busy trying get some new work to Suzanne at The Frame Shop and Gallery in Russellville in time for the holidays.

I have also just finished a large run of silk screen tee shirts. I started with two different designs, The Home Improvement Monkey and the Flying Monkey. I'm working on several new tee shirt designs, so those should be ready to go soon. I have launched another blog for my tee shirts too.

And, if that wasn't enough, I have been working on redesigning my "official" art website and building some canvas stretchers for some new paintings. They range in size from just under 2' x 3' up to 6' x 8'. That last one is so big that I'm not even sure where I'll have space enough to work on it, but I'm sure I can figure something out.

In any case, check back soon. Hopefully there will be some new material for you. Thanks!

The Frame Shop and Gallery

I've been showing and selling my artwork at The Frame Shop and Gallery in Russellville, Arkansas, for several years now. They have a new website: click here to see more.

Suzanne, the owner, does a fabulous job. When I need my work framed or matted, she is the person that I take it to. I don't use her because she is only 15 minutes away from my house, but because she is good.

As an artist, I would highly recommend taking your art to her to be shown. She's been in Russellville for years, and she knows her clientele. She just doesn't hang your work up, she makes sure that people with an interest in it see it. She sold a mermaid I painted in under twelve hours because she steered the right people to it. Also, by art world standards, Suzanne takes a relatively modest commission on the works she sells, and she does not play at the games a lot of galleries do: there are no exclusive contracts, weird fees, double dealing, et cetera.

Sketches

These sketches are for one of the new paintings that I'm working on now. Hopefully, more to come soon.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - Finished

I finally finished guys. Sorry it took so long. I nearly finished the painting several months ago, decided that I wasn't happy about how it looked (particularly after this disection of a house portrait), and repainted the whole thing. My wife has the camera in Florida now, so I had to use my cell phone to take this picture. The sky isn't quite this bright in person, but it would be really cool if it did. If you're curious, here is how it looked back when I started.

Untitled Angel - Finished

Untitled Angel, oil on canvas, 18" x 40," in a private collection.

I recently finished and delivered this commissioned piece last weekend.  It was fun to paint, but I'm glad to be finished.  I have several other paintings waiting and I'm ready to start.

Derelict

Oil 12" x 14" on cradled panel. This painting is no longer available for sale. [The painting's colors are bright, but the photo toned the image up some, more so than in life.]

The remains of this house are on the corner of South Louisiana and West 13th Street in Little Rock (see the image below). I think someone may actually be renovating the house, but progress is extremely slow (hardly any progress over the last six years I've been watching them). It's a great house, I hope the succeed in finishing it one day.

View Larger Map

Wipe Out

I've been painting, but the results have been less than satisfactory. In fact, they have been terrible. I've ended up wiping down all of my recent paintings, so I can reuse the panels. As a kid, I always use to wonder why so many famous artists burned their early works. Now I know.

But, there is hope. The most recent one I started looks promising. Hopefully, it'll make it. If so, it should be posted this week. Wish me luck.

Hog Wild

I've been using the same basic set-up for my quick, plein air oil paintings since I began this blog. I use a limited palette of about eight colors (mars black, titanium white, alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow light, cerulean blue, ultramarine blue, indian yellow, and maybe burnt umber or yellow ochre), a cradled wood panel (6"x8" up to 10" x 14"), and a fist full of round, hog-hair brushes (rounds, sizes 8-12). I give myself around 30-40 minutes to work based on the size of the panel and the light & weather conditions.

The purpose of these quick paintings is to loosen up my painting style and to get me warmed up for bigger projects. And, this formula has worked pretty well for me. Sure, about a third to half the painting don't make it, but the ones that do have been getting better and better. And, most importantly, I'm painting.

Prior to this, a lot of paintings never got finished. I'd agonize about every brush stroke, and, if the painting was starting to look good, I'd be paralyzed with the fear of ruining it. And, I fretted about wasting my precious, expensive oil paints on bad paintings. For years, I didn't manage to produce much.

I tried to limit myself to as few variables as possible with my plein air exercises. My formal education in oil painting has been pretty erratic, so I figured that would have to learn through experimentation. This gave me the chance to explore what all I could do with a particular set of materials by limiting myself to using only them. It also allowed me to focus more on the painting itself than my material.

Recently, I've become dissatisfied with my round, hog-hair brushes. There isn't anything wrong with them, it's just that I'm tired of only using them. I've been looking at a lot of other artists' works and wondering, "how did they do that?" One of the answers is that they are using different brushes than I am.

I've bought some new brushes. Not too many yet since I'm on a pretty tight budget, but I have scrounged up some filberts and square brushes with synthetic and sable bristles. I've used them on a few of my more recent paintings which may be why some of them are not turning out as well as I like. It takes me a while to get use to new things, but I think that the change has been good. It may be ugly, but progress is being made.

Delays

Sorry I haven't posted more art this week. I've had lots of trouble with my car this week, so that has been keeping me very busy. I hope to have more art up by Monday.

Frühjahr

Oil on 10" x 14" cradled panel, for sale at The Frame Shop and Gallery in Russellville, Arkansas. SOLD.

Update

I've been working on some landscape paintings this week. I'm going to neglect working on our house tonight in favor of finishing them. Hopefully, I'll get one or two posted tomorrow.

Granny Smith

Oil on 9" x 12" cradled panel, $100.00.

Update

It was a very busy weekend, so I didn't manage to take pictures of my newest paintings. Hopefully, I get them posted later today or tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

Work in Progress

Oil on canvas, approximately 20" x 45."

A Quick Update

Sorry that I don't have any paintings to post today. That isn't to say that I haven't been busy with art. I have a couple big pieces that I am trying to finish that I may post soon. Also, one of my in-laws is going to self-publish a children's book, and he's asked me to do some illustrations as a favor. I tried painting some quick sketches of fruit this week, but they turned out very badly and were wiped down. Hopefully, I'll get into my groove tonight and paint something worth showing.

On a different note, I've been looking at a lot of artists online. I'm amazed by how many really good artists there are out there. And, I am also astounded by how many seem to be making a living with their art. That isn't something I saw much of while growing-up. Most artists that I encountered either did art as a hobby or they were a teacher of one sort or another. No one was just an artist. If I'd know that you could really make a successful career out of art at sixteen, my life may have turned out completely different.

But, as long as you have a pulse, it's never too late to try something new, right?

March, Afternoon Melting Snow

Oil on canvas, approximately 5" x 12," SOLD.

March, Morning Snow

10" x 14" oil on cradled panel, $250.

03/12/08 - I recently entered this painting in an art contest. I should know if I won anything in late April. Wish me luck!