Hockey Degas

12" x 36" Plaster wall relief

I did this after viewing Degas' wall-sized drawing of ballet dancers following rehearsal, removing their slippers. All 4 figures are really just different views of the same individual. If he was without a model to view, Degas would make a wax figure, draw it, turn it a bit and draw it again. In my piece, the four figures represent Jay, Josh, Tony and A.J., in the locker room after hockey practice. Or was redhaired Mike in there somewhere?

Moorhead Youth Hockey Trophy

6" x 18" approx, cold-cast bronze

Cement Head (A.J.)

6" x 14" approx., Hydrastone, waste-mold method

Hands

24" x 36" Butternut Woodcarving, Trinity Lutheran Church, Moorhead, MN

And now, for something different. Between interruptions and snow days, there has been no painting going on. Usually I paint like crazy and the post-post (!), but I fear too much time has gone by this time and there will be no catching up. So I am just moving on, and will fill the belated daily posts with sculpture instead.

In the Wings

14" x 11" watercolor, private collection

This is really, really old. It was a study in mirrored shapes of dark v. light.

Vroom II (Peter with Truck)

22"x 30" Watercolor

OK, so I lied; I haven't painted all week and these are catchup posts, oldies. But I like 'em.

Thoughts for a new month/ a new medium

So I've been trying to paint these little oil paintings all week, and they are proving so fussy and finicky and , well, trite. Where is the thick juicy paint, the simple, gutsy statement? And where are the copper pennies? Lost in a miasma of fear and unfamiliarity. Is there such a thing as xenophobia for media?

So I've got a new plan. Instead of messing about with all the usual suspects when working on a painting (shape, value, edges, color, composition-- did you know an artist makes an average of 2000 decisions per each painting?), I am simply going to repeat images I have already painted or drawn and worked these things out well enough, so that I can limit my struggle to wrestling with the mighty OIL paint alone.

At least until I catch up and post enough paintings to get current. See ya.

Outside Ortonville

8' x 10" Oil

March is going to be a long month.......

Venice Backlot

8" x 10" oil

Grumpy Peter (Study for "Progressions")

4" x 6" watercolor