a new comission leaves the studio!

I wanted to share this brand new painting with all of you, this finally shipped out last week:

Due to the more panoramic format it doesn’t share well on Instagram. This client was a dream, and gave me plenty of time so that the painting could evolve the way i wanted it to. This was composed from sketches done from life last summer, and using a few photos as an aid to memory. It was an interesting process, and it’s been very interesting to engage with a sense of place in a somewhat less abstract, more structural and sculptural way. Big thanks to Mineral School, too, for providing a wonderful home and studio in the mountains for a couple weeks, 9 months later i am still squeezing inspiration from that time <3

“Tahoma Comission”, (“Rainier” from the East), oil on panel, 14x40 inches, 2019

"Garland of Hours" Solo show at Shasta College, March 2019

I’m so pleased to announce a solo exhibition of works from my ongoing series, “Garland of Hours”, at the beautiful galleries of Shasta College, in Redding, CA. This series of figure paintings started around 15 years ago, as I looked at photos of my grandparents in their youth. Painting from both my own family’s photos, and those that I have found, in antique stores, estate sales, or just on the street or train tracks… These paintings are a meditation, in visual form, on universal themes: love and loss, presence and absence, remembering and forgetting, youth and maturity, and above all, the temporary and transitory nature of our lives. There will be an opening reception and I will also be giving a lecture/slide talk about the work. Big thanks to Andrew Walker Patterson for making this happen. More details as the time gets closer.

“Garden, Garland of Hours”, oil on panel, 2015, private collection

“Fading Couple”, Garland of Hours, oil on panel, 2015-2016



Interview with Painting Perceptions

I recently sat down for an email conversation with Larry Groff of the wonderful website Painting Perceptions. We covered a lot of ground, and just like studio visits, I most enjoy conversations with other painters…We covered a lot of ground, including my recent residency in Mineral, Washington this summer, which i keep hoping I will find time to write about here. Alas, I’m too busy following up in the the studio on inspiration from that trip, but I’ll get to it. Anyway, the site has been a great source of inspiration for me for many years, and has made me aware of so much wonderful painting…i can’t recommend it strongly enough and I’m really honored to be featured. Link Below!

“Walnut Lane/Philly WIndow” #1, oil on panel, 16x16, 2018

I hope you enjoy!

https://paintingperceptions.com/interview-with-gage-opdenbrouw/

September! 3 Person show at 4th Wall Gallery in Oakland!

I'm excited to announce that i will be showing new paintings this fall in Oakland, my first hometown show in quite a while.  The show will be at Fourth Wall Gallery, on 25th St in Uptown Oakland, and I'm honored to share the walls with Andrew Patterson and Sandy Ostrau.  I'll be posting more details here soon.  The exhibition will be up longer than usual, more like 6 weeks, which i love, September 15th to November 3rd, with an opening reception on Friday October 5th, 6-9 pm, and a closing reception on Friday November 2nd.  I hope to see you there.

"Arboretum, New Years, Day", 20"x20", oil on canvas, 2017

https://www.fourthwallart.com/

http://www.sandyostrau.com/

http://www.patterson-tutschka.com/

James Bland

I think the first painting I saw from this English painter was a moonlit interior, with a possibly sleep walking figure and a few cats.  I thought it was absolutely magical.  I have had the same feeling looking at his work so many times since then and am so excited that he'll be showing new works at the John Natsoulas Gallery concurrent with my solo show!  His work shows a clear interest in the work of painters like Sickert, Euan Uglow, and Cezanne, but with a dreamy quality that stands in an interesting counterpoint to the analytical, observational impulse.  Good stuff.

James Bland, Full Moon, oil

https://www.jamesblandpaintings.com/

https://www.instagram.com/j.bland/