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 Ruebenite was made for an art call but was superseded by other entries.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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Derelict : 2026-01

Derelict

27 January 2026

Acrylic on canvas

20 x 16 inches (50.8 x 40.6)

FOR SALE

I wanted to paint something more abstract and I'd seen an abstract in a hotel that was bridge-like. Mine took more form and has more variety in color, but I'd still consider it abstract. I also painted this in an effort to not over paint. I might have overpainted a bit. I.e., the overall image could have been more abstract with less-defined shapes and/or edges. I did like the monochrome shape in the center. That brown applies very transparent and only gets darker with multiple layers. It's good to learn which colors behave the way they do.

I only took these two along-the-way shots.

This frame was looking for a home and I think it's a pretty good match.

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12 Jars : 2026-01

12 Jars

21 January 2026

Acrylic on canvas panel

16 x 20 inches (40.6 x 50.8)

FOR SALE

I didn't particularly like Pale so I painted over it. Some people would say not to paint over things. I would agree with that - mainly for showing evolution and/or progression. However, there are some works that would be of little to no interest to anyone - ever. There are things I liked about Pale, but it was mainly an exercise in painting a horse with no reference. Average at best. So I made an exciting, explosive sky scene. I continued with the rose color in the sky since it makes a great contrast. While an object appears to rocket toward the heavens, the title is a nod to fire from heaven. It's when fire consumes the alter Elijah built as a taunt to one built to Baal. Elijah had 4 large jars of water poured on the alter and did it three times. Read 1 Kings 18 if you're interested. Elijah was the prophet taken to heaven on a chariot of fire which is pretty awesome. Pale was from Revelation so I guess the paintings stayed on theme.

I didn't take many on-the-way pics, but to be honest, there weren't that many.

Pale is on the left.

12 Jars in a solid black frame.

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Rock : 2026-01

Rock

20 January 2026

Acrylic on polycotton canvas

10 x 10 inches (25.4 x 25.4 cm)

FOR SALE

I bought two of these ball prints (the other one was a football and became Pigskin) because they were 10x10 and the deadline for a call for art hadn't yet arrived - you can read more at Whitewood. The convenient part were they were 10x10 and had the required depth. The original plan was to create something along the lines of Cadence. However, planning abstracts like that often don't go as imagined. This one did not. I wish I'd taken more pictures so you could see just how much it changes along the way. But, you get into a mood/flow and it's hard to stop.

A whopping two pictures of different stages. I liked the gray/blue and it's good some was retained.

A shot of the corner showing the museum wrap. I think the solid gray is a good compliment.

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