Sometimes people ask me if I have a favorite painter. That’s impossible of course … like having a favorite color. Oddly (given my training) Americans make a good showing on my “favorites” list. Cecilia Beaux, Whistler, John Singer Sargent, all the Ashcan guys, particularly Hopper, Andy Warhol ….. So I can’t say who ranks at the top of the list. However, I can say with absolute certainty who was there first — Grant Wood. In fact, the first piece of art I ever had framed was a poster of “Dinner for Threshers”. I actually saw this painting as some point in my early twenties … not absolutely certain where, but it must have been in Minneapolis at the “Regionalist Vision” exhibition in 1983 … or some subsequent location of the show …. NY or DC.
Here’s work in progress for Garden. The Dragon is basically finished. Have to admit: I’m crazy about my Dragon!!!! … have already started another (small) one …. portrait of Dragon surrounded by spring flowers. Taking today off from studio painting (house painting instead) …. but will work on Adam and Eve tomorrow. Every artist has a secret … something forceful, not always obvious … the evidence of which is hidden in their work. So if you feel an “American Gothic” reference in Adam and Eve … that’s no accident.
