May 24, 2012 - Windy

I love the wind.  Well, I love the wind to a certain extent.   My boating friend
doesn't though in terms of being on the water.  High level winds make being
on the water less fun than moderate amounts of wind.  Now that I've gone
out on his boat a couple times I can understand this even though I don't
have anything to compare it to since I've not really been out on a summery
wind-free day. He swears there are days when the water is flat and glassy
but since I've never experienced that, it's difficult to imagine water with
little motion.  I just like being out on the water although admittedly the
wind does make it colder.  It's  kind of like when I lived in NYC one
winter and dealt with the concept of windchill which was something
I'd never fully experienced until living there. I can only say one thing
about that: BRRRRR.  Palm trees are a great indicator of wind because
they're tall, they're everywhere and you can tell how windy it is by their
sway and how their palm fronds are behaving.

Painting #9
18" x 24"
mixed media  

May 10, 2012 - Completion

This painting is based on a piece I did during my daily drawing project on July 14, 2011 called
"Courtship".  I really loved this image when I came across it initially- the body language of these
two creatures emanated a simple grace that I found myself quite taken by.  I thought it would
translate well into a larger image and decided to do a painting of it.  So I started one, sketched it
out, put some layers of paint on it, got frustrated and never finished it.  For six months it's been
sitting in my studio in that unfinished state, across from the couch where I watch television,
mocking me.  Not finishing a painting is something I've done often in the past.  It's a really
frustrating thing to leave something unfinished like that.  I've always been a strong starter and
a poor finisher in many areas.  When I have a deadline- no problem, the job gets done, but left
to my own devices quite often I'll start something with fortitude which then dwindles into a lack
of interest which then turns into an unfinished project.  And this has happened A LOT. 

So, when I was thinking about what to paint a couple weeks ago, I looked across the room at this
one and a little voice inside my head whispered: "Finish that one mb.  Don't start another until you
finish it.  Completing this one would be more satisfying than starting another"  So I finally did.
And it was hard to go back in and fix the stuff that stumped me the first time around but I did it
and boy am I glad I did.  It was completing the cycle- closing the circle of the painting if you
will.  It makes me want to go back and finish all my unfinished paintings. Either that or get rid
of them altogether to make room for new ideas.

Painting #8
11" x 14"
mixed media  

April 26, 2012 - Wayfarer

I think this might be the smallest painting I've done since high school- it's only 8" x 10".  This was
sort of by accident really- I've been working on a mixed media surface called "clayboard" and my
local art supply store had only one panel left, which was this size.  I admittedly consider it more of
an illustration rather than a painting because it's so little.   I was also going to name this one "Flight"
then realized that's what I called last week's painting.  Duh.  So instead, I thought of wayfarer or
traveler because that's what this bird appears to be doing.  I daydream about being a wayfarer often-
of just setting out and meandering around the world seeing and experiencing things for the rest of
my life.  But although I dream of doing this, I admittedly like day to day routine.   I'm about 50/50
on this one- I want adventure, but I like stability.  I guess I'll just have to figure out a way to do
both.  And really, I guess it's just a matter of perception.  We can infuse adventure into everyday
life just as we can add stability to travel if that is our desire.

Painting #7
8" x 10"
mixed media

April 12, 2012 - Flight

I think I enjoyed doing this one more than the others.  This is ironic because I find large
bugs scary.  This is a June bug in flight.  Despite the fact that I find biggish sized bugs
intimidating I can't deny the beauty and grace of this one in flight.  I think I enjoyed doing
this piece also because it reminded me of my daily drawings due to it's intricacy.  It's another
mixed media piece- a combo of acrylic, water based pencil, colored pencils and graphite. 
I may as well just admit the fact that I enjoy drawing more than painting.  And I'm better at
it.  I'm not sure why I fight this so much- I guess because traditionally painting was
considered the zenith of art.  Drawings were what you did to prepare for doing a painting-
like a preliminary study.  But this is an extremely outdated notion and I know this.  There
are no rules or standards in art anymore- art can be anything and everything nowadays.   I
wasn't sure what this painting project would bring when I began. I thought that maybe I'd
become more skilled at it by doing one every few weeks.  What I've discovered though, is
that I sometimes look at it as a chore, which is not what art means to me personally.  This
one brought the pleasure back into the act of it and I've realized that for me that's all that
matters.  So from now on, I'm not going to worry about the what of what it is- I'm going
to focus on the joy it can bring me if I do whatever the hell I want and not worry about
rules that don't even apply anymore.

Painting #6
11" x 14"
mixed media  

March 29, 2012 - Rabbit

I'm not always sure if I choose the subject or if the subject chooses me.  Or
rather when I say "chooses me" I mean it's a subconscious decision instead
of a premeditated one.   For instance I chose this subject without even
thinking about the fact that Easter is right around the corner.   I picked it
because I liked the image then realized, well, duh- it's almost that holiday. 
I've always loved Easter not because of it's religious connotations necessarily
but because to me it symbolizes fresh starts, the beginning of spring and
at certain points in my life, my birthday has landed on it. In fact, my 16th
and 21st both happened to be on Easter Sunday.  For my 21st, I was in
my tiny hometown visiting my parents, but I had the pleasure of going
down to the store and buying a six pack of Heineken.  I remember
I sat out on the desk in the sun, had a couple beers and felt kind of
grownup.  I'm basically twice that age now, but I remember the day
clearly.   I remember feelings of promise and an expectancy of the idea
that I had my entire life spread out in front of me.   Twenty years have
passed since then and the stereotype is true- as you get older, time
goes faster which kind of sucks.  Luckily on the flip side,  I think
that as time speeds up we simultaneously learn to slow down
and enjoy the moments which is a good thing.

Painting #5
16" x 20"
mixed media  

March 15, 2012 - Umbrella

Love this painting- don't love the photo.  I blame the time change.  I shot a picture of it this morning,
but it was a too dark in my apartment and I didn't have a chance to set up my lights before heading
out to work so I'll probably re-shoot and post.  But in the meantime, you get the gist of it.  In any
case, this one is a bit of a departure from the others.  This piece is based on one of the drawings I
did in my Drawing a Day for a Year project-  May 4, 2011 #105

View here:  http://mbsdailydrawing.blogspot.com/

I've always loved Magritte's work and this reminds me a bit of that. He was fond of placing
objects in front of blue skies in his work.  I've also been wanting to do some pieces that take an
element out of it's usual context and place into another.  Although admittedly this context isn't all
that unusual:  umbrella-sky-rain- floating -all possible when you think about it.  This painting is
actually regionally appropriate in that they're (the weather people) promising us that we're going
to have a nice rainstorm this weekend.  I want to believe it because I miss the rain and would
really love a nice rainy weekend but I'm skeptical because they're always going into "storm watch
2012 mode" and then nothing happens but a light sprinkle.  Fingers crossed.

Painting #4 
11" x 14"
mixed media  

March 1, 2012 - Sea Turtle

This one was kind of touch and go for me.  I liked it, then I didn't like it, still didn't like it, then
decided I liked it in the end.  I seem to be somewhat unintentionally working the animal theme. 
I didn't set out to focus on this as subject matter- it just seems to be happening on it's own
accord which is cool.  But I do love the animal kingdom.  And sometimes I love the animal
kingdom more so than the human race.  But no, I'm not a people hater and yes, I love people
as well despite all our flaws and the puzzling ways in which we act.  And I realize this has
nothing to do with sea turtles but I'm in a pensive kind of mood this week.   I guess that
happens sometimes.  Ups and downs, highs and lows, the neverending flow of our existence. 
We can't be up all the time, and hopefully we're not going the other direction all the time
either. I think about this quite often, how our very nature is to think about and over-think
things constantly. Would it be better to just be floating blissfully around like this sea turtle,
with just it's own instinctual rhythm to guide it?  We've gotten so complicated as humans-
we're complication within complication within complication and still more complication down
to the smallest specks of minutiae.   As I'm writing this, I'm reminded of a poem that a friend
of mine gave me in high school called something like: "I want my beast self back".  I tried to
google it so I could read it again since it's been like 23 years since the last time I did, but
when I typed in different search iterations to find it all that came up was breast-related info. 
Oh well.  Anyway, the poem was about a desire to simplify, to get rid of complications and
details like social security numbers, driver's licenses, cars, money, careers, advertising-
anything-and everything one could possibly think about and just for a moment to let all these
things slide away that won't mean anything in the long run and just live in an instinctual way. 
This isn't realistic, I know. (Don't worry mom and dad, if you're reading this- I have no
desire to quit my job, drop off the face of the planet and live like a wild animal but still it's
interesting to think about)  I mean, I think we saw the hard reality of that kind of impulse
in the book "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer.  I'd do a synopsis but I think I've already
subjected you to too-long-of-a-post- if anyone is reading this.

In any case, the gist of all this is that sometimes I think it would be easier to live a simple life,
with simple thoughts in a not-so-complex world.  But truthfully, I love my life the way it is and
wouldn't change it.

Painting #3 
16" x 20"
mixed media