It's time to be thinking about spring. In this painting, I have used a floral theme with an emphasis on the use of flat decorative shapes and black outlines. After painting the flowers,I was hesitant to use the flattened pattern and black outlines. It would have been very easy to treat my subject in a much more traditional manner, but my curiosity always factors into my decisions....... the old "what if" philosophy. So here's to taking a few risks.

When I first started this piece, I thought it was going nowhere fast. I got to the point where I had nothing to lose. I think that I might have turned it around and created an interesting painting. It has the feeling of fire blazing in the background. I enjoyed doing the negative painting in the background. Got to take a couple hour break.....my sanity is important to me....then it's back to painting. Enjoy your free time.

When working toward my open house, I have the mind set of delivering both my traditional work and new directions. It's the new directions that after 32 years get me "fired up"" about the creative process. As I told a group The Central Ohio Watercolor Society in a talk this past Saturday, I do not want to fill my house with the same painting style for my annual open house.
This piece was inspired by a trip to Italy. The figure is part of a Corinthian column. My daughter feels that this piece has the appearance of an illustration for a child's book. I hope that it touches the child in all of you. Have a great week. Now......it's back to creating.

It's that time of the year. We are now in the process of getting ready for our annual open house. I will try to post a few of the pieces that will be available for 2011. Life always gets a little more hectic during this time of the year. Stay tuned..................

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!