...coastal rocks.

Quick sketching near the Pigeon Point lighthouse fifty miles south of San Francisco.

...pillow painting.

The first of a fresh series of paintings, based on my recent charcoal studies of pillows, sits on my draped easel. There's a larger unfinished painting underneath impatiently waiting its turn.

...a brioche by the sea.

This acrylic painting is titled A Brioche and 3 Lemons in the Caribbean.
During several visits to the island of Roatan, Honduras I made a series of sketches to record my experiences there. Back then there was a French bakery in the funky diving village of West End. It was out of place. It was a mirage. It was extraordinary. And it was a gift each morning to wake up early knowing there were freshly baked pineapple croissants waiting for me. If you slept-in, there was a good chance you would miss out. On rare occasions beautiful brioche was available. This painting is based upon a sketch of the one I once enjoyed for breakfast. My hope was to convey the charm of its unique shape amidst the setting of the tropical sea. I wish this painting could share the incomparable aroma of the bakery mixed with the scent of salty sea air.
If you are interested in this artwork it will be available at the St. James Preschool Auction Annual Spring Gala on April 27, 2013. For more information go to www.stjamespreschoolsf.org/community/spring-gala-2013-rsvp/.

...wall of pillows.

This image by photographer Catherine MacPhail shows the east wall of my art studio as it is today. Charcoal drawings abound!

...poetry reading and art.

...drawing show at studio.

My walls display a bounty of charcoal drawings. All pillows. All over. See what the hype is about and then walk over to my studio! I'm referring of course to the Bouquets to Art showing at the nearby de Young Museum.
After so much color it's nice to indulge in some black and white, or vice versa!

...coastal living.

The ocean is a necessary element in my life. I have to be near it. I've always lived close to the water. Being in it is even better. Using it as part of my artwork is unquestionable. More ocean.

...drawing as drawing.

Since the first of this year I've been focusing on my drawing more than usual. As two months of this practice continue into the third I'm re-discovering a facet of my creative self and what's been missing. The facet is process without concern for finish. What's been missing is the intense purity of repetitive drawing. Part meditation part ceremony and full expression, drawing for me has always been a guide inward. It's an opportunity to have access to the rich hidden source within which requires such a ritual. Although I sketch daily it's a different type of drawing. It's not the drawing. Charcoal drawing is the drawing. Nothing has the feel of charcoal. It's messy. Black dust and black hands. Black sticks scratching and scrawling. It's a primal act. It's not just old school it's the oldest school. It's before schools. It's earth used as a tool to speak symbolically. I prefer drawing on a sheet of printmaker paper and I've tried everything except a cave wall. A cave would make sense but caves are hard to find. Yet I would draw on anything just to explore possibilities.
I've been drawing my pillow and
the drawing continues....

...hands as tools.

Some things can only be done by hand. Hands make, bake, rake. They grow pyramids at Giza and big heads on Easter Island. Murals from Bonampak to the Sistine Chapel are by done by hand. Every masterpiece and classic rock song was made and played by hand. Being hand-made reflects authenticity.
Strawberries are picked by hand.
No gizmo or computer or robot or mechanized system will ever replace the most sophisticated tool available: the hand of the worker. This is the worlds most valuable yet undervalued and exploited resource.
I think about the hand and the dreams of those who work with them daily.
Here's one 24"x48" painting in progress from my laborers series.

...stop the war on art!

The War on Art?
It was never declared officially but the war on art is really a war on things made by hand. Things that take time and experience and craftsmanship and artfulness to make. Things with patina. Things with tool marks. Things with brushstrokes!
Things that are not born on an assembly line in China. Things that are not obsolete in a month or two years. Things that are not destined for a landfill or floating debris vortexes in the Pacific Ocean.
Perhaps it's a war on spirit more than art. Because true art lifts the spirit and is born from the spirit of an artist. Artists love the process. It's a vehicle for channeling emotions, ideas and values. The result is the shared gift known as dance, poetry, song, painting...
Oddly enough, the war on art is sometimes an inside job. Because art is not really elitist and unaffordable and available only to those with bucks.
Small bucks can make magic!
Make some magic happen at your local art studio. You'll be glad you did and so will the artist.

...five recent sketches.

A quintet from recent sketches that I make daily. Today it rained.

...shrubbery.

Anonymous shrubs in conversations unheard....

...pescado.

Finding something different on my walk was the goal and the fish market on Clement Street is rich with possibilities. My choice was a small inshore fish called a pampano which graciously posed for a couple of acrylic studies.

...straw men.

This is the first lay-in of one of four paintings in my studio depicting scenes of agricultural labor. This one is based upon a berry harvest forty miles south on the coast near Pescadero.

...pinwheel geometry.

The Lone Jimador.

Early last Tuesday morning I installed the Lone Jimador painting at Copita Restaurant in Sausalito. The artwork is now finished and will seldom be alone at this popular tequileria. Im grateful to have had the opportunity to honor the blue agave harvest with my creative interpretation. I look forward to the possibility of exploring other harvests worldwide. But first I'm completing a series of large coastal harvests that will be completed by year end. Back to work!

jimador project

The current project on my wall is inspired by the sense of having integrity for solitary work well done.
We are who we are when no one else is around. Our actions are the signature on the painting that is our day or life. The byline is as real as a writer's. It's as true in the field as it is in the studio.
These charcoal and color studies are the final result of many compositions considered.
Distillation has led to one image and one worker in a field of blue agave trimming the piña with his razor-sharp tool the coa.
I hope to convey the importance of doing one thing well, the ripple effect of that act and especially in solitude.
The painting in progress is 5'x 6' and will be installed in Copita Restaurant in Sausalito in late October.

...doing lines.

Walking into the stream of consciousness accompanied by pen and sketchbook.

'of all things visible and invisible'

These three photos show my most recent painting commission during its last moments in my care: freshly varnished, patiently waiting and then coming fully into bloom on the eager waiting wall.

...painting big grapes.

...a man can dream can't he?

I stopped to take photos of this massive driftwood while on a beach run with a good friend when an elder beachcomber joined us for the moment and asked,
"What are you doing?"
I replied in jest,
"We're thinking of taking this home and making a coffee table."
He said with a smile,
"A man can dream can't he?"
His response was exactly what we needed to hear that morning and continues to resonate today.