The past couple of years have enveloped me in a strange web: loss of a loved one; COVID isolation; loss of place, having relocated twice; and change in self identity as I am about to enter my 7th decade. I show the image below as one of a series of abstract portraits of Mike, who, […]
In the study below, I used a collection of icons that represent my brother Mike* and me. I’ve also been looking at some of the line drawings of Paul Klee, and marveling at, not only their simplicity, but their flawless placement on the paper. I think this piece stands on its own but I don’t […]
I’m always thinking about how to portray abstract figures that tell stories. I continually think of Paul Klee’s work and try to imagine placing rounded heads with geometric features; angular, querying block heads among tweeting birds; or stick figures in some kind of Rube Goldberg invention, in a variegated, muted, textured background. Of course I […]
Today I tried to combine story telling with iconography, as the Bauhaus Master, Paul Klee did. However, as I understand the art of Klee, he had very few preconceptions of the final outcome of his painting. He would take his pencil point ‘for a walk’ and let his creativity guide him. His astute design sense […]
I love opening a new block of watercolor paper. When I opened one today I had a nice surprise. Usually, there is printing all over the black paper that protects the first sheet of paper in the block. Today’s sheet was completely black – no writing at all. It was perfect for my composition. A word […]
I’m beginning to relax a bit with my painting. Instead of trying to paint like Joan Miró, I am concentrating on my own iconography (see Narrative or Portrayal of Feelings?, Little Thought Experiment, Simplify, Beginning of an Iconography?). My younger brother is a wonderful musician. He is working on a Rachmaninoff piece, and told me […]
For the past several posts I have been revisiting my enjoyment of Joan Miró. I do this with an ulterior motive: to explore his means of creation and apply them to my own ideas. Lately I am particularly intrigued by The Beautiful Bird Revealing the Unknown to a Pair of Lovers, one of his ‘Constellation’ series. I […]
Reexamining old photos I’ve been looking through my old photos with the idea of finding expressive and meaningful hand gestures. The photo below is a frame from one of the home movies that my father must have taken. We were on vacation in the late 1950s or early 1960s. I’m pretty sure of the date […]
In a previous post, I noted some words of wisdom by Paul Klee. He said, “In my opinion, you have to know what you want to draw, and then you have to be able to depict it – with only one or two lines.” (from The Bauhaus Group by Nicholas F. Weber). I have been […]
