Week 26. "Moonbather" 30"x40" oil on canvas

Color, line and texture equal infinite possibility. With each painting I do there are things about it I love and there are other things that, although not bad, I would change were I to do the painting again. There are so very many good and usually surprising things that have happened in the work I've posted here this year. I say this with all humility because all of the best things, in my opinion, just happened. I didn't plan them. The challenge is to then take those good things and build on them. This is not easy to do. With infinite possibility comes an infinite number of results. Hopefully those results are positive. "Moonbather" is a "building on the good things" painting. It draws heavily on previous paintings like "Romeo and Juliet", "Summer's Cauldron" and "Electra". I definitely broke some accepted "rules of art" in it. With impish delight I decided to just totally ignore the light source which should be the moon. Instead I gave the bather her own light emanating from within her. Also, the moon-bather's hair splits the painting almost exactly in half. Separating a composition into equal halves is a big no-no. But guess what... it works. So much for rules.

Week 25. "Akhenaten and Nefertiti In Their Garden At Amarna" 30"x40" oil on canvas

“Indulge not thyself in the passion of anger; it is whetting a sword to wound thine own breast, or murder thy friend.” -Akhenaten

Are these truly the words of a pharaoh? Those mighty kings who wished to be worshiped and treated like gods? Akhenaten, the first monotheist in recorded history. Akhenaten, over-thrower of tradition and builder of a new city. Akhenaten and his beautiful wife, Nefertiti.

“To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom; and he that increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares; but a contented mind is a hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not.” -Akhenaten

Week 24. "A Fourth Fool" aka "Breathe fool! Breathe!" 24"x30" oil on canvas

This is the fourth installment of the fool series starring me, myself and I as the biggest fools anyone ever did see. The original idea for this one was that the fool would be staring up out of picture into light so bright that he really couldn't see. It could have been called "Don't stare at the sun, fool!" What happened was that while I was taking the reference photographs I kept sneezing (because, like the fool I am, I was staring at the sun behind the camera). I was holding those sneezes in! "I can do it!" I told myself. "This is the longest ten second auto timer on any camera, ever!" I thought to myself. One half of a millionth of a second before a sneeze forced it way out the camera finally took a picture. I looked at it. I liked it. I used it. And when I stepped back from the canvas I saw a fool, not out in the brutal sun but holding his breath under the water. He's not too far under the water because the sun is still powerful enough to blind him. He looks like he's in about three or four feet of water tops. So maybe the really really real title of this painting is, "If you think your drowning, stand up! Fool.".

Week 23. "Wisdom and Knowledge" 36"x48" oil on canvas

First let me say thanks to all of those of you who have been taking time to follow along as I post a new painting every week. Thank you also for the supportive feedback. It is truly wonderful to know that my work is being seen and appreciated. Finishing a painting every week is not easy (especially when the canvas is 36"x48", very daunting at the beginning of the week) but I must say that I'm enjoying it. One thing I'm learning as I push myself to get the work done is that there's no time to wait to be inspired. It's possible that inspiration may eventually strike while I'm sitting on the sofa waiting for lightning to strike. But if I just get to work, feeling inspired or no, I realize several hours later that the inspiration was there all along.

As to this weeks painting I can only say that it's nice when wisdom and knowledge work together but they are by no means the same thing. Wisdom is generated from within and knowledge is found without. Wisdom works just fine by itself. But knowledge without wisdom, as a Nigerian proverb has it, is like water in the sand.

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”Socrates

True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance. -- Akhenaton

My embodiment of wisdom is a woman, accepting and pregnant with ideas. Knowledge is there, behind her, represented by three figures that could be some sort of clerics or scholars. They are important, but wait, watch out boys! Bow your heads when wisdom is appears.