NEW WORK
Winter 2024-25
Early Spring 2025. Oil paintings currently in various stages of completion include these two: Girls Consulting the Oracle with Approaching Storm (left, 20 x 23 in.); and Labyrinth Dream (right, 21 x 32 in.).
A few more examples of current work-in-progress. These are digital sketches for proposed new paintings. Left: Two Girls in a Rose Garden Breaking the Ten Commandments; right: The Resurrection of Cleopatra. At the moment I have four or five medium-scale oil paintings on the easel: the routine is to work carefully on a small section of a painting (a few square centimeters of the “oracle” painting above, for example), then leave it to dry for a few days while I work on a small section of something like the intricate landscapes in the Labyrinth painting.
December 2024. After a refreshing Fall break (travel in Europe), my work in the studio resumed with an a focus on things like divination (references to Tarot cards, particularly The Tower) and medical procedures (blood transfusions, syringes, pills). Perhaps the over-arching theme is the disturbingly indeterminate nature of “reality.” Does God play dice? Absolutely!
December 2024: These are two of the oil paintings which are currently on the easel. Perhaps the “witch” is a bit of a departure? Halloween was approaching and the thematic aspect was appealing, not to mention the opportunity to work on the delicate European city-scape. As for Jesus and the Angel . . . the continuing “convalescent” theme in my work is hardly a surprise.
Summer 2024. I spent some time in May-June re-organizing my “gallery” pages, hence going over and taking a close look at paintings from the past few years. This one, for example, “Penitent Magdalene,” a large (5 ft wide) oil painting from 2018. After a bit of contemplation, though I felt good about the canvas over-all, I decided to re-work the face of the Magdalene figure (using some of the new creative tools I have acquired over the past couple of years). Work on this is currently in progress (detail at right). Similarly for 3 or 4 other paintings . . . see below.
I also decided, on a bit of a whim, to frame a painting from the early 70s: Self Portrait as Lapsed Sabbatarian (upper left). The hands-on work on the frame was therapeutic, and seeing the older painting with recent work (like Ball-Joint Doll Crucifix, lower left and right, from 2024) led to sketching and reflection. The theme of the painting is introspection and guilt, a subject which I continue to find inspirational (see Girls in a Rose Garden above).
The Rainbow. This is another relatively large painting (h = 45 in.) from a few years earlier (2013) that I decided to re-work. Taking a closer look (after having the painting in a storage area of the studio for a few years) I was quite pleased with the painting over-all, but not entirely satisfied with the way I had handled the hair. Re-working this portion of the painting is currently in-progress. (The theme: Yes, “Jesus” seems to be vomiting a rainbow. Though I am not “locked in” to any particular interpretation, I would point out that I had been reading/thinking about experiences of “mystic revelation” induced by ayahuasca, DMT, and other such entheogens at the time. I recall one participant in an ayahuasca “trip” saying that in the initial phases she felt like she was vomiting light or rainbows.)
The Book of Dolls (h = 4 ft.). This depiction of a mystical blood transfusion is currently nearing completion; I have been gradually re-working and polishing areas of the painting, leaving it to dry for a few days, working on something else, then coming back to it. Working slowly has given me time to re-evaluate the painting and I decided to re-work the doll figure (and a few other areas as well).
This is a small painting of dolls in a rose garden. The painting is perhaps 2/3 finished with a particular focus on the re-configuration of the central doll. Part of this process is perhaps evidence of mild obsessive-compulsive tendencies on my part?
This is the entrance to the Oneiros Gallery including the list of 12 or so featured paintings. While the gallery itself is virtual (i.e. digital 3-d) the work is real (oil on canvas), framed and sized as shown. Details of the paintings are available in Gallery One (see menu).
