I’m not sure if they are paintings or sketches.

The first was a model study I did this afternoon (above) - I arrived halfway into the session and spent about 90 minutes on this painting - there was lively conversation from the few of us painting from this model - who I think was named Avieda (hope I got the spelling right).

I did another still life and again, I had problems resolving this study - maybe it’s the coloring in the studio - the floors are a muted brown - green and I try to capture that - but there’s so much of it that I don’t have anything present in front of me to offset it - it’s almost a sea of brown - green - gray.  

I enjoy being immediate with Oil Pastels - little setup - fast results - both studies are 22″ x 28″.

Peter Wallace showed me the new studio space that we will be moving into starting January 2007 - down the hall - it’s magnificent - and there will lots more activities going on at BAG - and room for it.

By the way, the still life I did tonight is along the same theme as the one I did last month (below) with Junot wine bottle (I think it was Red Wine last month and White Wine this time.  I could do more elaborate still lifes if there was imagery I wanted to work with at the studio - most of the time I just take whats lying around.

I think the first Junot still life - the one with Red Scissors might have been more successful - less cluttered than the one I did today.  On the other hand, an artist paints what’s inside - sometimes it’s sunny and sometimes it’s stormy and cloudy - both are equally valid and important.  We can’t just pick out the parts of our life that we like and forget the rest - or else life loses it’s meaning.

So, I’m not sure what I’m working out today that was different than a month ago - or for that fact, The Red Cup still life I did two weeks ago - where I also had problems with figure - ground relationships. 

And I’m also thinking of the Black Nude Study I did two weeks ago.

I enjoy seeing these works together - the first two were new from today, the rest being done over the last month.  In fact, the “tone” of my first two pictures from today appears “darker” and more somber - yet I don’t recall being any more that way than before.

I think we just paint what is going on inside of us - can’t help it … sometimes it will come out bright, other times, somber.