Towering Shroooms

When I took the art course, Advertising II, the art professor had us create an illustration for a calendar. The piece had to be a specific size to go with the calendar. The piece also had to be matted. The art professor for this course had a commercial art painting background. His leaning was to perfect hard edge painting. The upshot is that my expressive way of painting didn't help me when he graded.


acrylic on illustration board,6" x 12"

But so what, I still like the way this one turned out. Taking a page from my film history book, I forced the viewer to see mushrooms from an unusual perspective - underneath. There’s just something about the mood in this painting. OK, so I probably will earn some smart remarks on this one.

Fish Net

This painting was created using leftover paint from another painting, Entagled Neutrals. And that painting was created from wiping my palette across a canvas. I had the paint already on my palette. Why not use it? Paint's expensive!


acrylic on canvas, 18" x 36"

The Vertical Format

The two paintings below were inspired by Japanese paintings. I wanted to work in the long vertical format. My paintings are usually painted in the horizontal format.

What Are They?

These paintings have titles including the words "Are Those" which began with the watercolor painting Are Those Potatoes? I was reacting to the typical questions I'm asked about my abstract work. Either I'm asked "What is it?" or "What is it supposed to be?"

Scraping Paint

The three pieces below were created by scraping thick paint around. Afterwards I painted light and shadow to imply a landscape.

Drift

acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40"

Eye in Smoke

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 36"

Feather Frenzy

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 30"

Little Landscapes

These three small paintings were created 20 summers ago. I was experimenting with techniques I learned during 85/86 at Mississippi State.

Mystic Landscape

acrylic on canvas, 8" x 10"

Backlit

acrylic on canvas, 8" x 10"

Caps

acrylic on canvas, 8" x 10"