Give Thanks This Day

Saying Grace- Norman Rockwell -  1951

 Hold fast to the blessings which God has provided for you.

Yours is not the task to gain them, they are here;

yours is the part of cherishing them.

-J. Reuben Clark

May we all look inward and recognize the great blessings we have in our lives, both great and small. I have so much to be thankful for this year. I will spend part of this day and every day being grateful for all that I have. I have a wonderful family, great friends, a roof over my head and the chance to use my artistic talents every day. Truly the Lord has blessed me. May he bless and be with you all also. Happy Thanksgiving!

Lion-Fish Logo

The Internet is a strange place. Put something up and maybe a handful of people find it, or then again, maybe it goes viral, at which point it takes on a life of its own and millions see it. You just never know. Sometimes, the right person finds just what they were looking for. Last week I got an email from a swim team coach in Florida who stumbled on a little demo I did for students a couple of years back. I spent a couple of hours quickly painting a little character of a lion fish. As with many of my fish characters, I took the features of a real lion and morphed them with the fish version to get at something that was a little bit funny, menacing and strange all rolled in one. Well, the swim coach was looking for a mascot logo to go on shirts for their team and thought this was just the ticket. We agreed on a little bit of a budget and I did a black and white line version for him for the logo. It's always strange when something like that happens, but you never know who is looking when you toss something into the ether that is the Internet. Keep doing work just for fun and keep casting your lines into the water. Sometimes you get an unexpected bite.

I have Joined Meyer Gallery - Park City, UT!

I am thrilled to announce that I have joined Meyer Gallery in Park City, Utah. Meyer Gallery has been a cornerstone of the Park City gallery community for as long as I can remember and they were at the top of my list when I decided to expand my gallery representation, so I am pleased that they are as excited as I am to partner together. It is a privilege for me to be associated with such a prestigious galley and I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with them.

Autumn Dusting- 36" x 60" oil by Greg Newbold

Included in my offerings at the gallery is "Autumn Dusting", 36' x 60"; oil on canvas. Check out all of my paintings that are currently hanging at Meyer Gallery here.

Twins

Twins- 16" x 20" - Oil on board- by Greg Newbold

Another bale painting. In this one the bales feel a little more like ships crossing on a sea of golden stubble. I enjoyed stylizing the swoop of clouds, pushing the shapes a little further than the actual scene offered.

Texture here was again a very fun result of working with the palette knife as you can see from the close up shots. The abstract quality if these two texture passages is intriguing to me as well. I love to analyze how individual mark making combines to create the overall illusion of detail and adds to the reality of a painting.

Waiting By The Emerald Gate

Waiting By The Emerald Gate- 36" x 24" oil on canvas by Greg Newbold

When I snapped the shot of this palomino horse on one of my outings, I did not think much of it. Mostly because there was another horse nose to tail standing right behind this one. The photo sat on my computer forgotten for a long time. While digging around for subjects, you never know what might strike you in those old files. I loved the lighting on the front horse as well as the swishing tail and figured I would just paint out the other horse. As I refined the composition, I realized that it reminded me a lot of one my favorite Andrew Wyeth compositions. Below is his "Young Bull" from 1960. I have always admired this piece and consider it a near perfect composition in which all the rules regarding tangents and lines are fabulously broken.

In retrospect, this may be one of the reasons why I was drawn to this particular scene. I only make the comparison to point out that as artists, we are all molded by our influences and many of those become so ingrained as to be rendered subconscious. My composition is divided differently and relies on repetition of pattern much more heavily than the Wyeth. I enjoy the series of parallel lines running through the corrugated siding as well as the gate and also the repetition of triangular shapes that repeat through the shadows and beams. The sunshine on the back of the horse also creates a a nice triangle of light. If I had created this composition intentionally as an homage to Wyeth, I think it would feel a lot more forced. I am glad I did not make the connection until after I was nearly finished with the painting.

Happy Birthday Rodin!

The Thinker- 10" x 13" by Greg Newbold

Today marks the 173rd birthday of one of my all time favorite sculptors Auguste Rodin. Few sculptors have made such a lasting impact on art as Rodin. I have had several opportunities to witness firsthand, the brilliance of his work and whenever I do, I never cease to be moved and amazed at his passion and skill. Perhaps the most iconic sculpture ever created is Rodin's The Thinker.

Rodin's The Thinker

I used this piece as an inspiration and homage when I was asked to create a cover for The Village Voice's literary section many years ago. The articles were all book reviews relating to war, it's aftermath and the effects on the people of such regions. I thought The Thinker would be the perfect metaphor and so I constructed him emerging from the wreckage of battle with gun still smoking. The small flower growing amidst the rubble represents the hope for a better tomorrow. I think Rodin himself would be both pleased and amazed at the staying power his work has had. Thanks for the inspiration and Happy Birthday Rodin!

Check out this nice tribute to Rodin at Artwife Needs A Life

The Sentinels

The Sentinels- 16" x 20" Oil on board by Greg Newbold

I have a thing for hay bales. I probably stems back to summers when we would have to buck enough bales to fill up the hay barn for the winter. In the moment, you hate it. It's hot itchy work and the bales are heavy. If the hay was dense, the bales could easily weigh seventy five pounds or more. Getting the last couple of layers loaded onto the truck was always a brutal effort. Of course with today's modern machinery, the bales are massive and require heavy equipment to remove from the field. These two bales lie in wait like desert buttes for their trip to whatever winter storage destination is their fate. I love the solid almost graphic shapes that these great bales offer as subjects. I also liked working a lot more with the palette knife on this painting.

#449- A Soft Spot For Sheep

#449- Oil on board by Greg Newbold

If you have followed my blog, you will no doubt remember a few other paintings I have done involving sheep. Growing up, I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with these creatures. Our family homestead where my widowed great aunt lived always had sheep and as she had no children, we took care of them for her much of the time. For a time in my teen years, it was my daily chore to feed, water and otherwise monitor the animals. I didn't always love taking care of the sheep, especially in bitter cold weather, but I loved visiting with my Aunt Mame. These are not her sheep, but they represent the memories I cherish from that time in my life. See some of my previous sheep themed paintings below.

Aunt Mame's Sheep
Winter Coats
Unburdened
Penned In

The Days Are Long

The Days Are Long- 8" x 10" oil on board by Greg Newbold

I have been painting a lot the last few weeks creating new works for my galleries. That's right, I have added another gallery to my stable. This one in Park City, UT. I won't jump the gun just yet, but I will announce formally the new gallery next week when I deliver the first batch of paintings. In the meantime, I will be posting a few of the new pieces over the next week. Enjoy!