The "Avondale" Series

 

This July, I will be showing 12 new paintings at the Morean Art Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. I have called these the "Avondale" series after a childhood home. These painting differ significantly in appearance from the landscapes I created in the past. They are landscapes, though imagined differently.  Their structure is basically a simplification of the world I see. Perhaps seen from an airplane or out of high window .

 

My creative thought begins by  imagining a striking landscape, perhaps a city, whose features are then exaggerated and simplified. From that vision, I strip away most non-vertical and non-horizontal lines, and use the emerging rectangular spaces to create zones of color. Add back a few linking diagonals, perhaps representing slanting roof lines or connecting stairways. Imagine such features in my paintings and see the world around us in a new way. 

 

The Creative Process

 

Let me demonstrate: Consider the photo below, taken from the internet, of a city's buildings and rooflines. Note the sharp contrast between vertical and horizontal lines and broad rectangular spaces that are linked with a few diagonals.

 

 

If one exaggerates the vertical and horizontal details of this image, and discards miscellaneous details you could create the distorted structure below.

 

With a little imagination, you might visualize how this could become the skeleton of the painting below.

 

Avondale # 10   24x20"

 

The painting below, Avondale #1, maybe an easier visualization.

 

Avondale # 1   24x36"

 

I invite you to view each my 12 new paintings under the heading "Avondale" series on this site and I hope to see you at the opening on July 8, 2023, from 5 pm to 8 pm at the Morean Art Center, St Petersburg Fl.

 

Greg Matthews,  June 25, 2023

 

 

Read More

The Pandemic!   Who could have predicted how our lives would have changed in just two years. For me, a member of the immune-suppressed, "older" group, the pandemic's social distancing hit hard. It excluded Kathy and me from the company of all but a few trusted individuals. That forced exclusion was particularly discouraging for me in continuing my exploration in paint.   You see, I am an art-social animal, thriving best when working in the presence of other artists. To paint alone, a new experience, forced me to seek out and rely on resources not previously exploited. It's not been an easy trek, but quite rewarding.

Announcement of the first quarantine promptly ended attendance at weekly workshops and any further in-class activities. For a while, I was lost in what to paint. It seemed time to reflect and research. Inspiration slowly returned as I began browsing my 50-year collection of art and gallery books and followed a few zoom lectures. I am becoming more productive, though not in the same manner as before 2021. I have mostly been experimenting with ideas drawn from the zoom and book resources. These are mostly in the form of oil sketches, not originally intend to be shown. However, some of these sketches seem quite striking and I have posted several below and on my website under "Just having Fun".    A few of the most recent oil sketches in my "No PB" series are in this post.   No PB 1, oil ib canvas, 11x11', Greg Matthews   Looking back, my work over the last two years took me in two directions: First, a return to the basics of oil painting, facilitated though internet workshops. These exercises forced me to concentrate on how I move the brush across a canvas with paint. That, and what do I need to do to get where my brain thinks the hand ought to go. Part of that focus has been on better understanding how, and what, I see when I look for a form or a color that is to be painted. This whole 2-year process has, I feel, given me a better perspective on looking and seeing; or at least more confident in seeing what I am painting.I don't think I always understood that distinction.   Along with a return to basics, I studied selected, master, landscape painters to better understand how they approached their own work.

For the basics, I am thankful to have found artist Rob Pollien for what, I believe, is an improved way to observe and then paint objects, ie a landscape, a still life. Through his gentle persuasion, as limited though a zoom workshop, he has repeatedly returned me to the basics of color, edge and form. It has been a long while since I felt pressure to complete specified work within a set time required. I credit Rob with any improvement you see in my work, the defects are still mine alone.   No PB 2, oil on canvas, 11x11'", Greg Matthews   Pollien, a Bar Harbor, Maine, landscape artist, currently teaches drawing at University of Maine. He is the resident artist at Acadia National Park, and attended University of Pennsylvania and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. I first encountered his work in 2020 when he offered a zoom painting workshop though the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, lMaine.

For more on Rob Pollien's work:   http://pollien.com   Rob Pollien in his own words: Experience motivates me to paint in a way that feels present in the act of observations... I have developed a deep and abiding reverence for the landscape, a fundamental fact, central to our being that ties us together.

Oak Hill Bluff 12 x 18 , graphite on Canson Mi Tientes board, Rob Pollien

For information on Pollien's and other Farnsworth programs:   https://www.farnsworthmuseum.org/event/painters-forum-rob-pollien/2022-03-11/

 

No PB 9, oil on canvas, 11x11, greg Matthews

In a follow up blog, I'll review my look into two of the master landscape painters: Henri Matisse and Richard Diebenkorn. Their work is related, both are impacting my new work.   Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to receive information on my latest work. Sign up    Greg Matthews February, 2022

 

Read More

This post continues with work from my studio during the pandemic. Before March, much of my painting was either with a great bunch of painters or subject to their comments. Painting alone in a studio is very different and can be a challenge. I address this by setting out a series of studies to tackle a specific issue. This month I was inspired by Mark Rothko.

 

The most peaceful place I have visited in a while is the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. The Chapel, with it fourteen subdued black and red field-color paintings, is a solemn place. At least it was for me, not so much for Kathy. I have wondered if I could draw a landscape painting from the simple structure of a Rothko Painting. Many of his color-field painting consist or two or more large areas of paint with nuanced surfaces, that is where I started. Here are three of his paintings for reference.

 

 

Untitled  Mark Rothko

 

 

#142 Mark Rothko

 

 

# 7 Mark Rothko

 

Tying to limit my work to a few solid areas of paint gave me my first study based on an Rothko-styled structure.

 

Mountain Meadow 1

 

My second study raised the mid line break up to provide the feeling of distance and added a stream. 

 

 

Mountain Meadow Study 2

 

The third iteration of the study.

 

 

Mountain Maedow Study 3

 

The final iteration of this study returned to the original color theme.

 

Mountain Meadow 4  11x14" Oil on Canvas

 

This is a continuation of my work during the pandemic. Coming next are three dimensional objects.

 

My work can be seen at Woodfield Fine Arts, 2253 Central Ave St Petersburg, 727-254-6981

 

Read More

Covid Challenges 

 

My last post preceded the covid pandemic, a time that pointed to a continuing, active and optimistic future. Basically, just being able to continue my normal painting activities. Then, Covid changed everything. Gone were the hours of painting with others in an indoor environment, and painting in Florida’s hot and humid summers made doing so outside, unbearable.  Now, 7 months later, and living in a different and challenging environment, I look back at important changes in my work.

 

Much of the stimulation for my painting was absent, ie., painting with others. Yes I do draw from inspiration from others. Social distancing and masks, left me in a solitary and isolated studio. Missed were the interactions of my fellow painters, their encouragements and insightful conversation. Now with meetings, even between two neighbors, mostly limited to a computer screen and the impersonal Zoom, a lot is lost. Such are the cautions of a lung transplant with suppressed immunity.

 

Studio Work  

 

There's not much inspiration in studio work when one is a landscape painter. As an alternative, I focused on a series painting challenges that could be studio based. I looked at tough problems painters have faced to try various approaches to a subject. My painting studies were designed to pursue optional techniques and are not always intended to become finished paintings. For the next few posts I will review a few of these . I believe studies have given insights on new directions that will appear in the future. 

 

Studies in Focus

 

My studio work was facilitated though the images from a catalog of photos taken over the last 40 years. These photos served, not so much to paint as a replica, but to provide as guides. The landscape to follow scenes are basically composites of several images and a little imagination. I started with water reflections among lily pads, then moved on to falling water that moves away from the viewer, next, night scenes of meadows, and finally to light falling on solid objects. Each of these was chosen to explore a structural issue that had not been previously addressed in my work. 

 

Moving Water

 

Inspired by a David Dunlop workshop on water scenes, this first set of studies focused on capturing water moving away from view and down a series of pools. Most waterfall scenes capture a falls moving down and toward the viewer, an optically simple structure. As a challenge I worked on creating a believable scene that was the opposite. That is, capture the view you would see if you stood at the headwaters of series of falls and looked over the precipice at the pools below. Getting a viewer to accept a scene that is the opposite of what they expect can be a challenge

 

Here are a few samples of finished paintings.

 

 

12x12" Oil on Aluminum Panel.

 

 

 

24x20" Oil on Aluminum Panel

 

 

My next project was to consider shadows on water. Here are two paintings on reflection and a feeling of transparency in a lily pond.   

 

 

24x25" Oil on Aluminum Panel

 

 

 

20X20" Oil on Canvas

 

My work can be seen at Woodfield Fine Arts, 2253 Central Ave St Petersburg, 727-254-6981

Read More

Painting is an adventure for me, a world of mystery to be discovered. There is not a chance of becoming bored, if you have time to explore and take that opportunity. Lucky me, the last few months have offered ample time to explore several new aspects of painting, both through reading and with experimenting, all in an attempt to adapt these to my painting.

 

Last month, I withdrew several year-old-plus paintings from storage to take a closer look, and to reflect on my work over that time period. Remembering that I only tried to save the "good" ones, I was struck with how many remaing works in storage weren't really "good enough".  I did recall that in the fall I had purged several of my early paintings and wondered how a few  of these escaped the exacto knife and trash.  The painting below was one such painting that needed work. After looking at it from the across the room for a week of so, I started to make a number of continuous changes to bring it to where it is today (seen below.) 

 

(Original) 24" x 36" Oil on Canvas

 

This is the same painting, as finished, well so far. I am still looking at it.

 

Repaint 5/20/2020

 

This exercise has helped me better implement the fundamentals of painting into my work to better convey its intended mood. Many of the changes seen in this work, as it sits today, are the result of my having been able to work with a group of kind and helpful painters who have taught me so much. 

 

Well, here I am almost a year later and still futzing with this painting. For this redo, I decided to do a total restructure, other than Haystacks Rock that was at the center of the image. Here's where I am right now 

 

 

My work can be seen at Woodfield Fine Arts, 2253 Central Ave St Petersburg, 727-254-6981

 

 

 

 

Read More

Stick around a group of artist for any time and you are likely to hear some variation of  "Damn, had a great painting an hour ago!" Meaning, that the additional hour of labor, did the artist in. No photoshop "undo" here, just go on, or grab for the can of gesso, and hope something is learned. Putting paint to a "finished work" is not for the faint of heart. But, it is part of the mystery of painting, or possibly, all craft. A little more can improve, but too much is a disaster.  The king of endless change might be George Inness, a Hudson School painter, who could have 27 or more coats under the surface of a finished painting.  

 

I continuously edit my work. That is, until it is either at the gallery, sold or covered in white gesso ready to reemerge as a new vision, it's always fair game for more paint. This post features two images demonstrating how that process works, sometimes. The first is a painting that I completed a year ago, that recently had a fresh brush put to it.

 

 

Original - January,  2019

Here is the after.  

 

Stand Tall and Fresh, March 2020

24"x35" Oil on Canvas

 

Subtle, but hopefully, all are improvements. Most of the edits were around the foreground pond, the addition of two more trees and some lightening up in the background. For now, don't see any future changes, but its not hanging yet.

 

JMW Turner, the British Painter of the 1900's is said to have traveled with a small pallet of oil paint and a brush, to allow him to change any of his paintings. Stories tell of  several purchaser's surprise at looking at a Turner piece hanging in their home with wet paint on it the day after Turner visited for dinner or spent the night. Thought about it, not done it, yet.

 

Well back to the easel.

 

Greg Matthews

March 2020

Read More

The signs of Spring are everywhere outside, here's a glimpse of what's new in my studio, now.

 

A bunch of work is in progress right now, I just can't seem to resolve that a piece is finished and let it go. Have been working with oil. watercolor and acrylic on various surfaces. Here's two that I have resolved as being "done". Both paintings reflect my use of a reductive technique (It's more about removing paint with tools to reveal an image, than adding paint with a brush to create it). I have enjoyed the results when working with transparent paints on bright glossy surfaces. The results can be unique, 

 

 

Roses II 11"x14" Oil on Brushed Aluminum

At Woodfield Gallery, St Petersburg Florida

 

I am also working on a series of grass scenes using the same method, here is one that has been framed.

 

 

Grass Stand II 12"x12" Oil on white Aluminum 

 

Had a favorite painting hanging in my home, that was painted in 2017, that I felt needed a change in the background. This, after looking at it for a year or so. Here's the update that I think is finished.

 

 

Rushing Water 24"x30" Acrylic/oil on Canvas.

 

Am working on my first two figurative paintings in oil, but they are not yet ready for prime time. Maybe on the next post.

 

Greg Matthews - March, 2020

 

Read More

Recent events have limited any posting of my recent work, though I have been active in the studio. Here are three pieces that have been on my easel in the last couple of weeks. These might seem, at first look, to be taking me in un-connected new directions, but all are driven by an exploration of  color, transparency and shapes on a smooth non-absorbant surface. The two below use the "Reductive" technique to remove paint revealing details. There are few brush strokes shown on the final work, other than highlights placed on the surface. The third was built through use of multiple washes on a varnished canvas.

 

Reductive Painting

These two "Reductive" paintings are oil on composite aluminum and varnished linen, and worked initially with brush. Then, a squeegee and other tools are used to remove paint to reveal images on the surface. These are not so much painted, but more like discovered in the surface.

 

 

Currently at Woodfield Fine Art Gallery, St Petersburg, FL

 

 

 

Cover Image

The blog's cover painting was created with with loose brush strokes and multiple washes on a varnished canvas that creates a sky reminiscent of landscape painting of the Barbizon period.

 

Workshop Cedar Key - Reductive Technique

On January 11, 2020, I will lead a workshop using the "Reductive" technique to paint a floral scene. Participants will be provided an aluminum panel, a squeegee, and paint. Please join me for an exploration in painting at Cedar Key Arts Center, 457 2^nd Street,  Cedar Key, Fl 32625.  Contact Cedar Key Arts Center .  I look forward to seeing you there.

 

Contact me if you need additional information on the workshop.

Read More

 

I have been working on this painting in the studio a month or so. Each time its hung up as finished, I see a needed change. At least for now here is it's current state.

 

 

24"x36" Oil on Canvas

 

The work below was painted in a different style. Painted in washes overs several days

 

 

10"x20" Oil on Canvas

 

Gallery Presenation:

 

My work can be seen at Woodfield Fine Arts, 2253 Central Ave St. Petersburg, FL

 

Greg Matthews

 

 

 

 

 

Read More

Read More