Adams Avenue Liquor

"Adams Avenue Liquor" 12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas.

I have always been impressed by the Ashcan painters, as well as other artists of their circle and influence. John Sloan, George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, Reginald Marsh, and of course Hopper. From a technical point of view, I especially enjoy the gritty color and vigorous brushwork. Depicting figures in a landscape is an exciting challenge to me, and I'm interested to look at how they pull it off. And they did some great night paintings, nocturnes have always fascinated me. They are a challenge to paint. And there's a mood that a night-time urban scene evokes for me... something nefarious. Psychologically, the shadow persona sometimes emerges after dark.

Liquor Store Nocturne, Escondido

"Liquor Store Nocturne, Escondido" 12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas.

I finally have my exhibition date scheduled for May 14th, 2011 at K Nathan Gallery in La Jolla. There will be nearly 30 paintings, the biggest and best show of my career to date. Currently I'm working on an exhibition catalog, and other materials for promotion. I'm exhausted, excited, and eager to see it all come together.

This new piece is called "Liquor Store Nocturne" 12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas. I'm painting a few Liquor Store pieces, I love the old signage, and the feel of a night setting. And more than a few of my figures lately have been on the phone... symbolic of trying to reach out and make a connection, or perhaps escape lonliness or anxiety.

Liquor Store Nocturne, El Cajon Blvd.

"Liquor Store Nocturne, El Cajon Blvd." 18 x 18 inches, oil on canvas. This piece, as well as my other new figurative works, are available through K. Nathan Gallery in La Jolla. They have a wonderful selection of early California artists including Franz Bischoff, Edgar Payne, Alfred Mitchell, Maurice Braun, William Wendt, and all the other big names. I feel privileged to be exhibiting in such good company. In addition to these early California artists, K. Nathan handles the works of a select few living contemporary California painters such as myself, Robert Watts, Brian Blood, and Laurie Kersey... http://www.knathangallery.com/index.html My work will be on their website soon, and we're planning an exhibition for the spring of 2010.


This old Liquor Store on El Cajon Boulevard has been a spot that I have long admired for a potential painting, so I have visited it a few times to get the perfect lighting I wanted for the painting. Early one evening when I stopped by, I found this gentleman stepping outside for a smoke.

Night Trains

Overwhealmed with other obligations, I've still managed to get a good amount of painting done since my last post here, but I've only just photographed my four new pieces. The first one here is "Night Trains", 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas. It's part of my ongoing series of nocturnes and also the LA river. According to my friend William Wray, we're apparently founding members of the "LA River School of Painting".

This painting depicts a train yard, just east of downtown Los Angeles by the LA River. I was on a bridge, above the river, just as the sun had set. Not a place I'd prefer to spend an evening alone, I painted the view back in my studio rather than plein-air. It's really a study in blues, a narrow variety of color, almost a tonalist piece. I chose to paint it with a loaded brush, there's alot of pigment on there, giving it a liquid feel without much for hard edges. Painting the night is difficult, as I've said before, because it doesn't photograph well and the artist needs a good color memory and sense of color harmony. It's easy to let the painting go into black, and I try to never let it get too dark, allowing the viewer to see into this shadowy world. The earliest part of the evening is like a magical hour, it really casts a melancholy mood onto the landscape.