Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Bumblebee with Melting Ice 14x11" Oil on canvas, Hall Groat II, On exhibit at Lockhart Gallery, SUNY Geneseo through March 8

Historically, bumblebees throughout cultures were viewed as symbols of mortality, love, wisdom, social organization, diligence and tireless work. Bees work collectively to accomplish large tasks, whereas a single be can do very little. The work together to transfer pollen from one plant’s flower to another, and are often leased by farmers to pollinate fields and orchards—without them crop yields would dwindle. Bees are now facing extinction due to both manmade and natural factors. The earth, too, is facing its demise. As it gradually becomes lighter over the next couple billion years it will move closer to the sun and slowly disintegrate. At the moment, we are witnessing C02 contributing to the melting of the polar ice caps. If homosapiens are unable to figure out how to work together like bees, they will become extinct long before Terra Mater actually does.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Terra Mater | Hall Groat II | 12"x36" | each panel 12"x12" | Oil on canvas on exhibit a Lockhart Gallery, SUNY Geneseo

Terra Mater, or “mother earth”, was the goddess of fertility and growth in Roman mythology. The leaf, bird nest and shell, historically have symbolized such universal ideals as shelter, protection, growth, rebirth, and spiritual awareness. Within today’s context, the leaf, bird nest and shell together serve as a shrine to Mother Nature. The earth is under siege, however is omniscient and will evolve over the next four billion years. Energy can neither be created, nor destroyed. What we know as electrons, protons, and neutrons (or quarks), as well as other particles such as photons and neutrinos, will build something anew.

Flora and Fauna: Narrative through Iconography Lockhart Gallery, SUNY Geneseo

Flora and Fauna: Narrative through Iconography Lockhart Gallery, SUNY Geneseo

2012
Flora and Fauna: Narrative through Iconography
Lockhart Gallery
SUNY Geneseo
Curated by Cynthia Hawkins
Director of Galleries
LLB Galleries

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Gumballs 5x7" Oil on canvas

PRIVATE COLLECTION IN NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Bosc Pears on Classic Novel 16"x20" Oil on canvas

PRIVATE COLLECTION IN WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

Friday, January 06, 2012

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Palette Knife with oil Paint Tube Top 5"x7" Oil on canvas HALL GROAT II





A palette knife with Cadmium red paint makes an interesting metaphorical self-portrait.

This particular piece is a quintessential example of atmospheric still life painting. The abstracted quality of the layered paint marks, scumbles and scrapes within the negative space, communicate both "timelessness and agelessness". The evidence of the painterly process, coupled with lost and found edges, and warm against cool atmospheric tonal passages, evoke a sensation of transition, mirroring the profound nature of "mother nature". As I explain to my own students, it is impossible for humans to completely focus their attention equally on the edges that enclose forms, and make time stand still like a camera is able to do. The space that surrounds us is in constant flux. One can only focus on the specifics of a part of a form, while their peripheral vision perceives the rest as a blur. Try this and you will see for the first time.