Origins of My Desire to Begin Painting
Paths cross in such mysterious and fruitful ways in our lives. This is one such incident that has affected my creative life in deep and lasting ways. About 9 years ago, our granddaughter, Kris was staying with us for a few weeks. I learned during her first week with us that a former student of mine from a Catholic university in San Antonio was offering various levels of painting classes for a range of age groups. We asked Kris if she would like to take a painting class and she enthusiastically said YES. So, we enrolled her to begin the following week.
When Linda Calvert Jacobson, the artist and art teacher met Kris and me at the door, she settled Kris into a spot around a large rectangular table where other students would soon gather. Then she asked me, as I was leaving, if I had any desire to be part of a beginner’s painting class to start in a month from that day. Like Kris, I responded with a resounding YES without giving it any thought. So, it began, some 9 years ago, painting in acrylic and watercolor. I have attended classes on a regular basis, once per week, ever since. Linda is not only a fine artist but also an excellent teacher. So, what began as a one-week class for our sweet granddaughter turned into a life changing experience for me.
Inspired by the paintings of Charley Harper in gouache
dream birds
Bird Feeding Her Chicks
Owl Catches a Mouse
Hummingbird Feeding Her Chicks
Ohio Cardinal
Rock wall behind Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico
Acrylic
meandering
The Process and Kandinsky painting completed May, 2023
Sandy and I rearranged my Kandinsky and neurographic art paintings in water color and gouache to be on the same wall. I hope you enjoy the final order. Each painting had its own challenges and joys in its creation.
Inspired by a painting by Wassily Kandinsky entitled "Several Circles," (1926).
My painting uses both watercolor and gouache media. It is 9x9. I find his abstract works mysterious and attractive.
NOSTALGIA
I painted this barn from a photograph I took when a friend and I made our annual pilgrimage trout fishing in Missouri. It is in acrylic and is 9 x 12. It may be the most complicated painting I’ve done and succeeded only because of my wonderful art instructor Linda Calvert Jacobson.
These six new paintings, done using gouache paint, are in neurographic format. In them, one draws a feeling, a thought, a problem or a solution free hand without thought. Then one paints it according to the mood one wants to elicit. Your reading of what it conveys is entirely up to you.
Making Music
wholeness
healing
robin
Marian’s Memory
full sail
These are my first two paintings in a style called Nuro Graphia. It was designed by a Russian painter who believed that the neural system in us can be expressed through automatic drawing and painting of some issue the painter is dealing with internally.
begin at the end
The top painting is an expression of a conflict that I am dealing with in my self.
HOMAGE TO UKRAINE
The bottom painting is of the Ukrainian flag expressing my sympathy and love for their courage.
