I didn’t get serious about art, that is painting and drawing until after I retired, January 1, 2010. I had dabbled with it a little over the years with help from Mom when I was very young, then a bit in high school. But I didn’t produce anything exceptional and was pretty much discouraged by my teachers and classmates. Since I didn’t appear to have any real talent for it, I concentrated on music, where I did excell. So, I didn’t pick it up again until I took a couple of drawing classes at Lorain County Community College. Again, nothing exceptional. I did doodle-draw all over everything, notebooks, time cards, even lamp shades, whatever was handy at the time.

After my retirement, I started to get more serious about it; took a couple of watercolor classes in Ashland, where I retired to. Then a couple of painting classes that were offered by the Huntington VA. And a couple of years before moving to Tucson, took a semester of painting at the Ashland Community College. I’ve done most of my paintings there and since then.

Except for the early watercolor classes in Ashland, the subjects of my work were not assigned. I picked and developed them in my own way. Styles were sometimes suggested, but not the subjects themselves.

Note: I’m planning to combine this and my poetry in an epub app that I have, with poetry on the left page and art on the right. But I want to get them both done separately first… make sure I have them all documented. This is a work in progress…

Speaking Into Existence

Acrylic on poster board 12×18”

Painted during a class at the Huntington VA in West Virginia. It’s not what the class was doing, but an expression of my creative impulse at that place and time.

Summer Sunset

Acrylic on poster board 12×18”

Painted at an art class at the Huntington VA in West Virginia.

Again, the class was working on their own projects. This was the result of my mindset at that time and place

The Quantum Soup – A Study In Depth

Acrylic on Canvas 18×24”

Painted at home during the time between Hunting VA art classes.

Incognito

Acrylic on poster board 12×18”

An experiment in monochrome, black, white, and grays. Another one painted at home between VA art class sessions.

Moonlight Meditation

Acrylic on Canvas 6×12”

We stretched the canvas on frames we made in class at the VA, and painted it white. I took it home and fingerpainted this based on the many drawings I’ve done of it. I’ve used this theme several times over the years

You’ll see the drawings in the Graphite and Ink sections once completed. 

The Observer

Acrylic on Canvas 18×24”

Painted at home between VA art classes. Another experiment using gloss and flat paint.

Snake Creeps Down to Cock Stands on One Foot

Acrylic on Canvas Paper 12×16”

This depicts a couple of Tai Chi movements. 

There are two versions. This is the more colorful. I was trying to make them look more like graffiti, like they’d been painted over a few times.

I think the second one was more what I was trying to achieve.

Version 2 of Snake Creeps Down to Cock Stands on One Foot

This one also has the feeling of practicing in the rain… which I also like very much.

In this one, I was also trying to get the feeling of glyphs, similar to Kanji.

Still Life – Limited Palette

Acrylic on canvas-board 9×12”

I did this one in the painting class at Ashland Communit College. The jug and two cups were aranged on a table in the middle of the room. I made up the background. The surface of the table was shiny, as was the jug. The bright light was from the windows at the side of the room.

Self Portrait in the style of early Piccasso

Acrylic on canvas 16×20”

From the Ashland CC painting class. We were asked to do a portrait of someone we knew or a self portrait, but in the style of a famous artist. I chose to do myself in the style of Piccasso’s earlier work.

I’ve done this image with both ink and watercolor as well.

I think it resembled me at the time of the painting.

Three Faces – Melancholy, Avarice, and Rage

Acrylic on Canvas 16×20”

Painted as a class project for the Ashland CC art class.

We were told to combine the styles of two or more well known painters. The subject was our choice. I used myself again. I chose to combine the styles of Munch, Picasso, and Kandinsky.

Water Protectors

Arylic on canvas 16,20”

A limited Palette project for the Ashland CC art class. The subject was our choice.

This was inspired by the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline (#NoDAPL), which were put down the previous year by multi-state and private security thugs.

The Tipping Point

Acrylic on canvas 16×20”

Another limited palette project for the Ashland CC art class. The subject was our choice again. The only requirement was sticking with the limited colors, plus they must shift throughout the painting.

This was my statement on Climate Change… baren streets and buildings, radiating heat.

Consciousness and Perception

Acrylic on canvas 16×20”

Another limited palette project for the Ashland CC art class.

My idea was to make this one look more like a stained glass window. The idea is to show that ‘reality’ is based on how our perceptions influence our consciousness.

Moonlit Meditation 1 or 5

Acrylic on Canvas 16×20”

This was the final project for the Ashland Community College painting class. We were instructed to make 5 paintings, with each one getting progressively more abstract. Again, I chose to abstract the Snake Creeps Down image.

Moonlit Meditation 2 of 5

Acrylic on canvas 16×20”

This is the second in the abstraction series. The colored triangles represent the ebb and flow of external energy in and around the movement. This theme continues in the next painting.

Moonlit Meditation 3 of 5

Acrylic on canvas 16×20”

This is the third in the abstraction series. Again, the triangles represent energy flow in and around the movement. From here on out they get very abstract.

Moonlit Meditation 4 of 5

Acrylic on canvas 16×20”

This is the fourth painting in the Moonlit Meditation abstraction series. If you look closely, you can find most of the elements from the first painting in the series, just juxtaposed in a whimsical manner.

Moonlit Meditation 5 of 5

Acrylic on canvas 16×20”

The final piece in the Moonlit Meditation abstraction series. Again, most of the elements of the first painting of the series can be found in this one. But they are whimsically arranged and rendered into some basic shapes.

Paradise Island Sunset

Acrylic on canvas 18×24”

This is a more realistic painting inspired by a photo I took sailing off the coast of South Carolina near Parris Island. This was done after a short vacation to Savannah GA.

Potted Split-leaf Japanese Maple Still Life

Watercolor on multimedia paper 9×12”

VA Parking Lot

Watercolor in my Watercolor Sketchbook 6×8”

Painted this after waiting in the main Huntington VA waiting room. Saw this area of wheelchairs next to the main entrance.

Lake Erie at Lakeview Park Lorain OH

Watercolor on watercolor paper 9×12”

Based on a photo taken early on New Year’s Morning,  just west of the main park.

Self Portrait – One of several

From my Watercolor Sketchbook Multimedia paper 6×8”

Flamenco Dancer

Watercolor from my Watercolor Sketchbook – Multimedia Paper 6×8”

Flamenco Dancer Study 

From my Watercolor Sketchbook – Multimedia Paper 6×8”

Flamenco Dancer Study

From my Watercolor Sketchbook – Multimedia Paper 6×8”

Flamenco Dancer by Moonlight

Watercolor on Multimedia Paper 9×12”

Inigma

Charcoal and Graphite on paper 18×24”

Based on an ink doodle I did while working at Eaton Airflex back in the mid ‘80s.

Meditation Garden Still Life

Study in primary colors. 3 colored pencils, yellow, red, and blue on sketchbook paper 6×6”

Still Life in Primary Colors

Colored pencils, yellow, red, and blue on sketchbook paper 6×8”

Moonlit Meditation

Graphite on paper from my sketchbook 6×8”

The original sketch that I used as subject for most of these meditation pieces, based on the Tai Chi movement, Snake Creeps Down.

Wilmington River at Low Tide

Graphite on paper 16×20”

Made from a picture I took from Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah GA. Bonaventure is to the left.

One Cut

Acrylic on canvas paper 16×20” 

Beats Antique

Watercolor in my Watercolor Sketchbook. Multimedia paper 6×8”

This vision came to me one night while I was relaxing and listening to Beats Antique.

Stairway to Heaven

Water-based Oil paints on canvas 18×24”. It was completely done with palette knives, no brushes at all.

I have two other versions of it. One is the original sketch in graphite and a watercolor version, included below.

The Original Sketch of Stairway to Heaven

Graphite on multimedia paper 6×8”

Watercolor Version of Stairway to Heaven

Watercolor on Multimedia Paper 12×16”