Last Pieces of 2018

I've always struggled with titling abstract work because I don't want the title to reference anything specific, anything that could lead the viewer to see something in the piece. I want the viewer to create their own journey, to ask questions and to leave their mind to continue thinking about the work. I've noticed other artists struggle with the same issue. Some artist simply refuse to title the work, others number their art. I've tried various things, including randomly picking words out of the dictionary, using unrelated song titles, or various other techniques I've abandoned. With this group I decided that abstract words would be an appropriate compliment to the work -- that is, I created my own words that people can assign any meaning they want to them.

These first two pieces are similar to a sculptural painting I made a couple of years ago, Stage Fright. 

Gasulimini

acrylic, graphite, and shellac on board

30" x 36.5"

2018

Gasulimini (closeup)

Tinnatious

acrylic, graphite, and shellac on board

16" x 34.5"

2018

Tinnatious (closeup) 

Queshiol

acrylic, gesso, and shellac on board

12" x 16"

2018

Rinipali was influenced by the work of Odili Donald Odita whose paintings I've been seeing and admiring.

Rinipali

acrylic, graphite, and shellac on board

12" x 32"

2018

Rinipali (closeup)

Most all of my work is experimental but these last two pieces were particularly so. I was just playing around with the underpainting of both, experimenting with small abstract amorphous designs. I was never completely happy with them but I took the time to flattened and polish them with shellac anyway. After a few months of looking at them I painted some zigzags freehand on top. 

Loitium

acrylic, gesso, and shellac on board

12" x 13.5"

2018 

Tutalio

acrylic, gesso, and shellac on board

12" x 13.5"

2018

More Zigzags and Pentagons

Here are the indoor wall paintings I completed between February to December 2018. This first piece, Binding Light III, is part of a conceptual series of paintings that I have been making related to my curiosity about the nature of reality evolving out of my Buddhist practices. The random angled geometric shapes that have been a long time part of my art have always represented individuals to me. What I am particularly interested in is how individuals are "inseparably interconnected" to one another. The illusion of reality verses what is really going on. Consequently, although the painting is abstract on one level, my intent is not abstract at all.

Binding Light III

24" x 40.5"

mixed media on board

2018

My zigzag work is less conceptual and more about playing with color, experimenting with their interaction, and trying to generate some kind of visual energy. As with much of my work, I am more interested in selecting color combinations that create visual questions more than to have something that is aesthetically pleasing. The title of this one, Orange and Philinga, is a reference to a tombstone I came across while wondering around an old graveyard in Morrisville, Vermont for Orange and Philinga Cleaveland. Orange died in 1889 at 88 and Philinga died in 1870 at 66. I know nothing about them other than what is on the tombstone but with such names I assume they must have been wonderful people.

Orange and Philinga

31" x 25"

mixed media on board

2018

Here is the tombstone the painting is named after.

The underpainting for Orange and Philinga and Breathless was made specifically to be painted on top of, whereas the underpainting for Redemption was made on top of an old piece.

Breathless

36" x 18.5"

mixed media on board

2018

Of all the zigzag paintings in this batch, Redemption (below) is the only one in which I painted over an older piece. With the others I created the underpainting with the intent of painting zigzags on top. I first started working on this piece in 2010, and brought it out again in 2017 before finishing it this year.

Redemption

18.5" x 24"

mixed media on board

2010-2018

Intuitive Induction

28.5" x 31.5" x 1.5"

mixed media on board

2018

Kale Summer

20" x 18"

mixed media on board

2018

Would That (below) is available through Cross MacKenzie Gallery in Washington, DC.

Would That

46" x 35"

mixed media on board

2018

That Which

29" x 48"

mixed media on board

2018

When I made Innocent Insolence I was interested in the wedge shapes created by the zigs and the zags so I decided to paint each of them individually. When I was done I realized I still needed something to hold it together, and to give the shapes context, so I painted the zigzags on top after removing the tape. This painting, as well as Orange and Philinga, is available through Helen Day Arts Center until December 29, 2018.

Innocent Insolence

46" x 41.5"

mixed media on board

2018

Here is a closeup of the piece. 

Innocent Insolence (close-up)

Future Perfect started as a practice board, a place to experiment with ideas before working on an actual piece. But has the ideas were layered on top of one another I eventually felt that it was interesting in its own right, so I decided to finish it. I found the result interesting and it served as inspiration for the piece that followed, Present Perfect.

Future Perfect

23.5" x 31"

mixed media on board

2016-2018

Present Perfect is a combination of the piece above, Future Perfect, and the first piece on this post, Binding Light III. Although, with this iteration, I'm thinking maybe that binding light touches all around the beings rather than just at the points between them. I don't know.

Present Perfect

23.5" x 30"

spray paint, acrylic paint, and shellac on board

2018

With this last piece of 2018, Jatonisti, I felt that it needed another layer of something when I was done and, more out of frustration than anything else, I decided to doodle on top of it.

Jatonisti

23.5" x 25"

spray paint, acrylic paint, and shellac on board

2018

New Work

Here is my latest batch of work going back to last June. All photographs were taken by RL Photo Studio of Burlington, Vermont.

This first piece, Binding Light (1), evolved over time to become something much more spiritual than I originally intended. I find that I am continually drawn to geometric shapes with random angles and sides. I like how they are all different and I like adding to that difference by painting them differently. As I paint them I am always thinking how their uniqueness is a metaphor for the uniqueness of all beings, the infinite variety of life. Consequently, I see this work more as portraiture than abstract art.

As I was working on this piece, I started to see how, if I painted the last, outermost pentagon the same color as the section in the corner it could infer that the same color (or light would exist around every other shape continuing beyond the unseen corners out to infinity. In this way, I feel it is a depiction of the nature of reality, the insepartablity of all beings that exist everywhere.

Binding Light (1)

mixed media on board 

48" x 41.5"

2018

Binding Light (2) is a conceptual continuation of (1), intending to show what it looks like to have multiple "beings" within the painting. I had changed the last pentagon to white after I realized that it made more sense since white light is the source of all other colors; additionally, both The Tibetan Book of the Dead (The Great Liberation Through Hearing) and people who have died and come back to life talk about going toward a white light.

Binding Light (2)

mixed media on board 

48" x 41.5"

2018

Carlota was originally started, and "finished," in 2013. Over the summer I pulled it back out to work on it again, this time adding the zigzag pattern on top.

Carlota

mixed media on board 

41.5" x 41"

2013/2017

Here is what Carlota looked liked before I reworked it.

December 2013
mixed media on board
2013

The same with Conundrum with Blue, it was the second zigzag piece. I decide to make larger zigzags this time. Not sure which is better.

Conundrum with Blue

mixed media on board 

42.5" x 46"

2013/2017

And this is what Conundrum with Blue looked liked earlier.

Untitled
mixed media on board
2013

Homage is, obviously, an homage to the many other artists that have inspired me while still adding my own style. I am not sure why but I find it really important to use a different color for each ring. I believe the aesthetics would be better if it had a pattern but I feel the changes make it more mysterious, adding questions to the viewers mind.

Homage

mixed media on board 

48" x 41.5"

2017

There must be a source light but I have no idea what it looks like or what the radiants look like either. This is an attempt at depicting it.

Source Light

mixed media on board 

48" x 41.5"

2017 

These next three are inspired by my bumper stickers ideas.

Grayless

mixed media on board 

11" x 36"

2017  

Inductance

mixed media on board 

11" x 36"

2017

Surprise Party

mixed media on board 

13.5" x 24.5"

2017

Physicianification was first "completed" in 2013, but stayed in storage for four years.

Physicianification

mixed media on board 

17" x 36" x1.5

2013/2017

2013

These last three were inspired by work I'd seen in NYC just before making them, though, if you see where my idea started you would not believe they where related. It worked more as a mental jumping off point. It was nice to find a good use for small scraps I had laying around the shop for years but couldn't bring myself to giving away for firewood.

Stack (1)

 acrylic and gouache on wood

7" x 10" x 2"

2017

Stack (2)

 acrylic and gouache on wood

8.5" x 27" x 2.5"

2017

Stack (3)

 acrylic and gouache on wood

23" x 12" x 2"

2017

Onion River Campground Bathhouse

I recently completed painting the bathhouse at Onion River Campground in Marshfield, Vermont. It was a fun project, not least of all because the owners allowed me to do whatever I wanted, no pre-approval of concept or design. I found the project a useful reminder of just how much can be expressed with just simple colored stripes. I was going for something that would be both fun and challenging, balancing a fine line between welcoming and "out-of-place-ness." 

Onion River Campground Bathhouse

exterior latex paint on plywood

14' x 16' x 24' (approximate)

2017

I would be remiss if I did not also mention that I developed a relationship with the owners through their other venture, Nutty Steph's, my source for the best granola in the world (note: this is an objective, unbiased, easily verifiable statement devoid of hyperbole). 

Onion River Campground Bathhouse (women's side)

Onion River Campground Bathhouse (men's side)

Onion River Campground Bathhouse (front view)

Onion River Campground Bathhouse (back view)

Onion River Campground Bathhouse (before)

New Group of Canoe Strip Canvas Pieces

I had my second group of "canoe strip canvas" pieces photographed by RL Photo Studio in Burlington, Vermont a couple of months ago. With this group I experimented with painting the entire surface, taking wood grain out of the work. Because the pictures are, for the most part, taken straight on center, the best indication of the shape is found in the drop shadow. 

This first piece was painted while doing a residency at Vermont Studio Center. The free-form style was a big change and challenge for me, but was completely the result of being in that intensive environment and being pushed to try new things.

Timeless

acrylic, milk paint, and shellac on wood

32" x 41.5" x 7"

2017

I have a small garden plot in front of my house where I grow thing deer won't eat, like kale and mesclun mix. I love grabbing hand fulls of greens whenever I walk by and eating them immediately.

Garden Snack

acrylic, gouache, milk paint, and shellac on wood

32" x 43.5" x 7"

2017

I love my truck, a 2003 Toyota Tacoma with >200,000 miles. If you saw it you would think, "I bet that's Rob's truck."

Truck Love

mixed media on wood

32" x 43.5" x 10"

2017

Twilight

acrylic, milk paint, and shellac on wood

32" x 35.5" x 6.5"

2017

Below are two new pieces in my "ART?" series. I love that it is a completely ambiguous question, allowing many interpretations and many times more answers, so I feel it is a question worth repeating and recreating in different forms. Ideally, the ambiguity spurs discussion and thought, which I believe is more important than any specific interpretations people identify. Personally, though, I'm kind of stuck on the interpretation of what art can do in this increasingly divisive and scary political environment the US is experiencing; as in, "What good is art?" or "How can art be used to bring people together?" However, I love hearing what other people think when they see it.

ART? (4)

acrylic, graphite, milk paint, and shellac on wood

32" x 36" x 5.5"

2017

To construct ART?(5) I used the actual forms from my 16 foot canoe. 

ART? (5)

acrylic, gouache, milk paint, and shellac on wood

32" x 35.5" x 13"

2017

Because the piece is so deep, I thought it was necessary to take images from each side as well.

ART (5) 

second view

ART (5) 

third view

I have a couple of show scheduled for 2018 where I hope to display these and my earlier ones. Stay tuned for more info.