Mattress Factory Visit

I took a trip to Pittsburgh this weekend with my little ones, and in addition to visiting the children's museum and the aviary, I brought the kids through the Mattress Factory.  The main show was Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art.  My brother, who's is an historian and knows a bit more about Cuban history and culture, was a  great source of information at the museum -- much of the commentary would have been lost on me without his help.  There was one artist whose work I found particulary powerful, René   Peña (nudity).  His striking large injets are quiet yet screaming.  I loved Black Marat in particular.  Although, I didn't understand the piece at the time, I was struck by Acending City by Roberto Diago.  Now that I read about its statement, I'm even more impressed.

An update on Girl at Storefront

So I've made some compositional changes to this painting... I've simplified and am enjoying working with color fields -- more adjustments to come, but I'm happier with the simplicity.  This one will be a stand alone piece and not part of the series I mentioned earlier.

work in progress

Workshop with Tom

I took a fantastic still life workshop with artist Tom Kegler this weekend.  We watched a demo in the morning, had lunch at the Roycroft (I loved talking with other artists again... they also have convinced me that I need to visit California at some point in my life), and then in the afternoon, we went to work on our own still life.  The painting below is my result -- it's not quite resolved, but I don't think it will change drastically.  It's a bit more classical than I usually work, although I was still careful to remain true to my colorist self.  There are some colors (browns mainly) on this palatte that I don't normally use, although I seem to be starting to use Burnt Umber in more of my work.  Learning more traditional, realist painting is quite a different experience from my initial background... trying to incorporate both without loosing my sense of identity :-)

Work in Progress

A month or so ago, I went to a workshop on children's portraits.  After that workshop and revisiting some Edward Hopper pieces , I've started work on a new series... (that currently makes 3 series in progress!!!)  I've posted the first of the series here as a work in progress... I'm really enjoying painting this piece as it contains architectural elements and a figure!