Well it's been a long time. My life has been filled with activities. I have had the joy of babysitting with our three grandchildren, sharing in the weddings of three young people( two more to go), and of course doing art shows. There is one show left. It is in Cincinnati and I am excited. Our girls (Milkmoon Kids) are the booth directly next to us. This will be their first outdoor show. We are in our thirty-first year of doing shows. I am more excited for them than for us. I am also very proud of all of my kids. They have all grown up surrounded by and being involved in the arts. Maybe we will see some of you there. It is a one day show, Sunday, October 3, 2010. It is on the square in Hyde Park. There are always large numbers of painters in this show. The area is charming.

Above you see one of the pieces that I will be exhibiting in Hyde Park. I am still having fun exploring my own potential as a painter. I will often think that I should venture out to different subject matter, but I love landscapes. The moon, the sun, the circle shape is found in many of my pieces. I find the circle to be a very pleasing shape. I continue to think pattern as I paint.
I post at this time just to let everyone know that I am still out here enjoying retirement, painting and family. Here's hoping that all is well with each of you and your families.

I am busy creating new works for our summer shows. It is Sunday afternoon and time for a break. I thought that this would be an opportune time to add to my blog. This painting was created for my open house. It is more traditional than my recent work and keeps me "attached" to how I started painting. I have attempted to create a sense of deep space and a warm feeling for this obviously cold subject matter. I always feel that the best season of the year is the current one. So here's hoping that you are enjoying your "season" .

It is a week after my annual open house. I would like to thank all of my patrons from throughout the years. These people have supported me by not only purchasing my work but by encouraging me to take chances on what I do with my medium. There is so much out there that interests me. I hope that I have conveyed this through my work. The majority of the new images are now sold and I will begin to prepare for our first outdoor art festival in June. In today's image patterns again rule supreme. I repeat the circular motif of the flowers in the background of the flower. This works to unify the composition. While enjoying the beauty of flowers , I have tried to portray them as decorative shapes- flat and simplified.

I look forward to creating a new collection for all of the summer venues at which we will exhibit our work. Have a great day!

Three days until my annual "open" house. My lovely wife and I have worked hard to hang all of the new art throughout our home. We have organized the inside and the outside of our home. We invite 1600 people to this "little" event. We are helped throughout these two days by 16 family members and friends. Whew.......what happen to that little get together that we had 30 years ago? The invitations were originally all hand made. Now they are in the form of postcards. We are very fortunate. No artist could do this without help.
Here's a little story that happened to us last weekend at a jurying ( a process used to select artists for a show) for a summer show. Mary Anne and I arrived with my art work to show to the juror. Just as we were unpacking it for the juror, Mary Anne's phone rang. She politely excused herself to go answer her phone. After she had left, the juror looked at me and the first painting and said, "Wow, how long did it take her to paint this painting?" I had to respond that I was the artist. Could it have been because the painting was a floral? Well, the final painting before the open house is also a floral.
I hope that you enjoy the painting- and thanks Mary Anne for your continued support and understanding. Wihtout you, none of this would happen.

It's a Friday night and I thought that I would post this mixed media painting of a chicken. Look familiar? This is actually the first attempt at the chicken that I posted earlier. There are times that I start a piece and decide for one reason or another that it is not going in the direction that I desire it to be going. I put this one aside and painted the earlier posted Chicken. I have since revisited my original and reworked it. I never throw away my mistakes. I cut them up , I repaint them, or I visit them at a later time with a fresh outlook. I personally like the appearance of this reworked piece a little better than the earlier piece. I thrive on solving problems. This undoubtedly stems from my forty years of trying to help students find success in their work. There were many days that I found myself encouraging students not to give up on their work. I hope that this "revisited " chicken illustrates the ability to find success in what was thought to be a failure. Here's hoping that when you are confronted with a problem that you think is a lost cause, you will try a new solution.

As I write this I close with a personal, but very public, message to my kids....... Dad is very proud of you and your families. How lucky can a man get!!!!! xoxo

It's a beautiful Wednesday morning. I have walked about my backyard a couple of times, checking to see what new is surfacing. Anticipation and excitement all because a new perennial is making an appearance for the season. I have rescued three frogs from my empty deep pond-well at least I thought that I was rescuing them. Now, it is time to get back to painting- sometimes it is so difficult to get started because I love my yard. Today's piece will also debut at my annual open house. In this one I try to bridge the nature that we see and know with the patterns that I feel . If you are in Ohio get out and "smell the roses" because tonight it is all supposed to change. And me- I'm off to engage my mind in the act of creating something that has never existed- it is cathartic!

Good Morning! In this painting I have tried to capture that feeling of tranquility and the brisk chill that I enjoy when I step outside early in the morning. It makes me feel good to be alive. for those of you seeking more technical advice- I have limited my palette, used linear perspective and aerial perspective. I have always loved painting the backgrounds in my landscapes. Painting landscapes affords me the opportunity to use the sensory experiences that I have as i go through my day. I always pay close attention to that which surrounds me. Here's hoping that you will find joy in your day.

I was up at the crack of dawn working on my blog. Being computer savvy, I had to work on my "scratch disk" in order to prepare my art for this page. If nothing else, I am learning a vocabulary that is very foreign to me. This piece now adorns my kitchen wall. Inspired by a white soup tureen, I became enamored with the use of an outline to punch up the hues in my composition. While a goose may have laid "The" golden egg, I elected to incorporate one into my painting. I felt that it added interest, a little mystery and the opportunity for the viewer to contemplate "my" golden egg. As you will see throughout my presentation of my paintings for 2010, pattern and line play an important role in my work. I hope you had an enjoyable Easter Holiday. Watching my Grandson collect his colored eggs was a golden moment for me!

There are times that I feel the need to "revisit" one of my themes. When my painting is completed , I often think about all of those "what ifs". Above is a painting that is a result of me thinking I would like to try the subject matter again. This floral is a full sheet painting and gave me the opportunity to do some thinking about how to manage my space, my hues, my shapes- etc. I have to be careful about the direction I take my work. While painting in this technique, I constantly must remind myself to be consistent in the treatment of my subject. These paintings take me longer to do because I have no mental reference or past experiences with my subject matter. I hope that this painting encourages you to think a little more abstractly.

Today, I visited the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, located in Lancaster, Ohio. I would encourage everyone to visit the current exhibit(Ends April 8). It is concerned with paper. This particular exhibit has pieces that would undoubtedly intrigue all ages. I regretted that I did not have my grandson with me. The exhibit would appeal to mathematicians, scientists, artists. While there is some attention to oragami there is a much bigger focus on how paper can be manipulated.
If you have not visited this museum the beautiful historic building is also worth the visit.

I continue to encourage everyone to visit downtown Lancaster, Ohio and visit the 5 Museums open to the public.

This landscape is titled "Fields". By now, I hope that you realize the importance of patterns to me. There are many patterns to be found in nature. And my friend Diane is aware of the many different patterns found in math. You probably are aware of patterns in your environment. I, intentionally, do not want my patterns to be so hard edged that they look mechanical. I want them to look more fluid. I want that "human" look to my work. I try to show you things in a new "light". The colors are a response to the earth and that which grows from it and eventually dies and returns back to the earth. I have used curvilinear shapes at the top of the composition as a way to contrast the lines in the bottom two thirds of the composition. The lines vary in direction, hue and size to help add more interest to the surface pattern. The next time you are driving look at all the patterns that you see. If you are going to be a true artist, you are going to become a good observer of all that is around you. Here's to good looking you!

Just as Craig Ferguson asks at the end of his late night show, "What have you learned tonight Craig?" after blogging about my paintings I, too, have learned more about my work. I have discovered that the circle is a very important element in my work. I enjoy painting pine trees because of the gestural quality of the lines used to create them. I like winter more than the other seasons because winter permits me to show more structurally. I enjoy using subjective colors as opposed to local color. If my painting is a narrative it is often influenced by experiences of my youth. I find work that attempts to imitate, precisely, images that I have seen to be a stressful adventure. While I admire the technical skill of the photo realist, my first response is "it looks just like a photograph". Beyond the technical skill,what has the artist brought to his work? Painting a commission makes me very nervous. Seldom are thoughts of the patron removed from my decision making process. I have learned a great deal with a great deal more to learn.

I have been having a good time painting. This particular painting is for all of my friends who expect a more traditional appearance to my work. I have a "love-hate" relationship with my paintings. When I'm having a success, obviously there is nothing like painting. When my painting doesn't work, I dislike the fact that I could not pull off what my vision. Right now- I'm in love. Have a great day!

What inspires me? Maybe it's a new brush, a compass, a color combination. When I start my piece, I want that sense of adventure. I have a need to interact with the painting. What does this hue look like next to that hue? When I add a color in one place, where then might I use it again? How much of one hue do I use? How little of another hue do I use? When I use a shape, shall I repeat it somewhere else in the composition? How does my eye move about the piece? Does it maintain my interest? Does it show me something in a new way? Did I do too much? These are just a few of my concerns as I create my work. I hope that they maintain your interest and create some type of reaction to the individual pieces. Have a great day!

I am about to get back down to the serious business of creating new work. As I get older my priorities have changed. If given the opportunity to spend quality time with our kids and their kids or painting- I choose the kids. So we have traveled back and forth from Cincinnati to Bexley. There is something about having the opportunity to experience being surrounded by small children one more time. There is that innocence, the sharing of seeing the world for the first time through their eyes. There's experiencing all those places and things that as adults we take for granted. They have no great expectations of me- all I have to do is love them. The artist in me would like all of my viewers to be treated to visual pieces that permit them to see the world through my eyes. I hope that my "children" will bring some of you that same sense of discovery, joy and love.

Here is one of my"children".