Blue Jay

Avis Angelus: Tondo

"Avis Angelus: Tondo"

Acrylic, ink, oil, gold leaf on wood panel, 18” across

I painted this on a round 18" wood panel. First I stained the wood to accentuate it's beautiful grain, and then pressed some large inkblots across the surface. After that, I worked to find images in the random patterns that had been created. The gold sun is a small knot in the wood.

This is a fascinating, meditative process to me, and one that I picked up from Max Ernst via Leonardo Da Vinci.

Rockscape 3

Rockscape 2

Rockscape II (16" x 20" Acrylic, Oil, Marble Dust on Wood Panel)

I had a grand time building up these textures with marble powder. It's a departure from a lot of what I do, but I love and miss the massive rocks from the Western deserts where I grew up.

Kudzu Spirits

One of the first things I noticed after moving to the South was the kudzu draping the trees and changing them into strange, Max Ernst-like monsters. James Dickey wrote a poem about the kudzu--here's a tiny excerpt:

                    half out of leafage
As though they would shriek,
Like things smothered by their own
Green, mindless, unkillable ghosts.

2012 Calendar Available

 My 2012 Wall Calendar is for sale on etsy!