Dialogues Within My Paintings

With my first painting of the fall season I am going to try to record the evolution of "Cat and Mouse." I have been thinking about doing a series of paintings with scenes from various rooms in my home. I consider my house a very large work of art and the way the rooms are designed reflects my artistic eye as well as my life.

Since I begin each day with my bathroom, this is a natural place to start. Looking around I decide on a tableau against one of the walls. There is a corner of one of my paintings, a mosaic table I made from a NYC cast off, a vase of flowers, an Art Nouveau lamp from my time in Belgium and a mirrored dressing table. I love all the shapes and each of the objects have a special meaning for me. I like the arrangement, but is there a painting here?

After several sketches, I take a photo one evening with light coming only from the lamp on the dressing table. Often dramatic lighting will enliven and begin the dialogue between the objects.

Voila! I see the beginning of a painting.

After noodling around with a small thumbnail sketch. I get excited as the shadow of the mosaic table and flowers looks like a crouching cat and the lamp has the personality of a saucy mouse. This is the dialogue that will inspire the rendering of the painting.

I prepare a 37" x 23" canvas and rough in the drawing and some color.

Wow! I realize the next morning that I actually have a small mouse on my dressing table. It is a Harry Potter mouse that someone gave me years ago and I forgot it was there. Is this destiny? I make a few sketches and try to integrate it into the painting.

This ultimately doesn't work because it complicates and disrupts the overall energy of the painting. After a few days of painting, I have a more complex series of color decisions figured out and the dialogue is progressing. Now I will let it rest and allow the under painting to dry so that I can work on top later without disturbing it.

Looking Forward to Fall 2009

Summer Garden, oil painting on copper on fusion glass

During the last four summers I have painted gardens on the east end of Long Island. But this summer I spent a lot of time creating art from my own garden. Interpreting the landscape in my work became less about reality and more about emotion.

In all the examples from previous summers the oil paintings are enclosed in panels of fusion glass that contain snippets of leaves and blossoms on a painted background. Everything in the fusion glass frame comes from the garden depicted in the painting.

Magical Garden, oil painting with fusion glass

“Magical Garden” is bold in its approach to this large and abundant garden in East Hampton. Organizing the myriad plants and trees into a composition that would be faithful to the original and not impossibly busy was a challenge so I opted for a fantasy recreation that imparted the spirit of the scene.

Jack's Gazebo, oil painting with fusion glass

“Jack’s Gazebo” is part of a trio of paintings that I did of a truly bewitching garden in Water Mill. In this scene I wanted to lead the viewer on a walk in the garden in which one peeks around a corner that leads to another intriguing tableau. Here we have the gazebo, partially hidden from view, with just an edge of the chaise visible. One can only guess if there is someone sitting inside, perhaps taking a mid-summer nap. Should we venture closer?

Trees in Summer Heat, oil painting with fusion glass

“Trees in Summer Heat” is a painting that came out of a pastel sketch I made in a moment of flamboyance. Here is a riot of colorful foliage with the various elements crying out in protest to the heat with only the turquoise water of the pool to cool things off. These plants seem frantic with the energy of a summer day.

Wild Things, oil painting with fusion glass

“Wild Things” is a painting from the area around my firebowl. The stacked stone as well as the rocks on the ground are a counterpoint to the joyous colors of the plants. Here you can appreciate the visual dance between the elements of the painting as they swoop and sway with each other. The central image is only part of an oil painting that continues under the frame. On the other side of the double frame tempered glass is glued on top of the continuing image. This is the easiest way to see how I create my fusion glass artwork which is made with glass on top of paintings and then grouted to appear to be mosaic.

Nasturtiums 1, oil painting on panel

“Nasturtiums 1” is the first of several oil paintings that I made recently of some plants I purchased for my decorative pots. I especially loved the legginess of the nasturtiums and was happy to have grabbed the last two left at Lynch’s one afternoon in early July. The dancing lines were inspired by the random marks that I made in my pencil sketches.

Branch with Pond, detail

Sometimes I create something large that imitates the real world, but adds a bit of fantasy as it mixes in with other elements in the garden. This summer my magnum opus was "Branch with Pond" and it involved working in several different mediums as well as collaborating with an excellent iron monger.

The Pond is crafted from styrofoam encased in cement to keep the overall weight of the sculpture manageable. It is covered in a design mimicking water and a darker reflected image of the branch is painted underneath the actual Branch. Finally, the sculpture is encased in fusion glass and resin.

Branch with Pond, underside

The underside of the Pond is covered with traditional mosaics (in earth tones) which have been grouted and sealed with resin. It rests on a stainless steel platform that allows it to sit 2.25 inches from the ground.

Branch with Pond, mixed-media, 32.5" x 23.5" x 45.5"

The Branch is an actual branch from my garden that has been dried and painted to impart a metallic sheen on the underlying texture of wood. There is an insert of mosaic at the base and the entire piece is sealed in resin to protect it from the elements. It is mounted on the Pond using stainless steel dowels imbedded in the wood and glass to hold it steady as it floats just above the surface. Large pieces of ocean glass have been affixed and sealed around the perimeter.

In the photograph you can see how the piece is integrated into the garden by planting ferns at the edges to further enhance the trompe l’oeil effect. This fall I will post photos of it covered in leaves and in the winter I look forward to a "Branch with Pond" surrounded by snow!