Melancholy and beauty, so often holding hands.
Two sunset paintings in a row! This week I will be posting some super heavy cloudscapes. So these are a peaceful pause before the storm.
Sunday Sundown
Tag: landscape
Winter Collection
My recent winter paintings on the studio table. We are due for much colder temperatures and heavy snowfall. In other words I am sure there will be more of these!
Distance
I have always loved big empty spaces. No buildings no roads. There are not enough of these places today.
Besides the glorious desolation it is the atmosphere. The feeling of distance and light. I try to capture that feeling in my work, try is all I can do.
Boom
I am continuing my recycling of boards. Half a dozen paintings I liked but not enough to keep have been stripped off to become something new!
I am really pretty addicted to apocalyptic cloud formations. The beauty and power are fascinating. This one is small but mighty!
From the ashes
I destroyed half a dozen paintings I decided not to put into my solo show. I like to let paintings breathe for a while and see them fresh. So often you feel an energy and excitement from work, that usually fades. If a painting doesn’t intrigue me after hanging around the studio for weeks it is probably not worth keeping. Sometimes I will deeply love elements of a piece but it has to be compelling as a whole. Once in a while a painting just needs a little extra work to bring it all together. Sometimes that little extra is the final blow…
So I destroyed a painting, this is the new painting on the same panel. Now I can’t remember for sure what was originally on this board but I know this is stronger. Will it stick around? Time will tell.
Shipping Art
More work headed to my solo show. The exhibit is at the lovely Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California.
Taking another look…
I revisited a painting from late 2018 that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with. I am gathering paintings for my February solo show making hard decisions. This particular piece was on the edge but now it will be attending the exhibit! The show is at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California.
2019
I have never been an optimistic person. In grade school, learning vocabulary, the teacher asked us if we were optimists or pessimists. A girl I had eyes for said, “Oh, we are both optimists.” She was a bit smarter than I was, but as she explained the difference, I knew she was horribly mistaken.
For some odd reason, I am filled with an unrealistic optimism for the new year. I am making my living painting, it’s not easy. My days are only getting shorter, never mind. I have a vision for my work, mastery of my materials. For the first time in my life I know my greatest work is ahead. I am excited to make it.
I hope you all find passion and meaning in 2019.
Ghost in the Studio
It struck me when I walked into my studio this morning that my current painting feels very much like a ghost. I have it on my table easel and it seems to hover on the table.
This painting is almost a study in subtlety. The color and values easing into one another. This kind of painting seems difficult to capture digitally but for now here is an iPhone version.
9 from 18
The app said these were my top 9 of 2018, who am I to argue? Thank you all for your support and positivity in 2018, happy Holidays and here is to a great New Year!
brian sostrom 