Hominy Valley

"Hominy Valley" (16" x 26")

"Hominy Valley" (16" x 26")

Local North Carolina Scenes

Some of our favorite hiking trails in western North Carolina are just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, southeast of Mt. Pisgah. Waterfalls, streams, amazing vistas and BLUEBERRIES are what make this part of the Blue Ridge landscape so special. The fastest route to the top of the Parkway here is on the back side of Mt. Pisgah. Gradually making your way through rolling hills and Hominy Valley, (a beautiful place filled with wildflowers) you approach the hulking mountain (our local landmark). Many such drives through Hominy Valley have inspired this oil painting. I hope you enjoy it and next time you're in Asheville and feel like exploring, come by the studio and I'll pull out a map and point you in the right direction. 

"The Acolytes" is installed in Georgetown, SC

"The Acolytes"

"The Acolytes"

The Acolytes

Joy and I had a great time yesterday delivering and installing my tropical fish painting in the amazing home of our clients, Keith and Becky Belcher. They live in an idyllic section of the South Carolina coast between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. It was great to feel sand and sea water on our feet again! I let my clients name the piece and Becky came up with the title "The Acolytes". She explained that in the Methodist church, the acolyte is a child that lights the candles in the beginning of the service, and then carries the lit candlelighter out of the service at the end, signifying the carrying of light out into a dark world. She said that that's what the painting reminded her of: these fish have been swimming near the surface in the sunlight and now they're "carrying" the light down into dark places. I love that! Symbols are so powerful and the symbol of light has been sacred to people in every culture since the beginning of time. So, thank you Becky! Great title! 

"Zuma"

Just Because it's Fun to Paint

I live in Asheville, North Carolina and because of that, I'm usually painting the woods, mountains and trails I love up here in the Blue Ridge mountains. But a couple weeks ago, after my exploration into the underwater world of giant kelp and tropical fish, I decided to experiment again with more water; this time a crashing wave. I rarely have more fun than I did with this one! This piece measures 40" x 50" but I am thinking it would be awesome a lot larger than this as a statement piece or awesome entrance art. 

"Zuma" (40" x 50")

"Zuma" (40" x 50")

"The Journey"

"The Journey" (48" x 20")

"The Journey" (48" x 20")

The Journey

Living here in the land of rivers and waterfalls, we've fallen in love with exploring random and sometimes seldom used trails around the mountains of western North Carolina. The silence except for the rustling of leaves and the gentle gurgling of a stream -- the feel of cold clear water on your feet after a long hike -- that's what I love about living here. One such hike inspired this painting. I've entitled in "The Journey" because a river is not just an entity in itself and it's not a singular creation...it is the joining of many waters into one river that may not have a recognizable beginning, but all the energy gathered from all the sources cascades over obstacles, growing wider and more powerful along the way to it's eventual union with the sea. That's life.  

Hyatt Ridge (26" x 16")

Hyatt Ridge

Hyatt Ridge

Last October, my kids were visiting Asheville and one of the days, we ran over to the Bryson City area to go hiking. As we entered Smoky Mountains National Park (on the "Road to Nowhere"), we got to the end of the road (in the middle of...nowhere) and parked the car. After walking through an old abandoned auto tunnel (they ran out of money in the Depression and simply stopped the road project) we started on the trail. The place was silent except for the sound of the wind in the trees and the "crunch" of leaves underfoot. Talk about a source of inspiration. How could I not paint this? This was a perfect day. This painting is my attempt to capture that day last autumn. 

A Blast From the Past

Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Third Movement

Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Third Movement

Painting Music

While visiting my son Gerin, I found a painting I had worked on about twelve years ago and it still gives me pleasure as I remember the process of its creation. The assignment I gave myself was to create a series of four paintings that visually portrayed the essence of one of the most famous pieces of music ever composed: Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. 

The only way I knew how to do this was to close the door, turn the lights out and listen to this incredible piece of music over and over and over again and (in a sense) let it take me where it wanted.  I noticed minute details I'd never really paid attention to before. The third movement (portrayed here) is a very ethereal, dark, moody section. And underneath the haunting music is a sort of rhythmic framework repeated throughout the piece: 1234...1234...1234...1234...As the third movement draws to a close, it gets quieter and quieter until it is almost silent...and then it explodes into the majestic first few notes of the fourth movement. 

Remembering the fun of the creation of this set honestly makes me want to try it again. Any requests???

Beginnings II

Makoto Fujimura

Makoto Fujimura

 "In the Beginning"

“It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to."  Jean-Luc Godard  

In thinking about my development as a painter, it's a bit like looking at a large pot of stew simmering on the stove: I see chunks of potato, and (oh!) there's a carrot...but what's that red lump? Oh yes, I remember..." There are so many elements that have come together and are still coming together (I'm not dead yet!) to inform and shape what I do. That's what is challenging and really fun about creativity, and I hope I never, ever loose it...that childlike sense of curiosity and awe I feel at seeing something new.  And of those sources of inspiration, some of them really stand out and have radically shaped what you do. 

One of those sources for me is Makoto Fujimura. Fujimura’s work is represented by Artrue International and has been exhibited at galleries around the world, including Dillon Gallery in New York, Sato Museum in Tokyo, The Contemporary Museum of Tokyo, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts Museum, Bentley Gallery in Arizona, Gallery Exit and Oxford House at Taikoo Place in Hong Kong, and Vienna’s Belvedere Museum.  (He's a busy guy.)

His work is really mesmerizing to me. And like the Orthodox icons that got me started painting on metal, he paints on gold leaf using hand-ground pigments and centuries-old Japanese techniques. He paints with amazing color -- sometimes subtle, sometimes intense, but what's cool is that he's taken something ancient and made it new and this encouraged me to do the same (but I obviously went in a very different direction). What I love about his pieces is that though they are abstract and are beautiful in their execution, they mean something. He is so adept at combining deep, spiritual meaning into a piece, and it's fascinating to study his art and try to figure out the meaning (before I cheat and look at the title). His art doesn't just "take you somewhere else" but makes you think and feel. I really like that. 

When I began my own technique several years ago, I tried to take on that symbolism in my work, and believe me, it's not at all easy. My first series was a group of seven large art pieces based on the first week of Creation (each painting symbolizing what happened on that day per the account in the Book of Genesis). Encouraged by the results, I tackled Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, carefully listening over and over again to each of the four movements and trying to figure out how to illustrate a four part piece of music with a set of four paintings. Very challenging. All that was a wonderful experiment, but I eventually ended up returning to abstract and landscape art...but now with new "tools in my tool belt" so to speak.  

So the work I do now, though also painted on metallic leaf, is nothing like Mako's work and you'd probably never guess he has influenced me so greatly, but the idea that art can emotionally draw you in and make you deeply think -- that came from Mako Fujimura. So...thank you Mako!

Appalachian Panorama

Those "Special" Places

There are few more beautiful places than at the top of the Appalachians. Several years ago, we visited a place called Max Patch (about an hours drive west of Asheville) and it feels like the top of the world. It's definitely one of those North Carolina landscapes you never forget. On a clear day, I think you could see nearly a hundred miles in every direction. This oil painting (sold even before completed!) was painted to be installed above a door as "entrance art" and was based on memories of the many times we've hiked to the top of that bald and enjoyed a picnic dinner, glass of wine and Pim's (you have to have Pim's for dessert when you eat a picnic dinner at the top of Max Patch).