Docking with station 21

I believe in having impossible dreams.  When I hear about someone who achieves all their dreams and then doesn't know what to do with themselves I can guarantee it will never happen to me.  There is always something else that would be good fun and worthwhile.  So one of my goals is to own my own space station.  This is as close as I'll probably get, but if someday I get the chance, it's a road I know how to follow.  Naturally I have a great many probably possible dreams and goals stretching out to the impossible ones.  Like my next painting.  And reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

20"x16" canvas

Coast of Mysteries

I should probably "finish" this one, but I like it the way it is.  I'm not sure what the dark shapes in the center are; I wonder if they are friendly?

The initial wash worked perfectly for the reeds, which are scratched in with a paint knife.  Now the trick is to figure out how to use it at will.

20"x16" canvas

Slough in Morning

My paintings so far have been a bit supersaturated.  This is an attempt to paint with more gray.  A cold, slightly foggy morning in the slough near Bear River in Cache Valley, Utah.

20"x16" canvas

Forest stream

I liked my previous forest stream study well enough to try again on canvas.

20"x16" canvas

Study: Sun and Moon

This motif has been in my head waiting for paint for a while.  Early sketches can be found in my mission journal.  (For those of you wondering why on earth a missionary would have that sort of thing on his mind, I can only point out that I was engaged my entire mission.  I arrived trunky, and got married one transfer after getting home.)

12"x9" acrylic paper

Study: Lonely Moon

The title only makes sense when paired with the next one.

12"x9" acrylic paper

Study: City on a Cliff by the Sea

First one with my new painting knives.  It's always interesting what people see in these.  Dad saw three tires, and figured it was a race.  When I tell people my name for it, quite a few see the yellow as sand.  I see it as the sun on the water.

9"x12" acrylic paper

Study: The Artist Contemplating a Day of Overtime

I had a couple of weeks working overtime.  One morning in the shower, feeling a bit lumpy and misshapen and with a head full of cotton, I suddenly wondered how I could capture that feeling in paint.  I shower in the dark, so there's no light (would be scary anyway :), but I figured I could probably capture temperature and emotion.

9"x12" acrylic paper

Study: Heat of the Day

This started as an experiment with very pale blue and yellow washes.  It progressed when I asked myself how I could convey the stark heat of the desert and still have an interesting composition.  I'm not sure who they are, or where they are going, but this picture makes me want to bring them some fruit and ice water.

 
9"x12" acrylic paper

Study: Summer Storm

I remember reading a description of a pre-storm sky as "coppery".  I'm not sure the author meant this color, but it was a fun interpretation for me.  I like the contrast of the laminar flow of a hyper-calm day with the turbulent flow of the cloud edge.  (Yes, I know, calm days don't really have laminar flow.  I'm talking more about emotion than aerodynamics.)

 12"x9" acrylic paper

Study: Forest Stream

Marcie keeps asking for green and blue.  :)

9"x12" acrylic paper

Guppy in a Glass

I remember a picture of my sister's cat drinking water from a fishbowl, looking hungrily at the fish.  I wondered if it would be easier with a straw.  It seemed perfect for a miniature canvas.

 

 6"x6" canvas.

Windsong

Adding a human figure is a gamble, but it turned out better than I probably had any right to expect. :)

 

24"x18" canvas

Wave

Despite the title, this one is purely non-representational.  The fact that parts of it may resemble a wave is a complete coincidence.  This is what happens when an artist has been working very hard on a more realistic composition (like Windsong, which I will post next) and there is paint left at the end.  :)

Impasto non-representational is very soothing to the artistic soul...

16"x20" canvas

The Wall

Pink Floyd has their wall, and I have mine.  I like mine better... it's less stressful.  :)

Lindsay liked it, so Lindsay got it.  Thanks, Lindsay!

This one is a canvas, the previous were 9x12 acrylic paper.

Impasto study: Tree on a hill

Impasto is tremendous fun.  Painting with a knife is a completely different and very tactile experience.

Study: glazes

 

The medium arrived!  This first study is an experiment with glazes.  Acrylics are very nice to work with but I can see I've got a lot to learn.

Tiny world

A 1/2 acre planet. Still just paint and water... the medium is on its way.

Acrylics for Christmas

My wife gave me acrylics for Christmas, so here goes.  I haven't painted (with paint rather than bits) since high-school.

This is my first study; just trying out the feel of the paints. It is just paint and water; I still need to get medium.