At the easel again. This one inspired from the view out my front door. Oil on canvas, 24x24".

 A new direction and a new painting. Thanks to a few new canvases, from those that love me, over Christmas and the resultant motivation to reorganize my studio space I am back at it. This is the first and another was started last night. I hope the fire is fueled and the groundwork laid. My daughter joined me and is the real whip behind getting back in front of the of the easel. to be continued...

So, this is what I am doing these days. My creative need has begun leaking into other realms and having a great time exploring new mediums. I believe I have an eye for this as well, not to mention the technical background to really enhance the skills I am picking up everyday. There is something immediately fulfilling about creating a nice composition and for people. It's also nice to generate creative work so quickly compared to the months per piece painting can require.

On that note however, there is no real replacement for painting. In fact, I'm hoping this new direction and endeavor will serve to nurture my paintings both through constant 'seeing' exercise and compositional thinking. Not to mention the added resource of harvesting models and ideas for scenes. I hope to be exposed to more painting subjects as a result and that it turns into more productive painting sessions. Time will tell, but I am already painting more with solid ideas. This can only be good.

More to come...

Jars of paint thinner. But I say, paint thicker!
I have been creating lately, but more learning with photography. I don't consider it a substitution, but more an addition. It's a whole new medium however with a high technical learning curve so it has been keeping me busy. Shots to come soon.
I have really been jonesing for paint in the mean time...

New Exhibit

A few pieces (7) have been recently admitted into a year long exhibit on the downtown ASU campus. 2012 For Our Eyes Exhibition: The For Our Eyes Gallery art exhibition seeks to showcase area nonprofits that share roots with ASU Downtown Phoenix Campus and share its mission to highlight and improve the quality of life for Arizona. October 10, 2011 – October 12, 2012

http://copp.asu.edu/action-advocacy-art/

The works selected are; John on 58th, Boogie's Cup, Campus Tree, Mother of Us All, Power Plant from Cooley Gardens, the Question, and the diptych 'Apache'.

http://www.lancecraft.com/

More information, reception news, and locations will be available soon.

Renovations are underway to my subject matter and final products. The example seen below is a re-purposed canvas spawned from a moment of inspiration. There are a few canvases that need a new breath of life and I'm looking forward to this kind of painting. It allows for a more organic approach focusing on the act of painting instead of the act of manufacturing an image. Both considerations are important, but this method fields a more appropriate ratio of creativity and freedom to contrived machinations some of my figurative work seemed to demand. We'll see, but bottom line, this approach is so much more fun.

Cacoon

A metamorphosis is at hand and will soon begin to emerge. Patience...patience