Ideas

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

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

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

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. . . . . .

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

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

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.