Fractured Forms

Fractured  Forms  24  x 20 acrylic on canvas Framed

Abstract, Abstracted Realism, Larger Paintings

Abstract forms have always been the foundation or even the underpainting for my work. This painting began with a process of introspection. I spent some quiet time reflecting on the landscape around me. The soft Curves of a shore, hints of structures against a blue sky and calligraphic personal marks came to be in a dance between the canvas and me.
Many, many times a painting session begins with fully conscious decisions and then a mysterious thing happens. The painting begins to take on a life of it’s own. My approach to an abstract painting relies heavily on many years of landscape painting. I can’t seem to escape my roots as I expand my branches of expression. Abstracted realism is a description I use to identify this genre of my work.
The feeling I have about experimenting with painting techniques is the same as my feeling about travel , you never know what is around the bend, but you keep driving.

Heading Upstream

Heading Upstream mixed media on 140 lb cold pressed paper 8 x 8

Water-media, mixed media abstracted realism, doodle

Sometimes I feel like a wild river salmon, heading upstream. Sometimes I feel like a small goldfish navigating a current in a small pond. Sometimes, the currents seem to push me forward and sometimes back. My goal is to keep swimming.
 The stuff of life happens, both good and bad and the effects of dealing with constant change can create opportunities or roadblocks on our journey.
Occasionally I like to set aside any extraneous goal or expectation and just play with my art supplies. If I can get myself to float a bit, to be still, to stop swimming so vigorously, I am often surprised to find that something is revealed to me. The power of doing nothing is that it can unlock creativity. Boredom can be profoundly rewarded.
When I was a kid I never missed a program called “The Romper Room”. A message I still recall from that program  is the admonition to be a “do-be” be not a “don’t-be”. I think a lot of my generation took that to heart. The trouble with that message is that it suggested success was only possible if we pleased others, said yes, and perhaps put aside a quieter nature.
Heading Upstream was created in moments of not doing. The imagery that happened surprised me and in a small way inspired me to swim in a different direction.

The Sunspire

The Sun Spire  20 x 20 acrylic on canvas

The Sun Spire  landscape, waterfront, impressionism

The inspiration for this painting was a brief glimpse of the brilliant orange spire of reflected light created by the sun setting over the Fox River.
For years the Fox river has been abused by human activity. In the 1990's the river was declared a super fund site, so heavily polluted that it has been undergoing  dredging treatment for the past 16 years. Slowly, slowly the river is recovering. Yet, at the same time that the water quality is improving, every walk down the river walk pathway reveals another condominium development, another cleared shoreline and more human intrusion. I find myself grieving for what once was.
Historically ,this was a fertile and vibrant natural waterway. The Voyageurs found fish, wild rice in the bay of Green Bay, thousands of migratory birds and countless fur bearing animals. Now, as in many urban areas, the river is also home to coal piles, cement plants and industrial and agricultural runoff.
 We struggle to keep  our wild spaces.  We try to "fix" our  grave mistakes. What we need to do is  to stop and consider that undeveloped natural spaces are of more importance than another cluster of densely populated homes along the river's banks.
When we walk along the fox river we may startle red-wings and a family of mallards out of the brush. We may see eagles fishing the warm and turbulent waters below the De Pere dam. We often see  families catching and keeping large numbers of catfish. During the walleye run in spring, the river is packed with fisherman who catch and release the spawning fish. Our river a tremendous resource. One that needs a fresh eye to find it's beauty and a fresh approach to save her.

After the Night always comes the Dawn

After the Night Always comes the Dawn acrylic on canvas 30x40

Morning Comes as Sure as the Night   Cityscape, abstracted realism, abstraction,

This large acrylic painting is one of the first large paintings I did last year following major surgery to replace both of my knees. I was getting used to many life changes. We had moved to a small condominium in downtown Green Bay and the new “me” was taking some effort to recover.
I turned to acrylic paints and began to experiment. I let the painting process and my own inner vision direct me. Much of the artwork I produced in those months was abstract in nature. Looking back, I see how this painting in particular was about moving on. I  created  a work that was subconsciously about now and then. The theme of the bridges just happened. Unplanned strokes led me to memories of past achievements and to new goals.
It is truly remarkable how these moments at my easel gave me both motivation and perhaps more clarity in viewing my life. I’ve always hoped that my work would appear open to the viewer, with that openness allowing a personal interpretation or story to emerge.
I hope that still happens with this one.

Where the Red Tree Grows

Where the Red Tree Grows  water-media, on 140 pound cold pressed paper

Where The Red Tree Grows  water-media on cold pressed 140 lb paper

I began my art career as a watercolorist. As my work developed I changed course and spent most of my art time working in oil and pastel. However, whenever I need a little freshness “fix” I return to sketching and experimenting in water-media. This small painting is such an experiment. The natural flow of water based paints can produce subtle washes and surprising edges and tones as the paint moves on it’s own and in guided pathways.
“Where the Red Tree Grows” is a place that exists only in my imagination and on this paper. Much like the ephemerals of the forest in springtime, it is a captured moment that would be difficult for me  to repeat.
I think water-media if applied wet -in -wet is a tight rope act. The artist and the medium working together and against each other to fulfill a tenuous idea.
With a bit of hand surgery scheduled for tomorrow I anticipate that my creative efforts may return to watercolors for a while. The ease of application and clean up and the feeling of childlike pleasure it gives me will help me recover.  Life happens. Despite the artificial depictions of life as we see it shared on social media, we all become a bit more vulnerable as we age. Dealing with change (which is constant for everyone)  can be mitigated by pursuing those parts of life that give us joy. Carpe Diem.

Autumn Reflected

Autumn Reflected   8 x 8 acrylic on an archival Raymar panel

Landscape, water, lakeshore, abstract realism, abstract, impressionist

When I was a child I spent countless hours exploring the small pond near my house and the shoreline of Big Sand Lake in northern Wisconsin. A favorite pastime was to lie on pier or shoreline embankment and peer into the still and clear water. It seemed that I could see everything in those moments. The sky, the trees, and even myself were reflected back to me. The water seemed magical because with one swift push of my hand I could break the mirror like surface to find the crayfish and beautiful stones that lay just beyond my reach.
That little girl found a tremendous sense of peace and freedom in those moments. Perhaps the broken colors and brief impressions are still with me, deep inside.

Kinnickinnic Boat Yard

Kinnickinnic Boat Yard. Acrylic on a cradled panel

Seascape, boats, waterfront,

I love to paint scenes that lie behind the hustle and bustle of most city life. The Kinnickinnic River flows through the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It has a history of being a nitty gritty area, full of heavy industry, small homes and the commerce provided by the River itself.
 We used to shop for art supplies at a funky shop called Trade Winds very close to this spot. In general, the buildings there showed their years and gentrification hadn’t touched this part of the city.
Years ago I snapped a photo and yesterday I found it in my box of inspiration and I  decided to paint a memory. In reality the old buildings pictured in my photograph were beige, white, grey and were remarkably dull.  The photo greatly diminished what I had experienced and felt watching the activity of that riverfront.
I believe the job of the artist is to define the story they tell on their own terms. These simple shapes and colors are of my choice to celebrate a day near the river.