It was time for a road trip. The studio show had come and gone, I’d packaged up a number of pieces for shipment, spoken at the opening of a show of my work at Saddleback Church, said goodbye to house guests, and last Sunday gave my Beatitudes presentation at Gloria Dei Lutheran. With that behind us and Anne getting ready for a full summer at the Festival of Arts, it was time to get a break in while we could. We’d put it on the calendar before we even knew where we’d go. Then we thought of our friends Jeff and Cathy Girard who have recently purchased a mountain “cabin” in Midpines, near Mariposa in the California Sierras.

They were gracious to offer it as a place to stay while we planned to venture into nearby Yosemite. Then we thought, “Why not take our work things and make it into an art-making venture, even if it is only three days.” So that’s what we did. We can always do Yosemite another time; this is what we really like to do.

Imagine, if you can, full days with no sound but wind in the trees, the only neighbors a few horses, large rabbits of the ‘jack’ kind, sunset-scurrying ground birds, occasional deer, buzzing bees in the flowers, and the profusion of clear-sky stars you almost forgot were there.

We’d take the occasional walk, saw no one, just hills of pines and live oak and the likes of this manzanita.

Along with the living was the dead, one as intriguing as the other.

It’s no wonder the bees would be drawn to such pollen bloom explosions as these. They, like us, stayed busy.

Manzanita everywhere. We’ve never seen it grow to such height as seems to be common here.

It’s like endless variations on a theme, the bramble and twists and colors. What Artist has been here before us?

But we do ours and try our best to make it good. Here’s some of Anne’s printmaking materials drying on the deck after a day of use.

We found the Girard cabin (actually a house) very functional for rearranging into two studio areas. Here Anne works on details of a print. She brought smaller pieces this time, what with the shortness of time.

Here’s a partial array of her production, all of which she’d begun before, now hoping to bring them to completion. As I said to her, “Who’d have thought you’d become a printmaker, and then such a superb printmaker?!”

Meanwhile, on my side, I worked on large pieces.  As a point of information, and I might as well say it here, as of now I’m no longer in the Sandstone Gallery in Laguna, where I have been for years and Anne will continue to be. The leaving was on good terms, but I decided the time had come. These works are intended for another gallery which wants large pieces, unstretched.

I worked in acrylic, paint that dries fast enough that I can roll up and transport the large works easily. I always say I’m really an oil painter that uses acrylic sometimes.  And sometimes it really is best. This one’s called Taking a Break and is 50×40 inches with a three-inch border for stretching. (Click on it, and again, to appreciate all the texture.)

I’d brought along a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood to pin and tape the canvas on, as well as some drop cloth. That, and a bit of improvising, worked fine for a “studio.” Here I’ve got the background color in, the rudiments of a charcoal sketch to give me an idea of where I was going, after that it was all trial and error. (See prayer below.)

It was Anne who helped me on this one; she recognized it as “done” when I would have kept on going. It was a case of two people being required to make a painting, one to hold the brush and the other to take it away before it’s ruined. I’ve named her Gown Girl, also 50×40 inches. (Click to enlarge.)

Why not close with a sunset? It’s what God likes to do. Which reminds me: the prayer. I voiced it the morning of the final day, taking a break from the painting of the same name and knowing it needed something but not knowing what:

“Lord, with your great ability and delight in such manifold beauty, creativity and interest,
would you not be just as pleased to manifest such through me?
I know it is me that limits
by my fears to risk,
that thinks I can’t,
that’s afraid to wreak.
You seem to create with such joyful abandon;
why not me too, imitating you?!

That was my prayer. Then I went back inside and, with new abandon, finished my painting. Much better.

We’re grateful for all things.

__________________

PS That show at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest is up for two months. It features some of my major works, including the original of The Last Supper with Twelve Tribes, Five Biblical Women, and The Beatitudes.

Speaking of the latter, if anyone knows who might be interested in the presentation, let me know. A preview is here.

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In March we were in India for a week—in Delhi, Agra and Varanasi, as well as a couple of villages. With all the (i-phone) photos we took it seemed only right to make a book. So I did, just one copy. Here’s a good chunk of it for your enjoyment. You can always click on a photo for a more satisfying view.

Title page: As always, we bought a few artifacts, like this relic wooden horse.

The wondrous water reflections on the Ganges. (Click to appreciate.)

One of the most opulent places in the world. It met all expectations.

Some people came just to be photographed in the majestic setting. (Click it.)

For me, weathered walls were part of the intrigue and beauty everywhere.

Then there were the tangles of electrical wires, apparently ever added to.

Traffic. Need I say more? No lanes. Rear-view-mirrors never used. Honking constant. Any hurry, useless. But with “responsibility” high, accidents are few.

Loved these two shots in the grand Jama Masjid mosque. (Click to enlarge.)

Giant doors to the giant mosque. Note the visitor carrying her shoes. We all did.

Another wall of peeling paint, like one of my recent abstracts (see last blog).

Alcoves at entrances and a very tidy if poor living space. Click to appreciate.

A tricycle transport for feathered friends, doors, and sisters who posed.

No two alike, every village woman the Queen of Sheba in daily wear. (Click it.)

We were told every village is different, and there are many Indias in India.

Beds set outside as well as in, though we saw very few chairs anywhere.

Local business facing the streets while shoppers and lookers enjoy the life.

We flew from Delhi to Varanasi to see Hinduism at its epicenter on the Ganges.

Arriving at dawn, we checked out the pilgrim activities then boarded a boat.

The warm light of the rising sun, a wonder for the eyes and cameras.

Devotees in abundance, some with cups out for alms, some with shaved heads.

Two monks being tourists themselves; these were taking i-phone photos.

Art is apparent everywhere you see it, or at least when you crop it.

Rituals and prayers and long shadows in the sun.

Snake charmer (left) and a morning donor with a bag of rice giving kernels.

Two relics. You really need to click to see (as with all of these).

Anne (right) always cautious where she walked; the locals didn’t care.

Fast food anyone? A few outdoor kitchens and a couple of newspaper readers.

Colors everywhere, nobody minding the i-phone quickly aimed their way.

One more of a great and ancient door.

Final page. As the caption reads: The traveling couple at the sacred site. A sacred marriage still going strong.

That’s it.

Oh, and here’s a new one that was trip-inspired.

“On her Way,” oil on canvas, 37×26. 

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This coming Thursday (5/2/19) will feature the first showing of a series of new works. The reception is during the Laguna Beach Art Walk at the Sandstone Gallery, 384 N. Pacific Coast Highway. The show will be up for a month.*

That’s my painting, Safe at Last, in the window. Anne’s work is also featured, as well that of seven other fine artists.

The approach is not entirely new for me; I’ve long been fascinated with paintings that are all about color and design and texture exclusively. Of course I don’t mind confessing that Anne’s printmaking work is an inspiration, and she doesn’t mind either. Her’s are intricate, mine, bold expressions . . . with thick oil paint, palette knife applied, with lots of layering. In many cases the title is subtly etched right into the paint.

Check them out below, and double-click for a larger view.

Faith Beyond Measure, 24×22.

God Feed Them, 24×20.

Always Enough, 29×24.

Let Your Words be Few, 29×24.

Love Flows, 27×25.

Power to Save, 24×20.

Risen, 24×20.

Spirit Wanderer, 27×25.

Walk in the Spirit, 24×20.

Safe at Last, 36×59.

______________

For pricing, these pieces are all on my website under “Paintings/Abstract.”

A wall display at the Sandstone Gallery.

In addition to the new series, more of my paintings are also featured in the show, like these abstract figuratives.

______________
* Due to an earlier-scheduled surgery on my eye the same day as the opening (after the fixed detached retina last year) I will not personally be present.  Anne, however, will be there, hosting, along with her own wonderful work.

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Earlier this year I was contacted by the editors of Ultimato, a high-quality Christian magazine in Brazil. Their request was to use various images from my website to illustrate five articles on Biblical women. I was open, but didn’t feel I had any paintings that would be perfectly appropriate. I proposed to paint new ones. And I wanted to make them “modern.” They agreed and recently the articles with the paintings have been published. In Brazil.

Here’s how they looked taped up on my studio wall. All are oil on canvas (not stretched), 30×26 inches.

They were so pleased with the paintings that they also requested to publish an interview with me. They supplied the questions and I answered via e-mail. This was all done in Portuguese with the help of Google Translator. For the title they took a line from the interview: “I don’t know How I could Happier being an Artist.”  Of course the articles and the interview are in Portuguese, but I’ll supply the English version here, laced between the five painting.

As they only needed digital files, I still have the originals.  They’re on my website here.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, very young and contemplating her recent pregnancy.

For larger views click on the paintings, and then again.

When and why did you start to paint?
Painting came to me at mid-life after a number of other careers. I was waiting at a traffic light and glanced into a gallery window and suddenly thought, “I could do that,” and then, “I’m going to do that; I’m going to become a painter!” That was the beginning. After that it was years of applying myself until eventually I stopped my other occupations and took up painting full time.

Your wife is an artist too. How is your relationship at home?
Anne is a printmaker, doing original work on a hand press. We have much mutual support. We share a studio in the house. We also go away about twice a year we take up residence in some distant locale—a rented studio, a borrowed cabin—and make art all day, every day. It’s a wonderful time.

Ruth, from the Old Testament book of the same name.

When the work is “ordered,” is it more difficult to be inspired?
Portraits can be a challenge—not for “idea,” but for “execution.”  Or sometimes people present creative challenges I would have never considered. At first I resist, then ideas start to come and I end up with something new.

People say that artists has more propensity to sadness. Is it true?
It is not my experience, nor do I know of it among my artists friends. I think it’s a myth. I am extremely happy being an artist. I don’t know how I could be happier.

Abigail, from another Old Testament story.

Why do you paint people from all the parts of the world: does it happen according to invitation or do you seek it?
My wife and I served for 32 years with Wycliffe Bible Translators. (That was my second career.) Among my positions I was a publications editor and designer and often worked with images of ethnic people. When I began painting it felt natural to paint these people. I have broadened to paint a great variety of subjects but I still like to dignify these people with my paintings.

Do you paint more women than men?
I generally find women the more attractive subject matter, but I paint men too.

Who are your great influences as a painter?
Historically it’s the impressionists and post-impressionists that appeal to me. Painters before that time or since that time don’t have near the impact on me, though there are plenty of current painters whose work I highly admire.

Foot Washer, actually another Mary, who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and dried them with her hair.

Are there some your paintings that you feel a special love?
I love all my children. Paintings I don’t like I don’t show, and eventually paint over. Since I’m in the business of making art for a living I am willing to sell any of them. I also give paintings away to a worthy cause.

What inspires you to paint?
There is no day without inspiration. The joy of doing it, the challenge of doing it better, the desire to try new things, all these inspire. Then, the idea that someone may need a painting can add to it. Usually I have some end use in mind for making a painting. I paint a number of painting per week, large and small. (Storage can be a challenge.)

Did you say that the painter must be able to paint everything? I also believe it, but is there some kind of painting which you feel better (as humans, animals, landscapes)?
If I’m painting purely for my own enjoyment I will usually paint a person, either full-figure or a face. I sometimes explore landscapes, still lifes, and abstract painting. I am not an illustrator. I do best when it’s my own idea, or if the client allows me to do my own interpretation.

Lemuel’s Mother, or another name: The Proverbs 31 Woman, experienced, wise and strong.

How did you decide to match your love for art and your faith?
At first I did not want to be a “Christian painter.” I did not want to be known only as that. I just wanted to be a good painter. As time has progressed I have found myself doing more and more Christian work. It’s rarely “traditional,” however. I like a creative approach.

The most recent example is the five Biblical women for Ultimato. I painted them as contemporary, not iconic. Mary is young and reflective. Ruth is beautiful, attractive to Boaz, her redeemer and future husband. It’s the same with Abigail, who dressed her hair to present herself to David. The other Mary, who washed the Lord’s feet with perfume and dried them with her hair, is painted with an abundance of flowing hair. And Lemuel’s mother is depicted as older, beautifully handsome, wise and strong.

In which projects are you working currently?
I’m working on a series of large and small paintings of young girls for Uncaged, an organization confronting sex trafficking [as posted in this blog last month]. I just finished two nine-foot wide landscapes of our city for my church. I have a number of large public-painting events coming up for Bible translation, involving travel. I’ve been painting pieces to contribute to missions organizations for their walls. At the moment it’s all Christian work I’m doing. But I also need to keep my galleries supplied with new pieces.

I feel that with painting I have meaningful work to keep me occupied, interested and growing for the rest of my life. For that I feel blessed, and very grateful.

_________

That’s it.  Currently there are other projects, and a show of my new work of a whole other style, more abstract, coming up at the Sandstone Gallery in Laguna Beach, May 2.  Watch for another announcement just prior to that.

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The artist and a new creation greet you. Read on to be introduced to all the others.

Uncaged is a new organization dealing with the world-wide problem of human trafficking. Already well connected with experts and associates in the field they’re making plans to build their first rescue and recovery center in Romania. Next month they’ll host a major fund-raising event at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, California. We were invited but due to conflicting events, are not able to attend. However, I’ve made a number of pieces of art for them which will be on display and help add to the importance of it all. Ultimately they will go to Romania to give the young ladies a gallery to move around in. Perhaps it will aid in their healing and enliven a renewed sense of beauty that’s possible in the world.

As an “extra” to all this, I’ve also produced a custom book featuring the paintings. For your own enjoyment, I’ll share it here in completeness. This, with a commentary on the paintings themselves, beyond what the book conveys.

It’s a hard bound book with dust jacket, 12″x12,” on quality paper, lovingly designed by a veteran book designer (me). I made just two copies, not for production. (See note at the bottom for availability.)

Besides my own photography, creative contribution was made by videographer Ben Moen who spent a day with me last month shooting as I created one of the large works in this book. That’s one of his shots on the right, above.

Title page. The photo is of the one large pieces as it hung temporarily in our living room, the afternoon light coming through a grating making the model seemed “caged” indeed. As with all the pages here, click for a larger view.

Dedication page. For an introduction to the work of Uncaged, click here.

The table of contents, placed over a creative closeup of one of the paintings in process.

People don’t necessarily know that any brush will do when creating a large piece. Here is my brief reflection on the burgeoning crime of our times. (Click to see it better.)

I created four large pieces, in acrylic or oil or both. These will remain unstretched and hung like tapestries until the reach their final destination in Romania.

In the book, each painting is presented in multiple ways. In the smaller photo here, the prison-like impression was noticed through the bars of a stair railing.

A big “section divider,” a photo by the creative eye of Ben Moan.

Sometimes new paintings are made over old backgrounds.  I’d had this abstract for some time, just waiting, apparently for its final use. The image on the left is a detail of the same painting, turned on its side.

Implements of creation.

“Still Hope” was the first I made of the series, here rolled out on the floor after taking it off the wall to make room for the next.

The small photo on the left is provided just to give an idea of the scale.

The wonderful shallow depth of field adds real drama to an otherwise mundane mess of paint tubes.

Besides creating eight new works for Uncaged, I also offered a choice of four more that were done earlier. “White Wisps” was one of those chosen. Note in the detail (right) the use of a linocut borrowed from Anne’s trove for her printmaking.

The double meaning of the title is intended. The blight affects all religions, and care is needed everywhere.

Another new piece, intentionally unfinished.  Aren’t we all?

It can take a moment to notice the eyes, here charcoaled in on the white canvas before the first swaths of thin paint.

The use of bubble wrap for texture in one of my techniques used occasionally. By the time I kept laying new paint on this one most of the effect was covered over.  But it’s still there.

Lips, for me, are among the more challenging part of facial anatomy, but when they succeed, the most satisfying. At right was the end of the day’s work with the videographer.

But in the days that followed I wasn’t quite satisfied with the face so I went over the acrylic with more touch is oil. Still I left that background wash alone, only doable in the water based acrylic.

The effect of the bubble wrap, basically a printmaking effect, likely influenced by Anne and her (more precise) craft.

I can’t remember what was the rationale for the title of this painting. I did it some time back as experiment on canvas pre-textured with pumice jell and corrugated cardboard. Sometimes I think I should do more like this. Thoughts?

The palette knife in an invaluable tool in many of my paintings. If you look close you’ll see the face of the “City Lights” girl featured on the next pages.

Once again, the creative mind of Ben Moen contributes to the dramatic lighting of the artist at his painting. Then there are the artist’s creative flourishes in the detail of the painting’s background at left.

Uncaged, the organization, will not use photos of the actual girls and children being rescued. Paintings like this, of no person in particular, serve a wider purpose.

Knives, like so many implements of battle, the aesthetic battle, which I’m always trying to win.

A painting is as much about design as anything, and color, and texture and judicious use of line.

This is another I’d done some time back, and chosen to be part of the collection for the mood, and all the rest.

I’ve painted Sharon a number of times. Originally named “Sharon at Bougainvillea”because she was standing near such flowers. But I’d long since painted those out and added the simple design repetition behind. So now she’s retitled, “Sharon Uncaged.” Fits, no?

Finally, for last of the large ones (for now) I put up a random color pattern before the charcoal drawing. I wanted each of the large ones to have an at least slightly different style, and this one came out very different.

“The Light has Come” was the name given this one by Kim Westfall, founder and president of Uncaged. And it’s a good word with which to finish this book, and this blog.

One more, the earringed artist, likely trying to figure out what he should do next. It’s always a challenge. In art, you make a mess, then try to figure out how to fix it.

Speaking of “next,” our next trip is India.  We’ll fly on Friday, March 15. Who knows what inspiration will come from that?

I mentioned that while the book was created as a personal commemoration, the price if $125 if anybody wants one.  $135 with postage.  You’ll need to communicate directly with me at moore@hyattmoore.com.

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In November of last year I did a lecture/demo at an art league here in Southern California.  It’s something I’m invited to do from time to time.  In this case it was some distance away, hard to find in the dark; I arrived late, had to shlep all my stuff in multiple trips across a long parking lot, then to set up my easel and canvas, my palette and all my gear while they patiently waited.

Per usual, I “lectured” first, relating some motivational points from my own experience.  People generally find that useful as we’re all trying to find our way in this pathless route called art. Then, after a break, when I also was to judge works of art they’d brought, I plowed into the painting demonstration.

I always paint large at these events, to be viewable from a distance.  I’d laid in an acrylic background earlier; the rest would go up in oil.  I worked from a photo with two figures and, though quite ambitious, would offer some good teaching points.  The risk was it could turn out just a big mess.  But I figure, that’s a teaching too.  If I mess up, that gives permission for others to mess up too, and not quit.

While painting I’m teaching the whole time, answering questions, explaining what I’m doing and why. I move pretty fast, keep it light; we laugh a lot.

When time was up, I stopped. People gathered around and chatted, some bought my books. One told me he was very inspired by my loose, big-brush approach with no concern for drawing at all, at least not at the beginning. He told me he’d gotten so tight with his many portraits that for months he’d lost his joy and quit painting altogether.

Image my surprise when I got an email from him a month later with the following.

I must say I was impressed. Lots of accuracy there, even including my first few stokes on the new painting. I’m just glad my influence encouraged someone.  It’s part of why we live.

Hi Hyatt, Just wanted to share with you a painting that you inspired me to do.  I was in a less than enthusiastic place with my art when you gave your demo at the Anaheim Art Association meeting in November.  In viewing your process and the freedom and energy that it brought to the work, I was re-inspired to get back to work.  I love doing figurative work and portraiture and I was anxious to try out your process so I figured what better subject that the man that inspired it.  I did a quick sketch in charcoal on the canvas before the acrylic underpainting.  Just couldn’t bring myself to jump right into painting without the sketch yet, but maybe the next one.  Thanks so much for the demo.  Let me know what you think.
Al Garofalow
PS I am working on putting up a website: www.allangarofalow.com  if you get a chance, check it out.

Of course I wrote back to him expressing my delight at his progress, his encouragement, the painting. He gave me permission to relate all this here.

Here’s the state my painting was in not long after time was up that evening. Note how it’s very loose, moving ever tighter, never too much . . . points not lost on Allan Garofalow. I did check out his website, good paintings, but I did see the influence with this new one.

I finished the work the following morning in my studio and was pleased enough with the result. Masai Majesty, oil over acrylic on canvas, 36×27.5.

But most of all, I was rewarded with helping someone, already good, but leveled out and “stuck.” What we all need is freedom, and examples of it when we can find it. Thanks, Al Garofolow, for following through.

Coming Up

On February 21 at 4:00 p.m. Anne and I will be guest presenters at a community arts education event in Laguna College of Art and Design Gallery, 374 Ocean Avenue, Laguna Beach.

Being Valentine month they want us to speak on how two artist do their craft together. More important than Valentines, it’s our anniversary month. We should talk on how we’ve made that work together!  (It’ll be our 53rd year.)

All invited ($20.00 at the door).

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It’s been another year of painting, and the 22nd since I first got the idea.  These shown aren’t all the paintings of the year, not near, but it’s a fair sampling. Not included are portrait commissions and the public events, most of which have been shown on other blogs. Also not shown are the botched up failures (which generally get painted over anyway).  A couple clicks on the pictures will reveal a larger view.  A click on a title will bring up info about availability, prices or prints.
Enjoy the tour.  And let me know your favorites.  I always welcome feedback.

Blonde Blue Eyes, oil, 24×18.  Long ago daughter Allison once said, “Dad, you don’t even know how to paint a caucasian.” This just to show myself I can.

Bow and Braid, oil on panel, 16×20.  Just a lovely profile with subtle flesh tones.

Commanding Presence, acrylic on canvas, 24×30.  It was the colors that attracted the buyer of this one.  I did six more, smaller and on paper, as variations on a theme.

Earring Slender, oil on canvas, 42×19. She’s from tribal Viet Nam; the painting as much about the background brushwork as the gentle face.

Ethiopia Tea, oil on canvas, 24×24, a commission by a friend and collector (including my abstracts) and does mission work in Ethiopia.

Flamenco Motion, oil on canvas, 24×18, started as a demonstration in a “Loosen Up” workshop I gave last summer. It’s all about the action, and that energetic red.

Giving Life, oil on canvas, 22×18.  One of a series of four, commissioned by a friend from his own China photos, now hanging handsomely in Texas. (I love the blues in the face.)

Homeless Jesus, oil on canvas, 38×47  A commission.  Shown on a previous blog, a very different painting for me, in color and all the rest, with much thought going into it before and during.  And after.

In the Stream, oil on canvas, 18×24. The western theme is another favorite, at least when that spirit moves. This one painted over another (which is where that stream came from . . . and the reds).

Madrid, oil over acrylic on canvas, 54×41.  This one is big, hangs in our house, and keeps growing on me. Remember it started as an abstract and grew into a dancer in Madrid.

Blessed are the Meek, acrylic on canvas, 40×30.  You’ll remember this, one in series of nine. I have a talk I give with them I’ve done half a dozen times. So far.

Myanmar Age, oil on panel, 20×16.  I do these “just because.” Often they end up as gifts to mission organizations.  This one, not yet.

Rain Comin’, oil on canvas, 12×24.  Again, I painted this one over an old one, which is where that yellow came from. Things just happen that way.

Red Ribbon, Nepal, oil on panel, 20×16.  Someone I never met was going to Nepal to do good. I said, “Take a painting with you,” and made this one for her.

Seeing the Future, oil on canvas, 28×21.  Actually I did this one, along with a series of similar, in 2016. But it was dull. This year I brightened it up (extremely).

Shell Seeker, oil on panel, 24×18.  This of a friend, who now lovingly owns it, in Pennsylvania, as a gift from her parents. (She seeks shells in Florida.)

Shoulder Glance, oil on panel, 16×20.  This will find an owner someday; meantime I’m quite intrigued with her (as she seems to be with me).

Still Hope, acrylic on canvas, 54×70.  A large piece, and pensive, part of a series for the sex traffic crisis. The other three not yet painted.

Thinking Back, oil on canvas, 27×45.  Who can resist these colors? Which reminds me, Anne and I have a trip scheduled to India in March. More such paintings after that?

Ventura Wonder, oil on canvas, 20×28.  Finally, one solitary landscape (though there were others). This, commissioned by a friend with Ventura roots.

Okay, I wasn’t going to add any words, but I thought a few would help, and hope you think so, too.

This last year was good. With grace, the next will be too, as long as life and energy lasts.  Wishing the best for you.

Thanks for viewing.  And don’t forget to vote.

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We went to Spain in May and I want to share it with you before the year is up. It was a two-country trip, along with Holland, with travelers from the Laguna College of Art and Design. I blogged the Holland part in August. As you’ll see, it’s hard to pare down all the great images of the place. For our own use I made a book, actually two, one for Holland and one for Spain. The following are about half the spreads from the Spain book. Click on each one for a larger view.

The cover, simple, a door opening to another world.

The changing of the guard in Madrid. Anne and me somewhere, and a distinctive street cover in Cordoba.

We were in the cities of Granada, Seville, Cordoba and Madrid. Above was a brief bus stop in La Mancha.

It’s hard not to photograph every distinctive door one comes across, and they’re almost all distinctive.

The houses are not to be seen, only a wall with a great door, often opening onto a patio.

Being an art trip we were in museums virtually every day, often two, sometimes big an famous, sometimes small an intimate.

And in the museums we’d muse long at the art, or photograph it, or draw it.

This is a collection from various museums, all self-portraits by some known painter from the past.

Cordoba was a favored city by us and, right, a store where Anne found a number of wearables. Waiting, I photographed the cracks in the street.

And here they are, the street shots, great fodder for abstracts in paint to stretch across some hotel wall.

Our lodgings were just adjacent to this, the bullfight museum. The icon of the bull often to be found.

We’d been here before some years back. The Muslim-built Mezquita was constructed atop an early Christian worship center, later over taken by Catholic dominance. Fortunately they left a good bit of this stunning architecture.

The light helps the grandeur; in earlier days it would have been by firelight, flickering and with many dark corners, wouldn’t you think?

We found our way to this Flamenco Museum (Cordoba), a relic of a building. The early photo on the right is the same place, lived in, many years ago.

Now and then there would be a street artist selling his craft. I found this three-wheeled, folding box table quite ingenious. (Maybe I should make one and hit the streets.)

Encountered this lovely lass with her steed, letting all know there would be a show that night. We told her she was beautiful and bought tickets.

The Andalusian is the pure Spanish horse, here highly trained to perform. The beasts were great, the equestrians also, with the dancer adding a bit of sass.

This was our second visit to Granada and the Alhambra, another majestic monument to early Islamic presence in Spain.

It was the Corps Cristi holiday in Granada with wonderful surprises day and night. I made a breakfast-time sketch of that roofline at right (see book produced from the trip). There’s me with hat down one more cathedral street.

With the holiday comes elegant and festive and period dress, always with flowers in the hair.

More symmetry, geometric design and peaceful order at the Alhambra.

Somebody said all this says, “God is great,” over and over again. I don’t know. (Except that of course He is.)

That’s me taking a break during a long tour, (middle) another beautifully tiled floor and (right) an artist making and selling in an earlier time. Things haven’t changed much. (Click it.)

Speaking of art in an earlier time, churches like this, adorned like this, seem to be at every few blocks in Seville.

Also in Seville (though could have been anywhere), a flamenco guitar and dancer. You might remember the picture of her and the painting I made from an earlier blog.

Having friends in Madrid, I left a city tour for an afternoon at the bull fights. Got many great photos, but I’ll spare you and just offer these poses of pageantry and posture. (Would be great as paintings.)

My almost ring-side seat offered this great closeup of a picador riding by. (Right), there’s Anne after a rain, happy being alive. (Click it.)

A couple photos of us. I have this exact pose in front of this exact painting (a Motherwell at the Madrid Prado) from four years earlier.

Pigeons, children, parents, and gypsies.  All part of life in the streets.

Last day, members of our group moving on. By the way, there’s a show up this month of paintings produced by participants on that trip. It’s at the LCAD Gallery, 374 Ocean Avenue in Laguna Beach. Just for your interest, click here the piece I have in the show.

Thanks for looking. It’s been a lot I know, though only half of what it could have been. Though this book was singular and unavailable (unless someone wants to send me the $150 it cost to make), the sketchbook from the trip is quite affordable, and highly interesting as well (if I do say so). It’s on the website with the others, here.

Advent greetings to you. Looking forward to more art, more travels, and more joy of life in the new year.

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It’s this weekend, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, 1:00-7:00.  Between Anne and me, I don’t even know how many pieces are up. And then the house is warm, as will be the friendship. The invitation is below, with address. Here’s a short video to give a taste. (Click on “full screen” to see it bigger.)

Come if you can.  And feel free to bring a friend.

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It’s the time of year for the jury selection for the Laguna Festival of Arts. I think I’ve entered ten times, always with a different genre, never to finalize. I’m always glad when Anne does (as she will be in again next summer). So we’ll see what happens. It would be fun to be there together.

(Left) A Mate, oil, (Center) Pretty Posture, oil, both 30×20, (Right) Standing Ready, oil, 16×12. (For all, click for larger view.)

It was Anne’s suggestion that this time I submit my abstractive figurative work. It’s one of my many interests and genres. If you visit the Sandstone Gallery in Laguna Beach, that’s where you’ll find that variety of my work. The arrangement above is what the judges will see for the first (digital) running. Hopefully by then their eyes won’t be too glazed over. There are hundreds of applicants for a only a few openings.

Here’s the current show at the Sandstone in Laguna, just three pieces this month. It’s a gallery that features only abstract, thus a good place to show this particular genre of mine. Anne exhibits here too.

I painted the above, Portrait of Sid, oil, 16×20, some time back from an old black and white photo of my friend Sid who I lost track of about 50 years ago. The original inspiration was from a much larger work I came across in France, Portrait of Anne by Nicolas de Stael (left). I keep thinking I’ll do more like that, but then other ideas hit. (This one sold and is now in the collection of Craig and Carol Faber in Des Moines, Iowa.)

Here are two I painted at the same time, Her and Him 8 (left) and Her and Him 9 (above), both oil, both 40×30. They’re part of a series by the same title, all different and usually different sizes. People sometimes ask me why the face is not detailed. You know I love to paint faces. But these are more about the design, that and the generalized figures. Making them “specific” would be a whole other kind of painting. And you’d wonder, “Who is it?”

Gesture 21, oil, 16×16, is really all about design, that and heavy texture and thick paint. Don’t ask me why I named it what I did. It is a gesture drawing, but why 21? It now belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Rick Marcotte of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Evening Stroll, oil, 16×16, is another that’s as much about the paint as anything, the colliding colors, the thick palette knife application, the attitude and slight movement in the figure. As with a number of these, this one is completely made up from the mind. (Again, double click for more detail.)

Simply Elegant, oil, 32×26, is perhaps my most minimal piece. Zen link, that blouse made from just three purposed strokes with a house brush. Note also the Anne-influenced printmaking patterns in the background.

The most recent is Shell Seeker, oil, 24×18, done almost entirely with palette knife. In spite of the rugged approach, this one’s veering closer to realism than the others. Inspired by a friend who finds shells and in them, the finger of God.

You’ll see that the painting graces the show invitation below.

Click on that invitation to enlarge the details. Or just mark your calendar with the following:

Saturday and Sunday, November 17-18, at our house.
33752 Big Sur, Dana Point

Come, and feel free to bring a friend.

Meantime, let me know if you have a favorite of any of these. (If any.)

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