Zin Lim

Every once and a while you see a painting that knocks your socks off. This one by Zin Lim does it for me. He shows at Ella Richardson Fine Art, here in Charleston, and a couple of other ones out west. I just love his brushwork, the "drips" and the warmth of the skin tones.
I think it's kind of Burton Silvermanish too, which is why I'm drawn to it.

Have a special painting that inspires you that you want to share? Just email me and I'll put it up next time.

Back Home

Having a bit of a jet lag today, but wanted to post this painting I did in Guethary, France. Here i was, traveling Paris, Spain and the coast of France and nothing was truly inspiring me to set up and paint. It may because I was just burned out when we left for vacation, or traveling with family and trying to communicate in French. . . a gift of languages I do not have!

Morgan had a friend loan us his wonderful house in Guethary, near Biarritz, on the Southern coast of France almost on the border of Spain. It's a beautiful area know for as the surfing mecca. The food was the BEST, and the weather perfect . After almost a week, I took my paints and went walking up to the local church to see if I could at least get some pictures, and there was this incredible light casting across the white stucco and onto the crosses. I had such a wonderful time, tucked into a corner by the wall, catching the colors of shadows and light before they moved away.

Maybe you just need to stop what you're doing all the time, and take the time to just soak it all in. Hey, I think they call that vacation!

Off to Paris!

Well, the bag is packed, and we're off to France tomorrow. A real vacation (yea, a little painting too) with Sam and Morgan and the new "French Family". I have been practicing my French for weeks and may have three or four sentences down pat. There is a brilliant comedian Eddie Izzard who does this bit about speaking French and the first three phrases he ever learned. I am diligently practicing them to try on the guy at customs to impress him with my bilingual abilities!

"La chat est sur la chaise. La souris est sous la table. Le singe est sur la branch"
(The cat is on the chair. The mouse is under the table. The monkey is on the branch). Will let you know how that goes.

So 10 days with Morgan's parents knowing no English, and me with my three phrases, and John's pronounciations (learned French by playing hockey in Quebec - hmmm). He's been teaching me French phrases such as " I have many diseases". So it should be a fabulous time!

P.S. If you want a good laugh, do check out the comedian - he's an "interesting" dresser and totally brilliant!

It Is What It Is

Someone asked me the other day what painters have influenced me the most in my career. I like the question because it makes you look back on the work you've done from the start to where you are today. As I was an illustrator first, they were the ones that shaped much of my work in the beginning - Bernie Fuchs, Brad Holland, and Wayne Thiebaud were my heros (all who have came into their own as established painters as well). When I started turning to pastels as my medium of choice, Degas and Mary Cassatt provided endless inspiration - and I still drool over their work at the Musee d'Orsay!

When I started painting in oils, I still admired the linear styles of Wayne Thiebauld and Degas, but discovered the works of Randall Sexton, Burton Silverman and Francis Livingston (the later and I have the same afinity to theaters, and his are spectacular!). I think you are drawn (no pun intended) to certain artists because they have a vision you relate to. The trick is to stay your own person, with your own unique style. Take a hiatus from art magazines for long periods - #1 so that you aren't so influenced by someone elses work, and #2 you don't get frustrated when you see similar work to your own. (I had a friend send me a link to an artists web site that had robots like I was painting - he and i probably had them at the same time at our houses saying "wow - what great still life material!" I was so devastated that they were silimar, but, hey i didn't invent the idea. Sort of like not wanting other people to do nudes - um, they've been painting them for hundreds of years.)

So paint what you love - love what you paint.

above, "Cheerios" 12x12 Private Collection