Puppy Love

I had the opportunity to foster a pooch for the Humane Society of Kitchener-Waterloo this last week.

Gigi was one half a sweet, cuddly delight - the other half was a tornado of rip-n-tear destruction, along with a biblical lack of housetraining. Happily, the floorboards are indomitably laquered, and my supply of Mr. Clean inexhaustable.

I had specified I wanted a housetrained dog, but the HS called me in a hurry, saying that they had an urgent need for a foster. "How Bad Could It Be?", I thought.

Many exasperating days where I felt overtaken by the gargantuan, crazed de-luxe B-movie spirit of Mommie Dearest followed many sweet nights of lovely snuggling. She even slept picturesquely.

She was adopted quite quickly before my opinions, or flooring could be tarnished. So, all in all, a good experience.

Studio Corner, To-Day

 

For Sale: Joey Arias At Barbara Hall Park

 This is an oil sketch I did of the great performer and artist, Joey Arias.

I saw him live in Toronto, and the evening was magical. Though he performed in a park, it was as if the tree branches lowered in and the stars came close, making the event feel like it was being performed in an intimate club.

I usually like letting rough little pieces out of the studio, but I didn't think I could polish this one up without losing a certain something. So there you go.

It's oil on gessoed panel, about 6 x 12"

It's currently in the O'Connor Gallery in Gananoque, Ontario. Take a peek!

-https://www.facebook.com/OConnor-Gallery-228073441110725/

-https://www.instagram.com/oconnorgallery/

-Phone: (343) 363-6844

Studio Life

 

Happy Beginnings

I've been doing copies of famous (and sort of famous) paintings I like, just to warm myself back up after a long time away. It seems to be working. I'm already getting restless and want to strike out more in my own way.

The warmup after time away has been useful. Good for noticing such things as;

-attention span

-areas of interest or boredom in setting up a piece

-the feeling in the body: arm/hand to eye/thought and their relation to the emotive/inner visual

-motor skills and duration, and the nature of them

-one's internal image and reference bank. Has it changed? What might it be now? What is one's relation to it?

-ability to translate emotive/visual and logic/visual into workable visual tropes on a canvas or piece of paper

-what's interesting to oneself now?

So, with all that going on (as usual), I set out to do a small copy of a Corot from reproduction.

I'm entranced by the original, but right away, I was ferociously bored by the thought of pecking and flitting away at all these minute details - details that were so integrally gestural in the original, it would be an idiotic errand to try and match them. so, i found myself brushing away with washes rather wildly, letting things drip and run  - and enjoying myself!

I think that's a good sign. A Happy Beginning - to setting out, originally, again.

For Sale: a Georges Braque handpainted repro.

For Sale:

A lot of people think that Picasso invented that crazy modern way of painting called Cubism more or less by himself. That couldn't be further from the truth. A lot of people helped (especially the anonymous creators behind they African sculptures he found so inspiring) - but in Paris, his main help was his partner in revolutionizing the way things in painting could be seen: Mr. Georges Braque.

Picasso was violent in his work. Visceral. Rip, tear, rend, etc.

Braque, by contrast was civilized, urbane, more polished.

Still it took the two of them, practically roped together like mountaineers, to crack the accumulated weights and codes of hundreds of years of basic realism. Picasso, after this feat was accomplished, took off to become artist of the century, whereas poor Braque's reputation became a footnote.

Happily, his reputation has been restored.

Here we see a cafe table, where there's a basic sort of arrangement of cafe objects - with hints of newspaper and book headlines showing here and there. It's a refined depiction of a place where a few hours were spent in leisure, near a window, with some engaging things to read.

This is a hand painted reproduction by myself of the original, done to get myself back into painting after a long hiatus.

It measures about 24 x 30" , oil on canvas on a wooden frame.

It's currently in the O'Connor Gallery in Gananoque, Ontario. Take a peek!

-https://www.facebook.com/OConnor-Gallery-228073441110725/

-https://www.instagram.com/oconnorgallery/

-Phone: (343) 363-6844

For Sale: 'Early Summer'

 For Sale:

Early Summer

2002

Oil On Canvas

36 x 48"

This is a painting I did for my 2002 show at O'Connor Gallery in Toronto. With the exception of the final 'wash' coat, it was actually all painted using palette knives, which was tricky for me, at the time.

It was being sold for $2800 by Dennis O'Connor in 2002.

It's currently in the O'Connor Gallery in Gananoque, Ontario. Take a peek!

-https://www.facebook.com/OConnor-Gallery-228073441110725/

-https://www.instagram.com/oconnorgallery/

-Phone: (343) 363-6844

"Po-Tee-Weet?"

In addition to Facebook, I have taken up Instagram and Twitter.

My twitter profile is quite blank, but the other two are full of stuff.

I'm also setting up my very own website again, at: www.jameshuctwith.com

I am now social media'ing myself into a vaporous stupor.

Links on the right.

Sunset, Studio

The Painting Stuff just starts getting everywhere.

Out of it's corner, up behind the sofa...

Black Lives Matter march, Kitchener.

Knock, Knock, Braque.

This is a Braque knockoff I'm doing for fun. A lot of my expected ways of working seem to be intact - that's good. My insecurites are too, but, what of that!

Knock it off!

Still working on that new website. Or, more exactly, haven't been lately due to lots of this-and-that going on. Plus no new truly original paintings.

However, I have been painting.

After nearly ten years away, I've picked up the brushes and started working again.

Right now, just to warm up, I'm doing some good-natured knockoffs of early modernist paintings I like.

Robert Delauney's Red Eiffel Tower, a Braque still life, and more on the way...

Here are some pics.

The original repro (bottom) and some pics above it of the 'copy' on the way. More or less life size!

Father's Milk

A painting of mine has come up for sale. I'm really glad that the current owner is taking care to sell it along.

This painting - of which I'm still enormously fond of - was done in 2003, the year I feel I hit my stride. It was my first large multi-figure composition, and working it out was a complete delight  - from the underlying geometry, to the symbols embedded throughout, to the joy of painting all the bodies of those gents, and having it all come together.

If you are interested in purchasing the piece, simply contact me via e-mail:

jameshuctwith@gmail.com

"It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas, the way it's meant to do.
 Bing Crosby - Hey - Bing! Are you listening?"

-PSB

Buildup

I think "Why?" and "What of, what for?". "Is this just habit or some sense of duty? How will this relate to the world, mean both something to me and people out there?". 
Then you return to it and get to it, because the only proofs are in the doing...

Happy New Year!

A very happy new year to you and yours, everybody.

Studio Corner, Dec. 2016

G. Kearney, Oil Portrait.

Greg

Oil on panel 

16 x16"

2016

sold

Oil Sketch (Joey Arias)

Joey Arias performing [Barbara Hall park, Toronto]


Oil sketch
Oil on gessoed wood panel
12" x 6"
2016

available