Saturday, July 28, 2007

Painted Pawn


Painted Pawn
Oil on gessoed board
$130

For purchase info click here

This black pawn is losing it's colour...

Friday, July 27, 2007

Propped Up Banana


Propped Up Banana
Oil on gessoed board
150x150mm
$170

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Thursday, July 26, 2007

Jonquils


Jonquils
Oil on linen on MDF
80x90mm
$120

For purchase info click here

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Burnt Match on Kiwi Dollar


Burnt Match on Kiwi Dollar
Oil on linen on MDF
45x74mm
$100
Sold

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Jonquils in Green Bottle


Jonquils in Green Bottle
Oil on linen on MDF
106x63mm
$100

For purchase info click here

Small Apple


Small Apple
Oil on linen on MDF
65x67mm
$100
sold


I used the same apple as for the quick study, but this is a lot smaller at less than 3 inches square. I also spent a considerable amount more time on it.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Quick Big Apple


Quick Big Apple
Oil on paper
$100
150x150mm
sold

One of the reasons I started this project was an attempt to get away from my obsessive dendency to overwork paintings. It seems to be quite a stumbling block for most artists. There are no hard and fast rules and no right or wrong answers. It's one of those thorny problems that actually gets more prickly the more skillfull you get. I've heard it said that skill is the enemy of art. The more skillfull and sophisticated your craft, the further you can potentially take a painting. The further you take a painting the more risk you have of loosing that initial vision. I'm sure that I will no doubt wrestle with this conundrum for the rest of my life! So with this painting, I just decided to paint it as quickly as I could and without thinking too much. I put on a music cd and told myself that I had to stop painting when the cd was finished. I cheated by about five minutes..! It's not a particularly good painting but it was an interesting excersise non-the-less.

Dirty Green Frog


Dirty Green Frog
Oil on linen mounted on MDF
90x90mm
$200
I found this little frog on the beach sand dunes by a natural lagoon where I take my daily walk. I have read that there is concern that frogs are dying in record numbers around the world. New Zealand has a "clean green" image, but a large part of that green is due to all the tons of phosphate the farmers dump on the land in order to graze more stock per acre. I saw a recent news artcle where it was reported that there has been an outbreak of cows dying from phosphate poisoning here in Taranaki. It was reported as though this was an unfortunate act of Nature rather than the stupidity and greed of Man.
It occurred to me that I had painted my frog in as though in a desert.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Orange Funnel


Orange Funnel
Oil on gessoed board
146x150mm
$200

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I was attracted by the bold colour and strong compositional qualities of this subject matter. A deceptively simple and easy subject, but as usual for me, it seemed to take ages before I was satisfied. Even then, it was a begrudging kind of "satisfaction".

Monday, July 16, 2007

Burnt Match on Biege


Burnt Match on Biege
Oil on linen mounted on MDF
$100

For purchase info click here
sold

One Banana on Wooden Block


One Banana on Wooden Block
Oil on gessoed board
155x185mm
$200

For purchase info click here



Ok, I'm going bananas! I did this several days ago and then forgot to blog it. Better late than never.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Six Inch Rule


Six Inch Rule
Oil on gessoed board
145x200mm
$200

click here for purchase info

It was the simplicity of the subject that attracted me to this one and I tryed to paint it simply. I resisted the temptation to paint the measurements millimetre by millimetre!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

A Couple of Bananas




A Couple of Bananas
Oil on gessoed board
145x195mm
$200



For purchase info click here

Sunday, July 08, 2007


Ballerina Bottleneck
Oil on linen on MDF board
90x90mm
$190
This was one of those images that I've been thinking about for a long time. The pink ballerina is actually I think one of those novelty erasers that my daughter collected when she was a little girl. On a whim I had stuck it in this little bottle and the image resonated with me. As is usually the way with me, I put off actually painting it at that time and it's been sitting on my studio shelf for months now. I probably put off certian paintings because I realise they have a certain power and potential and as soon as I commit them to canvas that potential is dissapated. This painting was no exception. It feels like a missed opportunity. Often the paintings that I'm most happy with are the ones I have no expectations for. And that was one of the reasons I started this painting a day project. It's been a great relief for me to just paint simple uncomplicated subjects that require little thought. Kind of like a much needed holiday!

Friday, July 06, 2007

Thumbnail Sketch


Thumbnail Sketch
Oil on linen on mdf board
$100



Just a bit of fun!

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Mouldy Mandarin


Mouldy Mandarin
Oil on linen on MDF board
$120



I ummed and ahhed over whether to paint this subject. The mandarin had been lying around for a few days in the studio. I'd intended painting it but for one reason or another never got around to it. Eventually, it got this realy interesting growth of mould spores on it, I knew it would be difficult to paint convincingly, and it was! Oh well. You've got to try these things... I can see little point in always sticking to safe and easy things to paint.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Parentheses


Parentheses
Oil on linen mounted on MDF board
60x90mm
$120
sold
My origninal intention was simply to paint a single match burned down to the quick. So I was burning matches to get a good one without burning my fingers too much. Easier said than done! I eventually got one and just happened to place it randomly next to a previous attempt, and in so doing got the idea for this. They looked to me like brackets or parenthesis. I find that this sort of thing happens quite often - I end up painting a totally different idea to the one I set out to paint.
Wikipedia defines parenthesis as: Parentheses (singular parenthesis)—sometimes called round brackets, curved brackets, oval brackets, or just brackets; or, colloquially, parens, or fingernails—are used to contain parenthetical (or optional, additional) material in a sentence that could be removed without destroying the meaning of the main text.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Purple Starfish


Purple Starfish
Oil on linen mounted on board
100x100mm
$200

I found this starfish on my beach walk the other day and was fascinated by the colour. Why is purple a good colour for a starfish to be I wonder?