Descent

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I’m having loads of fun with these old photo inspired paintings.  They provide an emotional connection and a place to begin.  I’m allowing myself the freedom to take great liberties with the faces and figures.  Unlike  portraiture, I m borrowing only what I’m interested in exploring and filling in the rest anyway I like.  It’s a bit like genetics and traditions. Genetics because of the chance factors in unplanned watercolor and traditions because we can choose to uphold them,modify them or create our own.

For the purpose of continuity, I’ll be referring to this improvisational series of sketches as the “Descent”series”.  I’ll post them intermittently and in no particular order, certainly not in descending order.  I’ll be jumping back and forth through time.

Strolling Backwards And Forwards

 

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Welcome back!  Good to see you.

I’ve enjoyed my break, making new work and reorganizing my cyber space.  I’ll be dropping by your space very soon.

Just to keep things fresh, I’ll be posting a little more often, but with less scheduled regularity. Today’s sketch is one in a series of very quick watercolor figure sketches, inspired by old family photos.  I’ve been digging into the past, mining subtleties that influence the present.  I hope you’ll enjoy following along with my efforts.

It’s good to be back!

 

A Stirring

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The title of this painting is “Stirring” and I painted it as a donation for the The Visual Arts Center’s “For Art’s Sake” silent auction.  It’s oil on canvas 11″x 14″.

Perhaps it was the painting that got a stirring going within me, but I will be taking a Spring Break from blogging and my computer.  When I return refreshed, I’ll be visiting your blogs with renewed fervor and will hopefully have a few new pieces to share with you as well.

Julian’s

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This is the first time I’ve featured the work of a fellow artist on my blog.

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When I first started to blog, I made the decision to keep my intentions simple and though I’ve been quite tempted to highlight the work of artists I admire, I have only shown you my various efforts.

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Today I’m making an exception because the artist whose work I’m featuring is my son.

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Gesture, humor, elegance and the drama of the human condition converge and surprise in Julian Cartwright’s  drawings and paintings.

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At least that’s how I see it. 

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Enjoy!

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Blood and Vapor:The Crossing

bboatchildren copySome may remember a series I’ve been struggling with called “Blood and Vapor”.*   Suffice it to say, I continue to struggle with four paintings in this series that I am working simultaneously. Each touches upon  a different aspect of the theme. This one is on the periphery and explores our ties to the inevitable crossing between life and death.

“Blood And Vapor”:   Who lingers within you?   Have you ever felt an ancestral presence?  The inescapable tie of family:hundreds of individuals, yesterday and today, here and gone.  A powerful resonance or inconspicuous vapor?