Monday, May 28, 2007

Powder Blue


OK, so it isn't really powder blue. It does display a little of the reflected light from paint that I was trying. Unfortunately my sources were limited for a model.

Grainery

Working again with the idea of artist as recorder. Documenting buildings on the farmstead where the studio is.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Ups and Downs

Practicing again with light and the way it changes through different materials.
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Government Grainery


I'm working on some ideas for a small series this summer at my studio in ND. I know the composition is simple and amateurish but it bears the idea of artist as recorder; Recording an item in its simplest terms for documentation rather than purely aesthetic purposes.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Cigarette Boxes


Found objects. Working with the light and shadow as well as geometric form.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Bottle on Tablecloth



I know, always use the most typical item for a still life. If, however, the one you happen to have, like this mishapen bottle, what choice is left?

Friday, May 04, 2007

3 1/2 items


A quick sketch playing around with some old ideas. It is fun to watch drawings develop and to happen upon them out of context. That is the case for this one of a few small items in the studio.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

The Fog of War



I've spent a lot of time working on paintings from a number of different sources and all related to the war in Iraq. This is a quick sketch from some imagery I found on the web. The original photograph was of three soldiers posed by a destroyed Iraqi tank as a sort of trophy or defeated enemy or something of the kind. The image struck me in a number of ways that I find difficult to put into words; on the one hand here are the victors and our heroes, young Americans bravely serving their tour of duty in a hostile environment. On the other hand one must consider the fact that they are posed in front of what must be the tomb of other soldiers who were, in many ways, doing the same thing only, maybe they weren't as prepared or lucky.

"The Fog of War" is a loose title I've given to the series of works which focus on this subject. Many of those pieces include text found in the newspapers related to the bribery of Randy Cunningham, a decorated Vietnam veteran who sold his favors in congress to a defense contracting firm. In many ways I find it difficult to define the total tragedy of war, or for that matter, even the boundaries of that war. Was the Cunningham incident collateral damage from the war in Vietnam or in Iraq? I think effective arguments can be made for both answers to that question. If this is true, how can we possibly expect to find any real cost to such an action? And if cost is difficult to assess then how can we determine the value of the undertaking regardless of the outcome? One can find more than a little irony in that one thing seems clear: The "fog of war" obscures more than the battle lines.
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