Buffalo Running I, II, & III - SOLD

Buffalo Running I, II, and III

acrylic on canvas

6" x 6" x 1.5"

SOLD

These three bison were inspired by Eadweard Muybridge's "buffalo cantering" series of photos from the late 19th century - he used a series of photos of a buffalo running to create an animated sequence.

They're intended to hang side-by-side horizontally, but I'm unfortunately not clever enough to make that happen on blogger. ;)

Also, I'm excited to now have some of my paintings hanging at Revolution Gallery in Issaquah, WA!

A Moment's Rest

A Moment's Rest
acrylic on canvas
24" x 36" x 1.5"
Available for purchase at Revolution Gallery, Issaquah, WA


I've been using a different method lately when I paint.  To build up the impasto layers, I would normally mix pigments into an acrylic matte gel.  I would then apply that wonderfully frosting-like paint to the canvas with palette knives, and, after letting the impasto layer of paint dry, I would add a bit of brushwork with thin glazes.  I've been using more and more brushwork on top of the impasto layers over the past several months, so I've been accordingly changing the process a bit.


For this painting, and for most of my other recent work, I've been starting off each piece by applying a thin layer of pigment to the canvas with a brush.  I then apply acrylic matte gel only (no pigment added); I move it around on the canvas with palette knives, and my intent in doing so has been to create more motion in the image.  Once the thick gel layer has dried, I apply thin washes of pigment.  These washes interact with the original background color, which has been softened and muted by the semi-transparent matte gel.  I don't go through pigment nearly as quickly as I used to, and playing with the matte gel in its non-colored state allows for a lot of creativity.


Joni Mitchell's "Night Ride Home" album has been my painting music of choice, lately.  I've been listening to it nonstop.


Nature, I would be thy child,
Sit and worship at thy feet;
Read the truth upon thy face,
Wait upon thine accent sweet:
I would put my hand in thine,
Bow my head upon thy knee,
Live upon thy love alone,
Fearless, trusting all to thee.
-Mary Morgan, "To Nature"

Harmonious Thoughts

Harmonious Thoughts

acrylic on canvas

20" x 24"

Available for purchase at Revolution Gallery, Issaquah, WA

This is actually a departure from my Montana paintings, although it doesn't look like it. We came upon this sunset in southeastern Washington.

The texture is more subtle in this piece than in my other landscapes, and I used some pearl paint to give it a glow.

"Harmonious thoughts, a soul by truth refined,

Entire affection for all human kind.

...

How pleasant, as the sun declines, to view

The spacious landscape change in form and hue!

Here, vanish, as in mist, before a flood

Of bright obscurity, hill, lawn, and wood;

There, objects, by the searching beams betrayed,

Come forth, and here retire in purple shade..."

-William Wordsworth, "An Evening Walk"

Backlit Bison

Backlit Bison

acrylic on canvas

16" x 20"

Available for purchase at Revolution Gallery, Issaquah, WA

Yep, I'm still in a gold-paint phase...I love the bronze tones it produces. I don't like to use so much gold that it's overwhelming - I like it to be a bit more subtle, so that it provides a pretty late-afternoon glow.

I've also been painting more buffalo, as I previously promised I would. They're fun to paint. I especially liked painting this sleepy looking guy.

By the way, while trying to figure out how to order my favorite Winsor & acrylics online, I came across some of the most breathtaking art I'd ever seen by an artist who's been working with W&N. I've really connected with her work, because she also loves to portray big, expansive skies. I so admire her technique & ability.

Anyway, her name is Beckie Reed. Go, and be amazed!

Peter Yegen

Peter Yegen

acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

18" x 24"

Available for purchase at Revolution Gallery, Issaquah, WA

Peter Yegen Jr. farmhouses & barns, with the YP brand, are a familiar fixture for any Billings resident. Yegen started an insurance & real estate company back in 1919 and drove his company by the bare-bones motto, "We Pay For Ashes and Sell Dirt Cheap." YP barns from every decade of the 20th century are strewn throughout the Billings area; while a lot of them have been torn down or fallen into disrepair, many of them, like the lonesome one in this painting, remain standing despite the onslaught of time.

And saw rain falling, in the distance

more slowly,

The road clear from her past the window-

glass -

Of the world, weather-swept, with which

one shares the century.

-George Oppen, from the Discrete Series

Nourishment

Nourishment

acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

16" x 20"
Available for purchase at Revolution Gallery, Issaquah, WA

Here's one that's completely different. I'm not sure if it's done yet or not, but I thought I'd post it in its current form anyway. I used some more iridescent gold paint for the background and decided to keep things loose and abstract, which is a real difficult practice for me. I found this horse grazing in a field in Billings, but the reference photo I took was not too impressive - the sky was gray and the colors were dull overall. I thought a representative look might jazz it up a bit.

Take Me Home

Take Me Home

24"x30"

acrylic on canvas

Available for purchase at Revolution Gallery, Issaquah, WA

This painting depicts a field after harvest. I used a brush to soften up the grass around the road but left the clouds looking chunky.

I find that particular music puts me in the painting zone, so when I was feeling uninspired after beginning this piece, I put on an old standby that helped to urge me forward...Phil Collins, for some odd reason, inspires painting in me. I have no idea why. That should help explain where this painting's title comes from, anyway.

A SONG of the grass and fields!A song of the soil, and the good green grass!A song no more of the city streets;A song of the soil of the fields.A song with the smell of sun-dried hay, where the nimble pitchers handle the pitch-fork;A song tasting of new wheat, and of fresh-husk'd maize.-Walt Whitman, from "A Carol of Harvest"