Autumn 6 x 6 oil on tile

   Soft almost abstract oil of an autumn scene in the mountains, mist hanging heavy.

Mountain Hike Oil on tile 9.75 x 9.75

    This painting-a frequent composition as close readers of this blog may recognize is done with a different media and color scheme. Here the tile lends itself to some of the muting of colors with the distant mountains-perhaps the goal of our hikers- enshrouded in an atmospheric haze. The trees are strong verticals while the diagonal slope draws us to out hikers.

His Last at Bat Oil on canvas 8 x 10

   This is a gift for a good friend and his wife who are great fans of Stan the Man Musial. This hall of famer represented the epitome of class and grace among professional athletes. During his long career he remained a St Louis Cardinal and was never thrown out of a game. When he retired in 1963 he held 17 major league and 29 National League and 9 All-Star Game records. Imagine an athlete after a bad season  returning some of his salary-despite it not being part of his contract! Stan the Man did and as such represents the ideal. This painting is a tribute to him, to his family, and the professionalism in sports that is a generations past. It is taken from a black and white photograph of his last at bat-he singled there. There is the tension between Stan poised to hit, the catcher awaiting the ball and the umpire in position to make the call. The blurred edges lend to a sense of movement. The colors those of a autumn day.

"On Guard II" Oil on canvas 18 x 24

   I love this painting-unfortunately my multiple efforts at capturing the colors accurately with my camera fail to match the colors of this painting. The background has a more reddish warmer hue while the lion on guard at the Art Institute of Chicago is more green, offering a better contrast to the background. The strokes here are loose and bold, with subtle color variation especially in the shadow portion of the underbelly-there there is a mix of purple, green and blues in various hues.

"Vernal" Oil on tile 6 x 6

  A very loose almost abstract painting to capture a spring-early summer lake with mountains in the background.

"Imposter" OIl on canvas board

  In Chicago the Art Institute Lions are adorned with various sporting gear during a championship run. During the NFC Championship run this year the Chicago Bears adorned the heads of our imposing lions. I thought it would be fun to switch them to the opponents team, as if some pranksters imposed their will and wishes during the night. Needless to say my friends and family here in Chicago found this somewhat less than amusing! But it was fun to do.