WORKING IN SLOW MOTION,

at least that is what it feels like these past several weeks. I'm still in the studio every day but seem to spend more time staring at the canvas and the paper than working on them. I'm still working on the large watercolors, there are 2 more in progress, and I've just completed the following acrylic, working ever so slowly. I have not ruled out adding a "misplaced" element in this piece...need to spend some time looking at it.



untitled acrylic 24x30"

TWO DOWN AND ?? TO GO

Market Square east watercolor 15x60"


Market Square detail

A companion painting to this piece is underway...same size and format. I imagine them to become part of a larger series of Paducah streetscapes depicting the streets as they are, as they were, and in some cases, as they could be.


The White Tower acrylic 48x48"


White Tower detail

As previously stated, this will be the first of several paintings depicting landscapes that just are not. A second piece is currently in progress.

MISPLACED

My last post of this work in progress was April 26. I've been moving slowly, and today can share the near complete painting. There are still a few more details to add.


Broad Street White Tower 48x48 acrylic
(I first painted the White Tower in watercolor in the mid 80s.)


Detail

This is the first in a planned series of paintings titled MISPLACED. Each piece will feature at least one element in the landscape that clearly does not belong.

MY MAN CAVE?

One of our dear neighbors has a "man cave" in the back yard, a combination car port, work shop, and grilling patio. It is his retreat, where he can drink his beer, entertain friends and family, or tinker with his cars and bike. A fifty something Studebaker sits out there under wraps awaiting his promised attention. It is difficult for me to imagine Ed without thinking of his special space.

One of the many blessings in my life has been the good fortune to always (well, almost always) have that special place for myself regardless of where I was living. On the farm in Maryland, before our trek to Paducah, it was a very spacious studio in the rear of one of barns, an unpretentious 35x100 foot cinder block pig barn. The space was large enough for me to pursue a life long interest in model trains with a 15x15' layout, something I had to sadly abandon with the move to KY. Before that my studio was a very tiny space I rented in a friends home that had its own entrance from the street in a lovely urban neighborhood in Wilmington Delaware.

It is only recently that I began to think of my studio as my "man cave". Experiencing the inevitable ebb and flow of creative ambition, I find myself spending more time not making art than I do making it, reading, napping (Oh how I wish I had room for the old sofa that was in the Maryland studio!), writing, on my laptop, or just plain day dreaming and listening to music. I probably spend at least 75% of my waking hours in the studio; I'm in there 7 days a week. My friends consider me a very prolific artist, but I don't agree. I create a lot of work because I'm always in the studio, even though much of the time is spent doing whatever.

I wish I had room for my trains.