Welcome to the Monkey House.
WHY A MINI-ME?
For the past couple of years, I have been participating in themed online exhibitions mounted by 33 Contemporary Gallery. "Mini-Me" is a show of teeny-tiny self-portraits. A real challenge for me, since I usually work on a much larger scale! This was an opportunity to start off the new year with a total change of pace and have a little fun.
Just 4" x 6" and 4" x 7", both of these mini-me pastels were inspired by my travels in Costa Rica and Honduras. On the left is "Monkey Business" and on the right is "Welcome to the Monkey House", with a nod to Kurt Vonnegut. It's easy to find a space for these, so be an early bird and get one before the show officially opens!
DREAMING OF THE BEACH

In August I began two oil paintings, each 36" x 48. "Intermezzo on Brewster Flats" - now finished! - is set against the quiet backdrop of Cape Cod's coastal bay flats. An enigmatic woman in a tutu reclines on a golden bench that appears to have been swept ashore by the tide. In the sky above, two pelicans glide through a vibrant spectrum of salmon, pink, and blue. The sand, dotted with footprints, hints at hidden stories, while gaily striped tents in the distance lend a surreal undertone to the composition. This painting highlights both the familiar and the dreamlike, inviting viewers to step into a moment of quiet reflection and otherworldly beauty. And I do have prints available!
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Let's walk into my studio and see how the second painting is coming along! This is "The Future Is Now", also 3 feet by 4 feet. More progress every day.
In the beginning, as with much of my work, there was a pencil sketch on a gesso-primed wood panel. What artists often call a "cartoon". The drawing is not written in stone, but it provides a map. The second slide shows where it was just a few weeks ago.
For the figures, I build an armature - like a sculptor would - of light, shadow, and often a very simple underpainting of colors. It provides me with a solid structure to create the skin and clothing. I go back and forth between figures and ground (sky, landscape, birds) until everything starts to look real. I would guess there's still a month to go.
Spotlight: BEACH AND DISCO

I've always loved the sense of light in this painting. The turquoise of the hand-forged tete-a-tete bench, the book cover and the sky give this painting its luminosity. The model's platinum hair, striped dress, and her tattoos lend a "disco" accent to the salt marsh setting. "Beach and Disco" (which is also the title of her book) is an oil on linen, 40" x 52". It is the essence of summertime, and is available through R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, MA.
Thank you for following my online journal. I hope you find it interesting to see work in progress - how an idea becomes a drawing, then gains dimension as layers of paint are applied.
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Looking for more? Follow my pages on Instagram, Facebook and Threads - and now BlueSky - to see what's happening in my studio all the time.

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