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?

 

 

 

In order to categorize and “accession” my work from the past two years, I created a virtual art gallery, the Oneiros Gallery (from the Greek word for dream).

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).

Here are a few additional views of the interior of Oneiros Gallery.

Below left: this is the hallway leading to the studios. The artists themselves collaborate on decisions regarding featured artwork in the studio area; in this case, a Cimabue altarpiece (late 13th century) is juxtaposed with the Francis Bacon Crucifix it inspired.