Sometimes, pricing a work can be a real mystery to some. Many try to set up some kind of "normal work job type measure" as though they were working in a factory at GM or something. Well, it took $22 of raw materials, 14 hours of labor, and two hours of double time after midnight, then they divide by square inches and come up with... 
My head is spinning just thinking about it. A work of art is not

 a product. It does not get repeated and sold in bulk to a dealer like a box of cheerios. It can be measured only by the inherent quality that a the artist applies to it. That usually determines the cost. If the artist is realistic and keeps an eye out on the open art market, then he usually has an idea what a particular piece is going for, but the last word is ultimately the artists. A more successful work usually goes for more that one thats not. But this measure may not be apparent to the viewer. Only the artist. Works that match the intent of the artist and hit the mark are the ones you'll see higher prices on. Galleries know where the demarkations are on most works. Its their job. Size means nothing over accomplishment. A small work can rival a larger one if it " hit the bulls eye" so to speak. And then comes, reputation. You pay for "who" did the work. If Paul McCartney painted and sold a painting, it would of course cost more than if your old high school art teacher painted the same size and quality. To most, that seems unfair, and it may be, but thats the way it is. Brand names sell for more. Van Gogh was nothing at the time, but then became an "art rock star" after he went to the big easel in the sky. Now his name along will command exorbitant prices for even a so so rough sketch.
Also, experience, investment and dedication, track record of the artist involved and so much more. Its almost endless. Pricing the arts, is an art.
So the next time you ask an artist how he or she prices, remember, there's more to it than weighing a bunch of bananas at the market.

Keeping it simple. This is something that, for me, helps to make the statement live and breath on the canvas much more so than pounding out a the work until there is no life left in it. The essence of the energy that makes up the painting is fragile. If overworked, too much, .. it can kill the work. I now keep this in mind as I paint. Knowing that if that breath of energy lives on the canvas, to watch out that its not stepped on in an effort to "make a painting".
(bloggers note)  - I am resigned to writing for the time being instead of posting pictures that should be accompanying my words. I have lost my ability to down load pics, due to a hard drive crash. 
Words are the only thing I have that I can presently share with you at this time. 
As in my art, I use whatever I have at my disposal that works to get it done. Words still function and need no downloading. (knock on wood) 
So, .. just to say, 
thank you for your "reads".

Saying it with less. That is what I feel where my current direction is heading. Get it down, leave it alone. If I think about the process and rationalize the results, then stagnation is inevitable. The brushstroke must remain exactly that. Its what it is. If it lives, works and has life, .. then try to leave it be.  The subject helps spawn the way I approach the painting. If the subject has moved me in some way  that is good, but not always necessary. What I have derived from it all, internally, is ultimately more important to me. The  mood, a feeling evoked, a need to say something that moved me at some point. These are all motivators behind my brush. And lastly, .. I just need to tell it in paint. Speak it out. To express what I have been witness to in my soul and mind. Art, being of course, our first original language,  makes only sense to me.

For those of you who have noticed an absence of posts for my newest works, you're not imagining things. I have been unable to post any pictures or visual data due to my hard drive crashing, bit by bit. 

This is not a pleasant experience to say the least, and it undermines the entire framework that is to be a blog. As an artist, without the visuals, I am reduced to verbal. Most distressing. I am told by professional tech guys, .. that my computer is too old, and needs to be gracefully buried. I don't disagree. I already have lost much of my valuable data, and it cannot be retrieved. 

All I can say is that, for now, its been a good run, and I hope to be back in the game, as soon as I have some technology to back that up. Free would be great, but I think that isn't going to happen, so .. one of these days will have to suffice. I hope to at least keep a verbal link open on my blog, and if nothing else, maybe I can learn to write out my finished painting descriptions to you. ... or not. 

After all, if I could write them, I don't think I'd need to paint them. Interesting thought though. 

So, check back every now and then, and monitor my journey. Its sure to be an interesting one. 

Now, I think I'll go brew a coffee. No technology needed on that one. ~ whew!

Sometimes I love to explore the paint. How it reacts to different papers, panels, canvas or whatever else I can find to work on. This particular painting was done on some heavyweight paper I found from a print company nearby. Its got some tooth to it, and I think its 64 lb texture weave, or something like that. Anyway, I decided to work on it, and I found I loved it. Takes the paint really well, and any buckling that occurs, I can generally straighten out later on once it dries.
 Here is my piece. Somewhere off a coastal island perhaps, in the tropics. Its 11 x 8 1/2 and done with acrylic paint. I liked it so much, I immediately framed it, so I could hang it and look at it for a while, until it sells.

Its just after supper and from my studio window, I hear the traffic making tire noises that are somewhat different because of the oil and stones from just refinishing  the road. I see the chipmunks scurrying around the daylilies and notice the angle of the shadows are growing longer. It must be around 6:30 pm.
 Having finished three paintings this past week, I now have to take the photos for site downloading. This takes some time for me because of my antique computer. Its stone age you know.
  .. and I caught up on my tweets to fans, and tweeps, checked in with my Facebook fans, and made sure my print sites have my latest images.
 All in all its been a week. Now if I can just download another of my more recent pictures of my latest paintings, I'll be all set.
  Life it the art lane. Thats the way it is for me.

Along the Coast

11x15 

acrylic on 140 lb paper

Working from a sketch, from a snapshot I took on the coast, I used a limited palette to achieve some low key tonality. I wanted to give the feeling of some unsettled ocean weather patterns that one would see forming near the shoreline. In the distance is a lighthouse on point, and overhead, some sky patterns that look to be forming dynamic weather patterns. 

I love the sea because of this drama that sometimes unfolds. Its a living dynamic force and a pleasure to watch and translate onto my canvas.