Additional Directions

A new year .. sometimes seen as an opportunity to make changes in one's life (not that New Years is the only time for that). For me, I expect 2010 to be a time to pursue additional opportunities in making and selling art.

I love traditional/classical art, especially landscapes made during the 19th century and earlier. For years, I've been painting the southwestern deserts in a classical way, perhaps with a touch of the surreal to add a sense of mystery to desert scenes.

However, after years of doing art shows in desert locales, I've come to realize something: desert residents don't necessarily love the desert -- or desert art. One of the comments I often used to hear from show attendees was: "I live in the desert. Why would I want pictures of it hanging in my house?"

These are people who like mostly sunny weather without frequent rainstorms to upset their golfing or shopping pleasures. The fact that these conditions exist in deserts is almost coincidental. They prefer to landscape their yards to make their homes as undesert-like as possible and import water from elsewhere so they can create the tropics in the desert.

So -- I expect I'll continue to paint the desert. It's too much a part of how I approach art to let go of that.

But I'll have to paint less desert and more of something else. In the next few days, I'll be contemplating what else I should paint so I can pay the bills.

Traditional art isn't that popular in this area. At best, landscapes (Tuscany scenes, especially) have to be impressionistic. Otherwise, there's always the world of abstract expressionism.

So don't be surprised to see a revised Website which features some classical scenes, but also abstract art And possibly some surrealism based on the microbial world. (After all, I majored in microbiology and used the electron microscope to see a world which is both real and surreal).

Additional directions and more of the same ... that's what 2010 means to me!

Happy New Year, all!