Small works.

William Bukowski

Petite Garden II

12" X 9" oil on linen

I don't know if it is the recession. But is seems appropriate to do smaller works. Same brushwork, same intensity but small scale. I just happened to have a few small pre-stretched canvases in the studio. Now, can I do a series?

Invitational Show at GAC.

The Winds of Change at the Hillstrom Museum at Gustavus Adolphus is up and running into November. It is really a great show and features nearly 50 artists from around the state of Minnesota. At the reception on October 6th they had a quartet of dancers performing with music.

There is also a review of the show in the Star tribune's online art section today.

My own painting kind of mimics the Monet, Sisley trio that are framed together in the Musee Orsay in Paris. I wanted to capture that fresh vision of Minnesota fields in a traditional sense with the non-traditional wind turbines in view.

For some reason I felt a little self conscious taking pictures with a lot of people around, so I waited for the crowd to thin.

RiverCrossing Art Fair in Motion

The Mankato area is having an art crawl this weekend. Bethany Lutheran College is a sponsor so I have an exhibition of garden paintings and

waterfalls. Instead of just standing around, I decided to paint, so I am putting the finishing touches on the last of my late summer paintings.

There have been some interesting people coming through even though it is cold and rainy.

Petite gardens

I have been working on some small paintings of the my favorite theme. It is interesting to compress the color and brushstrokes. I am trying to add enough details without getting too clunky with the paint. I hope to do a series.

Petite Garden

9" X 12"

oil on linen

In Memory- Robert Grilley

On September 19 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison there was a memorial for one of their great professors, Robert Grilley or "Mr. Grilley" as we called him as graduate students back in the late 1970s.

Mr. Grilley set a standard of excellence that we all strove to achieve. He was tough on his students and could prove his point on a chalk board whenever anyone doubted him. I still feel the influence of Mr. Grilley in my own teaching career after 31 years.

His studio is still set up as if he will be back later to paint.

Warm fall gives me a little more time.

The fall has been so sunny and warm you would think it was still summer. The dying plants and turning leaves kind of give it away. But I have been able to paint a few more days because of it. The palette has changed and some of the fall flowers are a bit jarring compared to the summer harmonies. The angle of the sun has changed quite a bit and prime time for my morning is closer to 11:00 am instead of 9:30 am. But, every day of painting outside is a good day.

On Location

When you look at these photos it looks like I am literally in a painting doing a painting.

Actually these photos were taken by Mankato photographer Michael Schwertfeger. He was working at the site and happened to snap a couple of extra pictures and sent them my way.

How refreshing to be on location at the garden.