The Beauty of Oil Paint

A few weeks back I took a test called the Myers-Briggs. It assesses your personality traits by asking simple questions. After receiving the results, it was almost spot on with how I view myself. I won't go into details about the analysis, but one part that I found fascinating was that it told me I'm pressure prompted.

The beauty of oil paints is that they force you to get things done ahead of time. This is due to the long drying period they require; some paints take a month or so to dry to the touch, and because I use so much paint, at times even longer. Cadmiums are a perfect example. I bring this up, because I just completed my final piece for a show in late July and it's so nice knowing there won't be a last minute scramble.

Needless Pressure

The other day I was down at the sculpture park and came across a piece that really seemed to frustrate me. There was something about it that I didn't care for. It was the form of a rounded line. No it wasn't the Richard Serra whose "Wake" sculpture has rounded lines to some degree, but another piece that will remain nameless. For some reason I gravitate towards straight lines. The dilemma we artists go through each day and the little things we worry about never ceases to amaze me. I get worked up over straight and rounded lines.

Matthew Landkammer

I went to Davidson Galleries on the eastern edge of Pioneer Square to see Matthew Landkammer's new paintings. Matthew's colors are much softer than his earlier work and melts into the wall. The show "Holding on to Nothing" wraps up March 29th so I would move fast if you hope to see it.

Alan Ebnother

Over the past couple of weeks I've had some interesting dialogue with an artist in New Mexico whose work I really admire. Alan Ebnother has been using green as his constant companion for over 20 years and has rarely separated himself from this color.

Green happens to be one of my favorite colors, and being from the Northwest, I'm heavily influenced by our natural surroundings--green being one of the foremost colors in the area. Alan uses surface and texture in unusual ways. Keep up the good work Alan.