Continuum Continues

The Unexpected Form of my Grief

2017

oil on unstretched canvas

74x63

This weekend, June 3rd & 4th, is the last chance to see
Continuum:  5 years on at the Sprinkler Factory, Worcester, MA.

New Work from Christine Croteau, Joanne Holtje, Ted Lilley,
Philip Marshall, Lynn Simmons, and Mark Spencer

The gallery will be open from 1-4 p.m. both days.

On Sunday, starting at 2 p.m. we will have a public discussion about our work.  Refreshments will be served!

Sprinkler Factory Gallery West
38 Harlow St.
Worcester, MA

Installation Underway!

I was going to have some nifty shots of our installation process, but, alas, my battery was DOA.

You are just going to have to take my word for it that things are shaping up magnificently at the Sprinkler Factory Gallery West.

Please join us for our reception this Saturday evening!

Sprinkler Factory
38 Harlow Street
Worcester, MA

Reception, Saturday, May 13, 2017 from 6-9 p.m.

Busy, busy, busy!

Detail from new work

I am busy working towards two upcoming shows.

In May I will be joining five dear friends who have all worked and exhibited together over the past five years in Worcester.

This is always a very stimulating group for me to be involved with as my fellow artists do such amazing work with sculpture, printmaking, installation, video, and even occasionally paint!

Our newest production, Continuum:  Five Years On, will open at the Sprinkler Factory, West Gallery on May 13th 2017.

The image above is a section of a large piece (74x63), oil on un-stretched canvas that I will include in  this show.

More news to come.  Check back for updates!

The Last Week: Anamnesis of Place at Oxbow Gallery

The opening was a wonderful event.  Thanks to everyone who braved the oppressive heat and humidity!

People have been drifting in all month, but now the show is in its last week.
This Thursday through Sunday
 noon until five p.m. and then its all over.

Catch it now!

Oxbow Gallery

275 Pleasant Street

Northampton, MA

Paper Work

oil and graphite on paper
2015










I am working these days with a specific solo show in mind.

The work will all be oil on paper.  There will be a bit of a range of scale, this being a example of a small one (note push pins for an idea of the size).

There is something about working on paper that feels so natural, so familiar, and very freeing.  You know, like what’s the big deal if you make something “bad”?  Don’t get your panties in a bunch, it’s just a piece of paper!

Many of the recent pieces have bits of older paintings in them.

Art Across the River, Oxbow Gallery & Gallery A3

Ascent no. 3
2015
oil on canvas
36x24













The cooperative gallery that I belong to in Northampton, MA, The Oxbow Gallery and the cooperative Gallery in Amherst, MA, Gallery A3 have joined forces to put on a joint show at both locations concurrently for the month of August.

This piece of mine was selected by the curators to be included at the exhibit at the Oxbow location.

Here are the details:
Gallery A3 located at 28 Amity Street, Amherst, MA
Opening reception Thursday August 6th, 5-8 p.m.

The Oxbow Gallery located at 275 Pleasant Street, Northampton, MA
Opening reception Friday, August 14th, 5-8 p.m.

Stop by and say hello!  I will be at the Oxbow for the probably the whole thing, but the last half for certain.

An Uncertain Geometry
2015
4x4 inches
mixed media:  collage, oil, graphite on paper mounted on board


This is a wee little thing, but it pleases me.

I made it during a totally exhilarating,  sometimes nearly chaotic, workshop at Castle Hill in Truro, Massachusetts.

The class was called Working the Surface and was taught by Bonney Goldstein.

I have long admired her work, and she was great fun to learn from.  A real fireball, she is!

There was a lot of experimentation with materials, and techniques.  For example, I used more collage elements than is usual for me.

A Gallery to Call My Own

Ascent no.1
2015
36x48
oil on canvas

I am happy to officially announce that I am now a member of
Oxbow Gallery in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Oxbow is a terrific gallery, owned and operated by its artist members.

I am both excited and humbled to be included with this group of diverse and very strong artists!

Solo Show Opens This Friday

Expression, Abstraction and the Meta-landscape

May 9 - May 31, 2014

Imagine Gallery

70 Main Street, 2nd floor

Northampton, MA

Artist reception on May 9th 5:30-8:30 p.m.

free to the public

refreshments

My first solo exhibition opens this week in Northampton, MA.

Curator Tricia McDermott selected thirty pieces in a range of media for this show.

The opening is a part of Arts Night Out Northampton, so there will be lots to see all around town.

Hope to see you there!

Gallery hours:  Fridays 6-9

                            Saturdays 3-9

and by appointment 413-585-5830

The Bather: a skinny-dipper by another name

Skinny-dipper (The Bather)
2013
44x48
oil on canvas

My take on "The Bather".
Here, the figure, the environment and the activity all merge into one visual expression.

As is fairly typical for me, I am more interested in conveying the full sensory experience from my  memory (or imagination) than from observation at the time of painting.

This allows me to be more fully present in the landscape, and therefore keenly aware of it, and equally aware and present as I paint.  This kind of focus works well for me.

Cezanne's masterpiece, The Bather 1885

Interesting note:
Cezanne painted this from a photograph of a model in a studio.

Forsythia
2013
60x20
oil on canvas












Don't misunderstand, I don't think Forsythia are particularly gorgeous shrubs, but they are so very emblematic of Spring, at least here in New England.

One minute the world is very grey, roadsides are downing in road sand and freshly revealed trash, and the next, the Forsythia burst on the scene with their brash, assertive yellow sprays of blossoms.

By the time their flowers have faded, the landscape is fully roused from its winter slumber, and everything is growing, greening, blooming at a manic pace.

New Landscape

March Wind Across the Hills
2013
15x45
oil on canvas



This piece is about transition and movement.

The hills of Central Massachusetts in March are lit by the much stronger spring sunlight, animated by the still chilly and wild North wind, and colored by dry grasses, patches of lingering snow, and low areas of rich mud.
Green growth has not yet begun to push, but you know it is there, just below the surface.
In a few warm days the whole scene changes, like when The Wizard of Oz goes to color.

So, yes, it is a landscape, but really, it is a lifescape:  transition and movement.

Ennui
2013
12x9
oil

GALA Spring Show, 2013

Golgotha
2012
36x36
oil















The GALA (Gardner Area League of Artists) show in Gardner is coming to a close in a couple hours.
There was a lot of great work this time around, and no blackout!

The judges were Karen Hass, curator at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Greg Heins, fine art photographer, and head of the photography studios at Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and C.M. Judge,

intermedia artist based in Fitchburg, MA.

I walked away with an embarrassment of ribbons, including best in show for this painting.

Invariably, people ask me why it is "up side down".  I always stumble with the answer.
It is just how the painting asked to be painted, which while true, sounds like mystical mumbo-jumbo.

Last night it came to me:  countless people have been crucified or otherwise tortured and put to  death over time, but regardless of our beliefs,  we have to admit that the crucifixion of Jesus turned the world up side down; changing forever the course of human history.

Pictures from the show will be forthcoming on the GALA website. and Facebook page.

Napping
2013
oil on board

Sans Figure

In Your Absence
2013
10x13
oil with cold wax








There was a model seated here at one point.....

Paint Sketch

Semi-reclining Figure
2013
5x7
oil










This small sketch I did a couple weeks back using RF pigment sticks.
These are luscious pigments an a buttery oil stick form.
They can be tricky to work with, but are very exciting, just the same.

Figure Study in Oil

Seated Figure
2013
10x8
oil














Here's a quick little study from the figure group I have been going to.  I used R&F oil sticks which, particularly on such a small canvas forces you to generalize and work loosely.

Farmland Vignettes
2012
14x11
oil on panel










This landscape was originally painted last spring on a trip to Maine.

This winter, I became disenchanted with it, and was going to sand it and paint over the whole thing, but then I hesitated.

There are a few passages I do enjoy, so I just painted out what didn't thrill me.

Not sure about the values, though.  I think maybe the "redacted" areas should be darker.

Winter Afternoon
2012
16x20
oil












Late in December a few of us got together and painted this homey scene of a young man reading.
I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this sort of domestic scene, but I found that if you love the material of paint enough, the subject matter doesn't matter so much.
The result was more successful than I imagined it would be.