Stuart's Posse

       Gilbert Stuart has done so many portraits of important Americans. Looking through a book one night I decided I wanted to do something based on Stuart's work. The choices seemed endless, but I went with a limited number of his work and some of his most well known paintings, John Jay, Washington, John Adams and his self portrait. Everybody has seen the painting of Washington. Even with just his eyes peering out you know who he is, and I thought this would be a unique way to show him. Stuart's self portrait looks as if  Rembrandt did it, and what a great look on his face.

      I signed the painting on the white tag on the left, I rarely sign my work in one of the corners. I like  to find a place where type is expected and sign it there, for trompe l'oeil it makes sense to do that. The white tag has other information on it like painting size. oil on panel, and the artist name, Gilbert Stuart.   

       As for the other areas of the paintings I try to produce things that will bring the viewer in closer, like stamps and postmarks. Doing a cork bulletin boards can be challenging because of the lack of color and the risk that it will all look the same and lack interest. The board is also a nice throw back to the letter racks of Peto and Harnett.  

                                                                                                                                                                                    

Mr. Jackson

Yeah I know more money. There will be some different subject matter coming soon. But I do enjoy the challenge of painting currrency.

The Jester's Notes

A quick post. I haven't put anything up in a while. I've actually have done quite a few painting lately, but with the nice weather there to much golfing going on and not enough photographing of my art.
Hopefully I'll be photographing them soon and have them posted.
    

Boom Or Bust

I paint a lot of currency, and I'm always looking for a new setting to place it in.  And sometimes a really cool piece comes along. The graphics on this box and it's message work well with the limited color of the currency. With the issues that are being discussed in the news today the message of the box seems to be quite current, even though the box is from the 50's. It just goes to show the more things change the more they stay the same

Six Twenty

Painting money is always challenging, but to see the reactions of the viewers is well worth the effort. So many people can't resist the urge to touch and try to remove the bills from the painting. Over the years I've had pieces returned to me from shows where you can see scratches at the corners of the bills and tape because people are not covinced it's a painting. They're trying to remove them. It's actually a bit of a compliment.

Pollock's Lady Friend

The woman is Lady Agnew, by John Singer Sargent. The frame is paint as is the museum card. I enjoy doing these painting because their not as time consuming as some of my other pieces. They become a chance to experiment with abstract painting and still get up close and personal with Sargent.  They're a little different twist on trompe l'oeil.