Sketch

"Creep In A Hat"

Graphite on paper.

Winged Doom of Easter

I think there may be a tee shirt design in this somewhere.

Coffin Chaser

For those of you who are interested, a recent tee shirt design.

Clouds

"Clouds," oil on 18" x 24" canvas. This is another piece for a show later this year.

The Messenger

This painting has been extensively re-worked since I originally finished it several years ago.  I still have some issues with it, but I think it is much improved overall.  It is oil on canvas and it's about 18" x 40."

Tonight's Figure Drawing

Vanitas

This is the first printing of a tee shirt that I'm doing for a friend. The next step is to figure out the best way to print a second run of color on the shirt, pink for the flowers.

What I'm Reading Now

I'm currently reading Classical Painting Atelier by Juliette Aristides. Great book. The section on composition alone was well worth the price of the book in my opinion.

Work In Progress

Untitled, oil on 18" x 24" canvas.

Chaenomeles japonica - Work In Progress

This drawing is a tee shirt a friend asked me to design for them. The flowers are Japanese Quince (or Japanese Rose as they are called around here), Chaenomeles japonica.

New Drawings

Artist of the Month

It's official. I am one of the Artists of the Month in the Arkansas State Treasurer's Office. Click here to see two of the paintings and the write-up. Also, "August Hickory," the landscape painting featured on the Treasurer's website, will be available as a limited-run print in the next couple of weeks. Please contact me if you are intereted. Thanks!

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.