Commissions and Collages

Working on an Egg Tempera Collage

Like most artists, I prefer to develop my own creative vision. There are times however when an art project comes along and it is either the right fit or an artist is compelled to take the project as a challenge. So it was with a recent piece of art I was asked to create for a departing pastor of an area church. The congregation wanted to give him something to remember the church by. The pastor had been with the church for 23 years ministering to its people and was the catalyst for many things that improved the lives of its members. The church had developed many family oriented additions at the pastor's direction. So, the first thought was to create a painting of the church. Then it was brought up that it would be a special memory for the pastor to be able to see the inside church elements that he helped build. And, tying all this together would be a portrait of the minister to show his relationship to the church.

I tackled the job with the expectation to produce an egg tempera piece that would be able to be handed down for generations to the pastor's family. And, with egg tempera, the piece would not need to be matted or glass added. This would make it easier for packing and moving with no breakage.

I started with a sketch to present to members of the church that would reflect the composition I intended to paint. In the composition I placed the church structure at the bottom as an anchor for the entire piece. The trees and grass would provide what we normally consider to be a solid ground in the painting. Then I placed the pastor in the center with the Sanctuary on the right of the painting and the Fellowship Hall which was an important addition during the pastor's tenure on the painting's right side. The vaulted ceiling on each would be pointing heaven-ward. And the stained glass windows on both sides would help frame the pastor.

After approval with some minor modifications, I began to produce the actual painting. After applying the sketch to the panel, I painted in the lines and shadows with dark egg tempera paint and then began applying an under painting of burnt sienna and yellow ocher for a warm tone base.









Then I began work on the portrait as that part of the painting was the most critical and the most challenging as I did not know the pastor personally. This took many hours of work until I felt fairly comfortable with the likeness. After that I started to add the grass and work on the complete church part of the painting.





After I completed the church to my satisfaction I began work on the inside area at the top of the painting.

When I completed the top sections I went back over the entire painting cleaning up details and finalizing the painting. The entire process- a little over 40 hours of work.




The most extensive painting collage I did was of selected structures in the city of Monroe Georgia in 2005. There were over 30 buildings, I added birds and wildlife, flowers and hqand painted type elements. That was challenging and took a couple months to produce including taking refernce photographs, etc.

Georgia's Winter Colors

The Georgia Winter Landscape is Suffused With Color

One of the things that I noticed when I moved to Georgia in 1982 was that in winter the landscape is more
colorful than any place I had been. As the photos that I've included here, from tall yellow/red grasses, multi-colored trees, the reddish earth all contribute to a beautiful winter landscape. And, when the sky is clear, the striking blue contrasted with these yellows, reds, greens make for a most uplifting view.


I decided to paint a couple of scenes with the winter colors here in Georgia as the theme and, of course, an old abandoned farmhouse as the centerpiece. I looked to my favorite painting place, the Nolan Corners section near Bostwick, Georgia, as my focal point. After taking many reference photos, I began a sketch directly on my painting panel in water soluble pencil. Then, as my usual practice dictates, I worked on a painted sketch using egg tempera black made with ultramarine blue and burnt umber pigments.









After completing the composition in black on the pre-painted panel I begin adding broad areas of color. This is a broad color lay-in that lays a foundation for the final colors and detail that will come later.



The next couple of stages help refine the color scheme where I paint in the various sections of the piece with reds, yellows, blues, greens and maake some decisions about shadows and highlights in the work.




And then I begin to add the many details that will draw the viewer into the image and hold their interest. From the boards that are exposed on the building to the bricktex covering that is rapidly deteriorating to the rocks in the chimney and rusted tin on the roof.

Lastly I glaze color over the image to finalize the warm winter color scheme that I had chosen for this piece.

The original painting can be seen at the Arts on the Avenue Gallery in Macon Georgia where some of my newest paintings are being shown.

ART ON THE AVENUE Fine Art Gallery and Studio
2368 Ingleside Avenue
Macon, Georgia 31204
478.743.3720

http://maconartontheavenue.com/

My other egg tempera paintings of Georgia landscapes and farm buildings can be seen at the Point of Art Gallery in Union Point and the Art Gallery LaPlace in Washington, Georgia and at the James Madison Inn in Madison.

Painting Cows

Herefords in Georgia

Those of you who know my work usually see my paintings of old farm buildings in egg tempera.
Well, along with rural farms there are the crops and animals that you may find on those farms. I have painted cows off-and-on since I was a kid and once in a while I get the urge to do a painting of these stalwart animals. I've just completed an oil painting commission of Herefords for some folks and I'm also working on a couple egg tempera cow paintings for a future show.

Here is a sequence of steps that I take to paint in oils:

First I prepare a pencil sketch on paper to determine composition :

Then, when I'm pleased with the design, I begin working up the basics of the layout in paint on the canvas (or panel):

Then I work up the painting in many stages and glazed layers:





















And then the final details and color adjustments:

My work on egg tempera paintings is similar. Working on panels with egg tempera pigments gives me the opportunity to be as detailed as I want or fairly loose with my painting technique. One of the main differences is the need to keep the egg tempera layers thin and that keeps the paint fairly transparent. It can make the piece glow with color.

Here are a couple of initial cow layouts for an egg tempera painting that will be completed in a couple of weeks.










And a black egg tempera wash created using burnt umber and ultramarine blue pigments:

Check back in early January to see some completed egg tempera cow paintings. Thank you for reviewing my blog entry and Happy Holidays!

The Everchanging Rural Georgia Scene

My Favorite Painting Spot

It wasn't long after moving to Georgia in 1982 before I found the one spot that inspired me to paint the Vanishing Rural Georgia scene. Just north of Madison, near the town of Bostwick Georgia stood an old abandoned plantation complete with a plantation mansion, overseer's house, barns and sharecroppers shacks. The main house was slowly being repainted after decades of neglect and most of the out buildings were disintegrating.
I drew a pencil of the overseers house which was never photographed and long since sold.
Then I painted the "Window on Georgia" piece showing the beginning of the repainting process while showing the sharecropper sheds in the front and reflecting an old house in the back. I followed this painting by "Out Behind the House" of an old tool shed that was in back of the main mansion.

The tool shed collapsed a couple of years after my painting was completed in 1984 leaving only the roof on the ground for a couple of years before that too disappeared. One by one the out buildings disintegrated while the main mansion, now repainted, started falling apart too. A large branch fell through the roof around 1990 and rain poured in for many months before the roof was repaired. Windows have been broken and although the building has been used in the movie "The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All" and in several commercials as well as in the short lived television series "Vanished", no one has restored the building to livable status and soon I believe, it will also collapse.

I've painted and drew the sharecroppers' shacks on a few occasions and one painting, "Gone But Not Forgotten" won a best in show award in 2007.

All-in-all, the Nolan Corners area has been good for my artistic temperament and helped me create some of my most memorable works. I hope that the vanishing rural scene in Georgia doesn't vanish too quickly. I believe that I still have a few paintings left to do of this fascinating theme. And I'm still looking for that one scene that will make the ultimate statement on the rural farmhouse of the past.

My Favorite Painting Spot

The Ever Changing Georgia Landscape

When I moved my family to Georgia in 1982 it didn't take long to find the one spot that would inspire me to paint the Vanishing Rural Georgia scene. It was Nolan Corners near Bostwick Georgia where an old plantation house and sharecropper shacks were still in existence. Since I began drawing and painting the various buildings surrounding the area, one-by-one they have been disappearing. The first to fall down and get hauled off was the tool shed that I named "Out Behind the House". That vanished around 1986 when the shed collapsed leaving only the roof for a year or so, then that too was gone.
The main plantation house was being renovated and I captured the partial repainting in "Window on Georgia" in 1984. Since then the entire house has been painted bit not renovated. A tree limb went through the roof in the early 90's and rain entered the building for many months. Some of the glass windows have been broken and, although the building still stands, it won't be too long before it's eventual collapse.
The sharecropper's shack that I painted in "Gone But Not Forgotten" collapsed months after I painted the window and I was compelled to do the complete building from an old photos I had taken.
I have also completed a couple pen and ink drawings of the Nolan buildings and a pencil that I did of the overseers' home for the Nolan family never was photographed. There are still a couple buildings left and the lay of the land still makes an interesting landscape scene. I know that, when the old plantation mansion goes, it will surely be the end of an era.

Fine Art vs Graphic Design

Fine Art vs Graphic Design

"Or...why I decided to leave the graphic design industry"

When I was very, very young I loved to draw. I would draw pictures of battles between soldiers and spacemen, pictures of airplanes and ships at sea, drawings of people that I knew, coal miners that played cards with my dad, copies of pictures from National Geographic, animals on the farm and in the field, and sometimes landscapes. This all began when I was around 6 or 7. My grandparents had a hotel with some regular boarders. Some would make fun of my constantly drawing, others encouraged me. My own family didn't hold too much with art. They felt it was a waste of time. But, all-in-all, I just loved to draw. And eventually I took to painting too. The one thing that I loved best with this creative process is that I got to express myself. My feelings about the character in faces, the beauty and grace of animals, the wonder of the texture and colors in landscape. When I was a teenager I knew some fellow students that were better than me, Richard Krukowski, Patrick Murphy, and probably others. But I still got to create what moved me, no matter how good or bad the work may have been.

When I was in the military I often used my skills to create art for my friends, for my duty station, for the people that I met in foreign lands. I even used my artistic skills to woo my to-be wife Jewel when I was in Vietnam in the late 60's. As I did more, I improved my skills to the point that I felt I could make a career from my art and live happily ever after. At the encouragement of my wife I left the military after over 11 years to go to art school and change the course of my life. Well, while I was still in art school I was offered a job as art director for a Northeast Pennsylvania ad agency. With a family of 4 to look after I took the job right after graduation. It didn't take long to realize that graphic art was considerably different than fine art. First off you had to please a client, not yourself. To do that you often had to compromise your personal aesthetic tastes and quite often you were required by the customer to cram a bunch of stuff into a small space. It became more a matter of fitting things in than quality design. But, by that time I became dependant on the income from graphic design and had to often give up my personal design sense.

Move forward over 30 years. I've worked as an art director 3 times, an ad manager 1 time, and a small business owner 3 times, all in the graphics industry. Once in a while I was able to actually affect the outcome of the design beyond a customers input. Some customers even actually encouraged me to go-ahead and design something my way. That got me several design awards over the years. But it still didn't satisfy the desire to express my own creativity as much as drawing and painting from my heart.

Last year I made the leap, from graphic designer to fine art artist. I've had several shows since last October, some successful financially, some not so. BUT, all of the shows got accolades from the guests, even my fellow artists. Much more rewarding than the Graphics Industry.

I still get requests from people who know that I am adept at graphic design, especially on the computer. I find that the time I spend on the computer designing graphic pieces is far too time consuming for the meager rewards that are gleaned. When I draw and paint from my heart, no matter what I might make financially, the real reward is the pleasure I get from doing the art piece. Working on graphic designs take time away from my paintings and working in my favorite medium, egg tempera takes a great deal of time to produce the delicate details and glowing colors that only come through multiple layers of glazing. Therefore I only take on graphic design jobs that help friends in the industry or that are needed for charity.

Just one more note on this subject. For most of my adult life, wherever I worked, on Christmas I would give a piece of my personal art to a fellow employee, even in the military I did this. I loved to see the smiles on the faces of my fellow workers, and friends. About 18 years ago, a fellow worker had a baby a few months before the holiday season. I secretly did a pastel drawing of her little baby boy and when we were exchanging gifts at Christmas, I gave it to her. She cried, and cried. For hours she would take the piece around the workplace and show everyone, and cry from joy. Well, sometimes I get thousands of dollars for a painting. Not matter what I may get financially, nothing could be more rewarding than the reaction of a fellow human being when they are happy with the gift of my personal creativity.

More than a match for working on graphic design projects.

Union Point Show Opening

Art Show Opening
or
Does the Current Economy Affects the Arts

Well, last night was the opening for the Point of Art “Rural Georgia & the Vanishing South” show. It started at 6 pm and lasted until after 8. Many of the artists' friends and art lovers from the region showed up to give their support to this interesting show. Besides myself, many other artists came to the show including Nan McGarity, Judy Phlagar, Sally Ross, Chris Mitts, Robert Battle, Ronald Moore, David Siffert's wife Maria, Jan Whyllson, Will Eskridge, Leonard Jones and of course Anne Jenkins, gallery owner. And...the chef that created the book "Home Cookin' Illustrated", Doug Janousek. Doug has created a great regional book centered around great home cooking recipes and the art works and bios of regional artists, many of which were showing art pieces at the exhibit. You can see Doug's website and get a copy of his book at: www.home-cookin.net.

The show will be up until November 8. Be sure to visit the gallery - they're open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 am til 5 pm, or by appointment any other day. Just call (706) 486-6808.

As you can see by the attached photos, there was a very eclectic viewpoint of what rural Georgia means to each artist. It makes for a fascinating show with works that range from pottery to paintings, realistic and detailed views of rural living to very impressionistic works that lend excitement a vibrant colors to the rural scene. Nan McGarity's plein air works showed a freshness and immediacy to the landscape, Daavid Siffert's dynamic pieces have a feeling of a rural fantacy world, while Wayne Collins' pottery pieces reflected what rural living is like with his wonderful gourds. Anne Jenkins' pieces are a reflection of the natural feelings you get while traveling through the rural area. Robery Battle's paintings lend a special feeling of brilliant colors to the Georgia farm country. All-in-all you will find a wonderful blend of character and beauty in all of the works on display. It is well worth the trip out to Union Point.

And, as a last note, why put hard earned dollars into the saagging stock market when you can own a fine pieces of art from creative people whose personal creations will only appreciate in value as time goes on.