Andres Leonard Zorn (1860-1920) is known for using a limited palette. It is believed that Zorn reduced his palette to as few as three rather earthy colors – Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Medium, Ivory Black plus White. There seems to be some disagreement over the exact number of colors on his palette. Some lists add Vermillion, Viridian, and/or Cerulean Blue.
Creating beautiful oil paintings without poisoning myself and the world is important to me. I have been oil painting for nearly four decades and have never been happier than when I paint with M. Graham & Co. walnut oil based paints. Over the years I have tried nearly every high-priced professional art oils on the market and I keep coming back to M. Graham.
The late poet philosopher John O’Donohue’s concept of beauty goes far deeper than popular culture’s superficial view. He wrote, “At the deepest level, creativity is holiness. To create is to further the dream and desire of the creator. When the world was created it was not a one-off, finished event. Creation is a huge beginning, not a finished end. Made in the image and likeness of the Divine Imagination, human creativity helps to add to creation. The unfinished is an invitation to our imagination. This is what happens in experience: the unfinished reaches towards us in order to come to form and expression…Everything we feel, think and do, even the smallest thing, expresses and unfolds the dream of God.”
Richard Schmid is one of the few courageous and incredibly talented artists, late 20th Century artists who swam against the tide of pop, post-modern, conceptual and other movements to kept representational art alive. Schmid is not only a great painter he is one of the most generous and gifted teachers of the fine art of painting.
The Adventurers is my salute to my first art hero, Winslow Homer. His paintings of endless summer days, Breezing Up, Snap the Whip, his watercolors of the Bahamas. I love the carefree feeling he created of being in nature and embracing life. He also had the amazing gift to create timeless and universal images from contemporary life. My hope was to come close to doing the same in The Adventurers.
Wine is part of my ritual when I paint in the afternoons and evenings. A single glass will last me for hours. It is the mood that the music and wine creates that I love. It makes me feel creative and energized. I imagine how the painting might be enjoyed in someones home enveloped by the same ambiance. Also, I tend to get a little tight about mid-way in the process as I am working through the challenges of the painting. So, too avoid overworking a painting I find music and wine help me keep loose.
Recently a revolution of new realism in art has gained momentum. Now it has a name – NOVOREALISM.
I love books. Not just to use them as models, but to actually read them. I have compiled this list from my bookshelves and the recommendations from several artists friends.
St. Remy in Provence offers so many sensual treats. Golden sunrise – didn’t see many of those as we also love to sleep in. The herbs and flowers in the garden giving up subtle hints of their afternoon perfume But the best is the fragrance of coffee and fresh baked French breads. Flaky or crisp crusted, French breads are the best in the world. I loved the contrast of the woven basket, white cotton lining and the golden breads. On a weathered teak wood table, under a canopy of trees caressed with soft Provencal morning sunlight – what a great way to wake up my sleepy eyes.
Flower Collection
Landscape Collection
Fruit Collection
Still Life Collection