renovation continues

The road to wessforeman.com version 2 is going swimmingly [that means good] - in fact, with this next phase, "the gallery overhaul", the site will be skipping from version 1.2 directly to version 1.7 [that's how big a jump this will be].

Stay tuned to this channel for more...

wessforeman.com version 1.2

I've just completed the first phase of renovation of the website [wessforeman.com version 1.2], and it looks fantastic if I do say so myself. Among other things, I made the simple menu along the top look cleaner [the links change colors as the pointer hovers over them]. The other obvious addition is the right hand sidebar where I've added a place for news and for links of interest, as well as a few photos [which I hope to change out from month to month].

Overall I'm happy with what I've got, though I may tweak it a little. Phase two will be an overhaul of the gallery - showing available paintings first, adding sizes and prices, etcetera. In phase three I will tackle the guestbook - I'm not totally sure what happened, but I think my web host, VizaWeb, updated the guestbook module which threw it into a default template which does not match the rest of wessforeman.com . . . anyway, this is what I will be addressing.

renovation work

I'm working on a renovation of the website [wessforeman.com]. I need a way to show the paintings I have available [and for sale] in my studio right now. As it stands the gallery shows some of my better paintings of the past - some are in the studio, some are at the Louisiana Furniture Gallery in Ponchatoula and a great percentage of them are already sold . . . not to mention the fact that I don't have titles, sizes and prices listed.

Another thing I'm considering is adding some short videos - studio tours, painting how-to's, etcetera - I've just purchased a larger memory card for my digital camera so I can now take useable videos.

Check back often for these changes, and let me know if you have any ideas for me.

when he was alone

When he was Alone, 22x28", $300

waiting to exhale (winter oak)

Waiting to Exhale (Winter Oak), 30x40", $700

like a fly

Like a fly
in a spider web we are
caught in this world
so hold on to your fortunes
you are
a butterfly trapped in
a spiritual caccoon
a sleeping beauty
this seems to be quite true to me

Like a Fly, 24x30", $400

talk to some seagulls

Looking forward to
take some time off
Drive down to the coast
talk to some seagulls
Swim in the ocean for
three days straight

Talk to some Seagulls, 22x28", $300

robot graveyard #4

Robot Graveyard #4, 30x24", $400 

simple games we played

this red ball, it bounces
down the hill
ever down

we make castles
in the sandpile
out of sand

we turn circles
in the playground
we all fall down

ever down

simple games
we played

Simple Games we Played, 22x28", $300

you are not alone

April showers
don't come soon enough
You buy flowers
to make it seem like cheerful
bright sunshine in May-time
might arrive and
you won't feel alone
[but you are not alone]

You are not Alone, 24x18", $200

a comet came from outerspace

Story goes . . .
A comet came from outerspace
Crashed into the moon
Green cheese filled the air
And the whole world worried at
The growing mob of green mice
And opposing army of green cats
Green cats versus green mice
And the whole world worried
"Am I gonna die or
Will it be alright?"

A Comet came from Outerspace, 24x30", $400

pavement

Broken in two -
Crumbled into dust again
And pounded in the pavement
I did not even see you bend

Pavement, 30x40", $800

grid 1 and grid 2

I have been experimenting a lot lately on nonobjective abstract painting [a catagory I never had much interest in until now] - and although I have painted "grids" before, they were always part of, or superimposed over, a landscape of some sort. These are just grids, that's all. Nothing much to them really - color and line and a bit of positioning, that's what little grids are made of. They are colorful, aren't they?

Grid A, 24x24", $250

Grid B, 24x24", $250

your house

TV trays
Stacked in front of the
microwave
We watched a comedy on
Saturday

We became
Disappointed with
Bill Murry
About halfway through the
movie

After that
Tried a little bit of
caffeine
Started bouncing off the
ceiling
At the corner cafe

2 a.m.
Stopped at the curb in my
hatchback
Put the movie in the
moviebox
Put you at your house

What I really want to know is
How can I phrase this
I'm looking forward to next weekend

-- Your House, 24x24", $300

we are the stars

I stayed up too late
last night counting all the stars
I could not find one
out of place, no not anywhere

I prayed for you, hope you find
your way back home again
I could not hope for someplace
more precious, no not anywhere

we are the stars
look at how spectacular we can be
look at us shine
even as we fall
we are
the stars

We are the Stars, 23x35", $400 

waiting for spring

In the summer
you wore your hair long
In the winter
you were more than a little
scared of your first day
on the job in a town
you knew nothing about
and no one to talk to
waiting for spring

Waiting for Spring, 30x40", $800 

paintings with poetry

I've had this idea for years now but have only now gotten around to it: juxtaposing my paintings with short clips of poetry, or poetic-like prose [call it what you want]. The idea being that viewing one might add something to the other and vice versa. Our paradigms - how we see the world - are hardwired into our lives, and I think this combination of words and images has the tasty potential of adding deeper layers to the simple act of viewing a painting.

Appearing high in my scattershot list of hobbies - almost as high as painting - is songwriting, accompanied by passable guitar chords. A few of these recent song lyrics have made for a nice grab-bag of sorts for these first "paintings-with-poetry"s I'll be posting over the next week or two. These "lyrics" are not meant to be great literary masterpiecs, mind you - quite the contrary, they are not meant to stand on their own at all but simply add another layer to the painting being viewed.

Enjoy, and please leave a comment!

art is about the art

Sometimes it's okay to create something because you like it - that's all - you just like it. There is no deeper meaning, no heartfelt emotional or philosophical underpinnings; none of that. You just like it. And that's perfectly okay.

I've heard it said that some artwork is harder to view than other artwork, and I guess I agree with that. I can see that in movies for instance. There are some movies, though violent and perhaps bloody [i.e. hard to view], that still manage to draw me in as a viewer because of the craftmanship of the art . . . be it the scripting, the acting or directing. Whatever that something is, I perceive those movies as art. And that's what it is: perception. Art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Art is about the art. And in creating that art, an artist puts some of himself there on the canvas. And that part is not necessarily a logical process. Sometimes it just happens.

"Any artist should be grateful for a naive grace which puts him beyond the need to reason elaborately." - Saul Bellow

Robot Graveyard #3 - Disassembly

This one has a tenuous link to the robot graveyard series, namely the coffin-like shape in the lower right corner, the geometric shapes throughout and the cartoonish color scheme. I look at it as a disassembly of the various parts of the robot graveyard world. A serious work of art if you ask me [snicker-snicker].

"Robot Graveyard #3, Disassembly" is painted in acrylic and, as best I can recall, weighs in at around 24x24" [I was too lazy to run out to the garage/studio to measure it just now].

tuxedo dance

Admittedly, I spent no time naming this painting; tuxedo dance may be as good a name as anything but it sounds a little weak. Any help?

I painted this from a photo taken at my brother's wedding reception [my brother is the one in the suit, dancing with his new bride]. Size: 30x48", acrylic and oil.

[it's been so long since my last post - just under a month - I'll try to do better!]