The overall vibe from these particular pieces is that of loneliness — not necessarily a bitter or depressed loneliness, but the sort of lovely kind that invites a lot of thought and contemplation. It’s something I greatly miss sometimes, and what I was greatly attached to when these sketches came about.

And again, there’s the theme of birds, which is why the series is pretty straight-forward “Girl and Birds”

The first series of portraits were done somewhat sporadically, and some though not all, were done primarily using photographs. The dates on the works are the dates of the photographs I used. I’ve lately been really obsessed with old photographs, having discovered a whole stash of them hidden in my family’s house (some left to my parents after my grandma died a few years ago.) There’s something about a photograph — that frozen second in time. I also noticed a big difference between the old photographs I’d found; in most of those taken early 1900′s, the subjects are generally so stiff and uncomfortable. Only then I’d find these random old photos of people caught unawares and grinning away, and those are the best. I love candid shots — and those more recent portraits of friends and family I’ve found incredibly engaging. (P.S. thank you to those awesome people who let me use them as subjects in the portraits!)

The second series of paintings is called the “Fortune Cookie series.”  As I was painting them, I was collecting fortunes, many of which were graciously donated by friends and family for this project. Simultaneously, I was (and still am, by the way) becoming obsessed with birds, especially flocks of birds seen at a distance. The result for this was that both the fortunes and the birds somehow mingled with the landscapes I’d chosen. I think that using the short texts of the fortunes in the pieces brings this odd aspect of narration to the work.

The last painting shown here (“Psalter”) goes back to a fascination with graveyards. The tree in the piece is a cemetery tree, a giant oak, and the prayer in Latin is the Psalter of St. Jerome (again — it is also in my cemetery series from the BCA.) This piece didn’t turn out exactly as I’d wanted it to; it seems kind of haphazard and very very stiff, which is not what I was going for. Still, it may be a jumping off point for something else.

Please feel free to comment!

HOWEVER…

currently working on about 10 to 15 pieces and at the moment it’s enough to keep me pretty busy. As soon as I come to some kind of resting point, they’ll start appearing here.

I’m still wrapped up in portraits, and these (among other subjects) are still somewhat centered on old photographs and achieving a time-worn appearance. I’m trying to stay loose with the paint… it’s one of the many things I’ve learned to keep up since my studio time abroad.

In any case, hopefully a few new and interesting things will be happening. Soon.

Ha! Here finally is my work from the senior show “Kaleidoscope.”

Now, just as a note, some of these photos are not as high-quality as I would like. “To Every Corner” will be re-shot soon, but I just thought for the sake of convenience I would add it here with its comrades. So, once again, I will update the photos with better versions soon.

Additionally, “Angel III” and “Angel IV” were not actually in the show, but they were made to go as a series with “Angel I” and “Angel II” so they are posted here with their fellows.

And finally, my artist statement for the show,

“Within the past year my paintings have started to reflect my interest in memory, age, relationships and loss. In painting I’ve begun to purposefully exploit the processes of time and aging, leaning towards aspects of dilapidation with the hopes of taking the viewer into their own memory.

In the past, the themes of time and memory reflected in my work were impersonal, removed from myself; resolved through portraits of people I didn’t know. From there I’ve started to consider personal relationships and to delve into the history of people I’m related to but whom I don’t remember or have never met. This is an aspect of memory I’m continuing to explore.

The paintings express an aspect of atmosphere and mood as I’ve begun to explore emotional depth. Colors and contrast are muted as I try to capture the effect of time and evoke a sense of forgotten memories and all-but-unknown experiences. A limited color palette using shades of ochre and umber allow for this subdued sense and a presence of age. The use of varnishes to manipulate cracking also contributes to the effect — the product of aging. Text appears in some of the work to mingle with the subjects and concepts, as in some pieces it outlines a time from the past, and in another words are faded and obscure to impart ambiguity.

These ideas stem somewhat from a response to history: that we find beauty and inspiration in the archaic, through the crumbling remains of another’s work. Time inevitably has an effect on everything; we can find it unnerving, but we can also find it sublime.”

"Wandering" series, 3

Here is a series of charcoal landscapes I did of the Irish countryside and a literary figure that represents “the wanderer.” He appears in each of his settings to not be aware of his surroundings, as someone lost in thought. It was suggested to me that these have an illustrated quality. They were meant as a narrative, in the end, but I suppose my ultimate intention was for each to be able to stand on its own as an individual piece. Anyway…

Each of these was meant to evoke a particular mood; some to present a sense of foreboding or melancholy and others to elicit a sense of awe for the space, in contrasts of very dark and very light.

I am still learning.

"The Rain"

“Two Views” series was one that didn’t quite reach the point I expected it to. The idea behind the series was to more or less take the indoor and outdoor environments I found in Ballyvaughan and take them out of context, representing a kind of displacement. In the end, I began to feel that the concept was getting lost in the composition. The interesting thing about that was during our numerous critiques, I was working harder and longer on this series, while in the background (in my spare time) working on the “Cemetery” series. According to my peers, the latter was much more successful then the one I was working so hard at. Funny how that turns out, right?

“The Rain” was a very large piece originally meant to go along with the “Views” series, but ended up in a completely different direction. Working in my studio at this college, I would constantly hear the rain pattering on the skylight above me; it turned into the inspiration for this piece. What I thought was particularly successful was the atmosphere or mood that I was able to capture here, using those subdued tones.

"Loss," Cemetery series

"Remembering," Cemetery series

Matthew

I thought it would be a good idea to start with a post here of some of the work here as an undergrad. All of these thumbnails are from the past two years, and the above, “Matthew” is one from a series I worked on while studying at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland. The “Exercises in Color” series was one that more or less followed a predecessor, the smaller portrait piece using tones of yellow and violet. Unfortunately this series didn’t make it back to the states in one… uh… series, and all in all wasn’t quite up to par. Still, I think it’s good to set it up here as it may be something I’ll have a mind to go back to in the future. I love pallete knife painting, especially with portraiture, building up layers of paint — it’s almost akin to sculpture on a canvas (though these were done on wood panel, my new favorite painting surface) and it’s wonderful to feel the texture that develops. In this way, the face becomes a landscape.