Day 141

Outdoor Study:
Delaware Bay, Cape May
56 x 36 cm | Oil on Linen
(Started - then scraped
and scrapped)

Okay. It has taken quite some time getting back to the blog and some painting. But I was expecting to be run off my feet for much of this Stateside visit. My beloved and I had a whale of a trip across via Montreal. From there, we've been to Doylestown (Pa) then flew down to NC for my niece's graduation and then back up to Cape May (NJ) where we've set up base for the last 2-week-and-a-bit stretch. One of the highlights of last week was a swift run up to West Chester to visit with the venerable David Oleski to see in person what I've read and heard so much about heretofore. Many lovely (and enormous) apple and tulip paintings to behold as well as what can only be described as an enchanting painter's abode on the hill over the lake. We did pick up where we left off in London with several rounds of Guiness punctuated by countless cuddly moments with gorgeous Frank the dog and some scrumptious Thai shrimp to die for. Inspiring it was to see firsthand just how far the universe will go in conspiring to help the earnest and worthy actualise a life dedicated to making it all happen. Cheers David Oleski! Having procurred some tools of the trade and the necessary extras, I finally did make my way to the nearby Delaware Bay this morning to try my hand plein air easel painting. It'll be enough to say that despite my misgivings on the morning - relentlessly squawking birds, wind and curious passersby and a general mess 0n easel - it was tremendous to just wield the knife again after such a long lapse. Agitating as it was, and as far removed as could be from the routine and discomforts of my London hovel - I'm looking forward to several more outings over the coming weeks. Possibly as early as Monday. Image to follow once I get the software side of it sorted.

Day 140

Well. It looks like that's it until I touch down and get through the first wave of visiting and reuniting with loved ones. Also looks like I'm going to have to buy paint over there to use over there because, there's too much red tape or risk in bringing my own - which are too big volume-wise and too heavy (baggage limit wise) to bring along. Getting the paintings checked and safely reclaimed will be challenging enough. Exciting possibilites lie ahead, despite a little intinerant uncertainty from the getting time at the easel point of view.

Day 139

Nowhere near the easel again today. Struggling to keep my head above water. Some steep unanticipated learning curves on the framing (product) delivery front. And as for painting while away, still not certain how to prepare or what to take (of what I can take with security still as it is.) - or how. And generally feeling like it's all slipping away for a month. Tomorrow's the last day and there's still everything to do and a shortened day to do it all. On the positive side of things. Sold another painting today. Met with some gallery personnel to discuss late September exhibition And then had chance meeting with a close contact (my beloved's brother) who might get me some prime exhibition space in town - for free. And located yet another fantastic branch of my favourite art suppliers who were more than happy and had the contacts to get my hands on the only two 225ml tubes of Michael Harding Brilliant Pink to leave the warehouse in months(!) But. Still. Nowhere near the easel again - and it's receding into the distance as I type...

Day 138

Continued probs with computer. Sorting out loads of domestic stuff and plenty of non-painting painting activity. Assembling frames, sourcing materials and preparing grounds to take on the road. Went and collected the new subject for next study which I'm now running out of time to do - not only tonight but in the remaining days too. I've not given up on it yet. See how things go later - and I might at least make a late-night start on another nocturnal pastrie...

Day 137

Study: Nocturnal Tart I
56 x 36 cm | Oil on Board

It's the middle of the night. I'm nearly finished with the study, but I've been re-installing and repairing my machine in between layers and applications. What a day. The monitor drivers or something got corrupted and the screen began flickering right in the middle of some expert insight I was getting - by email exchange - from Tad whose helping me to get ready to paint outdoors whilst in the States. Anyway I'm going to finish the painting and post the image quite soon...[Later] Early hours now. Exhausted - but also thrilled to have been able to both execute the (not quite comfortable with the word) finish on this but see it through - and fix my machine so I can snap, crop and publish it as planned. The painting required more pernickety observation than I've done in a while. Probably mostly to do with the number of things in this compared to the usual. This somehow also meant it was as much an exercise in simplification as well as invention. Didn't get away with no farkles (highlights) but also came nowhere near the dreaded temptation of the retouched product shot look. As excited as I am about the trip, it's coming at an inopportune moment, as things are heating up on the paint handling habit front in this wave before the moon wanes to nothing and swats it all down for a few weeks. My outdoor portable easel came today - potentially for seascapes in Cape May. As did the oak frames for the sold paintings I'm travelling with and parting with here before I go. Claire at Jackson's Art is a true gem.

Day 136

Study: Nocturnal Tart I
56 x 36 cm | Oil on Board
(Nearly)

Really thought I'd be able to put the final swathes to this tonight but it wasn't to happen. I'm realising the difference between moving paint to move on - and moving paint until it doesn't need it anymore. And when it gets late and fatigue sets in - or even when it's early and fatigue sets in - moving it is a bad idea and keeps me back. I'm learning more about cutting colour - and white - even more with the putty. It gives me more range and looseness and if I'm lucky, the gooiness will nearly obviate the farkley highlights this fatigued painter might be tempted to think he needs to convey the wet slippery sugar on them there mounds of sin. The things that trapse through the mind as I massage away at this subject - the plate, the vantage point is somewhere up a tree in the desert - and the lamp appears to be making the tart's coating just drip like it's basking in the sun on a shoot for a calendar. Instead of thinking about Thiebaud and Morandi (thanks to Tad) - I'm thinking more about Close Encounters of the Third Kind and how when I finish, I'd love to see this mother lift and invert with rods of glowing syrup spearing downward and - swoosh - it's outa here! The other thing I thought about in the latter hours was an encouraging and informative email from an artist colleague in KC, Missouri who introduced me to the truly amazing Albert York. And how when he was encouraged to do like his teachers and fellow pupils of the Abstract Expressionist movement, he just paid little mind and carried on trying it another way of his own. This is not why my scrumptious treat has so much unsavoury neutral green in it at present. That is where the process has landed me. And hopefully the refrigerator will give me a few more hours to find the final fat, saturated pigments to bring it back to its proper and intended fruity glory. And before I forget. My dear sister, Casey, who has tart-like flashes of brilliance herself, felt left out of my anticipated party plans in the coming trip from the previous posting. So this session gets dedicated to you girl - smooch! Anyone else?

Day 135

Study: Nocturnal Tart I
56 x 36 cm | Oil on Board
(Beginning oil sketch)

After a very delightful weekend of barbeques - I'm back to it now with a new direction in subject matter. Still keeping with the fruit, I'm thinking of venturing into unknown territory with some sweet pastries. This tart wasn't a conscious decision, I went down the road with a slice of gateau or cheescake in mind, but saw this beaut of a sample of old friends. Something of a reunion of recent subjects in another applied state if you will. Apart from the apricot (clearly present in the front right,) the strawberries, kiwis, pineapples - or maybe pears - serve as a fair representation of recent solo appearances. Most of the hour I had on this was spent getting the plate to both occupy and provide a believable plane upon which to rest this sharp diva for the scrutinous toil of the next day or two. I did think at one point - maybe should have done a study of this plate first on its own, but this seemed too far a jump to the very still end of still life study. Nothing against my previous fresh(ish) fruit, but one thing I must mention is this subject does induce some lip-smacking like we haven't had in the hovel side of the house since...I don't know... probably when I had that martini glass up here in February. We're not even into the mixing of paint yet and there's already been the odd spiking of saliva on the palette. The challenge will be steep. With the plate, the small fruit, the obfuscating sugar glaze (slurp) and the shelf-life to consider - to name the most immediate of many considerations - I should have pulled the remaining dozen hairs from my crown by this time tomorrow night. Also it's a multi-tasking week as my beloved and I excitedly make ready for our trip to the States this weekend to see my fabulous family. There's packing, floor varnishing, a new washing machine to be dealt with - the laundry, gardening, and several sold paintings for folks here and some coming on plane with me to be framed and pad-boxed before Saturday ends. And I still haven't got my plan for keeping this all relatively alive while I'm away in between fishing time, marina time, visiting time, much eating time and the odd bit of fishing time and party time with my buddy, Daddy-O, and my other other buddy, my brother Buddy.

Day 132

Study: Watermelon | 56 x 35 cm | Oil on Board

Had an unuxpected lapse from the easel yesterday. The plan was to meet 3 other artists an check out the Euan Uglow exhibit at the Marlborough Gallery - and then get back in time in the afternoon to finish the watermelon. We decided to have a quick pint (or two) afterwards which turned into another couple, and I felt it best to focus on the good time I had with the delightful trio of Colin, Teresa and Deena - who's new to London and looking for kindred spirits to share her great enthusiasm for all things aesthetic. The only thing better than making new art friends - who are experts in the printing of art - is meeting the ones who are palsie with the likes of the one and only Wayne Thiebaud. During our gallery visit upon seeing some fascinating dessert subjects (in a catalogue of Uglow's from another show) I came to the decision to explore the possibilities in the subject. Nothing could be more ridiculous than aligning myself with Uglow and Thiebaud - but now that I've mentioned it, these servers will remember the pseudo-connection for aeons, and that's just something I suppose I'll just have to live with. Onto this study. Of course, by the time I got the knife in my hand, the melon had begun the shape-shifting dehydration process. Fortunately I'd gotten enough info to avoid re-starting - and with the help of a freshly sliced understudy from the fridge - was able to key the colours I didn't have. There are always things good and bad, but the big upside to this study was the firsthand experience of the difference in temperature between green and blue. The latter, being much cooler, sucked the heat out of the melon - while the green does a better job of charging up the warmth and chroma of the red and pinks. This in turn seems to warm up all of the space, much better than merely breaking the blue up to activate passages. The other bit of fun is the variety I'm getting on the surface with the leaner paint textures contrasting with the treacle-like runny quality of the more putty-injected paint. One of the things I had in mind when deciding on the watermelon was the lovely black seeds that radiate around its core. But in this one, being a Spanish variety, they are smaller and younger(?) so the seeds are creamier in colour - so they didn't make the cut. I'll be looking forward to getting them in the mix as summmer progresses and the price of melons begins its long-anticipated descent. Finally took down, repaired and shortened the pendant on my overhead steel hog light which has been devilishly cooking the grill of my forehead more and more lately as the outside temperatures pick up. This helps me to stabilise my own hydration - and shape-shifting - and makes working more comfortable too.