McKinney TX

This fall I will be having a solo show of works on canvas at the Laura Moore Fine Art Studio in McKinney TX. The opening reception is October 13.  So you can imagine my delight when I saw that CNN listed McKinney Texas as the 2nd most livable place in the country (Carmel Indiana was number one.).

I've been working on the show for the past 8 months and will be taking about 20 paintings with me when I drive to McKinney in Patience's 15 passenger Whippet wagon.  Most of them have been posted on this blog as they were completed.  Not surprisingly, the Texas gallery wanted large canvases including 3 of my larger works on 48x60" canvases:

Somewhere Else...acrylic...48x60

Beyond the Hills...acrylic...60x48

Farmscape...acrylic...48x60

GOODBYE MY FRIEND

It is not without a little sadness that I inform you of the removal of my gallbladder.  This small, inconspicuous organ that has served me so well for 73 years has literally been pulled out of my abdomen, where it has been quietly tucked away beneath my liver.  Some gallbladders can become cantankerous, getting inflamed or infected, or accumulating stones that interfere with the proper functioning of other organs, in which case it is imperative that they be removed.

In my case, there were stones, but they were not causing any discernable symptoms   The GB was removed more as a precautionary measure, a small source of guilt on my part.  But the major source of my guilt comes from the fact that Billy’s GB has served him so well for all these years.  Let me explain.

The GB serves as a reservoir for the bile salts produced by the liver.  These salts are critical for the digestion of the fats that we eat, This unheralded organ recognizes the fats that reach the stomach and small intestine and releases some of its contents to do the job they are intended to do.  Because of the tireless performance of my GB I have been able to enjoy two of my favorite foodstuffs…Olive Oil and Sausage.  So you can understand some of sadness at the turn of these events, losing an organ that has served me so well for so long.

An Artist's Statement

Today's post is taken from my studio newsletter that I sent out this week. 
 
THINKING ABOUT MY WORK - one more attempt at writing an artist's statement.

Why do I create art?  What does it mean?  How do I describe my art?  Writing about my work has always been difficult for me, in part because of the wide range of my subjects and media.  I've written several "Artist's Statements" over the years and have never been completely satisfied with them.  It is time to try again.

Why do I create art?  The best answer I can offer is that I paint and draw because I have to. It is in my DNA; it is who I am, and I have no reason to seek any other answers.

What does it mean?  How would I describe my art?  The one consistent theme in all of my work is to create beauty, both elegant and mundane.  My goal is to present a work that is visually pleasing, inviting the viewer to participate.



On the way to Nashville...Pastel...framed...15x40...$800

 Telling a story…when I am drawing and painting the local landscapes - barns, farms, storefronts, and street scenes - I feel I’m providing a visual story of places, inspiring memories and feelings and evoking imagination in the viewer.

 

Red Balloons...mixed media drawing on clay mono type...14x14...$300

Reflecting the world around us, as it is…I try to show the beauty and elegance in the familiar environment.  When I paint a small corner store, an elegant façade on Main St., or peek into a back street alley, I want people to see and appreciate all of the visual delights that I see in both the built and the natural environment.  I try to show the beauty in the world we see every day.



grey smokestacks...pastel...20x30 plus frame...$900

Imagining my own world...by manipulating color, values, and composition I set out to create moods and drama in many of my landscapes.  Whether it is something I’ve seen or imagined, I feel free to create my own colors and forms, while maintaining a strong sense of reality.



Autumn Trees...acrylic...12x48...$1200

The pleasure of the work…finally, it is simply fun to paint and draw.  I love the ergonomics of the work; there is an almost sensual pleasure of laying down a watercolor wash, an immense degree of satisfaction seeing an image evolve from a previously blank space, and pure delight in the markings of a sketch or line drawing, regardless of the subject.



Union Square...watercolor...22x43 framed...$1800

That's my statement and I'm sticking to it...................at least for now.

Best wishes to everyone, and here's hoping the cooler weather prevails for a little longer.

Bill


William Renzulli
http://renzulliart.com/home.html
http://williamfrenzullimd.blogspot.com/
wfrenzulli@mac.com

REMAINING ON EDGE

I decided to stay "on the edge" for two more paintings, working vertically on 24x12" canvases.  The darkness of both of the paintings created some difficulty in photographing them.

The first piece, titled At the Edge II, for a lack of a better name, is rather dark, and consists of a mixture of blacks and reds.

At the Edge III is a little lighter and warmer, and was done with Burnt Umber, Red, and Raw Sienna.

There will probably be as least one more in this series.  Right now I am looking at a 36x36" canvas that is beckoning me.

NEW WORK

I thought I would stay with the cold palette for another painting, this time using a square (24x24) format.

I wasn't completely happy with the foreground, and decided to eliminate the reflection and pond.

Switching to a darker palette, inspired by a painting I did six years ago called Broken, I returned to the edge.

I wanted to keep the horizon clean, but felt it needed something simple to give an idea of scale, so I tried several utility poles.   I wasn't pleased so I turned to trees.  (Sorry, couldn't resist the silly rhyme.)

At the Edgy...acrylic...12x24

REVISED...ITALIAN MEMORIES

Four years ago, on our first trip to Italy, we spent a week in Tuscany.  My daughter arranged an apartment rental in a winery/small village on the Chianti highway.  Located between Sienna and Florence, the winery has been in the same family for over four centuries.  In addition to the winery and the family's estate, their is one street with several private homes giving Fonterutoli a village status.  Like so many other wineries in Italy, older buildings...and I mean OLDER...have been converted into apartments for tourists.

Returning home, I set out to this beautiful place using photos from our visit.

I made a good start with the sky and the background trees and mountains, but when it was time to render the architecture, which I consider my strong point, I hit the proverbial brick wall.  I don't know how many times I worked and re-worked the buildings, never getting them "right".  I moved on to the rest of the painting, convincing myself it was OK, not great, but OK.  I was not surprised when it evoked only polite, luke warm reactions from viewers.  I eventually place the painting in some hidden corner in the studio where it languished for several years...until last week.

I don't know why, but I woke up one morning with the very clear idea that I could salvage that painting.  The first step involved re-painting the village and re-working the middle ground trees and foliage. This time, for reasons I don't understand, the task was easy and I was pleased with the results

.The second step was to improve on the immediate foreground, breaking up the rather boring horizontal strip that it was.

I think it is a much better painting.  Could it be better? Certainly.  But that will have to wait for another painting.

ESCAPING THE HEAT...any way I can

Last week I posted the final version of a painting I called "Reflections", an imaginative landscape from somewhere far in plains.  I had fun working through the stages of the painting and was pleased with the results.  So much so that I decided to use the composition one more time, replacing the warm palette for a much colder one.

Here is the first version...acrylic...36x48"

And here is the second...

acrylic...36x48"