The Signing Ceremony

20x24 oil on linen

I had the pleasure of meeting this family about 4 years ago. They have been devoted followers of the Indian holy woman Amah for a long time. This painting depicts an important event in their daughter's life. It is the "signing ceremony" where the little girl is learning the sanskrit symbols for om. The whole ceremony only takes a few minutes and the teaching portion of it only about 30 seconds, as Amah quickly wisks the child's finger through the granules in the bowl. Now I'm not sure if I could remember the symbol as quickly as it was done, but several days later when the family returned home, this little girl was writing om, much to the surprise of her parents who were not certain if the lesson had taken. You see, the whole ceremony takes place in a large tent, is very crowded and very noisey with traditional Indian music blaring through big speakers and this little girl doesn't like all the noise. When it was her turn to see Amah, suddenly the tent went silent. No one had requested this, it just happened. It would seem that someone was watching out for her.

Three Dogs

16X12 oil on linen

The week before Christmas, I took a peek at Craig's list where I found a listing looking for an artist to do a painting. I had no idea what the subject would be but decided to find out. It turned out to be these three dogs, a German Shepard, a Rhodisian Ridgeback and a Weimaraunar. Although portraits and figures have been my principle focus, I had such a good time painting these critters that I think I will do more in the future.

Liquid Assets Show

The following 5 paintings are part of a group show that I am participating in at Liquid Assets, a boutique wine bar and gallery in Ashland, Or. It opened on Oct. 24th and will run through Nov. 27th.

Patriot Daze, 9/11/01-1/20/09

60"x 48"
oil on gessoed panel
Since 9/11, the Bush administration has used the shock of what happened on that day and fear tactics to keep many Americans in a state of blind patriotism, wrapping themselves in the flag and branding anyone who contradicted their ideas as anti-American. I've tried to express my feelings about this and hopefully those of many others.

Collateral Damage

40"x 32"
oil on linen
In April, a traveling display of white and red flags were set up on the lawn of Southern Oregon University as a reminder to not forget the atrocities being perpetrated in the name of freedom. Each white flag represents 5 dead Iraqi people and each red flag 5 American soldiers. There were 120,000 white flags and 800 red flags.

Only Now

54"x46"
oil on linen

change of heart

oil on linen
28"x50"

running her lines

28"x24"

oil on linen

The striped dress and the theatrical feeling of the background were the contributing factors in naming this painting. While I often struggle with titles for my work, my wife, Mary Lou, who is a writer, will usually cut to the chase and rescue me, as was the case with this piece.

Weisingers Vinyard Show

The following twelve paintings are from a show of small works that were exhibited this summer at the Weisingers Vineyard tasting room. Two of these pieces have been posted previously. The other ten are new within the past year.

brenna

16" x 9" oil on linen

emily

12" x 10 " oil on plywood

lindsay

12 " x 10 " oil on plywood

finale

24" x 12" oil on linen

eurydice

8"x 12" oil on gessoed plywood

memorial bridge

24" x 12" oil on linen

ashland creek

11" x 8" oil on gessoed board

fire trees

20" x 30" oil on canvas

feathers and 2 flutes in d meiner

10" x 8" oil on gessoed card

blood oranges

7" x 5" oil on gessoed card

memories of lhasa

7" x 5" oil on gessoed card

tangerines

7"x 5" oil on gessoed card

Eurydice

I've been helping a friend with his studio over the past few months, so productivity is down a bit. But I did manage to finish this small portrait of my friend Joanna recently.

This is the finished version of Mr. Thorndike. I had posted it once before, still needing to put the finishing touches on it.

David

I had mentioned this photo in my last post. I like the contempletive aspect of this shot.

Peace Flags

I usually only post my artwork here but today I will add some photos to the mix. As my wife and I were returning home from shopping, we encountered a display of tiny flags decorating the law Southern Oregon University lawn. It started near the arts buildings so my first thought was senior art project. But as we drove along, we began to notice little red flags distributed among the white ones. We began to realize that this may be something other than a school project. The small white flags lined Siskiyou Blvd. from one end of the campus to the other. And as we approached So. Mountain Ave. we saw a group of people planting these flags in neat little rows. I knew that I needed to get some pictures of this event. I also called a friend, David Lorenz Winston, a photographer, who I knew would be very interested in this also. When I returned to the spot where the group had been planting flags, they were engaged in a prayer circle. And when they had finished they confirmed my thought that this was indeedabout the dead in Iraq. They had planted 120,000 white flags and 800 red ones, representing representing only a small percentage of the total dead. While I was taking pictures, my friend David was taking some a block away. It is him with his back to me in one of the photos I took. This is a powerful reminder of what continues to go on in Iraq, so let's don't forget.

Ashland Springs Hotel at Dusk

This weekend the local gallery association holds it's annual celebration called "A Taste of Ashland". Local wineries, restaurants and galleries are paired up to show off the local culture and to kick off the summer season, although this year it seems winter refuses to let go. The weekend begins with a gala fundraiser, held last night, which features a 1 hour painting and drawing frenzy called a quickdraw. Afterwards, all the pieces are auctioned off to raise money for the association. This painting is my effort from last night's event. It is 16"x20" and the view is looking up through a skylight at the hotel.

At this point in this painting, I chose to add some heavy paint with a palette knife and also to add some brighter colors. Up until this time , the paint was a little thin and needed to be beefed up. I'm still not sure about the background, so maybe I'll try something new next week. I noticed That I had lost some of the softness in her face, especially around the mouth. I'll also check that the next time we meet. Still a lot to do.

This painting is in the final stages of completion, with just some glazing and a few extra touches to be done. The family came to see it a few days ago and gave me the go ahead to finish. Although I was confident with the result that I had achieved, I just didn't know until the clients had voiced their opinion.

Well, here's the next installment of " The Pearltrader" painting. Due to illness, we've both been unable to stick with any kind of schedule. I'm hoping with the warmer weather we'll all stay healthy so that we can make some steady progress on the painting. But you never fight a delay, they always happen for a good reason. Don't they?

Painting in Progress

Finally got back to this. My model's neck is still a little sore but she was able pose for a short sitting yesterday. I adjusted the pose again and am beginning to build up the surface with more paint. Not sure about the background yet, but we'll see.

I just finished this portrait on Sat. This was drawn out over a long period of time. It was started last Aug. School, work and bouts of illness through the winter kept my model from having the time to spare. But we persevered and got it done.

Several weeks ago I posted the start of a painting. I thought it might be interesting to show it's progress from week to week. Unfortunately, my model sprained her neck skiing and hasn't been able to sit for several weeks. But she's feeling better now, so here is the next installment.

new drawings and a painting start

Last spring, April 6, 2007, due to the expiration of government timber funds, Ashland, Or. , along with many other communities, suffered through the largest shutdown of libraries in the U.S. -ever ! In response, this painting ," Interrupted", was created. It started innocently enough as a First Friday Art Walk demonstration and evolved over the coming weeks into my protest over the closures. The libraries reopened on Oct. 24, 2007.

Lindsay " Miss Holler " Erdman
Lindsay is an artist/singer from Toronto, Canada. She was willing to sit for this portrait in exchange for some instruction.

The start of my week

Although the numbers may vary, the artists who attend these weekly sessions are nothing if not dedicated to their art.