Three St. Francis of Assisi Paintings

St. Francis of Assisi set. Mixed media on wood. The flanking Francis paintings are in private collections. Each is done in acrylic on top of collage in a wooden tray. In this pic only the center painting has metal leaf, but I've since applied it to all three.

St. Francis of Assisi continues to hold fascination for me as a subject. These three paintings were inspired by a very old print given to me by my Great Grandmother way back in 1978 or so. I'll post a pic of it separately.

Decided to detach from Facebook and other sites for a month in order to carve out time for setting up my online store, updating the Sk3tchbook site, and completing a bunch of paintings in the queue. Hope this exercise in simplification works.

Hansel and Grethel

Hansel and Grethel. Mixed media/collage on wood. Finished work in private collection. This is "in progress". Trying to decide on the next step, altho I know it's almost finished. The photo shows it much cooler and fluorescent looking than it is. Found an old gradebook page with some weird grey greens and red dots on it and stuck it on a wood tray. This follows a set of three St. Francis pics done similarly. Will post them in a few, as well as the finished version of this.

The first pic is actually the finished version. Sometimes posting these makes me see the stuff that needs work more easily. I warmed it up and now it looks old and dirty--perfect!

Sleepy Owl and Retro Rooster

Sleepy Owl and Retro Rooster. Watercolor and ink, both approx. 2.5" x 3.5". Both in private collections.  Feeling very rusty with watercolors, but have been inspired to go after them again by a master artist, Petra Rau. Her works are large and colorful but never garish. These are both small, so today began work on a large one. When I used a big mop brush to wash the paper, the brush disintegrated! Has it been a hundred years since I last did a large watercolor? Yes.

Ghost Letters set

Ghost Letters set. Mixed media on wood plaques. Private collections.

Was given a packet of old letters last year and had this series in mind. It's a bit of a cliche, but I still had to do it. Did the drawings awhile ago. After reading Ruth's blog I understood a method for adhering the pics to a wood surface so was finally able to get 'em done.

The Goblin King Returns with the Key

The Goblin King Returns with the Key. Pen and ink, 5 1/2" x 7 1/2". An illustration for an (as yet) unpublished story.

In the Machine Room

In the Machine Room. Watercolor on board, 5" x 7". This little watercolor was accepted into the Retrofuturology show at Observatory, Brooklyn, NY. (located in the Proteus Gowanus art complex). www.observatoryroom.org

I like certain things about Steampunk-ish work, like the movie City of Lost Children, esp. But, like everything, some of it seems overdone already. Still, there's something homey and comforting about rusted pipes and mouldering gauges.

Want to go to Brooklyn

Front Cover

Drew the cover in pencil, then used a brush and black acrylic to get the image on the left. The final version is filled in with acrylic also. Have to figure out a way to make it durable. Still have a few more pages to finish before I send it off.