Lifeboat, stage 2 - work in progress by Jeff

Here's the lifeboat with the glaze, ready for some real painting. As you can see, I've started blocking in some blue for the sky. That blue is going to have to get WAY more subtle. Too much thalo! Aaaagh! My eyes!

Lifeboat - work in progress by Jeff

If you read Neil Hollingsworth's blog (and who doesn't?) then you probably know that Leslie and I recently went with Neil and Karen on a cruise to Key West. Though Neil made it clear in his blog post that he and Karen were there to NOT work, I just couldn't help but scope out some possibilities for paintings. The structure of the ship fit right in with my industrial aesthetic, and I found myself particularly drawn to the lifeboat assemblies, just full of cool lines and cranes and pulleys. This image represents my initial sketch, done in black ink with a Japanese brush pen. I added white highlights with a watercolor pencil. My next step will be to add a partially transparent light toned glaze of oil paint and Galkyd.


48" x 36"

Reflection of the Studio - by Leslie

At first glance this appears to be a painting of a silver cream pitcher, and that it is. But it is also a painting of my studio. I love the way the room is reflected and distorted in the with the curves in the pitcher and the way the warm wood floor and furniture looks reflected in the silver. If you look closely you can see both Jeff and me working in there. I once read that you should never paint stuff in your reflections that can't be seen elsewhere in the painting. Call me a rebel, but I think that the distorted forms in those reflections is what makes these types of paintings fascinating to paint and to look at. And this one in particular gives a little peek into the way that we work and live (and how cluttered our little studio really is!)



9" x 12" oil on canvas

Koitsuto? - by Jeff

This is my second painting of eggshells on manga (Japanese comics). The title of this painting comes from the Japanese writing in the manga that makes up the background. Koitsuto means "with this guy?" At least that's what my son tells me. I know a little Japanese, but he's actually been to Japan, so I always go to him for translation.

My basic idea here was to use some elements that would seem perfectly mundane to someone in Japan, but to most in the west would come across as exotic and unexpected. I probably rendered some of the Japanese characters incorrectly, and they may actually say something completely different from my reference material. But I noticed as I was painting it that the word "enfatry" was in the manga; obviously meaning "infantry". See what I'm getting at? The same impulse to depict something from another culture was the inspiration for the manga itself - with the same disregard for the meaning of the original! It's kind of like a game of telephone: with each step getting further from the original meaning. All you're left with is the abstract aesthetic.



60" x 48" oil and encaustic on panel

Tulips in the Light - by Leslie

This is a painting of a couple of tulips. I saw them with the light coming from behind and I knew that I had to paint them. Tulips are some of my favorite flowers. I love the simplicity of their structure. Nothing garish, just the bare minimum to do the job.


10" x 10" oil on canvas