Flip Top : 2026-02

I finally bought a miter saw which has proven to be very handy. For Christmas, my brother gave me a SKIL router and router table. So in under two months, I had two new tools. It's great to have them but also a space issue. I thought I'd take a hack at making a flip top table. Here it is. Above, it's in the 'buttoned up' mode. The covers were already made (see Sewing Bug) and in this shot, the router happens to be on top. Very please over all. We'll see how it works over time.

These shots show the router table and miter saw uncovered and ready to use. Notice the covers stay in place even when upside down. The router cover is held on by metal clips, the miter cover by magnets. Magnets are great. It would have been nice to have this in a more enclosed case, but part of my objective was to use things I already have and purchase (new purchase) as least as possible. Other than the miter saw, I purchased the latches to lock the table in place and cool raising caster wheels.

The pivot pipe was from an old flag pole, I made the washers for both sides of the pipe, I used all but about a square foot of a sheet of oriented strand board (OSB) that had been unused for about two years. I used three of four 2x4s that I had since the summer of 2023. They were so wonky, I'm fortunate the project came out 'true' enough. I found two pipe clamps to keep the pipe from moving in or out, and all the screws were already sunken costs or reclaimed from another project. By the way, the clearance of the router table just happened to work out perfectly. Maybe 3/4 of an inch from hitting.

The spring loaded door gate latch (above left). Used four...each corner is locked in place.

The SPACEKEEPER raising casters. Four of those, pretty cool. They raise the table about 3/4 an inch.

Above right is my "plan".  Most of it was in my head.

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APR : 2026-02

APR

17 February 2026

Acrylic on hardboard

16 x 20 in (40.6 x 50.8 cm)

FOR SALE

I save some hotel keys and used them to create this image of cascading and increasing collection of cards. I also made it with the intent of entering it into call-for-art (see Greenleaf for me info) along with Odeum. I struggled with how much color, and which color to give each card. I think the final arrangement of colors works. However, as you can see in the gif below, some of the cards might have looked better with a less-than-finished surface. I'm curious what the gallery will think when I submit it for the call for art.

A gif showing a couple shots along the way and the frame holding APR.

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Vibrato : 2026-02

Vibrato

16 February 2026

Acrylic on hardboard

11 x 14 inches (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

FOR SALE

I like when abstracts move me like I want them to. This one did that. I could have taken dozens of stage shots but only took one and it wasn't worth posting as it was close to the final image. I was experimenting with a new green I have. I thought it worked well and mixes great with the rusty orange. The shape simply came from the motion I was feeling at the time. The shape itself went through many changes (for which the stage pictures would have been interesting) and color was probably a bigger focus than physical shape.

This is the frame holding Vibrato. It was holding Pulse.

That sold and, no surprise, they didn't like the frame.

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Greenleaf : 2026-02

Greenleaf

12 February 2026

Acrylic on hardboard

20 x 10 inches (50.8 x 25.4 cm)

FOR SALE

I painted over Ruebenite for this abstract. Ruebenite was made for an art call but was superseded by other entries. The earlier call was RAW, CONCRETE so I covered the hardboard and frame with grout to get a concrete look. It worked pretty well, but the painting wasn't holding any space in my heart. The other reason I tried the grout was to get rid of leaves carved into the frame - hence the new title Greenleaf. I didn't just paint over Ruebenite in spite, I took it as an opportunity to make a painting for another call entitled STEP, REPEAT. It's theme is patterns and this is a geometric pattern. And it's one that's been on my mind for about 30 years...this a head nod to Box Cube, drawn in 1995. I think I'll enter this one with Odeum.

Left: the frame which gives us the title. Next to it, Reubenite.

The other two shots are stage pics.

The frame holding Greenleaf. You can see the leaves are covered and it's concrete-ish.

Note: almost all my frames are easily removed.

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Sewing Bug : 2026-02

I brought the sewing machine out and finished a shirt mod that had been sitting for about four years. After that, I kind of got the bug. I had some sheets that had already been cut in half so I made five tool covers. Four are shown above. The fifth was for a miter saw and that one looks more like a blog. These should keep the dust levels down a bit. Angles are a bit tricky but they're kind of like a mental game/puzzle. Earlier in the day I flew with a great friend and we visited the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum. They had this war poster I hadn't seen before and I'm a fan of war poster art. It reads "The enemy can see your light. Put it out!"

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Revontulet : 2026-02

Revontulet

09 February 2026

Acrylic on hardboard

10 x 10 inches (25.4 x 25.4 cm)

FOR SALE

I wanted to make another abstract painting and this is what happened. To me it is an abstraction of the Northern Lights. Revontulet is Finnish for Northern Lights (aurora borealis). It seemed a strong word to match the angles. There are only two stage pics (below) and this is an instance where I could've taken about 20-30 pics. It was not going as planned. That might be a funny thing to say about abstract work, but for me there's still the question of 'is it correct'? Does it resonate with me?

The initial board (I loved the background) and one other pic along the way.

Revontulet is about 1.5" deep and in this case, a raw wood museum wrap.

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Patter : 2026-02

Patter

08 February 2026

Acrylic on canvas

16 x 20 in (40.6 x 50.8 cm)

 

FOR SALE

I've been wanting to paint a some thunderheads with rain for some time. And I'll likely do it again. I love how the thunderheads turned. I think I could have stopped but I added the foreground clouds because it seemed a bit flat. I like both versions. I added the waterflow mainly because I wanted to work on that and it makes the prairie a little more interesting. Patter comes from pitter patter - as in rain. There was no other odd link to the painting as it was on a new canvas and forgot what was in the frame.

I attacked this pretty aggressively so I only took these three along-the-way pics.

This is the frame holding Patter. Note: almost all my frames are easily removed.

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Pigskin : 2026-02

Pigskin

02 February 2026

Acrylic on polycotton canvas

10 x 10 inches (25.4 x 25.4 cm)

FOR SALE

I bought two of these ball prints...this one was a football and the other one was a basketball which turned into Rock. I bought them because they were 10x10 and the deadline for a call for art hadn't yet arrived. You can read more about the call for art at Whitewood. The original plan was another abstract, but the more I try an intentional abstract, the more I find my better ones are unintended. This one was a paint over in frustration and lo and behold, I saw the man on the pigskin. Is he alive or not? If so, is he going to make it? I liked the sky in the center picture below but over painted it and it became too pink. Other than the sky and some lighter color on the person's shirt, the final isn't different than the picture on the right below.

Only three stage pics, but you can see the complete departure from the original idea.

Pigskin is about 1.5" deep and in this case I did a gallery wrap vs a museum wrap.

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Odeum : 2026-02

Odeum

01 February 2026

Acrylic on canvas

16 x 20 inches (40.6 x 50.8)

FOR SALE

I had an image I'd seen from a movie with horsemen appearing on the crest of a hill. The original landscape and dramatic slop were agreeable to me, but the posse was not. Posse could have been a good name for this since it is a collection of shapes. Once I'd switched to more of an abstract image, I focused on lighting. I like how the sun dots and trees (or whatever they are) turned out.

These are the shots I took. Quite the departure of concept.

Odeum in a brownish bronze frame with fabric inlay.

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