Wrathful Gods

Wrathful Gods

9X12, Oil on Panel

From The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  This was from a photo taken about 6 years ago I think.

#16 of 50

Out Of The Cradle

Out Of The Cradle

6X12, Oil on Panel

Here is yet another repaint.  The original of this was done back in February of 2006 and wasted a fine piece of linen.  This is of the Mars Opportunity rover looking back upon it's landing site.

#13 of 50

Killing Time with Ghosts

"Killing Time with Ghosts"

9X12, Oil on Panel

From the ghost town of Rush, AR.

#12 of 50

Insanity-Genius

"Insanity-Genius"

25.5X19.5, Oil on Paper

This one was started and largely finished a long time ago but I had some resolved areas.  I finally decided to just let fix it and let it fly.

#11 of 50

Beyond

"Beyond"

4X6, Oil on Aluminum Panel

My first outing painting on aluminum!  The photo reference for this was provided by a fellow artist from Finland.  This specific stretch of road, which looks to have been very treacherous on this foggy day is a bit north of Helsinki.

#9 of 50

The Back Forty

"The Back Forty"

18X24, Oil on Panel

This one is another repaint of an older painting.  The original version of this was completed in 2009 and was shown at a gallery in North Little Rock called Ketz during it's brief life.  The original version is still in my possession and will now either be destroyed or put into deep freeze.  The image was a complete fabrication from my imagination, cobbling together a variety of motifs from the Ozark Mountains.

#8 of 50

The Things Between Darkness and Light

The Things Between Darkness and Light

30X40, Oil on Canvas

Here is the large version of the study I posted a while back.  This piece again made me question ever working on canvas again.  I just do not like the brush feel of the surface.

#7 of 50

A Virginia Snowfall

A Virginia Snowfall

12X16, Oil on Panel

From outside the small town of New Market just off of I-81 in Virginia.

#6 of 50

Mistaken Creek

"Mistaken Creek"

6X8, Oil on Panel

This was a little plein air I started near Waco, Texas around New Year's Day.  It was the only "warm" day around that time frame.  This little creek turned out to be the result of a burst water pipe that had been spewing water for who knows how long!  And thus how this piece earned the name, "Mistaken Creek."  The white limestone that formed the creek bed turned out to be tricky. 

#5 of 50

Spires of the North

"Spires of the North"

12X16, Oil on Panel

This is Fredriksborg Slot (or Frederiksborg Castle) in Hillerød, Denmark.  This was one of the highlights of the trip to Denmark.  Not just this castle but the drive up there and town of Hillerød and the general area.  Such a beautiful place.

#4 of 50

Yggdrasil, The Tree of Life

Yggdrasil

9X12, Oil on Panel

The tree of life.  From Cleburne County, north of Quitman, Arkansas.

#3 of 50

Skanderborg, Denmark

Skanderborg, Denmark

6X8, Oil on Panel

Here is another one from Denmark!  This one was also started in plein air in the town of Skanderborg and finished in the studio.  The mosquitoes here were ravenous little devils, way more aggressive than any mosquitoes we have here in Arkansas.

#2 of 50

A Study of Mountains and Sunset

A Study of Mountains and Sunset

6X8, Oil on Panel

Available

Here is my first of 2018!  This is a little sunset study of the vista above Marshall, Arkansas.  I took the photo for this over Thanksgiving.  A 30X40 version of this scene is in works right now.

#1 of 50

More Not-Goals for 2018

So as I discussed in my 2017 year-in-review post, I thought last year was pretty successful.  It marked a solid turn-around from the slump that occurred in my life after the death of my wife in the summer of 2014.  She was my cheer leader and did a whole lot for me, both in terms of spreading my art with shameless promotion and also with encouragement.  She knew and understood what I was working towards, style-wise.  She followed the work of artists I admired to understand what made me like them.  Even though, she herself never pursued art in any way, she learned a lot about it in order to better understand what drove me and help me to better myself.  That is a rare thing to have.

So while I have not fully recovered, I have had some help in dealing and learning how to keep moving forward.  And I hope to continue this trend into 2018.

One huge goal I managed to accomplish in 2017 was getting my work into a third gallery.  It is a beautiful space in a quaint downtown in a small town in southern Arkansas.  The owner seems to be a wonderful person and I look forward to working with him to provide work of interest to this area.  However, I remain realistic about the prospects here.  Art is not a priority in the town in which this gallery is located.  Because of this, I will set my primary "not-goal" of 2018 to pursue a fourth gallery.  I will put some focus into a gallery in a larger city outside of Arkansas.  However, I will also be willing to find another gallery in-state if it is in a decent sized town or a town with a good art community, Hot Springs would be ideal.

1.   Get into a 4th gallery!  As discussed above, I will be looking for some very specific criteria here.  Either in a city modest sized or larger city out of state or an Arkansas city that should experience some relatively high traffic volume.  There are not many cities in Arkansas which fit this criteria so I should be able eliminate possibilities rather quickly.

2.  Start making my own frames! My online frame supplier of choice has discontinued more and more of my favorite styles of frames.  I really cannot afford to have a local company make my frames.  I bought a very nice used miter saw about 10 years ago and have yet to put it to use.  All I need is a corner pinner and I'm ready to start trying this.  I will target having this going before April.

3.  Make 60 blog posts...yes, I'm going to try for this again. It's totally achievable, especially if I blog more about works in progress or process related things.  No problem, lol.

4.  Complete 50 paintings...yes, I'm going to try to do this again too!

5.  Hang in 3 national shows.  I bested my goal of 2 last year so let's go for an improvement.  I would like for 2 of these to be outside of Arkansas.

6.  Line up a solo show for either end of 2018 or 2019.  Most likely this will be in 2019 because most galleries and arts centers will have already booked 2018.

I think you can see a theme beginning to develop here.  I am aiming for 2018 to be a year to establish footholds as a more regional artist with goals tied to out of state venues.