The ebonizing wood technique is turning wood black using iron. It was originally a furniture finishing technique, but because of encouragement from a fellow artist and my own curiosity, I’ve begun using it in my paintings. This is different than using dyes or stains because it creates black pigment, embedding iron in the fibers of […]
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During this coronavirus pandemic, my friend decided to commission work from me, asking simply for “mountains.” So, I completed two mountain paintings. The first, titled “Mountains,” I also talked about in a video post on Instagram and Facebook. This painting looks like a fun hiking venture, and was kind of a meditation on complementary colors
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Jumping in Sometimes I jump into a painting without having any plans. An automatic response. This painting began with taking a risk with bright bold choices, and then another risk as I covered up my first painted and carved response on the basswood in tones of white. The layers intrigued me. And then I thought
In this post I’m sharing the process I went through to create my Pentecost painting, Tongues of Fire. Pentecost falls on Sunday, May 23rd this year. The following passage provides the imagery for this painting. “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a
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As a new experience in painting music, I listened to Sail Into the Abyss (from the album of the same name) by my good friend Russell Eck. Death metal music is known for “death growls” or a powerful, and often sinister, cross between a shout and a growl voice that would normally damage the vocal
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Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was an early father of abstract painting. He once said, “Color is the key. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many chords.” Kandinsky continued, “The artist is the hand, that by touching this or that key, sets the soul vibrating automatically.” Music was regarded by Kandinsky
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I work on basswood. It’s the best wood for carving, because of its fine grain and degree of softness for chisels. I use blocks of basswood, that have been carefully milled smooth, as canvases for my carved paintings. I plan with positive and negative spaces a lot, because what is in relief gets ink rolled
Matthew Fox, in his book Creativity, says “our true nature is creativity.” He takes a spiritual stance and says, “When the Bible declares that we are made in the ‘image and likeness’ of the Creator, it is affirming that creativity is at our core just as it lies at the core of the Creator of
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How do you artistically represent abstract concepts like Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace? How about using the traditional Advent colors: purple, pink, and white? How about using Christmas story landscapes like the fields where the shepherds tended their sheep? How about some symbolism from history? These are all good ideas, but the direction I’ve taken
Advent Paintings from 2020: Abstract Art Read More »
I led Woodblock Printmaking classes during spiritual retreats at St. Michael’s Episcopal Cathedral for Advent 2018 and Lent 2019. Students were not required to have any art experience. The responses from the groups of students both times were overwhelmingly positive!
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