Returning Home

Bogalusa became one big game of pine tree pick-up-sticks in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I took this reference photo on a foggy morning after returning home from our evacuation vacation. The photo didn't really show much of the destruction - unless you knew what our street looked like before the storm - but the eerie mix of fog and peach colored sky was the main reason I took the photo, and the reason I wanted to capture the scene on canvas. Although the actual painting is a bit darker and the sky a bit richer in color.

Returning Home, 30x40" $800

Open Studio Newsletter - 4th Quarter, 2008

Hello, all!

It has been a while since the last newsletter, and I thought now would be a good time for a 4th Quarter edition with which to wrap up the year. Besides, I had a few announcements to . . . announce. Here they are:

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Northshore Art Market - Saturday, October 11th
I took the summer off, basically, missing the last two Covington art markets. I should have many new paintings on display. So mark your calendars and swing by if you can and say hello!

Inside Northside Cover Artist Nov/Dec
I am excited to announce that I have been chosen as the cover artist of Inside Northside magazine's November/December edition. No joke. Pretty cool, huh?

Painting-A-Day Blog
I will be restarting my painting-a-day blog soon - probably next month [November], but definitely during the month of December, as I mentioned I would in the Inside Northside interview. This is where I will be uploading one new painting everyday to my blog [for sale, of course]. I will probably do this separately from my main blog, just to keep it simple - a link to it will be displayed prominently on my website, of course, at wessforeman.com.
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It has been a long, hot summer. The kind of summer that makes you forget how cold winter can get, even here in South Louisiana. So, it was amazing when, a few weeks ago, the weather changed overnight, introducing the chilly mornings and pleasant afternoons of autumn - a season long-forgotten in my mind but remembered immediately with the first crisp intake of morning air to my lungs.

So, here I am. Relishing this great weather we've been having. Returning to the outside easel more and more often to put paint to canvas. The family is fine; all fine, thanks for asking. The wife and I are watching our son grow up before our eyes - he's two years old and ready for potty training and playing with Thomas the Tank Engine and jumping from the sofa to the pile of pillows on the floor . . . and life is great.

I pray that this new season finds you well. That you too are experiencing the joy of the changing weather and maybe recalling a time when life was simple and easy and new.

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Something Unsure

For the most part, my paintings are generally based on real life - well, to be more accurate, real life by way of a reference photo usually - but every now and then I'll dabble in completely abstract painting. This painting was inspired from a song I wrote and my brother Matt put to music. It was a bit of an abstract song in it's own right and listening to it the other day, I just felt the urge to paint this painting. Needing something more than just dripping paint, I wrote the lyrics with a china marker, then, not happy with the look of the lyrics, I partially obscured it with paint, leaving legible only the words, "something unsure." Thus the name of the piece.

Something Unsure 30x48" $1,200

Interested in the lyrics? Thought so. Here they are:

"all the time in the world"

everyday a new day - beginning and ending
and we wash away the dust from our sad shoes
give thanks for our lives and hope for good weather
but all of our lives we're running in circles
we're walking on eggshells, and borrowing hours
we're taking turns, we're stepping on shoulders
we're dangerous and angry and guilty and sadly
fortunate son, you've got big shoes to carry you
as you try to get by, try to get an alibi

everyday a new day - it's calling our names out loud
say we don't need this, but there's something missing
and you say, "we've got all of the time in the world,"
but hot on our heels, the creatures are closing in

something unique - something creative
something unsure - beginning to believe again

On Art Shows

I just wanted to make note of the fact that I will not be at the Madisonville Art Show tomorrow - sorry for this last-minute announcement [though, I'm not so sure anyone was planning to attend because of my presence]. Besides, I'm pretty sure the show will have to be rescheduled because of flooding - not sure.

Anyway, next art show I do plan on attending is the usual NorthShore Art Market in Covington, Saturday, October 11th. I already have many new paintings to show off; by that time, I may be showing all new artwork. So come ready to buy, Christmas is on it's way [hint, hint].

Toddler at Play

Toddler at Play 20x20" $350

Coffee Anyone?

Coffee & Beignets 24x36" $450

Coffee with Grocery List 25½x36" $400

Coffee with Spoon 20x20" $350

View from my Window

View from my Window, 24x30" $400

Do Your Ears Hang Low

I painted this painting several years ago but was never totally satisfied with it. I recently got it back from the Animal Health Clinic in Covington and let it hang on our living room wall for a few days, when suddenly it hit me why I was so unsatisfied with it - the background was all wrong. It was a loose patchwork of colors - lime green, orange, blue - perhaps not quite as offensively loud as that collection of colors might suggest, but it was certainly enough to sour my view of it.

So this is the same basic painting with a background redux, resulting in a much more muted, much more mellow painting. And it does something that the busy, color-filled background failed to do: it underscores the emotional undercurrent of the painting, supporting the somber-sad stare of this pup and not detracting from it. Proving the adage, less is more. By the way, the reference photo for this painting was a two inch black and white photo from a newspaper I found.

Do Your Ears Hang Low, 24x30" $400

more portraits

I've been painting a bit lately - getting ready for the Madisonville Art Market next month - and here are a couple of portraits I've recently completed. The first is of my niece Della and it's on a 14x11" canvas. This one was basically a practice painting, trying out a quick technique where most of the painting was accomplished with a relatively large brush, followed by last minute perfecting with a smaller detail brush. Worked out well.

The second is a large 40x30" family portrait of my wife, son and myself. This was painted from a photo taken around a year ago. It was fun to do [meaning it didn't take very long to finish], and I'm reasonably happy with the finished product.

Fishing Lures #1, #2, #3, #4

Just a few fishing lures. These were fun - I'll have to do more. All are six inches square and available for $40 a piece.

Painting Lures

The next art show for me is September 13th, where I'll have a booth for the first time at the Madisonville art market. I'm doing my best to get more smaller paintings completed before then. Pictured below is my little setup in front of my computer [where I can consume all my usual podcasts while I paint]. I figured I'd paint a handful of fishing lure paintings to sell on the riverfront in Madisonville. See you there!

box turtle

Box Turtle, 30x40", $800This little guy is trapped in my backyard - has been for six or seven years now. He shows up about once a year (like a reptilian comet) when the Summer's heat gets to be too much for him. I think I must have missed his previous appearance because this year he seemed to be much larger than last time I saw him.

Anyway, I took a few photos with my new digital camera, and they turned out so well, I just had to paint it.

Box Turtle 30x40" - $800

boy jumping

As promised, here is a new painting fresh off the easel (technically an easel was not used in the creation of this painting). I painted this from a photo of our son, Mason, leaping from a footstool to a sofa, the type of activity at which he's likely to excel. Most of my energy in painting this piece was spent in the area of the head, leaving the rest of the body as well as the background in a loose, simplified state. Click the image for a larger view and please leave a comment. Thanks!

Boy Jumping 20x16" - $300

New Site Design

Once again, I've redesigned the website. I think it's alright . . . haven't double-checked it with Internet Explorer, but it's working with Firefox (let me know if something doesn't work for you).

I've had this idea for a while of making my main website the blog, instead of just a static landing page. Anyway, it simplifies things for me.

It's been a while since my last post (a full month), but, sadly, not much has happened since then. The weather has been typical Louisiana summer fare: hot and humid with the occasional thunderstorm. So I made the decision to skip the June and August Northshore Art Markets (the August one is this Saturday). I plan on returning to the Art Market in October, unless something changes (then by definition . . .), and I'm also considering the Madisonville art market in September.

Skipping these venues has left something of a vacancy in the commissions I normally take on - at least I think that's what is to blame - and, as such, I've found it difficult to get back into my normal painting rhythm. [side thought: why is it that when business is going slow for me, everyone feels the need to ask me, "so, how's the painting going?"!?!]

In the meantime, I have gotten some painting done and have made it up to the Ponchatoula Furniture Gallery to change out some paintings. I spent some time there making some changes to a commissioned landscape. It was fun painting somewhere different and painting in "public", and there was talk about me and artist Bill Hemmerling doing a painting demonstration sometime in the future [I'll let you know if that happens].

Well, that's all I can come up with right now. Back to the easel for me. Let me know what you think of the new look, and if you have any suggestions. Thanks.

Back From Vacation

Took my new sketchbook and drawing pens with me to Lake Arthur [Louisiana] for the week. Did not sketch as much as I would have liked, but I did enjoy the time I did have. Here are a few from the sketchbook (click to get a larger view).

Treeline

This one is a study of the tree line I see from my studio window - I toyed with the idea of adding some kind of center of interest in the foreground, but I couldn't make a decision so: here is where it remained.

meow?

Added New Functionality

In hopes of expanding this blog's functionality and cool-factor, I've added a new commenting plugin called Disqus (that's pronounced "discuss" not "discus"). This is a third-party website/service that keeps track of all comments you make from any website that uses the Disqus plugin. So, yeah, it's a little chicken-before-the-egg kinda thing, but it looks slick and will be implemented on many more blogs soon.

The downside is, while I do still have access to all the previous comments on this blog as administrator, the slate has been wiped clean of all comments from your point of view. So . . . start commenting. The first time you comment, go ahead and register (you can enter your user information, website, email, facebook id, twitter account, upload an avatar, etc....).

We will see how it goes. And if you want me to dig up your comment from a previous post, just ask me and you can re-comment if you wish. Oh, and here's the link for the Disqus website: disqus.com

Domesticated Feline

Domesticated Feline 24x24" - $400

This painting came together very quickly for me, and I like the muted colors and the serene look of the cat. Once again, the reference photo was very important in getting the details right. Looks good in person.

Polo #2

Polo #2 18x22" (? estimated) - $350