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Benton
These are a couple of paintings from one of my heroes, Thomas Hart Benton, the Missouri-born painter of the last century. I was immediately drawn to the rich colors he used and the complexity of that...
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Every Time We say Goodbye
Maybe it’s the morning here. Dark and somber sky with an unyielding flatness in its gray. Very quiet morning as though nothing really wants to stir and begin this sultry summer week. A fans hums,...
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Boss Guitar
It’s a frigid winter morning with temperatures below zero and a fine gray mist of snow filling the view from my studio windows. It would be easy to mope around on a morning like this but I am in the...
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Take the “A” Train
I heard a version of Duke Ellington‘s signature tune, Take the “A” Train, the other day that caught me off guard. The music was playing in the background and I caught the notes of a tune that made me...
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Born to be Blue
This is another small painting that is part of the Little Gems exhibit opening this coming Friday at the West End Gallery. This is a little 3″ by 5″ piece on paper that I call The Blue Cool. I guess...
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Jazz
Most mornings in the studio I will click on to the Pandora site for a little music while I write the blog. Normally I will choose the Chet Baker channel which is a blend of his music along with many...
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Big Noise From Winnetka
I’m running a little late this morning and thought I’d fill today with a little music. It’s a great piece of film from legendary drummer Gene Krupa and his trio doing Big Noise From Winnetka. I’ve...
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Black Coffee
Time for some Sunday morning music and since I was up extra early this morning the idea of something to pick me up seems like a good idea. Something like some black coffee. Not the drink, though I am...
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Jazz (Song One)
The artist is a man who finds that the form or shape of things externally corresponds, in some strange way, to the movements of his mental and emotional life. —Graham Collier **************** I have...
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I Love Paris
I just don’t know. I am still trying to make sense of the attacks in Paris, trying to understand the logic of terrorism and how people are convinced to follow any quasi-religious group that advances...
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My Foolish Heart
Time for some Sunday morning music and the gray skies here today along with everything else that is going on call for something a bit slower and quiet in tone. I thought I would feature the piano of...
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Caravan
I can’t really tell you how my show went last night. I wish I could but my psychic powers have been on the weak side lately. Actually, I am writing this on Friday because I most likely won’t be back...
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Nature Boys
It’s Sunday morning and I want to play one of my all-time favorite songs, Nature Boy. It’s an extraordinary song from an unusual character by the name of eden ahbez, who I have written about before...
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We May Never Meet Again…
We may never never meet again, on that bumpy road to love Still I’ll always, always keep the memory of The way you hold your knife The way we danced until three The way you changed my life No, no they...
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‘Round Midnight
Quiet morning and I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what I want to play today for this Sunday morning music break. Spent a lot of time listening to a lot of different things. I would say it...
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Work Song
Labor Day weekend and I wasn’t planning on posting anything today, figuring that I was due a break because at heart I always considered myself more under the label of worker than artist. Even in my...
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Jacob Lawrence’s Humanity
American Jacob Lawrence was a great painter who worked as a Social Realist, capturing the experience of the African-American community in the 20th century in a number of different series of paintings...
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Oslo
It’s gray and rainy this morning. It’s the same forecast for the next several days here and I am kind of happy about that. While it may put a damper on tourists and sun-seekers, the rain refreshes the...
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Again, Jazz (Song One)
This morning, I was looking at the wall in my studio that is directly in front of the desk where I write this as well as the easels where I paint. It’s a large stone fireplace that is about fourteen...
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Romare Bearden on Creating the Personal
+++++++++++++++++ Practically all great artists accept the influence of others. But… the artist with vision… by integrating what he has learned with his own experiences… molds something distinctly...
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