Slowly we turn

As you can see from above, I have started the cloth mache on the feet and the bottom areas of the dragon..  As I turn this critter around to work on him, I notice that he could use some more musculature in his other forearm, which I have taped on, and he needs more bulk in the opposite side of his torso, which I have also taped on.  This is one of the reasons I always put a layer of papier mache on all the adjustments I make, instead of going directly to the cloth mache........ it gives me time to assess the anatomy of my beast and make corrections I don't spot right off the bat.  I think we are ready for some wings!

I thought I saw a.......painting

Its funny how you have one thing in mind when you start a canvas and something else shows up when you are done. I wanted to paint a pretty golden haired girl, just to paint something pretty. In my mind I saw it as a stained glass look, and this is what I finished up with. "Sister Golden Hair" 18 x 24.

So the question is.........was I not good enough to paint the image I saw in my head, or is this what I was really supposed to paint?? After all........I did it!

Later

Originally the rear vase in this piece was black, but it created such a strong sillouete that there was not enough distiction between the 2 vases. Letting some light through a green glass vase slides it far enough into the background so the piece picks up dimensionality.

So here is "Blue Vase II" 9" x 12" acrylic on board. I like the sparkle.

Later

That's just the way it is!

This little 12 x 16 is called "That's just the way it is". Kinda makes me want to quick reach out and grab the plate before all the peas spill off. I like the optical distortion........it just happens by itself, and I really find that this piece says everything and more that I set out for it to say.

Later....................

What is this Show, and why must it go on?

Somehow the circus seems to be something I can relate life in general to. Living, dying, joy and sadness all abound under every big top. We all know it.......that's why everyone goes.

This piece is called "Walking the Tight Rope" 16 x 20. Its a little slice of everyone's life......... Someone trying to perform an incredible task, under the blazing scrutiny of the public eye while life sets unpredictable road blocks ahead of him.

And I ask myself this.........Why do some people take to walking the tight rope while the rest of us sit in the audience and watch?

Later

Another Day, another.....Flower I Guess

Lots of yellow leftover on the palette today, so why not a few more flowers. This cute little bunch called "Daffodils" 7 x 12, happened with the speed and freshness you wish every painting could have. Plus I really like yellow, even if it is taking me a while to figure out how to use it.

Today I'm wondering.....are these flowers going to get me to where I want to go?

It ain't easy being Green

Lots of time I lament about the disadvantages of acrylics......frozen texture, wimpy bodied.....etc, etc. Well here is how acrylics shine. I started this little flower as pink with a green background. No matter how hard I tried, I could not make that green work. So after a day....I went right over the top of it with this cad red, the cad orange combo. My little flower gave a sigh of relief to see the last of that green, and so did I.

Now this says just what I want it to...flower, color, and texture...........to where you want to reach out and touch it. So here's "Pink Daisey" 7 x 12.

Later

Even the Birds are Blue

Why did I want to paint this? Well, I like birds and I like color and I wanted to try ........something. This piece has quite a bit of texture built up on it, and I guess I'm trying to convince myself I need to start painting with oils. The old problem of trying to work into dried paint and frozen texture the next day is a drag............literally.

For a smaller piece like this...."Baby Bluebirds" 9 x 12 it's not so bad because I can totally repaint if I need to. For the bigger ones..........the acrylics are not allowing me to continue painting into wet paint the next day. If I'm not right on at the first try..........well I'm stuck because everything is dried. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRgh!

Later

Delivery Day

Just dropped off these 7 pieces to The Gallery at the Hilton Waikoloa today. Nice to see them leave the studio and get out into the public eye. I always pick a favorite, or try to figure out which one will sell first.........I'm always wrong. Mostly because people are buying decor.......not art. But you know what. The money spends just the same.

My fav is "Watermelon" (upper left), and I think "Are you going to Finish That? (cats under watermelon) will sell first.

A different perspective

I have always liked the way Expressionists can aesthetically distort spaces to make them add to a piece. I was looking to achieve that here in this piece called "Working Without a Net" 16 x 20. I also wanted to engage the viewer in the question.......Will she make it? Its a long way down...........all symbolic of the way I am painting lately......no net, just start attacking the canvas with an idea. I know its a long way down, but does anyone get this?? Or am I just tilting at windmills?

Later............

This is a Test

This piece is called "Homeward Bound" 16 x 20, and its quite a bit different than most of my work, in that I was really trying to tell a story with it. Now maybe I just don't know how to tell a story, or maybe its one people don't want to hear..........but so far no one really gets it.

To anyone out there........What do you get from it??

Bueller....Bueller....Anybody?

My favovite RED

I wanted to do another spontaneous flower, so I keep some smaller panels in my studio for just that purpose. If I have a pile of wet color left from a big painting, I'll use that to get these little florals started. Today I had red left, so away we go!!

This is "Gerber Daisey" 7 x 10 and a cute little guy he is. In fact, so cute, the gallery requested I bring him out! Hurray.

One for the good guys. :)

Here comes the Sun.

This 16 x 20 is titled "Sun, Flowers and Bluebirds". I don't have a whole lot of reasons for painting it other than another way to say sunflowers, which I really like. I did want to try and push the texture and color so that the piece would have enough drama where one might be tempted to reach out and touch it. Depth and texture.............that's what I was shooting for.
Well, I think I'm in the right neighborhood.

Who painted that?

This is the 1st piece I started after my long work hiatus. I always start with blue when I'm struggling to get things moving. I was shooting for a evening back-lit floral............weird huh, because people like florals for the color. This one almost makes the jump, but kinda got stuck in low gear.
As one of my favorite painters once said...."If the work doesn't excite you, don't expect it to excite your audience". I do feel it was a good starting point and an exercise in building up texture, and it led to the cat painting posted previously, which is as spontaneous and fresh, as this one is not.
I am starting to reach a limiting factor, texture wise with my acrylics. They are too soft to build up in one pass and they dry down so fast that you cannot rework into them, only on top. Its also very hard to make changes in your design mid-stream, as the initial design is always frozen in place underneath. If I did not live in Hawaii, I would be switching to oil painting right about NOW!
Some much more expressive and intimate pieces are drying here in the studio, that will knock your socks of, so enjoy "Back lit Floral" 11 x 14, and I'll see you.........later!

I dig those crazy cats

This is a painting of Lloyd and Cooper.......2 feral cats who regularly come to breakfast, lunch, and dinner at our house. Cooper (white cat) is always more than willing to "help" any of the other cats finish their food, hence the title "Are You Going to Finish That?" 16 x 20.
I just started the piece right on the board with no preliminary drawing....just pow! straight away. And on we go.......

I think I broke something

This piece is new..............painted back in September. My studio has been silent till today! Finally after extended low tone artists block I came back to the surface today.

I must have pushed the color so hard on this piece called "Radical Flowers" 11 x 14 that something somewhere broke. But enough of what was............what is, is that there are 2 new pieces here, with more on the way... Later, and thanks for your patience.

Here I am.....again

Just back from an extended work trip to California. How different it is there compared to Hawaii. As I get acclimated to home again, its time to start thinking about getting the paints out again.

In the meantime....I had the privilege of being included as an artist interview at a really nice website called www.whopple.com

They also provided me with a direct link to my interview page, so please check it out!
www.whopple.com/artist-interview-with-james-c-osterberg-jr.html

That being said.....here is a painting I did when I lived in California, called "DayDream" 30" x 30". It was one of my favorites from that time......hope you like it.

Tell your clowns to Shut-up

This is "Big-Top Billie" 16 x 20, and the last clown out of the car. I'm finding these clowns communicate a bit too well.....so its time to move on.

The Ringmaster

This is "Kirby" 16 x 20. He is kind of the ringmaster clown. I really liked the way that my previous clown Checkers (see previous post) turned out, using the same yellows for the clown and the background, so my goal was to achieve the same harmony with reds. This piece is also painted exclusively with a large synthetic bright for a brush (I call it my shovel) which I used to scoop up BIG brush loads of paint. I wanted to keep this clown a bit looser and spontaneous......just work fast with lots of paint.....and POW! ......there it is.

Drivin the Clown Car

As the parade of clowns rolls on, "Cindy" 16 x 20 was the next to appear. Cindy is the sad clown with the droopy drawers who holds her hands over her eyes to cry, and you see the water squirting out.
These paintings are kinda like watching the clowns all pile out of the little clown car, wondering who will appear next and how many more there are in there.