Abstract 2021-2022

“My Thoughts of Kilauea”

Oil/panel

20” x 18”

2022

 

Some paintings just happen.   

 

Most people are familiar with the concept and sight of a painter set up in the field with his easel and paints looking furtively back and forth from the scene in front of him and his evolving painting.  Depending on his artistic intentions the painting will look more or less like the scene in front of him.  

And to be sure, I have done plenty of this.  

 

But that is not always how paintings get made.  Sometimes they get made in the isolation of my studio which has no windows or door directly to the outside.  It is more like a cave, or like a living metaphor of my unconscious add of memories and constructs.  And there is nothing to look at except my own evolving works.  

 

A few years ago I made plans to visit my friend Dwight on the big Island of Hawaii.  Several days after I arrived Mt Kilauea erupted.   Unlike Hollywood depictions of erupting volcanoes, Mt Kilauea is a shield volcano.  And while it is widely considered the most active volcano in the world, it is not as dramatic as one might assume.  To be sure, this eruption turned out to be bigger, more long lasting and more destructive than most. It was a months long slow churn rather than a fiery one day catastrophic blast.   And it destroyed the homes and lives of many individuals and whole communities as well as some favorite local magical little oasis like my own favorite…purple hot spring. 

 

Nevertheless, being so close to so much volcanic activity including endless small earthquakes, the constant threat of poisonous vog ( volcanic fog) and the strangely varied and sometimes downright dumb efforts of humans to control the volcano and each other made a lasting impression.   To be sure, during that time, I made many “volcanic eruption” paintings.   

 

However, what is more interesting to me is how years later, when Mt Kilauea has gone dormant and my thoughts have turned to other things, paintings like this one emerge.   The combination of lumpy thick black against the splashy fiery reds and oranges are unmistakably informed by my proximity to Kilauea and how deeply these impressions are lodged in my memory.   From that place they continue to inspire and fuel my creativity in general, refreshing my tendency towards order with a nearly reckless blast of energy and the use of colors I would otherwise neglect.  

 

Kilauea may be dormant now.   But it is always warm.  And it never lets you forget that she is boiling underneath that hard jagged black exterior.  And she continues to keep my own creative blood boiling even though I am thousands of miles and several years away from my recent close encounter with her spirit.    

“Carbon Rings”

Oil/panel

30” x 36”

2022

 

Carbon is a loaded term.  One’s carbon footprint has become arguably one of the most important concerns we are thinking about these days as climate change becomes more apparent every year.  We think about this as individuals, as companies and as governments at every level.  It would be nearly impossible to be an artist of these times without touching on this subject at least a little. 

 

This piece was also inspired by poems my friend Scott wrote in the mid 90’s portending the importance that carbon would play in the science of climate change and also on culture.   

 

And from there I was reminded of the meditation practice of making “Enzo’s” in Japan.  These are almost always black one stroke “paintings”in the shape of an open and occasionally complete circle.  These pieces are studied carefully and highly revered by Japanese connoisseurs.  And despite being aesthetically beautiful, they revere them more for their inner beauty and what they reflect about the artist’s soul.   

 

I’m not sure how all of this connects but I’m certain it does somehow.   And the result is a compelling piece. 

Puget Sound is the large inlet that along with the snow peaked mountains just beyond the city limits, defines the Seattle area.   In fact, it is known as the Puget Sound area which includes Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and many other sub metropolitan areas. Collectively it’s home to about 4 million people and growing fast.  

 

Puget Sound is also home to a pod of Orca whales, some of the world’s largest octopi and thousands of edible sea life.   As such, It was the home to a rich variety of indigenous peoples, until the White man arrived.

 

Puget Sound remains a great healing reservoir for so many of the sins of man.  And now it’s deep, nearly freezing waters provide a kind of region wide air conditioning ensuring that no matter how hot the days get, the nights are always cool enough for a sweater and a blanket.  

 

This little painting is just one of many paintings I have done to pay homage to this great healing body of water just minutes from my studio.  

 

“Migrations”

Oil/panel

48” x 32”

2022

 

I have been thinking about migrations lately.  How is it that large groups of animals and birds and even insects migrate every year.  How do they know where to go?  What sensory organs do they have that we don’t?   How do parents communicate complex knowledge to their offspring?   And even more fundamentally, how do they have the stamina to do it?

 

The whole things seems so mysterious and amazing to me.  And reassuring.  As the world heats up and the delicate network of things required for various species to navigate and sustain themselves through these heroic endeavors, it gives me hope to see this happening each year.   Like seeing the spring flowers poking through the ground each spring I often wonder what would happen if these processes just stopped. 

 

Thanks to all the research being done around climate change we now know that these things don’t need to stop suddenly and dramatically Hollywood style to be catastrophic.  No, all it takes, for example, is for the average overall temperature to go up a few degrees and the whole system overheats and much would be destroyed.  

 

Migrations, like retreating alpine glaciers are the canary in the coal mine: that delicate phenomenon so dependent on the balance of nature.   And indeed, migrations are an important part of maintaining that balance.  Once out of balance, the whole system can become untenable and very destructive to many of these amazing migrating creatures.  

 

Like many migrations, the Blue whale in this painting is subtle and nearly unseen.  But it’s there.  An important part of the composition but despite its impressive size, not dominating the painting.  Just quietly blending in and making the piece just a little more mysterious….a little more beautiful.

“Migration”

Oil/panel

24” x 24”

2022

“Cascades”

Oil/panel

24” x24”

2022

Among the many contributions Native American culture has made to my life is an awareness of and respect for the people who lived on the land I occupy now.  And a lived and experienced awareness that their spirits to some degree still inhabit the place.   And as such, it makes sense to honor and nurture those spirits while at the same time defining boundaries the way one would with anyone else.  

 

I have also experienced this in Asian countries.  Almost every business and home has a small shrine devoted to both Buddha and the local spirits of that location.   These shrines almost always have fresh flowers, I sense or colorful candies positioned as offerings.  It’s also interesting to me, by the way, that they do not like you photographing them.  They also almost without exception keep them clean.  

 

The rational part of me thinks this is cute at best and a silly childish bit of nonsense at worst.   And certainly there is no way to scientifically measure whether this is true or not.  

 

But I have a hypothesis.  My hunch is that people who hold such “childish” notions take better care of their land, are less likely to deplete its natural resources for profit, enjoy what they have no matter how small and leave it in better shape than when they arrived.   And conversely, people who do not hold such silly notions do the opposite.  Take from the land everything they can without regard to the past or the future.  Are increasingly unhappy in the process and leave the place a mess and depleted.   I am pretty certain that a very simple and inexpensive research project conducted with the highest levels of scientific protocols would prove my theory correct over and over again.

This my most recent work that is based on a meditation on global warming.   For some reason whenever I see ice melting it triggers a feeling of sadness and even a tinge of worry.   I remind myself that even during the ice age there were seasons and parts of the earth where ice melted every day and more so during the parts of the earth and times when the earth was tilted towards the sun.  Melting ice is not in itself a sign of impending catastrophe.   

 

Moreover, I feel compelled as an artist to make things of beauty out of whatever is on my heart and mind.  I don’t presume that paintings will save the planet.   But I do think that if people derive aesthetic pleasure and maybe even a touch of rejuvenation of the soul through looking at art, they may in turn be more inclined to act in accordance through large and small decisions that will positively affect the planet.   

“Early Fire”

Oil/panel

48” x 24”

2022

Every generation of artists seems to worry that their’s is the last.   They worry that either art itself or the artist is as good as dead.  That the cultural climate for making art is so hostile in one way or another that art and the artist can not go on.  And to a degree, they are right.   “Things” do seem to be ever more challenging.  

 

When the camera was invented there was really no more need for the town painter to do lifelike portraits of Grandma and Grandpa before they died.  One could then go to the local photographer and have their picture taken at much less the cost and with more reliably lifelike results.  How great for the average guy.  How awful for the average artist.  

 

But how freeing for the inventive artist.  Now he/she doesn’t need to churn out portraits of other people’s grandmas.  He is free to paint whatever he wants.  The trick, of course, is to get people to buy what he wants.   And that dance has gotten ever more complex and bizarre.  

 

I recently read a good book that discusses the latest twists and turns of that dance.  It’s called The Death of the Artist” by William Deresiewisc.          I learned a lot, including how glad I am that I am old and not needing to meet the challenges that young artists face.  I neither have the energy or the motivation to do so.  And I am blessed that I don’t need to sell a damn thing.  I have found another way for people to experience my art that is in alignment of what my art is about and for.  My spa.  

 

So this piece is more of a comment on the culture than a self portrait.  I’m not disappearing.   I may not be front and center, but I can assure you, I’m in the back room busting my ass everyday to make the most moving and authentic art that I can.   

 

I leave it to other, younger and more up to date artists to figure out how to create authentic work while the meta verse and NFT’s of a random image of a monkey’s ass seem to capture the world’s attention and money.   It does indeed seem daunting if not impossible.  But I have faith in the spirit of art and the ability of young artists to channel that spirit into something relevant and authentic and deeply moving.  Haven’t seen anything yet….but I remain hopeful.   Eyes peeled.  

“Melting Ice Fields”

Oil/ canvas

18” x 12”

2022

Long before I had heard about Girard Richter I began making art with rollers.  Over several years this novel approach to making art grew into one of the more conceptually interesting and visually arresting bodies of my art.  In fact, so much so that I devoted a whole section of this website to that body of work under the mundane title of “roller paintings.”  

 

Somewhere along the way I discovered the German artist Gerard Richter.  I stumbled on a show of his large abstract paintings in New York City in or about the year 2000.   The show included his realistic paintings and his large abstracts.  I was moved by both bodies of his work and naturally smiled knowingly at how these 2 seemingly different bodies of work nurtured each other.  

 

I was also intrigued by how much the abstract works’ visual affects relied on his innovative use of a novel tool…large squeegees.  He was pushing and dragging paint in a multitude of ways rather than “painting” it with a brush.  The effects were edgier and more gritty.  In fact they were more realistic than the realistic paintings if you had any background in construction.  The affects of the squeegee and paint didn’t depict the various textural affect of Sheetrock mud, concrete and stucco.   They were the same affects.   The way a product will elide over another in various ways depending on its viscosity and degree of dryness will create these textures, smears and blendings.  In short, there is as much room for nuance and expression as painting with a brush.   And yet it’s different.  

Richter had opened up a new way to paint, not a new way to think about painting.   He did that with his realistic art.  But his abstract art was about the expressive joy and discovery of this new technique.   

 

Well…my roller paintings are still small.  But one day they will get bigger.  I will get bigger rollers.  And rig up elaborate rails and pulleys to suspend and lower them onto the paper or canvas as needed.   And unlike Richter’s squeegee pieces, my roller paintings are conceptual.  I don’t think it makes them better than his, but there is more to think about.  

 

I was deeply moved by his over life sized black paintings.  This little 12” panel is my own

reminder of those pieces I saw at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan 20 years ago.  It’s like one of those postcards you pick up in the museum shop of one of your favorite pieces on the way out.  One doesn’t expect it to provide the same mystical experience one had in front of the real piece.   No….it’s more about remembering how to see and experience the actual art when you close your eyes at night.  A glance at the postcard on the fridge while reaching for the Ben and Jerry’s might just help remind you to forget many other things so that you can fill yourself with more than ice cream when the day is done.  

“Climate Change”

Oil/panel

48” x 32”

2022