Painting | Process

There are about 6-8 more paintings to complete in a very short period of time before my next show. Working under pressure yields results.

My recent works, say the last 15 paintings, are as much about the process of creating them as they are about the content, color and form. In particular, the larger paintings have many layers of translucent color.

These painting give viewers several different experiences when looking in the same area. The longer you look, the more there is to see, but it is not assertive.  At first glance, the people may look and think “that painting is mostly yellow,” which is generally true at a glance, and then underneath as people examine the layers, lines and marks and hidden color fields emerge also, so do shapes of under-painting that create resonance and contrast.  Artifacts and history of the painting show through and tell its story.

And if you don’t want to examine, you can relax with what’s presented at the surface --both are relevant. Though no metaphor is actually intended, it is similar to how I look at life.

Lets Get Physical

The exercise LP records below were discovered while cleaning out the home of an old friend who recently passed away. His wife, who he dearly loved and I never met, died years before. She was apparently into staying fit and exercised at home --using her record player of course.

The LP's span several decades (1960's-1980's) and are roughly in historical order.


1. Gloria is a proper lady with a nun-like collar. She exercises with her six daughters ...in the highest possible fidelity.

2. Debby is sassy in her living room. Love the hi-fi furniture behind her.





3. Family exercise time with Bonnie. The children are now all in therapy.





4. The scene of Jazz and beat poets: all of whom wore black turtlenecks, smoked unfiltered cigarettes and of course, exercised.





5. When Good Housekeeping put their seal of approval on an exercise record, it looked like this.





6. Tune in, turn on and drop out with this pink yoga delight.





7. This image I actually recall seeing when I was a kid; enter the era of the leg warmer with Jane Fonda.





8. My mom loved this woman's aerobic dancing. Jacki's shorts ride a little high, but she's really happy.





9. This one gets the grand prize, detailed shots of Joanie enjoying her fitness are below.











See more on Flickr.

Richmond Show | Thursday Nov 18th

On November 18th, I will show about 15-16 new paintings at Living on Grove in Richmond.  Many thanks to Elizabeth Broach (my VA agent) for organizing the show and selling my work faster than I can create it.  More images of the work will be completed closer to the date.

Christopher Baer | Recent Paintings

@ Living on Grove | Thursday Nov 18th | 5-7pm

5714 Grove Avenue

Richmond, VA 23226

804-285-5600

For images from the last show in 2006, go to Christopherbaer.com


If you are in Richmond, Living on Grove is here:

I love Richmond, Virginia.

In 1994, I was invited to a state-sponsored scholarship program called the Governor's School for the Arts held during the summer at the University of Richmond. It was life changing, but at the conclusion of the program, I confidently declared that I would not be pursuing art as a career --I don't recall the rationale. I was 16 years old and not surprisingly, I have been wrong a few other times since then.

Wife in Tree

If you look carefully in this tree, you'll see my wife.  She is at the Dulles airport long term parking lot in DC searching for our car after we forgot where it was parked.

A playful and furtive creature, she was captured in this rare photo in her natural habitat.

Olympic Training | Montreal

In August, Liz and I traveled to Montreal for a weekend.  Near the biodome, we happened to catch some training athletes at the pool.

Austin City Limits | 2010

John, Susannah, Liz and I traveled to Austin to see the Austin City Limits music festival.  We stayed at the San Jose Hotel, ate dozens of tacos, and saw about 15 bands over the two and half days we were there.

ACL has to be the cleanest, most professionally run large-scale music event I've ever seen.  Here was Saturday evening:




We also went to a party afterwards at Glens.  Good times.




More pictures: Austin City Limits | 2010

Music

Sharing a bittersweet mid-western ditty that came across my playlist today. The lyrics are not light (dealing with cancer), but the melody is perfect for a weekend afternoon.

Sufjan Stevens
Casimir Pulaski Day
(right click to download)