Hi all,
Welcome back to the blog! Today, I’ve got updates on the cherub painting and the self-portrait series, as well as some news on publications, shows, and festivals.
At the time of my last post, I had recently completed two self-portraits and was working on a third. The first two were a pen and ink and watercolor combo:
Self-portrait — watercolor and pen and ink on paper — 12’’ x 9’’
Self-portrait — watercolor and pen and ink on paper — 8.5’’ x 8’’
The third, which I’ve completed since, is mostly oil (with a bit of acrylic magenta) on canvas:
“Drift” (Self-portrait) - oil and acrylic on canvas - 12’’ x 12’’
As I said in my last post, I usually do self-portraits when I’ve gone through a major change or am at a transition in life. I spend so much time focused on writing — working on my own, editing others’, teaching it, reading it — that it’s a relief to be able to engage in self-reflection without the demands that writing imposes, especially when the dust hasn’t settled or I’m having trouble making sense of exactly where I’m at.
This piece, then, is appropriately titled “Drift.” I couldn’t tell you exactly what it means (if I could, that would sort of defeat the point), but I can tell you that there’s something about the play of super-saturated and muted colors, the screen-like effect of the brushwork and paint-handling, and the fluid-but-structured mark-making that captures the push and pull, the visibility and obscurity, the forming and dissolving that I feel in my self these days. Of what, exactly, I suppose time will tell.
In other painting news, I’m continuing to make progress on the cherub. When I last posted, I had finished the animal studies for the cherub’s heads. The cherub painting is based on the description of the cherubim (or what rabbinic scholars decided are cherubim) in Ezekiel I. Ezekiel describes the cherubim as having four faces: one, facing right, of a lion:
Lion head study - oil on canvas - 14’’ x 10’’
another, facing left, of an ox:
Ox head study - oil on canvas - 10’’ x 14’’
another of an eagle (direction unspecified):
Eagle head study - oil on canvas - 14’’ x 10’’
and, finally, the face of a human. At first, I didn’t think I would need to do a human head study (I’m a bit more familiar with the human head than I am with animal ones), but, after thinking about it a bit, I decided to do a few anyways.
I didn’t want to make a completely generic, mannequin-like face, so I began to wonder if anyone has any idea what ancient Israelites (Ezekiel’s kinsmen) might’ve looked like. It turns out, someone does. Or rather, some people do. A group of researchers, Kobylianski et al., published a study in which they reconstructed the face of two ancient Jews — one male, one female — based on the morphology of their skulls. I did charcoal studies of them both.
The male was from the Hellenistic period (third century BCE):
Head and skull studies, male - charcoal on paper - 9’’ x 12’’
and the female was from the Roman period (37 BCE-324 CE):
Head and skull studies, female - charcoal on paper - 9’’ x 12’’
With those, and a study of the full cherub complete:
Cherub, Ezekiel’s vision - charcoal and dry pastel on paper - 12’’ x 12’’
I finally felt ready to start the actual cherub painting. Ezekiel says the cherubim look “like burning coals of fire or like torches,” so I’m starting with an extremely warm underpainting:
Cherub, Ezekiel’s vision (WIP) - oil on canvas - 42’’ x 26’’
More updates on that to come. In other news, I’ve had/will have a few shows and publications. Last month, I showed at the Pancakes and Booze show here in Denver once again.
And, a few weeks ago, “Drift” was published in Artstonish magazine.
I was also accepted into the Wrightwood Arts and Wine Festival. I’ll be heading that way next month, so I should have more updates on that the next time I post. In the meantime, here’s a couple of 100% candid, organic photos I took for my application.
The artiste at work…
A preview of what my booth will look like
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading, and keep creating!