I worked on “The Call” these past two days. It’s getting there-it’s beginning to make my eyes happy when I look at it. The parts finished are the ground, pediment, water bottle, crumpled jacket, and left-hand tree. I might change the title to simply “Calling.” I oiled this workhorse easel on Saturday; the wheels were…
Shop Talk, Tips and Studies
Prevent oil paint from drying with oil of cloves
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•Artists usually doctor their oil paint to make them dry faster. By decreasing drying times, paintings can be reworked sooner and completed faster. Siccative agents, such as lead, also enhance the handling qualities of oil paint. There are times though when you need to slow drying times. When I am working on a large painting…
Art Museums, Artists, Cleveland, Paintings, Uncategorized
Return of an Old Friend
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•After a long and (for me) painful absence for conservation, Andrea del Sarto’s The Sacrifice of Isaac is once again on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art. del Sarto’s unfinished masterpiece from 1527 is on a massive wooden panel. The painting’s unfinished state opens a window into the artist’s studio, and shows us his working method. The…
Yesterday’s storm highlighted–as if it was necessary–once again that this is the Winter From Hell. Our furnace stopped working during the wee hours and the high today is in the low teens. It could have been worse. Yesterday’s terrific winds might have downed trees and disrupted power. Hopefully, that was winter’s last hurrah. I can remember winters with colder snaps and worse snows, but the unending string of heavy storms we’ve experienced makes this winter one of the worse if not the worst I’ve seen.
Bio, Vermilion, OH
Confirmation at the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo Ohio
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•We drove through the snow to the magnificent Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo for my son’s confirmation. The eighth-grade class from Keith’s school–St. Paul’s in Norwalk–along with several other schools were confirmed together in solemn ceremony. The Toledo archdiocese is currently without a bishop but the presiding priests performed ably. I had never been to…
Paintings, Shop Talk, Studio Corner
In the studio 3/9/2014
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•Books, Reviews, Uncategorized
Book Review: A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell (audio version)
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•“You mock, dude!” Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was a lively philosopher and prodigious writer known for his biting wit. Russell was deeply involved with the social issues of his day and spent time in prison for his efforts–for his pacifists views during World War I, and again for his anti-nuke protests in his 80’s(!). He was stripped…
I updated the Oil Paint Brand post with new information and a rating for Michael Harding paints.