Cove Lilly

We have been without electricity for a few days here in New Hampshire after a wicked weekend wind storm. Read that last part again. Anyhoot, I finished this small 8x10" commission titled "Cove Lilly" a few weeks ago and I'm just getting around to posting it today. I think there is another painting in here somewhere, maybe in a crop of the Lilly pads. Hmmmm...
Busy, busy, busy working in my studio painting and getting ready for a solo exhibition in four weeks at the Rockport Art Association. The opening is Sunday, March 28th from 2 -4pm. Please feel free to come. I will be posting several more times about it before the show and I will include images of some of the paintings. There are so many that are in-progress right now..I really should focus on finishing some of them. I hope this finds you well.

The Clammer

This is an oil painting I finished and framed and sent off to the Rockport Art Association Winter show. It's called "The Clammer" and is 11x14" on wood panel. The model is my buddy Johnny Hames again, he has a natural ability at this kind of thing. I've known him since we were just wee-one-little-snot-nosed kids. I know him very well...I mean his nuances and subtle little things that can come in handy when trying to capture something expressive in a painting. I don't think I could have caught some of the subtleness of character without knowing the model so well. It makes the painting of it that much more enjoyable too.

Baseball #3

This is a small oil painting measuring (6x4") and is painted on wood panel. I did this for my son Max's third birthday today. I'm sure he would have preferred a painting of McQueen from the Cars movie but I'm hoping a day will come when he appreciates this. Happy Birthday Maxy.

Venerable Spirit (30x40")

This is "The Venerable Spirit" (30x40") oil on wood panel. I did a smaller version (6x8") of this image a while back and have had a fondness for it..I wanted to do a larger version and finally got a chance to..viola! This boat was docked in Rockport harbor some years ago and has absolutely beautiful lines. As a design, the work was done for me, look at that swooping line on the left side of the boat..what a craft! The colorful reflection of the houses in the background keeps your eye from exiting the picture plane and keeps it moving around the composition.

Thank you all for checking in from time-to-time, I hope you'll be back..I'm very excited for 2010 as an artist. I have four shows scheduled so I will be very busy. Here is what is ahead in 2010:
Rockport Art Association, Rockport, Mass solo show March 28
The Gallery at Mill Falls, Meredith, NH, one man show June 25
The Kennedy Gallery, Portsmouth, NH solo show August 06
Button Factory Open studio, Portsmouth, NH December 05.

Happy Holidays to you all and happy New Year.
Todd Bonita

Thank you.

Max, Alison and I at my Button Factory art studio
Thank you to friends and family and the hundreds of visitors who stopped by my art studio this weekend at the Button Factory open studio event. It was a huge success. I had some genuine belly laughs and met a lot of really cool new people from all over the country. I met a guy who recognized a boat in one of my paintings as belonging to his neighbor..he called him and told him, and in a short time I was shaking hands with the owner of the boat..Turns out his father-in-law built him that boat by hand..after a brief phone call I was soon introduced to an 89 year old boat builder named Charles who had made that boat with his own hands...how cool is that?! He invited me to his boat building workshop where I definitely plan to go and observe and in all likely hood do a painting of this man working his craft. It was wonderful.
Fifteen paintings found new homes and I will likely start relationships with two art gallery owners who welcomed my work this weekend. Thanks to you all.

Charles B. Darcy the boat builder who hand crafted the pea pod boat in my painting titled Newcastle Dory #1 shown on the wall behind him.

OPEN STUDIOS 2009

I would like to invite you to my 2009 artist open studios event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on December 05 and 06 from 11 to 5p. This takes place at the Button Factory artist building at 855 Islington street...it's the 23rd year for the building and the fourth for me. This is our annual holiday event where we open our studio doors and invite you all in and includes over 70 artist...painters, photographers, sculptors, woodworkers, jewelers...and even a guy who makes wooden boats by hand. Lots of creative types and some unique holiday gifts. I am in studio #224..second floor, take a left and I'm all the way in the back...I share a studio with Lynn Crocker, the book binder. I'll have wine, beer, water and of course cream soda. My Mom usually bakes something nice too. Please feel free to stop by and say hello.

Here is a link to the Button factory web sight that includes directions and more info..hope to see you.

THE BUTTON FACTORY OPEN STUDIOS

Three Scalliwags

I finished and framed this (16x20") oil painting I'm calling "Three Scalliwags". These dinghy's are moored in Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine. The red one says "Ugly Anne" om it and belongs to a larger boat of the same name. This stuff is gold to me. I love the character and sense of humor that the fisherman who named it must have. There is an honest filth to it that I'm attracted to. I think my recent paintings have this thread of filth weaved into it..everything is a little banged up but still pretty sturdy. Chipped paint and worn surfaces..wonderful textures..good stuff.

This painting will be hanging at my annual open studio the first weekend in December at the Button Factory artist studios in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I'm in studio #224, please feel free to come by and say hello. I'll provide more details in a coming post.

I also want to thank the jury of the Rockport Art Association in Rockport, Massachusetts for welcoming me as an artist member. I'm honored to be part of the rich art culture of Cape Ann. A lot of my painting heroes have roots there and I'm looking forward to taking part in their exhibitions and activities. I currently have about a half dozen paintings on display there as part of the new Members exhibition in the upstairs gallery and a few smaller pieces in the Holiday small works show in the main gallery.

Hope this finds you all well.
regards,
Todd

Smitty

This is an 18x24" oil painting on canvas I'm calling "Smitty". The oarsman is my brother Bobby Smith, (He took his stepfathers last name Smith) he was perfect for what I was looking for in this painting. Sort of a "Middle-aged man and the sea" concept. Sometimes I get these images and ideas in my head and they haunt me until I put them out there in paint. I've wanted to paint Bobby in this kind of image for a while and as a matter-of-fact, I consider this 18x24" canvas a teaser for a much larger canvas I have in mind for 2010. This filthy rogue still haunts my head.

The Oar House

This is an (11x14") oil painting on wood panel that I am calling "The Oar House". The structure is an old shed near the school house on Monhegan Island. I put the oar and life preserver in the painting to help the composition and to support that nautical feel I was after. I also created and exaggerated a lot of the rust stains that are running down the door and clapboards. Rust has that burnt umber/orange hue that sometimes works to add interesting color and design to a painting.

Max 2

This a small oil painting I did of Max from photo reference I took in the summer of 2008. I did the drawing last December and I just got around to finishing this for my wife as a gift for our tenth anniversary last week. Time really flies, particularly when you have a little wipper-snapper. What a joy watching my little rug-rat grow, I can't believe he'll be three in January.

Dirty Oar

This is an (11x14")oil painting on wood panel that I'm calling "Dirty Oar". The model is one of my best friends, Johnny Hames. He was perfect for what I was after in this painting; A dirty, hard-working fisherman type. For me, I think it's helpful to know the model when you have something specific in mind. Johnny was perfect because he's so filthy and dirty...some may even use terms like scummy, disheveled or scuzzy-filth-bag. I did, however, have to struggle to create the painting in such a way as to not bring attention to the models enormous ear lobes..not to mention, his obscenely-colossal-mammoth-like nose. I think it would have detracted from the spirit of the piece. It's important to use artistic license when confronted with compositional decisions such as the ones presented here.

Patience (24x30")

This is an oil painting on wood panel that I titled,"Patience". It's (24x30") and is a much larger version of a smaller (6x8") painting I did last year that you can see by clicking here
I love the scale of this new version...nice and airy and quietly commanding attention. At one time in art school I was told to, "Learn the rules so you can break them". I think this painting is an example of that. The subject is smack in the middle of the composition but ironically, that's what makes it work for me. I'm using symmetry to convey stillness in the design. This was integral to the mood and feel that I was after in this painting; contemplating the lost art of simple silence, stillness and patience.

Lines and Colors feature

I'm proud and grateful to be featured on Charley Parkers very popular art blog "LINES and COLORS". I've been reading it for several years and almost feel like "one of the cool kids" to be in the company of so many of my favorite artist. Check out Charley Parkers blog "Lines and Colors" here: LINES AND COLORS

Black and Blue

While driving down the cape, I caught a momentary-peripheral glimpse of some boats in a small cove in Eastham. I knew I would return first thing in the morning to capture them with the rising sun. I returned just after five a.m. and discovered an artist gold mine. A dozen dinghy's all bathed in that rich Cape Cod light...A string of pearls out there on the cove..OK, ...a little dramatic but what happened next convinced me that my passion may be moving into the uncomfortable area of obsession.

After taking reference photos of the boat you see here in the painting "Black and Blue", I looked around...no one there but me...I climbed in the boat and rowed around to the other dinghy's fixated on the brilliance of the light, the boats and the tranquil calmness of the water. The hair on my neck was standing.

I returned the boat exactly like I found it. That's not me or my personality to steal a boat..(borrow!)...I was in a state of mania...it was wonderful.

Old Red

This is "Old Red". It's 24x30" and is painted in oils on a linen canvas. It's a larger version of a painting I did a few years ago. You can see the older version here.

This painting represents my effort to achieve almost everything I'm after in picture making; simple design, singular focus of subject matter, a poetic use of color, texture and a full tonal range. I use these technical aspects to try and instill mood and character. I try to say something. 'Ol Red is a nod towards the leatherneck, craggy old sea salts who spend their rugged lives on rocky ships.. They are wise from the hard won knowledge of a life at sea. They smoke, drink, swear, tell dirty jokes and throw punches...their skin cracks when they laugh and sing. They are loyal to a fault...They are the old man and the sea...They are colorful New Englanders with nicknames like 'Ol Red. The chipped paint, the worn and weathered surfaces..it's all in there.

Christine Hanson 09-11-2001

This is a small sketch I did of a two-and-a-half year old girl named Christine Hanson who perished aboard United Airlines flight 175 as it slammed into the Trade Centers south tower on September 11, 2001. She was from Groton, Massachusetts and at two-and-a-half she was the youngest of the 2,973 victims. Christine was traveling with her father Peter Hanson and mother Sue Hanson, they were on the way to California for a trip to Disneyland and to see relatives.

I didn't know Christine or her family but they will be in my thoughts and prayers today.

Watching the Sunrise

This is "Watching the sunrise". I have an affection for this painting. For me, it's about the afterthought of watching the sunrise with those little birds and sharing a quiet moment with nature. For me, the act of watching light and observing how it falls on objects is at the heart of what picture making is about. The way light hits something is the first thing that stops me as a painter. It can sometimes make the hair on the back of your neck stand up...you know you've really got something. That's how I felt when I came across this boat and the way the rising sunlight was creeping up the back and side. The birds were not really there, I put them in as a device to share the experience with.

I use symmetry in my design to achieve a sense of stillness in some of my paintings. That's what's going on here with the boat and it's mirrored reflection. Everything is still; the boat, the birds, the water..the only movement is the implication of a rising sun outside of the picture plane.
This is oil on masonite, (10x20").

Morning Mist

I love painting and I also love looking at other artist work. There is a photographer from Canada named Peter Bowers, who's work I find incredibly powerful, simple and poetic. His work, for me, represents our quiet and respectful reflections on nature. His imagery possesses a lot of the things I'm personally after in picture making. The oil painting above, "Morning Mist", was completed using some of Peters inspiring photos. It's (16x20") and I painted it in oils on a wood panel. ( A thousand thank you's Peter for your permission ).
Peter could very well have a completely different take on what his work means to him but one of the great things about art is the notion of walking into a museum or gallery and simply falling in love with a piece because it moves you for whatever reason. In my opinion it's not terribly important to even intellectualize it..it simply moves me. It's a curious thing.
Last week an amazing and courageous women named Robin recently sent me this touching letter about what my paintings mean to her, I'm completely moved by her thoughts:
Hi Todd,
Joan called me and I purchased Shallow Water. She is sending it off this week. Cant wait. Thanks for your thoughts on paintings. I have my own thoughts on my attachments to them and what they represent to me. When I bought that first painting I had just finished my 8th round of chemo at Dana. I have Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. I have a daughter who had just turned three when I started my treatments so I worked hard to get into remission. I had tremendous support all around me family, friends ,church family etc. But cancer is a lonely battle, God guides you through it but he is all that can help during that dark time. So the first painting represented kind of a tight relationship and also rich colors and darker water. The second painting was lighter water and a solo boat, maybe as I got better and felt better and less depressed I was able to manage a bit better on my own. And I had to start to be independent again. And that painting mirrored my feelings. Now Im two years out, im feeling so much more positive and happier and very thankful. The water is soft and light filled and the sun is shining! God got me through the deep water and to safe place. I love that sunlight in the newer paintings. Canoe has an exuberance and playfulness which is just beautiful and it has the rich colors but with lots of light.
So I didn't mean to wax on for so long, but you were so open with me about how you feel about your work- I thought maybe you would like to hear about the effect your work has on others. I am excited to see what the future holds for your work and evolution as an artist.
A true fan always
Robin

You make it all worth it Robin, thank you...and thank you for your permission to post your letter...I'm a true fan of yours always.
Sincerely.

Winnipesaukee Canoe

This is "Winnipesaukee Canoe". It's 11x14" and painted in oils on a gessoed wood panel. My wife recently told me that "Winnipesaukee" is a native American term that means, "Beautiful water in a high place". We just got back from vacationing on lake Winnipesaukee and the translation is right on the money..We had a really nice vacation and I came home relaxed, inspired and ready to hammer out some new work. The opening was very special for me, my family and friends traveled from far-away places to come and see the show. I was sincerely touched by the support.

This canoe was painted with reference from Thompson Lake in Maine but it could be just about any New England lake in the summer. The mood of this piece for me is set by the transparency of that water in the foreground. It's that moment standing on the dock and simply taking it in..a day-dreamy moment, gazing into the shallows and drinking in the quiet and stillness of the surroundings. With this piece, as well as "Survivor", I have included more of the landscape in the composition.

Survivor

"Survivor" (11x14") oil on wood.

This may be my last post before my gallery show opening reception this coming Friday, so I'll repeat the where and when here:

The Gallery at Mills Falls
312 Daniel Webster Highway
Meredith, NH 03253
(on Lake Winnipesaukee)
Contact Christine Hoedecker-George for inquires (hodecker@metrocast.net) or call the gallery at (603)279-3123
Opening reception for Todd Bonita new oil paintings "Boats" August 7, from 5-9p.

I've had a few emails asking if my work will be up after the show..just to be clear, the gallery represents my work so God willing, I should have some paintings on the wall throughout the year. Please feel free to stop in any time to have a look. It's a beautiful part of the lake, lots of shops, cafes and things to do and see. Alison, Max and I are making a vacation out of it and will be spending the week. Hope to see you there.