This is a portrait of the late, great expressionist painter, Franz Marc, who was killed in WWI. It is one of my wife's favorite paintings. He died 100 years ago this year. I painted this portrait back in the 1990s. The painting now hangs in the gallery of our home in New Mexico. He loved to paint animals in vibrant colors!

As the year ends, I would like to make one final posting of one of my paintings. We are at our second home now in New Mexico for the winter, and our two eldest granddaughters (and most of the rest of the kids) will be with us for New Year's. In honor of their coming, and the fact that they are very close, I wanted to post this painting from the year 2006. My wife just happened to include it with all the paintings she brought with us to New Mexico. It is called: "Two Sisters" and is oil on linen from November, of 2006. It is not a portrait of them, per se, rather a representation of sisterly closeness.

While rummaging through the stacks of my stored paintings recently at Stone Lion Studio, I unearthed the portrait (below) of my mentor, the late, great Marvin Triguba of Lancaster, Ohio. This painting already dates back to the end of last century.  As I like to tell people: "This is a portrait of the guy who taught me how to paint like this." I had the good fortune to be able to study with this gentleman for about 10 years.  He had a wonderful painting pedagogy, and I think if one followed his advice precisely, the chances of painting successfully were very good, indeed. I still attend a weekly painting group in Lancaster which is a legacy of what Marvin (and his wife, Anne) started,  with many of the painters present also being Marvin's former students.

I just returned from Hayes Arboretum where I delivered 12 framed photographic prints of various works I have done over the years to display in the Nature Center. In honor of the arboretum's new auto tour program "Witch in the Woods". (See Hayesarboretum.org for more information), I included the portrait below I did in 2001. The subject was decked out in a sorceress's costume probably for Halloween. The original acrylic painting is 24" x 36", and this photo may well crop off the top and part of the bottom, but you get the idea! I recall it was fun doing this style, but in order for it to work, it seems that the subject necessarily needs to be 95% covered by their costume!

This is a recent painting I call: "Beijing Alleyway, 2015". Although it does not really truly convey the notion of the Chinese "hutong", a modern Beijing alleyway was nonetheless the inspiration for this painting. I was hoping it might convey a sense of "aloneness". You might think the same, or not think anything at all about this painting. Thank you for looking, anyway. I had originally intended to add shaded areas, light effects, etc., but I kind of like it in this simple, uncomplicated form. (oil and acrylic on canvas.)

This painting, below, executed in June and July of 2015 is called the "Puce House". Puce is a color that is sort of brownish purple. Like the "Green House", it is supposed to convey a sense of loneliness or aloneness. At any rate, both pictures are empty houses. You may feel what you want about it, or , of course, nothing at all! This painting is also mixed media and is 22 x 28 inches in a black metal sectional frame. It currently resides at the Stone Lion Studio. Thanks for viewing my blog and artwork.

By the way, the above mentioned "Green House" painting (pictured in an earlier blog post) is now on view at the Four Reasons Restaurant on Main Street in downtown Lancaster, Ohio. If you are in the area, please come to the annual "ArtWalk" and view that picture for this year's Lancaster Festival. The ArtWalk will be this coming July 24th from 6-9 PM in downtown Lancaster.

"Daisies in a Bowl" (#2) will be a featured painting at the opening of the Mohican Valley Artists at the Stonewall Gallery in Loudonville, Ohio, this weekend (Saturday, June 27th). If you are in the area, please stop out and visit!