Art and Illustration

Hello. I haven't posted in some time, having been busy moving. Here are several things I've done in the not-so-distant past. The first,

is a free-hand watercolor sketch of two photos in Bridaham's Chimeres, Gargoyles, and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture, a photo essay that I like to look at for inspiration. I am drawn to the grotesque in my art, perhaps because I find the complicated much easier than the simple. The next item,

(Honeybee, watercolor on hot-pressed paper, 5" x 7", 2008) is a painting I did for my son's room. Its design is inspired by Japanese block prints. This painting of a praying mantis,

(Praying Mantis, watercolor on Claybord, 4" x 4", 2008) has a similar inspiration. In painting, I have been trying more and more to view the picture format as a surface upon which areas of color are to be arranged rather than as a window through which one is looking. What I mean is, I am trying to make my paintings beautiful as paintings (products of art) rather than as representations of real objects. This is a change of direction for me; perhaps I am still falling between stools. Next is my most recent attempt, a pictoral hymn in gold ochre, Naples yellow, and sap green:

(Third Day of Creation, watercolor on Claybord, 3.5" x 5", 2009) It is meant to represent the third day of creation (the work of distinction: the separation of the waters). In painting this series, I am trying to strike a balance between Thomist exegesis and modern scientific theory. That sounds very fine, but this is only the first of seven!