Artist's Statement: Sometimes the Oil Painting Can Be a Prototype If you have been following the past several postings, you will remember that I use charcoal drawings as prototypes, to help me better understand the images I want to depict in oil. On occasion, however, I will do an oil painting as a prototype – as in this week’s posting. Here’s the backstory. Shortly after I had finished the oil painting of the Egyptian Princess (posted last week), the model on whom I had rel

Artist's Statement: Coelho’s statement fits the eyes of my son, who was the model for both of these portraits. As for the passage from Hugo, B’H’ my son is not poor, but those who know him would agree that the stars do pass through his soul. Mr. Cool Oil on Panel 18 x 24 in His Eyes Oil on Panel 14.25 x 17.5 Your eyes show the strength of your soul. Paulo Coelho The Alchemist What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his c

Artist's Statement: When I first started taking seriously the idea that I might be an artist, before I had taken any classes, I began to work in charcoal, with my favorite subjects being books and fine glassware. This drawing is one of my earliest and most favored. I have given it to the scholar in my life. Charcoal Drawing 13 x 16 in Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it

Artist's Statement: I have been working for seven years on a group of paintings entitled Strong Women of the Bible. In this head study, I worked to explore the feelings that might have animated Batiya, as she contemplated the choice that would change her life and the world. A daughter of the Pharaoh, she found a weeping, male baby in a basket adrift in the Nile. She knew that her father had decreed the death of every first-born Jewish male child and she had no doubt the baby

Artist's Statement: When I painted this portrait, the model was posing simultaneously for several artists. While ordinarily I determine the pose for the models I paint, this time I had to accept the pose chosen by others. To my eyes, Edward (the model) seemed very somber, almost like a judge contemplating a difficult decision. I struggled a bit to bring that feeling to my painting. I believe I succeeded because, when Edward saw the finished work, he asked to have his photo t

Artist's Statement: This painting is a portrait of Esther, my daughter’s first and best friend from a tumultuous year at the Smithsonian Institute in Panama. Esther and Rachael remain close, despite the great distance and various vicissitudes of life. As a friend, Esther, holds your hand, makes you laugh, and has your back. Oil on Panel 16 x 20 in My soul is a hidden orchestra; I know not what instruments, what fiddle strings and harps, drums and tamboura I sound and clash

Artist's Statement: The subject of this portrait is a good friend, in whom strength and calm inhabit beauty. Oil on Panel 19 x 23.5 in I will be calm. I will be mistress of myself. Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; George Gordon, Lord Byron She Walks in Beauty Art as an Oasis™ Art as an Oasis is a series of occasional postings from

Artist's Statement: In Shakespeare’s tragedy of Hamlet, the young prince confronts death, its causes, consequences , and meanings several times. On one very well known and eerie occasion – in a graveyard – Hamlet comes across the skull of a friend – Yorick. The questions Hamlet asks there are always current. So I decided to paint a modern Hamlet in modern garb but – reflective of the old questions – still holding the skull of Yorick. Oil on Canvas 31.5 x 33.5 in Alas, poor

Artist's Statement: During my visit to Tsinghua University in Beijing, a student gave me a tour of the grounds and further, off campus, to see the Old Summer Palace. We walked around the Palace grounds for several hours. There is a beautiful public park on the grounds where hundreds of people, families and students strolled and enjoyed the view and the calm and serenity of the park. When I returned to the States I had my model pose in a kimono I had bought in China, to revive