wild artwork

creation

2009-12-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

I've finally finished my latest painting, done for a friend.

I was first inspired by the swirling patterns in thinly sliced rock.
I loved the movement and chaotic organization of it
(which ties to my fascination with finding patterns in life).
I began connecting other creation images in my head--
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel creation of Adam,
Embryonic images,
mitochondria,
and images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope,
like the one below of The Large Magellanic Cloud.

mitochondria

embryo, sliced rock, Large Magellanic Cloud, Creation of Adam

in the beginning...

And I saw that it was good, and rested...(finally!)

for technorati

2009-11-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

8VGRD6Y3USX5

Mapping

2009-09-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

Starting to paint a bit.
I'm hooked on
maps and mapping,
life's journey,
layers,
and searching for a pattern.

This painting is made up of four 8"x10" canvases.
click to enlarge.

line

2009-08-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

texture

2009-08-08T16:31:00.001-07:00

2009-08-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

The Earth Laughs in Flowers
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

a cachinnation
of flower photo's
from this year

The Electric Light Parade

2009-01-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

Nothing is more festive than wrapping yourself and your bicycle with lights and peddling/parading down main street!

Winter Sunset

2009-01-06T21:07:00.003-08:00

I took this series of photo's after cutting down our Christmas tree in the La Sal mountains.

Halloween Leaf

2008-10-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I found this miraculous Halloween leaf
on our weekend trip to the cabin.
I've spent quite a bit of time
trying to figure out how some
little artistic insect
ate such a delightfully
symmetrical jack-o-lantern design in it.

burn

2008-10-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

There was a fire in the mountains this summer.
This is part of the burned aftermath,
on a rainy day.

more leaves

2008-10-06T16:04:00.001-07:00

ripple

2008-09-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

reflect

2008-09-25T22:34:00.001-07:00

I love nature.
It inspires me.
But, it's also intimidating--
with all it's big, overwhelming beauty.
I've never been successful at landscape photography.
However, in an early autumn evening,
high in he mountains,
I couldn't help but try.

HANDSTONE revisited

2008-05-30T09:33:00.001-07:00

Living in a place surrounded by sandstone, I can't help but be drawn to it. I've done a few "Handstone" pieces in the past, and don't know if they were very successful. However, when we're out hiking, I always see the similarities and differences between the rock and flesh. Visually, I think the comparisons between color, line, and pattern is interesting contrasted with the harshness of the two textures. And when shown together, in an abstracted way, it tends to soften both or make them both more fluid. I also love the symbolics of rock and flesh, or nature and human kind-- the dominance and dependence, order and chaos, the connection yet disconnect we have with the earth. I don't know if these pieces really capture the symbolic part, or even if they're aesthetically successful still, but are worth a little more exploration.

on my doorstep

2008-09-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

I read the quote by Paul Strand, (at the top of my sidebar), and it made me feel better about the randomness of my photo's lately. Starting a new job (art teacher at the middle school), and raising four boys make it hard to seriously focus on my own art. I do need to get back to my hand series, it's always in the back of my mind, unfinished. But for now, I find myself fitting in art where ever I go--on a hike miles away,

or a few feet away,

on my doorstep.

squash bugs

2008-08-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

insect army

(in a cup)

A backyard war has been waged
over precious natural resources in my garden.

The sheer numbers of the enemy are staggering.

We're losing the battle.

worlds without number

2008-08-30T12:58:00.001-07:00

cosmic marbles

Seeing a bigger picture by looking more closely.

ripple

2008-07-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

This was taken after a downpour in the desert.

I tried capturing the pattern of light reflected off the water

that was streaming over the slick rock.

Although the pattern is mostly lost,

I thought the squiggled lines of light were interesting

(click on the image to enlarge).

delicately fearsome

2008-07-29T22:16:00.000-07:00

You can find many fearsome looking things

in dark dank cracks,

that appear to be larger than life.

In reality, this spider was at most half an inch long,

and such a delicate little creature.

click to enlarge...if you dare

a leaf

2008-07-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

leaves.
I adore them.
look for more to come.

music to my eyes

2008-07-17T17:08:00.001-07:00

This is an old clarinet that I took a few photo's of this weekend.

plants

2008-06-28T11:30:00.001-07:00

I have always been amazed by plants and seeds, for their innate beauty and their symbolic qualities. Having lived mainly in small desert towns in the western U.S., I especially love desert plants and their abilities to adapt to harsh environments. They capture the spirit of hope, resiliency and the rugged beauty of the west.

photo's on the farm

2008-06-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here a photo--there a photo--everywhere photo's, photo's!

I've decided to try and go through my photo's from the last year. Every hike we go on, when we visit grandparents and family, wherever we go, I'm taking pictures of things that catch my eye. But, to be honest, my eye gets caught quite easily. In these millions of photographs, I think very few cross over that line of snapshot, into art. However, I will post some of my favorites,
and you can be the judge.

The photo's below were taken at my parents home, which is a little house out in the country, built by my grandfather. It's surrounded by lots of interesting old farm implements and treasures. The picture of me above, is with an old frame of my dad's. He used to be a sculptor for a frame company and carved reproductions of period pieces, and designed original frames. I love the ornate, gaudy, bagpipe grandeur of this one. And I like to imagine what kind of painting it was commissioned for.

an old window screen

a rusty saw

sunflower seeds

John's hands

2007-09-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

John 7:24

Judge not according to the appearance,

but judge righteous judgment.

John

hand print topography:ryder

2008-03-27T18:36:00.001-07:00

This is the second piece in this series.

I started with,

a scan of Ryder's hands.

Below is the finished piece, 25"x 25".
I started out thinking that because of his youth,
his "map" would be more open and simplistic.
But as I worked and thought about it,
I decided that age had nothing to do with it.
If anything, his piece is more complex than mine
(the first piece in the series),
showing potential--undiscovered places
waiting to be explored.

below is a closer view of the piece above.