I'm going share a few paintings which don't get much exposure because of their process-oriented nature and I am going to talk about Autumn a little bit.  I've been practicing ink and wash painting for more than twenty years now. When I first saw a piece by Liu Qing He in Seoul I knew this media was something I needed to learn about.  There were some teachers, a lot of reading and visiting exhibitions; and even more practice.

The chrysanthemum is the flower most associated with Autumn because it blooms in those months.  In addition to painting them I keep some of these flowers as best every year.  It is one quarter of the four gentlemen in the traditional cannon and it's really a fun subject matter to paint.  The petals require delicacy and the leaves energy.

While not a traditional subject, I've always associated persimmons with Autumn as well.  I can pinpoint the moment when I was at a party on a rooftop in Beijing.  The leaves had mostly fallen off the trees but these bright orange fruits were hanging on.  it made such a sharp contrast with the gray of the buildings and the overcast sky.

Bamboo is usually associated with Winter and about the time I am writing this (November 2024) bamboo start showing up as well.  I was feeling a very Qi Baishi vibe at the time I painted this one.

There are a lot of contexts you can put them into as well.  It wasn't until after painting them that I started raising them and also snapping photos of them whenever one crossed my path and I had my camera on me.

Above:  I had this big sheet of paper and some Japanese markers I was itching to try out.  This must of been about October so I let the season guide me.  I also got into snails about this time so they start turning up in my imagery.

Left:  Incidentally I made the pot that these flowers radiate from.

So I hope you are getting out your sweaters and enjoying this Autumn.  Thanks for visiting!

I wanted a tattoo of a fish, a carp or as it’s said in Chinese 鯉魚 liyu.  There are many stories about these fish, my favourite comes from Zhuang Zi “I know the fishes are happy because I am happy walking beside them.”

Drawing, it’s like time, we know what it is but getting it down to its essence in one sentence is damn near impossible.  Like all art it’s communication, however drawing takes up the atypical characteristic of communication with both the viewers and ourselves.  Many an art professor (myself included) have instructed students to draw as a way of keeping notes and ideas and to understand what we are looking at.  Drawing can also be a work of art in itself.  Admittedly, I don’t draw as often as I should.  My time is limited and when I do draw it’s in preparation for something larger; and as I tell my students, I use it as a method of study.  I believe, to make drawing a work of art, it needs to be grand in some way.  It could be scale, it could be impressive detail or photorealistic, and/or it could be pushing our idea about what is drawing.  One of my favourite drawing classes was spent with students who I had already taught for years, and we got experimental with the definition of drawing.
 
In this exhibit there are examples of each of the above.  Explorations and representations, and a little fun in one form or another.

For a while I was interested in the novelty of how much information about the three-dimensional world we take in through two dimension e.g. screens.  When the images of Pluto were released years ago this novelty took hold and I wanted to explore something any of us would only see in two dimensions.

I ordered something from Amazon and it came wrapped in this long sheet of paper.  I also happen to have prints of a whole bunch of interesting images and nothing to do.  So …