Shreds n stuff

Progress

2009-11-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

Looking back while I'm moving forward is sometimes an encouraging endeavor and often a surprise as to what I discover. Time can often change my perspective about things that I once thought were cast in stone. I never throw anything away, which makes me a sitting duck at spring cleaning time...and no, you don't want to ask me about storage and inventory unless you want to see my eyes roll back in my head and my tongue loll around in my open mouth...not a pretty sight I assure you. I was looking for a canvas this size to start a painting on and i found this one with a fully realized drawing on it that I had planned to paint probably 18 years or so ago...so, I thought that i'd try to see what I could make out of it...a task made more intriguing since I hadn't done a proper dolphin painting in nearly as many years. So, this is what happened...

"Blue Progression" Acrylic on canvas, 48x24". This work is available, so if you are interested, please feel free to view more information at http://WBEckertStudio.1000markets.com or inquire at WBEckertStudio@gmail.com)

What's with the birds, man?

2009-11-06T16:11:00.000-08:00

Ah, the birds. I like them...pick a meaning for them...beautiful, nervous, quick, elegant (and clumsy of you ever watch a pelican touch down)... wonderful shapes and colors. They set my mind to wandering when i see them...flying alone, in squadrons, in gangs diving into a rosemary thicket, tiny finches, turkey buzzards, regal and aloof hawks and boisterous and raucous scrub jays...a bird for every purpose and idea and emotion under the sun. Sometimes they are speeding shapes in the corner of my eye and sometimes huge flocks above the waves feasting on schools of "unfathoming" fishes. So, I'm doing birds in all kinds of situations...in whatever venue that seems fitting.

And here is "A Morning Flight" Acrylic on canvas, 15"x30". This painting is available, so if you are interested, please feel free to view more information at http://WBEckertStudio.1000markets.com or contact me at WBEckertStudio@gmail.com

I Told You So

2009-11-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

Well, i did say that i was sneaking up on a showing and i did. i really dislike the phrase, "I told you so!", it usually follows some personal catastrophe that one is supposed to feel could have been averted if only the "expert" warning had been heeded...Anyway, this time it's all good. I'm showing some of my new work at a local coffee shop, seven pieces that i haven't shown before, and i was afforded an entire wall for them! Life is good. The only thing better than having a wall to hang my paintings on, is a wall to paint one on. One really great upshot of getting these items out there is that i'm tremendously inspired to get more of my backlogged ideas down on canvas and paper. This is a VERY good thing!

So, i'll be posting some of the new work, and i'll do that starting with "Interwoven"...this one meanders like my thoughts, but it's all tied together. the birds theme is very far from being exhausted...so for my first offering...(all of the following until i say "uncle" are available, so if you are interested, please feel free to view more information at http://WBEckertStudio.1000markets.com or inquire at WBEckertStudio@gmail.com).

"Interwoven" acrylic on canvas "36"x24"

Sneaking Up

2009-07-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a while. i can actually claim that i have been working, if not posting. i decided a while back the i would hold off on the posting till i had a number of pieces to post and i have (not in small amount helped by the fact that i am just a procrastinating genius of sorts). i'm slowly sneaking up on my goal.

i decided to post this one since it's already up elsewhere. i've been doing birds lately while pondering other things...these are pretty idealistic birds but they seem to fit where my head is residing these days. This is my latest. i did it as a birthday present for my wife...it had the desired effect...complete surprise and delight. i like it when that happens.

"whisperflight" acrylic on canvas, 15"x30", Private Collection)

Balancing Act

2009-02-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

more peppers...

although these seem to be leaning right, they are most definitely liberal peppers! this turned into a bit of a balancing act of sorts. although i feel that the peppers lean a bit towards the abyss outside the picture frame, they seem to have achieved a precarious balance. when i was posing my spicy subjects, despite my better compositional judgment, all the positions that looked balanced seemed rather dull, so i went with this one...at the time that i finished it, i didn't think that i liked it, but viewing it the next morning proved it a hasty call.

teetering for your perusal...."Peppers On Glass" original acrylic on canvas

Things That Bump

2009-02-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

so it's raining outside and dreary, but it doesn't bother me, in fact i wish it were raining much harder... it does put me in the mind of bright color though, probably the need to balance it all out. sameness seems to demand contrast, even of the violent sort, while raucous turmoil and intense and unrelenting contrast beckons some sort of soothing consistency...sometimes things that bump in the night are needed and even welcome, even in the day.

i'm not sure where this came from, i can see roots in "starry night", but it did offer a refreshing contrast to the rainy day outside...in stark contrast to my obsessively worked out pieces this one was free and easy...all the incredible life and movement that is going on in the night (and all around us any at time for that matter) that we are scarcely aware of...

"Night Movements" original digital print.

Spicy

2008-11-30T11:35:00.000-08:00

i like peppers, i like how they taste, i like how they make other things taste, i like how they look. i prefer the twisty ones the most. i've noticed that many stores seem to prefer peppers that look like storybook peppers...uniform and uniformly "pepper-like". i think that i prefer the "Mapplethorpepper"...suggestive and sensually twisted...visually spicy!

what i did with three of them one afternoon...
"3 peppers" original painting, acrylic on canvas 8"x10" study on stretched cotton canvas ($125)

Where Does It Come From?

2008-11-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Inspiration...great stuff...but where does it come from? does everyone get it? why do some people seem to get large doses of it, while others seem to languish? why does it seem to dry up sometimes?

whatever it is, i think it's a good thing.sometimes i muse that it's a slippery item to claim as one's own. maybe we can claim that we had the good sense to act on it, but it hardly seems that we generate it at whim (which would be the only way that we could lay claim to owning it). Another thought to shake around in those quiet times.

i always wanted to try this...i'm not sure if i would want this kind of muse around all the time...rumor has it that they have large and omnivorous appetites.

"The Source" photography, various 3d applications, and Photoshop

Fated?

2008-11-20T15:25:00.000-08:00

What is Fate, is anything "fated", do we make out own Fate, are we helpless before fate, in fate we trust? if there is such a thing, from what does it emanate?...some things to ponder over a reassuring glass of something stronger than ginger ale.

One of my latest paintings "fortuna ex machina"...41.5x33", acrylic on canvas.

Bird Brained

2008-09-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

birds on the brain...that must be the reason. i was doing some photo research on pelicans for a future painting so i found myself, camera in hand, stumbling around the rocks at the sea shore. it was a very nice day and the birds were most accommodating (lazy?) so i got some nice pics and even better inspiration. i wish i had wings...

for the flighty...."Pair On a Popular Perch" and "Simple Requirements"

Follies

2008-09-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

i decided to paint...just paint. i find that if i spend time deciding whether my impulse to paint any particular idea is worth spending the time on...i don't. the result of that little exercise is no painting. so, in the interest of producing some paintings, i'm painting ANY ideas that seem interesting. this particular one is not the latest, but it is in the recent roster. i also decided to stock them up a bit instead of releasing them every time i complete one. more on this topic later, but for now...

"Birds Before the Storm" (acrylic on canvas, 15"x30", SOLD)

The Wrong Thing

2008-08-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

i really have taken a liking to the sound of the word "bling". it's a wonderfully descriptive utterance for something that has a momentary sparkle and flash...the passing twinkle in an eye used in an over-the-top visual comedy...so sad that we grab onto that so often as the first thing...and spend an inordinate amount of energy of all sorts trying to possess...nothing...or, arguably less satisfying, the wrong thing.

such an incredible lack of discernment..or is it simply just laziness, like looking at nothing in particular and past everything and just grabbing the first "bling" we see?

it makes me very uncomfortable to ponder this one..."calming vibrations"

Facing Faces

2008-08-12T15:01:00.000-07:00

i usually take the stand that there are "absolutes", but as i get more experience in life i have to admit that there seems to be no possible way to ascertain what they (or it) might be.

every single object or event looks different, and may have different significance, depending on the person observing it or the location of the observation point...that would seem to include physical location, mental state, life experience, education, and whatever else we could imagine that would make each observer/location combination unique. it sometimes seems to me that if we could just get all the views, we'd know what something absolutely is...or would we?

i'm fascinated by this concept, and it's easy enough to play around with it on a small scale while photographing the same thing from different perspectives...the more i play with it, the more i'm convinced that there's just no telling...and so i go on exploring and observing.

two of the many faces of one of my favorite buildings, the templeton granary..."a matter of scale" and "boxes and boxes".

Arc Flight

2008-07-31T17:20:00.000-07:00

i thought i'd post my latest painting. this has some of my favorite arcs and swoops (and the arm and hand movements that go with them), and the animal whose movements i love to trace with those forms. it's been quite a while since i've painted dolphins, and this is a completely different approach to the subject for me. i may go this way for a while and see where i wash up.

for your pleasure..."Arc Flight" acrylic on canvas

A Hit to the Eye

2008-07-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

Not much to say here...color...texture....it's everywhere! i like it!

just a couple of pieces that tickle my retinal receptors..."Turquoise Harem" and "Intruder Warning in Red"

Webs We Weave

2008-07-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

throughout the world, in all of our lives we see the evidence and consequence of the intrigues we create. we are often aghast to observe that, once created, they are likely to take on a life of their own...completely out of our control, careening down paths that we never imagined. oh what wondrous webs we weave...and in the nature of webs, they become tangled and entangling...it's just the nature of things.

unfortunately, we fool ourselves into thinking that we do have control over our creations and machinations...we don't. it's not that we can stop our web-making, and it's impossible to untangle our creations, but it's worth the effort at times to stop and observe that tangle and try to sort it out to find a focus...if for no other reason than to learn a thing or two about them.

these two pieces required considerable thought to find a focus in the tangle...but, worthwhile i think..."industrial strength web" and "snail snare"

Rachel

2008-06-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

people and images...i surely find people the most challenging of all images to make. it's not all that difficult to take a good photo of a person, but to capture a bit of their personality...for me, that's a tough one...

my favorite person, wife, partner, and, pleasurably, my favorite model...rachel... "rachel deep in thought" and "piece of mind"

Chaos and Order

2008-06-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

it's fascinating to consider the place of chaos in a world where we value order, or is it considering order in a world that seems to admit chaos at every turn? in any case, in art it is a struggle at times to order the chaos of images, colors, forms, and aromas that we encounter at every turn. like doing a term paper or essay, it's often difficult to corral the material and make some digestible sense of it all...

both of these pieces presented that challenge..."Torigata 2" and "barely contained"

A Star Is Born ... Every Day

2008-06-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

sometimes it flat out amazes me to see something that i am very familiar with and think i "know so well" in a new context. my first reaction is one of awe at what i'm looking at...its beauty, color, shape, complexity, whatever the overwhelming sensation may be. if i examine it at length, i may come to realize that it is a very familiar thing that shines in contrast to a foreign environment. a star is born! i find myself overwhelmed by the sensation and fail to see what i am really looking at...the "same old thing" in a context that showcases its special traits.

in light of this observation it's surprising that we should be so anxious about being in unfamiliar situations...the very places where we might shine.

so....."punk'd out in orange" and "a star is born"

Something New, something older...

2008-06-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

i'm defintely not an advocate of forgetting the past. i have often been advised that it's good for an artist to destroy all that clinging old work so that we can work a fresh slate...i'm not there. i'm always fascinated by old works. i have a sort of detachment from them in that it's not too long after they are completed that they don't feel like mine. they are fascinating and yet seem foreign to me...like looking at someone else's work. good, bad, or ugly that's the way it is.

at times i revisit old works and re-invent them, or re-do them in another media...or return to the path that i wandered off on when i did them originally. this is one such piece...the sketch was done on a plane flight, and i worked the solution over a period of time...now i'm looking forward to a second journey for it on canvas. "Guilt:Formal"

Breaking Camp...

2008-06-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

Most of the work that i've posted recently has been photographic in nature, but i thought i'd post something a bit different this time. i just finished a commission that i procrastinated myself through for way too much time...having just "broke camp", i'm understandably pretty excited!

without going into gory details, this is an original portrait of a young man on a 1927 Harley Davidson based on a black and white photo of the subject supplied by the client ...done in acrylic on canvas, 30x40". "Shaw's Ride", SOLD

In and Out of Focus

2008-05-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

it is interesting to consider that even though we think that everything we look at is in focus, actually only the very specific area that we are looking at is in focus...the rest is just shapes, colors, or movement. we don't normally take notice that we look rapidly at a great number of things in a short period of time, and that our eyes focus and adjust very quickly to each new area of interest...so we get the whole picture rather than just a bit. the camera can tease us with a different view...

playing with that concept with the camera has all sorts of possibilities..."fiery iris" and "green bursts"

The Little Bits

2008-05-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

it's amazing how often we miss the beauty of the little insignificant parts...shapes, color juxtapositions, words, inflections, sighs...in our mad "appreciation" of the grandeur of everything...

here's to those bits...."colors bumping" and "little bits of time"

... And All That Jazz

2008-05-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

well...there's the mysterious and then there's "in your face".

i did mention that i find it very hard to settle for just one style, one emotion, one look in my work. of course that makes me pretty hard to categorize, but, i gotta admit that's the way i am...as i mentioned in a previous post...like ruby rod in 5th Element, "i don't want one position, i want all positions!"

this is like going from chamber music to art blakey or herbie hancock, but i do like it at times when everything falls into an ordered structure...clean lines, precise shapes, vibrant colors, methodical structure...while working on these two, i was reminded of the painter stuart davis and his jazzy paintings so i had to reacquaint myself with the pleasure of his work....bright and flashy...

so...bright, flashy, and structured..."jazzy ensemble" and "mee 2"

O So Mysterioso

2008-05-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

when i was very young my father used to take my brother and i for walks in the woods...we used to explore and play tag and hide and seek (me in my red jacket)...i always thought it was a magical place...mysterious, dark, sometimes light streaming into secret places revealing wonderful scenes...i don't think i've ever lost that feeling of the mysterious in nature...one of my favorite experiences, still, is wandering in some out of the way area (this often can be 5 feet from a road!) and discovering a bower, a pile of leaves, a stream, a wizened and impossibly gnarly tree, a spider sitting on it's woven lace picnic blanket awaiting a guest for dinner... being awe inspiring without the slightest need for an audience...and here i am, the lucky observer... like being someplace i'm not really supposed to be.

if i have my camera with me, i can spend hours, trying to capture that feeling of awe and the delights that i'm seeing and experiencing. it's not so easy, i find, to capture that mystery...

these two shots are a pleasure for me...i think i came close to capturing that element of mystery that i enjoy..."after the shower" and "oak grove on a rainy day"