Upcoming Shows

I'm very honored to be a part of the following upcoming shows;

This is my third show with the Gresham Art Committee, and I continue to be impressed with their dedication to promoting the arts within the local community. I'm very grateful for all of the kindness and support they've extended not only me, but all of my fellow artists as well.

RAW Portland scouted me out for this show and I'm very excited to be a part of this international movement showcasing all of the arts in one exciting 21+ venue. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at http://www.rawartists.org/vanboydart

Delicate Cutters

This painting was my effort to visually represent the feeling of inspiration when it moves through the artist. The title is a reference to the knives I use in various stages of a painting and is also a hat tip to the band, Throwing Muses, as well as Jessica, a woman I once knew.

Oil on stretched linen 2013, 12x16 inches 

Until Our Eyes Are Raw

Hold nothing back, nothing in reserve, this is a one way trip...

Pastel on panel

A Pleasing Sound

Pastel on linen, 11x14inches

So Many Beginnings

"In each picture is a whole lifetime enshrined, a whole lifetime of fears, doubts, hopes, and joys."

Wassily Kandinsky

I find myself starting more paintings than I'm finishing lately. Feeling more satisfaction in letting go to the impulse to draw, to note an idea, or lose myself in inspiration's movement than the desire to paint. Of artistic pursuits Kandinsky felt that drawing was the most spiritual activity available to the artist, so it would seem I've been of the feeling to move with the spirit.

I hope you enjoy this selection of works in progress. For enquiries please email vanboydart@gmail.com. 

Untitled, pastel and some initial layers of oil on canvas about 3x4feet. This one has had me stumped so to speak as to how to proceed to the finish and really represents the painting which led me to flinging myself into drawing in an effort to reconnect with the muses if you will. Looked at from a different light though, this painting opened a door from which a flood of ideas crashed into view.

"Dissecting Panoptes" 22x33inches, silverpoint on paper with an initial wash of oil paint. My explorations of using social media to promote my art prompted this piece, one has a sense of hundreds of eyes watching your every move as well as a feeling of exposure. Reminding me of the all seeing giant, Argos Panoptes of Greek mythology.

Untitled, charcoal on paper 22x33inches. Today, while scanning some random sketches pinned to walls and boards, I experienced something akin to seeing faces in the clouds in some of the more abstract marks on the various papers. This portrait flowed from those abstract marks.

Untitled, pastel on linen 11x14inches. Like the one above this piece came out of an image a noticed in the background marks of another painting.

"We Will Be Your Guide"

Pastel on canvas, 12x12inches. I wanted to do a tribute to the artist, Chencho Zocar, whose work always uplifts me, his drawings have served as sort of a beacon when I might be going too far off the trail.

"Oubliette" pastel and charcoal 3x4feet on canvas. The second half off a diptych, this is probably the painting which has been waiting the longest to be finished. It concerns the desire to forget and/or leave things behind.

I leave you with one more quote from dear maestro Kandinsky,

"The eye is the hammer. The soul the piano with it's many chords. The artist is the hand that, by touching this or that key, sets the soul vibrating automatically. "

See, Hear, and Speak a Little

Pastel, casein, and powdered pigment triptych on panels 12x36inches(total size)

What is Inspiration

There is a sea upon which ideas float like messages in bottles, this is inspiration. We, artists, float in this space to put the messages in the empty vessels, so that someone, somewhere might read them and recognize the vast beauty of our time, our place, in this moment floating in the sea. In this recognition, there is a connection...a moment outside ourselves, when "I" becomes "We" and we enter the field where dichotomies are resolved.

"See a Little"

"Hear a Little"

First two panels of a triptych, pastel over an oil/alkyd ground on 12x12inch masonite

Discipline

"The discipline of art requires constant experimentation, wherein errors are harbingers of original ideas because they introduce new directions for expression. The mistake is outside the intended course of action, and it may present something that we never saw before, something unexpected and contradictory, something that may be put to use.”
Claude Monet

Gravity of Inaction

Charcoal and powdered lamplack on paper

Mixing Media

I used to think of myself as a purist with regards to materials, so it has been such an revelation for me now to let go of limitations and experiment with various combinations of media I have on hand. The Art is after all really the journey and the action of creation, when the soul moves uninhibited with the spirit of the muse.

Untitled

Silver rendered over acrylic and wax ground with pastel on paper soaked in ink...about 9x12inches. 

Solstice

"As with all things, this too shall change" -unknown author

With the changing of the season, I've decided to rename my blog to better encompass the work I'm doing as well as the varied directions it's moving in. I plan on adding pages to organize the different collections of artwork. Deep thanks to the wonderful women who have posed for me to create these drawings and paintings.

"Warm Was the Thought, Soft Was the Sound"

Mixed media on paper 22x33inches

Culture of Death

At Reynold's High School here in Portland, OR there was the latest school shooting in the States on the 10th of June. The student killed was Emilio Hoffman, who was the brother of my daughter's boyfriend.

Title is a quote from my dad, Henry Youens, and the following drawings are dedicated to the memory of Emilio Hoffman.

Silver rendered over wax pencil and pastel on newspaper

Conte crayon and pastel on newspaper

To Blog or Not to Blog

When I wake in the morning and review what my day may hold, somewhere in between what I have to do and what I should do is a choice between art making or engage in promoting my art online. Through a serendipitous turn of events, today I was able to do both.

My interest in drawings rendered with silver and other precious metals has recently been renewed. For the drawing below I used silver, steel wool, and dry washes of pastel. I haven't decided if I want to call this one finished or continue working on it.

"Delicacy of Daydreams"

32x40 inches on 2ply museum board

Pleasing to See

Yesterday, I viewed these at David Douglas High School in SE Portland, Oregon and it was so euphoric to see the traditional arts being carried forward by the talented next generation of artists. Have decided to donate any profits I make from this year's portrait work to the AP art program at David Douglas HS as well as the art program at David Douglas Arthur Academy (elementary). The details need to be worked out, but I'm thinking of it being in the form of art materials scholarships.

May all future artists have the tools and guidance to freely express the beauty which inspires them!

First Notes of a Delicate Song

Work in progress started today. Charcoal, sanguine, pastel and acrylic primer on paper 22x33inches.  Working title, "Warm Was the Thought, Soft Was the Sound"

Whispers and Smoke

Wasn't sure where this one was going, then heard about the passing of surrealist HR Giger on May 12th and things became clear. Dedicated to his memory, be at peace...

22x33 mixed media on paper

Hurricanes of Little Epiphanies

In art as well as in all subjects I have come to realize all I am, perhaps all I ever will be, is simply a student, perhaps not even such a bright one, but determined to learn...epiphany after arriving at the beginner's mind.

"Tortoise and the Hare"

Mixed media on paper 22x33inches, need to fix some flat spots but have wait to dry before varnishing.

"Confidence is a static state. Determination is active. Determination allows for doubt and for humility-" from Anna Deavere Smith's book, "Letters to a Young Artist"

Rabbit Holes

Little breakthroughs, minor falls and major lifts. Deciding to ride some of the unexpected turns the muse is taking, liberating...can't be restricted even by self imposed limitations.

"If you are plotting art and trying to make something to get something,  you are not in a state of creative innocence." -Sean Scully

Working title for a work in progress, "Oubliettes"

Remains of Things Unsaid

Our faces communicate more than words or text, in a face we can see things behind surface appearance...things left unspoken.

Finished with this one, made a potentially catastrophic mistake while combining fixatives but managed to save it with Gamvar varnish.

Mixed media on paper 22x33inches

Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground

As the first month of Spring comes to a close, I'm having some difficulty staying focused solely on portraits. Might be a little ADD, ADHD, OCD, or whatever label is in fashion for the creative minded, but I feel some of my original designs falling away...letting go of plans and just going to ride the waves of inspiration without expectations.

Work in progress, nearly finished. 

1 of 3 portraits in progress

Faces like landscapes, stories etched deeply over time, evidence of footsteps taken to reach inside to find what is behind the veils of appearance.

Work in progress, charcoal and pastel on prepared paper 22x33 inches

In Progress

My first movements beginning to represent a recommitment to drawing for inspiration's expression. Also, giving thought to portraiture as metaphor.

Charcoal and pastel, initial drawing in progress

First Light

Stirrings of inspiration, a path home, the tools from the journey on the path of life have been gathered, and at first light...the muse's first kiss.

Mixed media on paper, 18x24