“DEVIL’S IN THE CAMPFIRE”

“The devil is in the details” but in this painting I play around with that wisdom and shift the focus to the campfire, the place where people often enjoy sharing their favorite stories with family and friends. Such narratives are helpful to me. They remind me of the richness of my life and the good people and things for which I am grateful. On the other side of that coin, some are carefully crafted narratives that explain away or hide my feelings of weakness or disappointment or anger. Together, both kinds of talking points orbit each other and sometimes collide in the smoke of the campfire. Anyway, this painting suggests that I think more deeply about how and why I tell my narratives. This is true probably for anyone, I guess, but especially for old men like me … who have lots of stories.

“Feather Brushes?”

I recently conducted an experiment and constructed a couple of feather brushes. This has been on my mind for almost a year after one of my NC friends near my marsh studio gave me a bunch of duck feathers foraged from some game he had harvested during hunting season. I made two brushes using those local NC pintail duck feathers and the bamboo located along the “Outfall Canal” near Mattamuskeet Lake. Here are the brushes and a resulting piece of ink work.

“The Raven’s Eye”

This small ink study turned out be a statement about the power of a small amount of color…

“Autumn Riot”

This large painting (32 × 32 framed) expresses appreciation for September and October. There is such a diverse display of color that is accented sometimes by the sun that is low in the sky. It is a nice feeling and I’m thankful for it.

“Hangers-on”

Autumn really suits sumi-e ink. Brushed shades of ink invite meditation and reflection. In September and October, activities pick back up even as everything in nature is winding down— you know leaves are falling (or “unleaving” as Hopkins would say). The backdrop of Fall and the brevity of summer’s life and beauty calls me to pause and to consider the impermance of the people and things of my life. Recently, I’ve spoken to some of my Japanese friends about the attention their culture gives to the temporary nature of all things (including humans) — the idea is summed up in the phrase, “mono no aware” . The words, as they have been explained to me, suggest that there is a bittersweet and appreciative feeling that comes from recognizing and accepting the brevity of life and the noble perseverance expressed in the final season. The notion, I believe, warrants consideration though, as CS Lewis would say, this bittersweetness may also be an indication that we humans are made for something more… Anyway, to the Asian mind, the Chrysanthemum flower is the artistic expression of this “autumn joy” because it flourishes when the air becomes cooler. At this time of year in China and Japan, retirees enjoy their gardens and cultivate their mums. “Hangers-on” presents the mum as the host and the two guests— the garden spider and grasshopper— as they wait and hang on during the closing weeks of their lives.

“Making New Friends”

Sometimes making new friends requires a pause from the daily schedule…

“Sunrise On The Marsh”

I am privileged to steward a studio shack near a marsh that connects to the Pamlico Sound. One morning in June I could see the dawn and rising mist from the second floor deck. The trees stretched across the lower horizon line of an orange sky. The scene spoke to me of the Designer’s goodness and inspired this painting.

“Two Are Better Than One”

I have come to the point in my sumi-e painting when major portions of the execution are predictable. Strokes and brush loading may be demanding but they are still known and accessible to me. They have become ritual. That said, occasionally, perhaps because of urgency or fatigue, I forget and mindlessly stretch beyond habit and choose an undirected path.. In “Two Are Better Than One” that’s what happened— the flow of the monoprint was laid out, but then I decided to add “splashed/broken ink” (po-mo) on the lower left and something mysterious took over. Lots of times this lack of calculation is immediately and obviously a mistake, a space needing mending, but occasionally there is a reward and a door opens to new insights about ink. Have a look and see if you agree.

“Not Very Tasty”

I started 2026 with the idea of focusing my studio work on the Chinese peony. The brush work is counter intuitive and the loading requires a lot of the patience that I have often lacked in execution. So, it seemed like a good place to nest in order to get the year started off right— lots of learning and humbling insights into places where I needed to go. What I didn’t realize is that peony are lush expressions of optimism and hope for abundance and flourishing. This was a wonderful surprise that has lifted my spirits during the “down times” of the first half of the year. To me, peony has come to mean “the best is yet to come,” and recently that has been a helpful thought. “Not Very Tasty” is another try at master Xu Hong Bin’s “grass-insect” painting of crickets. There’s still more work to do there, but I was happy with the little drama that emerged as the cricket eyed the little lady bug. Lady bugs are, in fact, not tasty and predators have to be very hungry before they give them a try.

“Time for Fun”

I have painted several mini-works that feature orcas. To be honest, my son, Andrew, has recommended it— that’s why. He’s one of my most faithful and alert critics. This particular scene highlights the liminal frame for those who pause the journey in order to just…have fun. I need that. We all probably need that wisdom to know when and how to transition back and forth…

“The Pop: Is It The Painted Lady”

When looking at paintings, probably like most people, particular pieces immediately speak to me. They resonate and almost vibrate in their invitation to meditate on the subject matter. When this happens, I try to ask myself the question— “Why are my senses so alerted by this work?” In this particular painting, for me, I think what “grabs” is not the flower or the painted lady butterfly, but the branch work in the upper right quad and some of the young leaves on the left. That’s it. Strange, right? The fine branches display a striking and inadvertent brush loading result— delicate you might say. The same with the young leaves— they are, in a word, obviously a spontaneous gift. Now the pat-on-the-back neutralizer here is control and mastery— I have to admit the brushloading was random— uncalculated. A masterful artist would be able to predict and execute such branches at will. Not there yet…So, this is just a reminder to keep on putting brush to paper. Engage and grow.

This reminds me of a trait of the Master Designer— consistency, faithfulness, and deep wisdom… every time.

Painting Marshes…Sumi-e Style

Happy to announce my first workshop booklet, “Painting Marshes….Sumi-e Style”!

https://www.blurb.com/b/12820446-painting-marshes-sumi-e-style

“And Then There’s The Cricket”

Xu Hong Bin, a sumi-e painter out of Hebei, near Tiainjin published a book in 2010 that highlights, in a delightful way, the beauty of a “little soul” that inhabits our gardens and homes— the humble cricket. His macro-landscapes, in some ways, remind me of some of Qi Baishi’s most signature scenes in which he would include a minimalist zen rendering of a rock and a stem of grass or bamboo and then bring in an amazing guest—a beautifully executed insect— a snail or a grasshopper or a butterfly. In similar fashion, Xu’s crickets appear as modestly and intricately rendered souls. In a large peony piece, I recently included a cricket that suggests his distinctive style. In this blog post, I just include a close up of the bottom left corner of that much larger work in order to bring emphasis to the little guy who enlivens the whole landscapel.

“Backyard Fireflies”

Garden landscapes are a favorite of Asian artists who paint peony best. By bringing focus to the community life of these flowers, such sumi-e masters bring to us virtual explosions of luxurious blossoms and their abundant “packages of color” while, at the same time, broadening the conversation to include a mesmerizing focus on composition. Designed well, garden composition should asserts the important movements of stem and leaf as they frame the members of the flower neighborhood. Fireflies on magic summer evenings light up these moments in the yards surrounding out homes.

“Poppin’ Butterflies”

As I continue to emphasize peony in this first quarter of 2026, I’m learning more about ink. The yellow swallowtail at the top of the piece is an example of complementary partnership between ink and color. The yellow “popped” beyond expectation. Also, the ink in this piece was actually ground on my ink stone minutes before putting brush to paper. The it acted differently than manufactured ink as it created a granular stroke before becoming dry. Learning more and more as I go along.

“Final Tractor Run”

In my world of sumi-e, when we see a painting in which negative space is little to none and inordinate amounts of ink and watercolor pigments layer one another and dry brush stokes look over the top, we say the piece is a little “dirty.” I admit that “Final Tractor Run” is, indeed, a dirty painting. When one of my friends first saw the work he called it, not dirty but “gnarly,” but I think he really meant dirty. Anyway, all that said, to me dirty seems the correct style for the mix of natural little souls, the depleted soil, the broken remains of harvest and the hint of commerial farming— it’s a gnarly mix. There’s something rough and dirty here; like two kids in a good natured backyard wrestlling match with their dad.

“Peony Resolve”

This is the second of the pieces created for the “Monochromatic” show. One of the main benefits I personally received in undertaking a peony in ink was a renewed interest in peony in general. The brush strokes for creating traditional sumi-e peonies are counter-intuitive and subtle. Also, the brush loading is demanding. So, it was a delight to give it another try! This painting has become one in a series of peonies for 2026. I’m thankful for the opportunity to engage with what is called the “King Of Flowers”.

“Quiet Harvest Moment”

This piece was one of two works I prepared for submission to the “Monochromatic” exhibit at the Virginia Beach Art Center. It is a juried event; so I’m not absolutely sure it will be accepted for showing in March. That said, I enjoyed the process of creating in tones of black and gray— it was a reminder of the awesomeness of ink. The monochromatic presentation was just what the “quiet” moment called for as it seemed to create an invitation to enter the macro world of the “little souls”.

“The Winding Road to Retirement”

“The Winding Road to Retirement” is a personal work though it was created as a commission and was immediately shipped out to its home in Ohio. I just sort of started the work in a dispassionate way but was soon drawn in to the layered narrative— an abandoned bulkhead, a broken vessel, tracks of the couple (the crabs) as they ran the gaunlet under the noses (beaks) of the hungry egrets, and then finally the bewildered gaze fo the two “survivors” at the expansive water’s edge…fun stuff.

“White Flower”

“White Flower” is part of an exciting collaboration with classical guitar player, Herb Smith. After Herb recorded short classical pieces for his CD, I Iistened to several selections. His recording of “Bianco Fiore” caught my attention, and I really enjoyed trying to capture its rhythm, runs and trills. I’ll include a link to Herb’s music here in hopes that you’ll be able to take in this "total” experience.

https://herbsmithguitar.bandcamp.com/.../bianco-fiore...