Blue Changes, acrylic on canvas,

The subject is the daughter of a very good friend of mine. We both have children close in age and we are at the stage in our lives when our children start to leave home and forge their own paths. Blue Change is about that transition. Our children leave the comfort of our influence and learn how to make their own mistakes. It's sad but beautiful at the same time. It leaves us kind of blue.

"Don't Go", concept images, 48" x 60", proposed acrylic on canvas with digital projection

It's a matter of choice. The more opaque figure lightly touches is first love as he looks toward and imagines another life on board another. He wants neither to leave as he contemplates this choice. The under painting will be the landscape/ beach and the male figure(  the subject and context of the story) painted using acrylic. A Gel medium layer will be built up over the sea to increase the light reflection when the digital projection is applied. The landscape above the horizon/the boat ( silhouette)/the female figure (silhouette)/the beach and the male figure will have an under layer(s) of mat medium to flatten the light. The projection will be the piece as it appears above. The boat and the female figure as objects of choice will be reduced to 60% opacity while the male figure ( subject) and landscape ( context) are at full opacity further solidified by the under painting. The male figure is the only aspect of the piece that is not affected by level 8 posterization.

"Whale Watch", concept images, Diptych,  30in x 60in x 2,  proposed acrylic on Canvas

Whale Watch explores the dynamic between lovers and those yet to love. It is also a story of a changing relationship between brothers. The painting moves towards the future from right to left. What awaits the figure looking out to sea? What is the fate of the disappearing lovers as they fade from the canvas? The canvases are connected by the whale and the landscape. They are the context which is being totally ignored by the figures.  

 Beautiful but Boring, 30"x60", acrylic and digital projection on canvas

 Based on a short video on the same name.

No Matter What, 48" x 52" Diptych, acrylic on Canvas

Sink or Swim, 3ft x 11ft ( approx) triptych, acrylic on canvas

Sink or swim is all about triumphing over obstacles. It's the struggle to break beyond our boundaries just as the swimmer wins his battle with the water.

"No Matter What", third figure layer incomplete, 03.01.2012

Need to tone back duplicity of Dave's clothes in order to bring his face forward. May need to reduce Ev's face opacity

"No Matter What" third figure layer, incomplete

Beautiful but Boring, concept image.

Concept image derived from a short film of mine called Beautiful but Boring. The teenage figure is opaque, centered and unmoved by the undulating horizon in front of him. I am toying with the canvas size and shape.

Sink or Swim, ground layer, incomplete

I have visited the canvas 5 times, each time dripping a colour layer then finishing with heavy gel gloss. The next step is to provide a structure to the ground stenciling sections of a grid as the next layer ( or two or three). The figure will break free of the grid, a metaphor for Jack leaving home.

Sink or Swim, Triptych, 36" x 130" concept image

Sink or Swim features a figure struggling through the water. The story driving the painting is my son has moved away from home for the first time this year..it has been a trial by fire...in this case by water

"No Matter What", second figure layer, complete

Dave is moving from top left down to center, Ev is rotating

"No Matter What", First figure Layer, complete

Strong first layer, second layer needs to be sheer, use it to break down these figures