Matthew W. Cornell

The way home...

2012-02-05T23:23:00.003-05:00

Here is a painting I finished a number of weeks ago that I finally was able to varnish. I didn't want to set up all the things I needed to in order to take a decent picture, so I took it at an angle on the easel in order to see it. Reflections with a dark painting are a pain. Anyway, its on wood and it's about 8"x 10". This painting is the neighborhood Rachel, my wife, grew up in. Because of her low vision, getting to and from places was and is difficult. During grade school she walked the same route home everyday to make it easier on herself. A number of times she walked home when it was nearly dark. Her night vision is especially bad. The view in the painting is of the last turn to her house. This streetlight helped to guide her way. When she got to it, she knew she was nearly home...........the painting is titled..."The way home".

Crossroads

2012-01-30T20:53:00.000-05:00

Crossroads......13"x 15 1/2"...still have to repaint the sky. The lights in this image look really yellow/orange. Not nearly so in person.
So I wanted to paint the place where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his guitar genius. I figured if this legend were really true, it would have to be a relatively benign place. It seems like it would be a simple place and not one of grandiosity. In the story, it was, indeed, near railroad tracks. In this painting we are Robert Johnson, on the railroad tracks of life..Ha!! We are coming to a crossing. We are given a choice. On the right, which is impossible to see here, is a children school crossing sign. This is meant to represent innocence. On the left is a business, which could be a bar, a juke joint, or whatever. It is occupied and open 24 hours, because the devil is always open for business. Life is about choices. Robert Johnson made his. What is mine? What is yours?

Lions in Winter

2012-01-30T20:29:00.011-05:00

Finished a new piece...20"x 20" on canvas........It's the winter hideaway of the Cole Brothers Circus. Its fenced off from the road. I have been there a couple of times now in the evening. From the entrance a dirt path winds its way through the complex. Street lights illuminate the path at various points along with a number of trucks parked with circus signs on them. The view down this path is the one I have chosen to paint. Across the street is the old Deland train stop/gas station turned meth lab. Just 50 yards to the east, across the tracks, forming a perfect bizarre triangle, is a bar called the "In Between". In between what I don't know. I stood in the middle of the road the other night with the meth lab people watching me and, I swear to God, yelping like dogs to get my attention. I looked at all three places and wondered if I was at the nexus of some strange, twisted universe. What could these three places possibly have in common? I leaned toward the van and realized the only thing they had in common at that moment was me..............so I got the hell out of there.

Looking north across Pearly Lake towards Mt Monadnock

2011-12-08T18:34:00.006-05:00

OK, this is easily the longest titled painting I have done.

4"x 4.5" oil on wood

I finished this a few weeks ago. It is for a couple from Williamstown, MA. They currently live here in Deland, Florida and own 7 of my paintings. Wait.....maybe it's eight. Damn, I should know. Anyway, this was commissioned as a Christmas gift to the mother of the husband. She had been in ill health and at the age of, I think, 93, time was a factor. I finished it just before Thanksgiving, but unfortunately, she passed away before the painting could be given to her. I would have hoped she would have liked it. I did not meet her, but from all that I have heard, she was a good woman who possessed many good qualities, besides raising a fine son. And she lived a very long time, which is the way it should be. Too often, the jerks of the world live forever and the good die young. But this time, humanity won.

This painting is of a lake in New Hampshire near Franklin Pierce University that looks towards Mt Monadnock. Jeff, the husband went to school there and I am sure it has a lot of good memories. If we are lucky enough to go to college, we are sometimes imbued with the belief that we can change the planet and move mountains once we are unleashed on the world.

I tried to do the best I could with this painting. I think it turned out pretty well. As an artist, I am lucky to live this life. It's the only one I will get. I made some small changes to Monadnock and it is now in clearer view and not obstructed by the trees. You know........maybe we can move mountains after all.

The Road

2011-11-26T00:29:00.003-05:00

Ah, paintings at night. These are extremely difficult to do. Painting outside is a challenge. I live in Florida and the bugs are numerous and relentless. My single light I use to illuminate the easel also attracts every one of them. I use clove oil with my medium and that smell causes them to fly right into the painting and, of course, stick right to it. I spend a lot of time plucking them off. How fun. Plus, moving my eye from the highly lit board to the near darkness and back again to the board is very taxing on the eyes after about an hour. So I have to do a painting over many nights. However, photographing anything is nearly impossible. To get the light right is so hard given the extremes of light and really, you can't see much in a photo in the very dark areas. When I am standing there, I see the subtle differences. And any bright lights are totally washed out, so I have to take many, many pictures at just one location to get the information I need to make a painting.

This piece is 9"x 16" and its a perfect example of all of the above. Plus, when you are out there in the dark, people wonder what the hell you are doing. I am sure it looks suspicious with the white van, too. But people, I am hanging out a while because I am trying to get this whole painting thing right, not plan some elaborate heist or mugging.

The Night Watch

2011-11-13T19:33:00.004-05:00

We spent most of the summer up north, trying to get out of the ridiculous Florida heat. We were in New York when they had just about the hottest stretch of weather ever.

Figures.

We spent 10 days in the Hudson River valley near New Paltz. We rented a garage apartment and I used my evenings looking for paintings. I like the idea of discovering things. I certainly have images or ideas I am looking for, but the world offers alot more than I can conjure up in my mind.

I didn't have any plan. I just drove around and hoped to come across something really cool at twilight or night. So much of that time is mysterious. Landscapes at this hour are like ghosts that are unseen during the day, only to come out and play to reveal themselves in a myriad of strange and unusual ways. Illumination of light can completely change the way a place looks and feels and quite frankly, so can darkness.

One evening, as night was approaching, I came across a river around Kingston that was near its final destination, the Hudson. This lone, illuminated boat was parked in the river like a sentinel. Its relationship to the house was a mystery. Could have been a party for all I know. Or something sinister. Who knows? With this painting, I want to leave the story open ended and unresolved. I will let the viewer decide its origin and intent.

This painting, more than all the others, represents my transition from pure landscape to one that includes a narrative. It has all the elements of my work and is a nod to the Hudson River artists. In this case, that is literal, given its location.

Its oil on wood.

8.5"x 11.5"

Sacred

2011-10-25T13:09:00.004-04:00

Here is another piece I am working on for the show at Arcadia next year. It is 8.5"x 10.5" on wood. This is an actual place. It is the neighborhood my wife grew up in. On the left is her childhood home, still occupied by her father. On the right is the woman who has been his neighbor for 54 years. They both raised families and for more than 10 years, both have been widowed. One is Jewish and one is 7th Day Adventist. Both are incredibly good people who spend alot of time in service of others. To me, they represent a lot of what is good about this country and how well we can adapt and prosper and nourish friendship for, in this case, a very long time. They have differences and commonalities and can still see and understand the beauty and honor of their experience even as the arc of their lives reaches near its end. It is a precious thing to have such a great place to live your life. This is hallowed ground. It is sacred.

Dusk to Dawn

2011-10-12T11:19:00.006-04:00

Next March I am having a solo show at Arcadia gallery in NY. Most of the paintings will be from dusk to dawn. I am very excited about it and have already finished some of the paintings for it. I will write more at a later time about the show and some of the ideas I have running through my head, but for now I just wanted to show a smaller painting that I am working on right now that will be included. There are still a few elements I want to add that will create a narrative, but one that is not necessarily obvious. Tentative title is Phenomena. It is 8"x 10.5". Oil on wood

New England

2011-09-28T15:19:00.003-04:00

This is a small painting I just finished. Its really a commission for a couple in Nantucket that already have a painting. This one is 4"x 4.5". We spent most of the summer in New England and this piece comes from that trip. It's a small creek near the coast, north of Boston. We were just north of Rockport when I found this little place. It rained this day, but our weather for the next 7 days was perfect.

It's the end of the world as we know it..............

2011-09-21T22:46:00.003-04:00

I am a little sad today.

R.E.M. decided to quit being a band.

I have been a huge fan for a long time. Obsessive really. I have listened to their music nearly everyday for years. My first album was Document and I listened to that until it would play no more. Then I got another one and the same thing happened. Simply put, their music made my life a little better. It is the soundtrack to the creation of my paintings. They are all around 50 and deserve to do whatever they want with the rest of their lives. I say good luck to them.

And thank you very much..........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRFFNSgo_N8

I have spent most of my life traveling. I have been down just about every dirt road, country highway and interstate this land has to offer. America is just beautiful. So many times I have been driving at night with the windows down, on a two lane highway between two small towns, the cool air whipping through the car, and R.E.M. playing on the stereo. So many memories. It was just......right.......

and it will be again.......

Endless Sea of water paintings.......

2011-06-29T00:28:00.003-04:00

Here is a new painting that may come available soon. Endless Sea. 5"x 9" Oil on wood.

The Unconquerable Sea

2011-06-25T19:36:00.003-04:00

Well, here is another painting of the sea from Nantucket. 22"x 33". The ocean can be so many things, but one thing for sure it should be, is respected. It is an indomitable force that cannot be contained. The sea will do whatever it wants and we must abide by it's wishes. Woe unto the man who is arrogant and prideful who thinks this not. I have so many dreams in which I am standing on the edge of the sea and the waves crash at my feet, slowly getting higher and higher, until they overtake me. I am swept away by the sheer power and relentless surge of the water and I am terrified, yet equally calmed by and in awe of, it's beauty.

American Artist Article

2011-06-15T11:15:00.005-04:00

This summer's American Artist Magazine has an article about me and my work. It focuses on my wave paintings. It is very well written by Courtney Jordan and many thanks to her for making me sound a lot smarter than I am. It is currently in all major bookstores and our coffee table.....

Niagara

2011-06-05T23:03:00.007-04:00

Two years ago I did a painting of Niagara Falls. It was clearly inspired by Frederick Church's Niagara painting. We actually went to the Corcoran Museum in DC to see the painting on the way to Niagara Falls. I was shocked by the poor condition of the painting. It clearly had been punctured and repainted a few times. It's funny. I was so excited to finally see it in person. Maybe I had just expected to be blown away, but I really wasn't. I spent a lot of time looking and, this is hard to say, it seemed very ordinary. I think he is a great artist. I am not fit to clean his brushes, but this was a let down. It even had its own room. Wouldn't that be nice? Maybe I created something impossible in my mind. I don't know. I walked away a bit disappointed.

For my painting, I wanted to create a sense you were looking out over the falls like Church. When we were there the angles clearly weren't right for what I wanted, so I exaggerated the front part and lengthened it to give the viewer a little vertigo. This is based on about 7 in the morning. I was almost alone and the sun was peeking through the mist. It was quite beautiful. The light was dramatic and I tried to get as much information as I could. It was also quite damp with the mist rising up and out. Plus, if you have ever stood there close, the sound is thunderous. The painting is 20"x 44". It was about 8 weeks of work. I repainted the sky as well, trying to get the right color. I hope I did the place justice. Someday I will go back and do another piece. Maybe in winter. And very large. 50"x 75" or so. Now that would be dramatic.....

At the beginning.....

2011-06-03T21:54:00.003-04:00

This is a little painting I did in 2005. It's 6"x 6". It was for a solo show I had at Tanner Hill gallery in Chattanooga. It was at the beginning of this phase of doing small work on smooth panels.

Seaside

2011-05-19T00:39:00.002-04:00

New Painting.........This is a piece from our trip to Nantucket last fall. 8.5"x 10.5" The light and the surf were amazing. Many a piece will come from those few days there.

Southbound

2011-05-15T21:44:00.003-04:00

5 1/8"x 7"..........All of a sudden, I am into trains. At least the tracks anyway. I have always loved the south. Its a place of dreams and of rich and diverse history. When I am here, I always feel like I am home. Was listening to the Allman Brothers while painting this. Seems appropriate. They were and are southern boys from Macon, Georgia. Duane has been gone a long time, but Greg Allman now lives in Savannah, one of my favorite places in the whole world. This one goes out to you my sweet, Georgia town.............."Oh, Lordy I'm southbound. I'm coming home to you"................................

Florida Contemporary

2011-04-23T13:28:00.002-04:00

The third annual edition of the popular Naples Museum of Art Invitational exhibition opens today in Naples, FL. I was asked to include one of my paintings and Helene von Bueren was kind enough to let them use Santee, which was purchased through Arcadia in NY.

From realism to abstraction (and everything in between), Florida Contemporary 2011 will feature familiar photographers, painters, sculptors and graphic artists who have spent a lifetime at their craft together with an exciting array of new artists that visitors can “discover” for themselves. While not an all-inclusive record of current exhibiting Florida artists, this exhibition provides an intriguing impression of the innovative images, subject matter, techniques and mediums that exemplify the art being created in the state today. http://thephil.org/museum/museum_exhibitions/11-FloridaContemporary.html

It's not dark yet, but it's getting there.

2011-04-18T12:17:00.002-04:00

Here is a new painting I just finished. It's called "Home before Dark". 7 3/4"x 9" on wood panel. I think I am going to do a few more on this theme. This could be anyone waiting for someone to come home. I like the point of view of a parent waiting for their child to come home. There is always worry. The light is on for them and it is nearly dark........

The Visitor

2011-03-11T14:38:00.004-05:00

The next piece in the series. I have called it The Visitor. It's title again refers to the transitory nature of things. We are here but a brief time and then just a memory. It is an actual place as well. You are looking down the tracks in Winter Park, FL. On the left is the Winter Park Historical Society and Farmers Market and on the right is the actual Visitor's Center for the City of Winter Park. This painting will be going to Dallas for the Dallas Art Fair and showing with Tanner Hill Gallery. It is 7 1/8"x 9 1/8" on wood.

New Direction

2011-03-01T17:47:00.004-05:00

I have been painting for many years now and I wanted to start moving beyond just pieces that were beauty for beauty's sake. I am sure it has to do with getting older. I notice the temporary or transitory nature of things. It seems melancholy but it is the most real thing there is. We are only here a little while.

Hurricane Katrina came ashore near Waveland, MS. I wanted to see it right after, but only managed to get there 5 years later. Last summer, coming back from Denver, I stopped by. It was early in the morning, just as the sun was rising. It was dead calm. I made my way directly to the beach and as I got closer the homes began to disappear. On the shoreline, where once many large and beautiful mansions sat, now appeared to be a park. Nature had taken back the land. It was extraordinary. My painting is looking east. The gulf is on the right. The beach line had clearly been altered and a temporary road through the sand was made. On the left there was only a few signs of what once was, in terms of people. The trees mostly survived the storm and were thick. Grasses were tall and lush. It really did look natural. Nature does what it does. It doesn't know we are there and doesn't care.Without the human markers its not really a disaster at all. And yet there were many signs along the road we were moving back in, although slowly.

My first notion, in terms of a painting, in human terms, was to make the tragic look beautiful. Retain the idea of a Hudson River School painting. Have all of those elements there. I think I did that. But make it clear life is temporary. We are always in transition of some kind. The painting has a driveway, broken docks leading out into the gulf, and a fence from a prior home. There is a Port a potty that represents that lack of permanence. Seems to me a perfect object for that. The streetlights represent time for me. Time is something I think about alot. There is no past. There is no future. There is only the present. Now. Everything exits in the present. The past exists only in our memory. Regardless of age, all things are in the present. The universe does not keep time. It just is.

God's Country

2011-02-03T21:46:00.004-05:00

This is a painting I just finished. 10"x 10", oil on wood. It is the same creek as in "Low Country", but from a slightly different view. I have since made a few adjustments to this. I made the mud area in the left foreground a little less red and it seemed to help. It's an area of South Carolina. I love the South. I love driving around a finding new things. It's the discovery for me that gets me excited. There is so much history, so much beauty to be found on the back roads. The real America is there. It's God's Country.

Morning of Discovery

2011-01-25T11:06:00.003-05:00

While perusing through Dan Sprick's website and such, I came across a blog called Open Museum. It's a great blog for Museums and artists and anybody who wants to write about and show their work. In it I found a great artist I had never heard of. His name is Martin Greenland. He is a painter from the UK. Exquisitely invented landscapes. SO beautiful. His comments on his blog are great, too. martingreenland.co.uk

Back from LA......

2011-01-20T21:08:00.007-05:00

Well, we are back. 3 day LA art blitz. I am already back to working and we have been home only an hour..............I am a sicko.

This was a great trip. The images above are from the Museum show. My painting was front and center and the first one you see when you enter the building. My smaller piece was in the second larger room. Had quite the shadow on it. It was very well attended. I took pictures when we arrived and it was 30 minutes before the exhibit was to open and there were many people there already. I am very happy to be part of such a great show.

The LA Art show was humming. The first image is of the Arcadia booth. It was also opening night and all the stars were there....We just didn't see any. It was packed with a lot of activity and a lot of posers. People try so hard to be noticed. But it is LA. Arcadia did great, selling many paintings. Mine were not among those, however. I have confidence, though, considering they always sell my wave pieces. The show runs until Sunday.

Go west young man....

2011-01-17T21:21:00.003-05:00

Here is the painting, with its frame, I am bringing to the LA Art Show. 24"x 30". Oil on canvas. The opening is Wednesday night. I am excited, but tired . I have some new ideas I am going to pursue when we get home...............

Nantucket

2011-01-12T21:57:00.004-05:00

We went to Nantucket this summer to drop off a large wave painting at Quidley and Company, a gallery right on the main street in the middle of the only real town there. It was quite lovely and we stayed for 3 days thanks to a B&B called the Century House. They have a program where artists can stay there and work on the island. We went out to the beach near Siasconset and I did a painting from some photos and notes I made. The surf was very dramatic that day. It was so exciting being right there and it reminded me why, again, I am drawn to painting the ocean in the first place. This painting ended up being part of a show at Quidley and Co. in Boston during December. We went up for the opening and I actually sold it to gentleman who is from Winter Park here in Florida. He still has a home near the Polasek Museum, where I have painted a number of times. Small world.......this piece is 8"x 12", titled "Siasconset".

Hudson River School

2011-01-11T22:46:00.004-05:00

This is not a very good reproduction of a painting I did last fall. I didn't have time to take it to my photo guy and I needed to get it out to the gallery so I took this image on the floor of our living room. Nice glare. A little blurry, too. It was purchased by a great collector of the arts who lives in Boston. The piece is titled "View of the Hudson from Olana". It is, of course, the Hudson river from Frederick Church's home. I was literally standing right next to the house. Some of my work is influenced by the Hudson River School, no doubt. I can't say that it has been a defining factor in most of my work, though. With this painting, however, I wanted to make a piece that was clearly influenced by them and notably Church, while using his property as the subject matter. I figured what a better way to celebrate this type of American art than to paint the master's property. He and his family had quite the view. I wonder how much different it looked when they lived there. I made almost no adjustments. This is pretty much what it looks like.

LA Art Show...

2011-01-11T13:19:00.003-05:00

Just finished a wave painting going to Arcadia for the LA Art Show. 24"x 30" on canvas. This should be the last wave painting for a while as I am doing a few smaller paintings and then starting a whole new series of works for a show in Dallas. Rachel and I are going out for the opening in LA. Should be good times......

Museum Show

2010-11-18T22:50:00.004-05:00

I have been invited to participate in a Museum show at the Long Beach Museum of Art in California. I am very excited about it. The show is called Influential Element: Exploring the impact of Water. For a state like CA, it is clearly important and water has certainly been a dominating subject for me and my paintings for a long time. They have requested two paintings. Genesis II (That is me above pretending to work on the finished painting) and Low Country. The show will run from Jan. to April of next year. We hope to go out for the opening, because it is the same night as the opening for the LA Art Show. I will be sending two large paintings of, you guessed it, water, to Arcadia gallery, who will be attending. Should be an interesting night. I went to college at Long Beach State and lived in LA for about 6 years. I have hardly been back but just a few times since. I don't really miss it. The traffic was just unbearable, but it was a really great town for a young person.

The Purple Painter

2010-10-19T20:04:00.004-04:00

It seems most of my pieces, as I see it, venture into the realm of purple. I have no idea why. Just various shades of purple. I actually don't really care for the color. It must have something to do with the lights in my studio. Or maybe my rods and cones aren't firing like they used to. The painting above is a recent one and although not nearly as pink or purple in person, this piece is exactly where I seem to go. I wonder if other artists have tendencies that seem to have a mind of their own. I really don't notice it at first, but by the time I am done, it is real obvious. I am not saying its a bad thing. This piece turned out very well. I am just wondering when I became the purple painter.....................side note.......I saw a painting this summer of a nude by Daniel Sprick that was part of a figure show in Santa Fe. It was simply miraculous. I looked at it for a long time. I even stayed a few extra hours so I could go back and look at it. Thanks Dan for showing the rest of us what is possible. And it wasn't at all purple.......

ALONE ON A WIDE WIDE SEA

2010-10-18T22:58:00.005-04:00

Here is a painting Arcadia Gallery sold at the USArtists show in Philadelphia. Its called Open Water, 24"x 30". My wife and I attended and it was nice to enter the show and see it hanging front and center with a beautiful red dot attached to it. Thank you Steve Diamant. I put alot of effort into it. It is one more in a series of wave paintings that have been very good to me.

I am still attracted to the ocean. I have a new series ready to be painted and I am very excited about it. We went to the New England Coast and I was very inspired by what I saw. I plan on pushing the abstract quality of the breaking waves. Up close, they become other worldly, almost like melting butter. The shapes and patterns are beautiful, surreal and terrifying all at once. More than 10 years ago, I took images of waves at night with a flash. It changed the way I looked at waves. It was phenomenal. I still have some of the images. I would really like to move some of my work away from straight realism into a realm between opposing worlds of abstraction and reality. This is not a novel approach. Dan Adel, who is also in Arcadia, has done just that. With waves no less......But I have many ideas.....Narrative rural landscapes of the south, incorporating history, both past and present. I am excited about that, too. That will be for next spring. But first I gotta..............

Look who is back

2010-10-16T01:35:00.002-04:00

Ok, so its been a while. I have had huge computer problems. We now have two brand new Mac computers, courtesy of a few sales of paintings. I will try to catch up as best I can. Very busy summer and fall. I will post stories and paintings in the coming days. I am having all of the images I have taken in the last 10 years along with a record of my paintings copied to my new computer this weekend. I hope they make it. If they don't, I will curse these devices forever.

Tempest

2010-04-18T23:18:00.002-04:00

Another painting for my show in Santa Fe. Titled "Tempest", oil on canvas, 24"x 51 1/2". I struggled with the notion of putting the road in on the left. Up to this point, I haven't really put any evidence of humans in my paintings, but this was a good balance to the painting and gives it scale. I did a series of storms in pastel a number of years ago and my signature became a little road on the left. I always liked it and figured it might be appropriate here. It also gives anyone fleeing the storm a way out, or anyone chasing, a way in.

Early morning

2010-04-14T19:38:00.003-04:00

Very busy getting ready for the Santa Fe show. I have completed quite a few more paintings. Here is one titled, "Wake". Its 48"x 54", on canvas. Its hard to see in this image, but there is a boat wake in the bottom right corner. It is also a painting of the early morning, waking, hours on the sea. Along with "Mediterraneo", I now have two seascapes for the show with a meditative quality that I search for a lot in my work. A simple beauty.

Water everywhere

2010-02-23T00:20:00.002-05:00

This is a new painting and one of the largest I have done at 64"x 72. I have just finished it today. It will be part of a solo exhibit I will have at Evoke Contemporary, in Santa Fe, in May. The gallery is one block from the Plaza. What a great place Santa Fe is. I have been there a number of times in the past 5 years and its always such a pleasure.

New old painting

2010-02-13T12:27:00.002-05:00

I just received a painting back from a couple with a large family who would like me to try and sell it for them. They are in a financial challenge right now and I would like to help them. This painting is about 10 years old. It was one of the first small, detailed paintings I did. It's strange to see something from so long ago. It is a bit looser than the current small pieces I do, but it is still a nice painting. It is of the beach on the east coast of Florida, somewhere between New Smyrna and Cocoa. If interested, please let me know. It is oil on wood, 6 3/4 x 6 3/4. I am asking $1500 or best offer. All money will go to the family.

2010-02-03T22:42:00.002-05:00

Rachel and I went to see James Rosenquist speak tonight. I was never quite intrigued enough with his work to give it much time, but I am aware of his legacy and impact on American art. He was a good speaker and seemed humbled by his success, giving much credit to simple luck and timing. He answered a number of questions at the end, some of which seemed a bit trivial, but what has resonated with me is his response to a question about what advice he would give to an aspiring artist. He said work hard, pay attention to history, but don't try to emulate other artists. Do something no one else has done. Mostly, he said, just work hard. That I can identify with. It is in my family to work hard. The whole Cornell history is about working hard. Its go time.
The above painting I finished a few days ago. Distant Thunder, 5 1/2"x 7". Sending it to Quidley and Company in Boston. Nice people.
I have started my largest piece to date, 63"x 72". It is a painting of waves. It will be a real task to finish it and finish it well. It going to Santa Fe for a solo show in May. A lot to do
Work hard.

Last Light

2010-01-17T22:08:00.002-05:00

A few summers ago I took at drive up to Estes Park in Colorado after a show. It was amazing. It was just an afternoon really and I managed to see so much. I took a number of photos, maybe 100 or so. I have done probably 10 paintings from that day. This piece was at the climax of the drive. The light was fading and I was above the treeline at the summit of the drive when I pulled over and hiked up a hill. Just at the crest looking mostly east was this view. I usually change photos I take to make paintings or crop images together, but this is just as it was. The scale is deceiving because the snow was quite large and the rocks were huge. The sky was unforgettable and the wind was howling. The earth can be so beautiful. I can imagine in winter I could get nowhere near here. The snow would be 10 feet deep and the temperature would be bitterly cold.

But that day, all that was left of the winter snows was this long lip.

Earlier in the day I stopped at a lookout over a valley and the clouds broke just a sliver to allow a stream of light to crease the valley floor. Stunning.

A few others stopped also and after a while we all just looked at each other and smiled. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. Almost no words were spoken and none were necessary. But then after only a few minutes, it was gone, cloudy again and obscured.

Just like life.

New painting

2010-01-01T19:57:00.003-05:00

Just finished another painting today. Its called "Shooting Star". It's one I had done a smaller version of earlier this year. That small painting was purchased in St Louis by a couple that had encountered a falling star or meteorite while driving. It went crashing into the woods after buzzing right by their car. It was a perfect fit for a piece. I hope this one finds a good home. 7 1/2" x 9".

Genesis

2009-12-28T12:21:00.003-05:00

Here are two versions of the same painting I just finished. In the lower photo the painting is lit with a warm light.

The title is Genesis.

28"x 39 1/4"

I am very happy it is finally finished. I think it turned out well. I really don't remember why I started doing waves. I have always loved the ocean. It can express many emotions and it certainly is the true essence of creation and destruction, a concept that permeates a lot of my paintings. Maybe there is a rhythm to the waves that connects it to our own rhythm. The crashing waves on the shore like a heartbeat. The push and pull of the water like making love. It is about balance. It is about adaptation. It is about equilibrium. The ocean reaches for us and we reach for it. When we get close enough, it literally pulls us in. Maybe that is why I paint waves.

Dog days of August for me.

2009-12-22T21:07:00.003-05:00

I am near the end. It can be the easiest or the hardest part of the process. I can be either excited to finally see the culmination of all my hard work or simply sick to death of looking at the same painting for such an extended period of time. Too close to call at this point. I have about 3-4 more days left. I am on day 17 and that is consecutive days with some serious long hours. It has taken me alot less time to do this than I thought. My last piece this big took 6 weeks, but I think the result was worth it.
I don't know much about the working habits of others. I certainly can tell some things just by looking at a painting, but I wonder to what extent other artists put in effort. My temperament is much better when I put in only 5-6 days. I am simply ready to move on to something else by that time. An artist that I know, Skip Steinworth, has told me after a few weeks he is "just settling in". By then I am ready to leave the table and cash in my chips.
I think this is turning out to be a nice piece. My tentative title is Genesis. I like the implications of what that could mean and what this image could be.
I will put the finished painting up on this blog this weekend. It is going to Arcadia Gallery in NY. The gallery is part of the LA Art Show in January and I hope to make a big, uh, splash, with it.. . . . . . . . .

Ideas

2009-12-08T01:53:00.002-05:00

My wife listens to books on tape and she recently rented at the Library a lecture series by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto who is a Professorial Fellow in History and Geography at Queen Mary, University of London, and a member of the Faculty of Modern History at Oxford University. It is called "Ideas That Shaped Mankind, A Concise History of Human Thought". She played just a few short passages with me and it led us into a discussion of ideas, human history, and the motivations and curiosities of people. It brought up an interesting question. Preservation of Life. We all have it in common. All living things possess the need to stay alive. Why? Even the simpler organisms on the earth will do whatever they can to maintain their own life. Do humans fear death because it is unknown? Do animals fear death? Is it a concept that they even understand? Do we simply seek to avoid pain? Did we invent God to justify the long expanse of death? Why the need to preserve one's own life at almost any cost. Where does this come from? Is it in the DNA of all living creatures?

Mediterraneo

2009-11-28T13:15:00.016-05:00

Here's a photo journal of Matthew's most recent painting, Mediterraneo.
The work is 50"x66"
I took the pictures from my cell phone so the image quality is not the best, but the painting is great. This and other paintings will be in his studio during the McRae open house.

New Work

2009-11-06T22:53:00.001-05:00

Here is my new painting. We went on a trip a summer ago to Lake George, NY. It was motivated by the many artists who painted in the region during the 1800's. I wanted to be inspired by what inspired F. Church and so many others. Lake George itself was actually disappointing because it so much now caters to the tourists, but within the area you can still find beautiful places. This creek was actually in Maryland. We got off the road, as I like to do, and went looking for something to discover. It was late in the evening and it had rained hard as we went down a small road near this creek, crossing it several times before I stopped in a heavily wooded area and got out. I literally walked out into the creek. Fog was forming on the water as the sun sunk lower in the sky. It was perfect light. I would have loved to have painted right there, but I just made some notes and took a few photos. This small painting, 2 5/8"x 6" is the result.

Niagara

2009-08-31T12:34:00.003-04:00

We went to Niagara Falls last year and I have managed to make several paintings from the trip. This piece is one of several that I will take to St. Louis next week. It is very small and I finished it this morning. 1 3/4"x 1 7/8". I have plans to make a very large version of this at some point. Maybe 50"x 50". I would love to return to much larger, much looser work. It seems to be more to my character and I feel more comfortable with the working methods of larger paintings. However, a small piece like this can be very effective when I paint such a large view in such a small space. It forces the viewer to look very close and when they do they see a huge world. I like that dynamic. It's not overwhelming like a large piece, but more intimate.

For Mike. . . . . .

2009-08-29T12:15:00.003-04:00

This is my easel. If you look just below the center there is a small painting. I finished this little piece yesterday and plan on taking it to a show I have in St. Louis in two weeks. It's 1 1/2"x 1 1/2". Ridiculously small and at my advancing age(I am not old, but no longer a young man), very difficult to see and work on such a scale. It's a painting of a sunrise through some fog, early in the morning near Ocala.

An artist's friend lost her husband yesterday. He was a good man. Death plays no favorites. We are all in the same line that ends the same way, we just don't know when. We seem invincible when we are young, but time marches forward, distracted by nothing, pursuing it's only goal, continuum. It's a cliche' to say live every moment to it's fullest, but it doesn't make it any less profound. Rest in Peace Mike Bitner. May every moment now be more beautiful than a sunrise near Ocala.

Deep South

2009-08-26T16:58:00.004-04:00

I just finished this painting last week and finally varnished it so I could send it off today. The varnish did not adhere too well to the surface. It's one of my biggest aggravations, dealing with the materials. It's a constant battle and one in which I learn something all the time. Usually its what not to do.

I think the painting turned out pretty well. It's oil on wood, 8"x 12". Titled, "Deep South". It is a river in central Georgia. I made some slight alterations, but this is an actual place. I have always loved the backwoods and the backroads of the South. I feel connected to this part of the world. It is here, just before dark, the voices of the day are hushed and the night creatures begin to stir and hum. The mystery of twilight. The witchery of the moon. There are ghosts in these parts.

In the beginning, there was light and dark. . . . . . . . . . and they called it chiaroscuro

2009-08-25T20:49:00.003-04:00

Well here we are, at the beginning of something. I decided to have a blog because somewhere deep in the trenches of my ego I believe that what I have to say about what I am doing may be relevant to some people. We'll see.

I will try not to euthanize anyone with my thoughts and even maybe give a little insight into this world of art. My world of art.

Biography

2009-08-25T17:26:00.001-04:00

MATTHEW W. CORNELL
1515 E. Harwood St.
Orlando, FL 32803
407.898.6956 502.649.0352
matthewcornell@aol.com
www.matthewcornell.com

EDUCATION:
BFA, California State University, Long Beach, CA

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
2009 Los Angeles Art Show, Los Angeles, CA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Works on Paper, New York, NY (Tanner Hill Gallery)
Art Chicago, Chicago, IL (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Art Hamptons, Bridgehampton, NY (Arcadia Fine Arts)
2008 Contemporary American Realism, Fort Wayne Museum of Art
The Best of New England, Quidley and Company, Boston, MA
Art 20, New York, NY (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Affordable Art Fair, New York, NY (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Small Works Exhibition, Arcadia Fine Arts, NY
Toronto International Art Fair, (Arcadia Fine Arts)
USArtists, Philadelphia, PA , (Tanner Hill Gallery)
2007 Los Angeles Art Show, Los Angeles, CA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Art Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM (Lisa Kurts Gallery)
Small Works Exhibition, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY
USArtists, Philadelphia, PA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston, MA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Group Exhibition, Lisa Kurts Gallery, Memphis, TN
25 years, A Director's Favorites, Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL
2006 The Florida Landscape, Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL
Small Works Exhibition, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY
All Paintings Great and Small, Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, CT
USArtists, Philadelphia, PA, (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston, MA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
ArtMIAMI, (Tanner Hill Gallery)
Los Angeles Art Show, (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Art Scottsdale, (Tanner Hill Gallery)
2005 USArtists, Philadelphia, PA, (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Land, Sea, and Sky; paintings by Matthew Cornell, Tanner Hill
Gallery (Angela Usrey Gallery), Chattanooga, TN
Small Works Exhibition, Arcadia Fine Arts, New York, NY
Chicago Contemporary and Classic Art Fair (Angela Usrey Gallery)
Emerging Artists 05', Scottsdale, AZ (Angela Usrey Gallery)
2004 AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY(Angela Usrey Gallery)
2003 About Face, Collection of Jackye and Curtis Finch, Jr
von Leiberg Art Center, Naples, FL
ART Santa Fe
ArtMIAMI
AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY(Angela Usrey Gallery)
2002 Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, AL
B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2001 Dale Jarrett and Matthew Cornell, B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
Paintings by Matthew Cornell, Southside Art Gallery, Oxford, MS

AWARDS:
2009 1st Place Painting, Winter Park Art Festival
2008 1st Place Painting, Winter Park Art Festival
2007 Best of Show, Painting, Old Town Art Fair, Chicago, IL
1st Place Painting, Winter Park Art Festival
2006 Morse Museum Award, Winter Park Art Festival
2005 1st Place Drawing, Winter Park Art Festival
Judges Award, Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Reston VA
1st Place Painting, Sausalito Art Festival
2004 Best of Show, Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, MO
1st Place Painting, Coconut Grove Art Festival
2003 Best of Show, Winter Park Art Festival
1st Place Painting, Winter Park Art Festival
Best 2-D, Naples National Art Festival, Naples, FL
1st Place Fine Art, Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Reston, VA
1st Place Painting, St. Louis Art Fair, Clayton, MO
1st Place Painting, Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
2002 1st Place Drawing, St. Louis Art Fair, Clayton, MO
1st Place Painting, Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
Best of Show, Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO
Best 2-D, Naples National Art Festival, Naples, FL
2001 1st Place Painting, Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
1st Place Drawing, Winter Park Art Festival
1st Place Painting, Bruce Museum Arts Festival, Greenwich, CT
2000 Best of Show, Bruce Museum Arts Festival, Greenwich, CT
Best 2D, Naples National Art Festival, Naples, FL
1999 1st Place Drawing, Portland Art Festival, Portland, OR
1998 1st Place Drawing, St. Louis Art Fair, St. Louis, MO
1st Place Drawing, Winter Park Arts Festival
1997 Best of Show, Telfair Art Fair, Telfair Art Museum, Savannah, GA

PUBLICATIONS:
Courier Journal, 1/10/01, 10/02/98 Orlando Sentinel 3/24/03
New York Times, 11/26/00 New American Paintings, 5/01
LEO, 4/00 Chattanooga Times Free Press, 11/13/2005
Lookout Mountain Mirror 11/05 American Art Collector, 07/07

COLLECTIONS:
City of Winter Park, FL
City of Tampa, FL
Arkansas Art Center
Maitland Art Center
Hollis Taggert (Hollis Taggert Gallery, NY)
Frank Holt (Director, Mennello Museum, Orlando, FL)
Jeff Cooley (Cooley Gallery, Olde Lyme, CT)
Jami Gertz, actress

REPRESENTATION:
Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY
Tanner Hill Gallery, Chattanooga, TN
Quidley and Company, Boston, MA
Evoke Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM