Bishop Epic Golf Game...what a feeling...

Yesterday was one of those days in the studio that is like the scene in the movie "Caddy Shack", where the bishop has the greatest golf game of his life.  He keeps winning.  I had one of the most productive days ever as I completed four paintings.  They all just seemed to come together and the timing could not be better.  Below are the completed paintings.

Image Archaeologist™

Today I wrote a new artist statement to depict my current work. The writing lead me into changing the look of my whole blog and also changing the name. I am still "a painter who blogs but my new statement will explain why I changed my blog title.

My New Artist Statement
I describe my self as an Image Archaeologist™.
My images evolve out of the surface of the canvas by carving into the wet gesso with the butt of a paintbrush. I dig into the surface to carve out the image and then brush layers of paint over the dried gesso imprint to unveil the etched surface ground. The carving is uncovered by rubbing paint into the surface grooves. Multiple layers of paint are brushed lightly over the beveled edges unearthing the image. Each layer adds an illusion of depth and is brushed and wiped away as the image unfolds. The image is found within the surface ground thus making it “image archaeology. This is my approach to the process of painting.
Today's painting is called Two Ipods. Painted last week it seemed appropriate to post as the original "Ipod" painting was a part of the "Mid Atlantic Painting Exhibition" last January at Mary Washington University. Ipod is the first in my series of images I call "earth objects".

Inner Core, 13" x 13", Oil on Canvas

This week I am back to work on my "earth objects" series. This is the inner core of a a large tree pod collected during a walk in the woods last week. I plan on painting it from all angles and the middle seemed the natural place to begin. The natural design is of interest to me. The inner core- like the inner mind-is complex with many twists and turns. I ponder these thoughts today as I am painting.