Making Art and Reading on the Brink of the Mayan Apocalypse

On this day Friday, December 21, 2012 I decided to take the day to peacefully read and paint. Upon my glass palette I have a fiery colored oil paint (Old Holland’s Cadmium Red Light) at the ready for any impromptu plein air landscape painting in the event that Portland, Oregon’s resident volcanic mountain, Mt. Hood, engulfs our fair city in a sea of lava and brimstone.

City on the Hill, Oil on Paper, 11 x 14”, 2009

Currently I am reading several books for artists– some on old master painting techniques and tricks of the trade and some authored by painters. Highlights include Salvador Dali’s 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship, A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney by Martin Gayford, The Art Spirit by Robert Henri, and Bright Earth, a book about the history and invention of colors and pigments. (Oh helllll yes I am a nerd…)

Read more, web less!

My new painting studio is located in a renovated third story attic of a hundred year old Victorian house. It has two large skylights under which I have set up to paint. The clarity of the light up here is truly wonderful.

My new painting studio, December 2012.

Originally, I had my studio on the second floor of the house, but after I saw a painting in the Met Museum in New York City this past summer I was moved to adapt to a smaller space in the attic in order to work with the best daylight possible.

In the painting an artist works in an attic space beneath a skylight and has a suspended pane of frosted glass over his desk to diffuse the light. Since Portland, OR is an unending grey rain shower for most of the year so far it is like the light has already been frosted for me. I am unsure if the artist in the painting isn’t also using the diffused light with a small mirror for an unknown technique. What do you think it looks like he is doing?

The oil painting that inspired my studio space. Did you notice the red and blue chairs?

Update: Dissecting this oil painting of space/etching techniques after discussion.

My current painting commission in progress on my easel.

So far December 21, 2012 is a good day. I have my hot tea. While I paint I’m listening to Moondog’s Lament 1 and Jonathan Richman’s Egyptian Reggae. No sea of lava… yet.

Thank you for reading! Happy Apocalypse and Winter Solstice 2012!