Choral pleasures

Christmas gives some of us the chance to sing... and others of us the chance to listen. What a great match.

Giclee available soon

I'm going to publish a limited edition of "Farmers' Market." Please let me know if you are interested--email pblau@sonic.net!

What is he doing???

Looking at himself? Or for something he sees inside???

Road Trip

Took a roadtrip to Washington & Oregon for a couple of weeks & did a bunch of sketches. Trip was fun--lots of friends & family. Weather ranged from sunny to 50+ m.p.h. winds... Nothing like October for unpredictability.

If you want to see a short scroll of some of my sketches, click on the link to the right.

Still Life

Sometimes the simplest things are so satisfying.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that a friend's new business office could use something on the walls. I suggested paintings. She thought that could be nice.

To give the "show" some cohesion, I decided to make all of the paintings be still lifes. I selected pieces from several different years and many different painting techniques.

To me, still lifes are in-between paintings. I like doing them, but I don't always attribute great import to them. In fact, I use them to explore color combinations, paint thickness, coarse painting, fine painting, different surfaces or underpainting, and everything in between. So, in some ways, I'm more relaxed about them.

On the other hand, many times I'm convinced, upon first finishing a piece, that it's terrible. Then I put it away & ignore it for days, months, years even. And pull it out for something like this show. Sometimes, when I pull it out, I like it, and I can even see a new direction in which I can work.

That's what happened with these apricots. Seeing them again in the context of putting up a still life show, I like them. Something about them works for me. Maybe I'll explore it a bit more.

Friends

Went to dinner last night at the house of some friends, Aimee and Dan. Delicious food, followed by an evening stroll with the dog. We smelled fall in the air and watched the moon rise.

"Hunter-Gatherer" Wins A Prize

(I'd like to thank my friend Tuppy Lawson for inspiring me to start this blog. Please visit her blog at the site listing on my Links list!)



Hunter-Gatherer
Oil on canvas, 32x24"


As many of my friends already know, I received Second Prize last month from the 4th Annual National Juried Competition held by the *brand new!* Marin Museum of Contemporary Art for "Hunter-Gatherer," the piece you see here. Let's face it: artwork is frequently created in a vacuum. Sure, friends & family think the work is great... But there's always a measure of satisfaction and encouragement gained when a piece is accepted into a show, and it's even better--I admit it-- to win a prize.

My model is my friend and neighbor, Tom Knapp, who has (to me) a perfect "everyman" quality. He posed for a drawing in his kitchen one night for about a half an hour. I translated the drawing to the canvas and populated the refrigerator and kitchen with some of the multitude of choices we Americans have when we are hungry at any time of the day or night. As an homage to my meat series (and some other work), I included a nice big ham--always a great snack choice!--and as an homage to Mr. Thiebaud, a luscious and delightful cake (though not painted in quite his style). Other food items were garnered from my fridge as well as from shelves of my local grocery store.