Here's one I'm working on in my classroom.  A previous advisor said to not do any more ducks while I'm in the program, but, what can I say? I'm stupid sometimes. I think this might be the  52cnd in my long-running series of rubber ducks, all pretty much done from this duck. That guy and I have weathered a lot of long hours together.  As the object of my focus one could argue that he's a stand-in, or surrogate for me, in this mirror’s reflection.   

 

Here's a more wild /n wooly self-portrait in the landscape, done right around the corner from that other landscape a few frames down. Portrait still needs work. I think I'll keep this one loose, letting some areas come into sharper focus.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's one I've started of my wife Helen's panda watering can. The way this stamped metal figure, obviously man-made, offers up that little piece of bamboo could be seen as a metaphor for the painter's goal of depicting nature for the viewer, a process fraught with mediation.  Or something like that.  First and foremost, I think it'll make a nice image. 

 

 

Gettin' there..

                 So I've taken the plunge and started committing some ideas to canvas. The underpainting's basically done- ready for some color!

 

                    

 

Here are the planning stages of the new self-portrait in the landscape I’ve been working on the last month or so. Finally found a suitable spot- the tree in my backyard. I figure this will make it easier to put in the time this painting (which'll be pretty big) will require. In addition, it's a more truthful reflection of my real habitat. In the second study I taped up a string grid, which I plan on including in the final painting. I think it's kind of a funny way to reference the painting process, and also as a bit  of a nod to perceptual painter George Nick (he doesn't include the grid in his paintings, but he does use simple, gridded viewfinders he makes himself when does his larger works from life). I guess you could see it as a good-natured jab at painters like Chuck Close, too, who grid up photos; I'll bet he's shaking in his boots! Well, maybe not...

     Conceptually, the string also represents another barrier between the viewer/painter and direct, unmediated experience. Here are some thumbnails-