"Out of the Closet"

Self-portraits...an interesting proposition. It takes more than a bit of courage (or outright balls)to paint or draw oneself and then put it up for the perusal and assessment of the general public. I suppose that there are a lot of ways to look at the process. Is it a bit of ego, public soul searching and revelation, catharsis, masochism, or just artistic tightrope walking? I've done my modest share, but I decided to go all out and over the top with this one. At 72"x30", it's full sized. (The bone man is scrunched into a 5' 7" tile border, so he will need some chiropractic adjustment at some point.)

My opinion is that a self portrait is overtly about the artist and how he sees himself, but once hung on display becomes much more a mirror for the viewer. We tend to recognize bits of ourselves in it and our lives, and in the process may be either fascinated or repulsed by what we see. The best self-portraits that I have seen are endlessly fascinating. My own visual appreciation of them usually includes a large dose of self assessment and comparisons with the elements that I find an affinity to. Sort of like going to a party and checking out how cool or lame one's clothes are to the rest of the company. We hope that we are in the top 1%, but are often brought a bit closer to
reality in the process.

Well, we are a pretty comical species...so lofty, and often so childish.

For your perusal and contemplation..."More And Less Than I Appear". Acrylic on muslin over wood panel, 71 7/8" x 30"

On the Dead of Winter...

There seems to be something about the middle of winter that brings on my meditative spirit. In all likelihood it has everything to do with the feel of barren vegetation and lack of growth that exhibits itself the strongest at this time of year. Skeletons of trees and steely skies certainly set the stage for my ruminations. A sort of virtual cabin fever is part of it too. Even if you're not one of the exuberant physical types, the feeling that you can't engage in all those imagined outdoors activities (even if you wouldn't normally anyway)makes them feel all the more inaccessible with the attendant feelings of loss. (It's all in the head of course.) But don't get me wrong. I like it. In fact, I like anything that gets me to thinking deeply.

I'm amazed at how often something can be observed as holding the seeds of it's opposite. The serenity of winter's barren landscapes buzzes with the energy of life just barely concealed... waiting for the proper catalyst to launch it into full bloom. Here in California, it seems that no matter how dry and barren everything looks at certain times of the year, all it takes is a bit of rain (or even a heavy mist spell) to turn the hills a delicate green. Of course that brings all the insects out to sample the wares and...right up the food chain. Winter snow eventually melts providing the moisture to set the whole chain of events in nature on its yearly cycle. All you have to do is let your mind roll over those thoughts for a while and all sorts of events in life/nature start to take on a completely different look.

It's all too true that life doesn't revolve around me, but as the observer of all the things around me, it's sometimes difficult to step outside of that mindset. My environment and surroundings certainly affect me profoundly and take on the characters of "good" or "bad" depending on how they affect me, but in reality, they are not there for me. They, no less than me, have a life of their own. In that respect, biting winter cold, typhoon winds, earth rattling upheavals, and tsunamis are neither "good" nor "bad"...just very inconvenient for the lives and plans of us temporary residents. Like a guest at someone's house, I need to learn the to adapt myself to my host's life environment...it seems to be just good manners.

So, what did I tell you...the dead of winter brings on all sorts of mental journeys. And on that note... "Winter Meditation" (Acrylic on wood panel 8"x 8". This work is available, so if you are interested, please feel free to view more information at http://WBEckertStudio.1000Markets.com or inquire at WBEckertStudio@gmail.com)

The Rhythm Method

I seem to be getting getting a rhythm to my work discipline...a very good thing. It hasn't been easy, but I'm making surprising progress and it feels great. The whole process puts me in mind of all the rhythms around me that make things work...the seasons (California excepted of course), patterns of the day, cycles of plant growth everywhere, the comings and goings of all the myriad types of birds that frequent all the thickets around the house, and of course the murmurs and rants of the sea.

I truly enjoy watching the flight of pelicans up and down the beach, they have their own rhythms. They are regal and confident in their flight. They never seem to be in a hurry and appear for all purposes, "unflappable" as they coast along. They have a near perfect aplomb and are perfectly attuned to the sea...readily apparent when watching them coast along the breaking wave crests. In fact, their attitude signals the feeling that they might have invented flight and are quite assured in that respect. My kind of bird.

Celebrating the heartbeats of mother nature and the perfectly pitched attitude of the pelican ...

"Pulse" Acrylic on canvas, 36"x18". This work is available, so if you are interested, please feel free to view more information at http://WBEckertStudio.1000markets.com or inquire at WBEckertStudio@gmail.com)

Sneaking Up

Well, it has been a while. i can actually claim that i have been working, if not posting. i decided a while back the i would hold off on the posting till i had a number of pieces to post and i have (not in small amount helped by the fact that i am just a procrastinating genius of sorts). i'm slowly sneaking up on my goal.

i decided to post this one since it's already up elsewhere. i've been doing birds lately while pondering other things...these are pretty idealistic birds but they seem to fit where my head is residing these days. This is my latest. i did it as a birthday present for my wife...it had the desired effect...complete surprise and delight. i like it when that happens.

"whisperflight" acrylic on canvas, 15"x30", Private Collection)

Spicy

i like peppers, i like how they taste, i like how they make other things taste, i like how they look. i prefer the twisty ones the most. i've noticed that many stores seem to prefer peppers that look like storybook peppers...uniform and uniformly "pepper-like". i think that i prefer the "Mapplethorpepper"...suggestive and sensually twisted...visually spicy!

what i did with three of them one afternoon...
"3 peppers" original painting, acrylic on canvas 8"x10" study on stretched cotton canvas ($125)

Arc Flight

i thought i'd post my latest painting. this has some of my favorite arcs and swoops (and the arm and hand movements that go with them), and the animal whose movements i love to trace with those forms. it's been quite a while since i've painted dolphins, and this is a completely different approach to the subject for me. i may go this way for a while and see where i wash up.

for your pleasure..."Arc Flight" acrylic on canvas

Something New, something older...

i'm defintely not an advocate of forgetting the past. i have often been advised that it's good for an artist to destroy all that clinging old work so that we can work a fresh slate...i'm not there. i'm always fascinated by old works. i have a sort of detachment from them in that it's not too long after they are completed that they don't feel like mine. they are fascinating and yet seem foreign to me...like looking at someone else's work. good, bad, or ugly that's the way it is.

at times i revisit old works and re-invent them, or re-do them in another media...or return to the path that i wandered off on when i did them originally. this is one such piece...the sketch was done on a plane flight, and i worked the solution over a period of time...now i'm looking forward to a second journey for it on canvas. "Guilt:Formal"

Breaking Camp...

Most of the work that i've posted recently has been photographic in nature, but i thought i'd post something a bit different this time. i just finished a commission that i procrastinated myself through for way too much time...having just "broke camp", i'm understandably pretty excited!

without going into gory details, this is an original portrait of a young man on a 1927 Harley Davidson based on a black and white photo of the subject supplied by the client ...done in acrylic on canvas, 30x40". "Shaw's Ride", SOLD