“Family Seaside”
I love painting in this approach, and I think you can expect more of this from me. These expressive (at least, I think so) paintings rely completely on intuitive drawing and composition starting with a blank canvas. More specifically, I start with no plan and use no reference material. Working this way has an element of risk to it; but when pictures flesh out, they become my most personal and signature work. “Family Seaside” is a 36”x36” oil and spray paint on canvas. Email Gute for price.
“Fallen” Civil Unrest and Spiritual Imagery
“Fallen” 24”x30” oil on canvas, 2020
“Fallen” is the first piece in a series of fallen figures that I’ve been working on through 2020. These pieces started to form at the onset of our society’s historic civil unrest. The works evolved. They are rooted in the images of police brutality and police restraint which had flooded our webpages. These figures I painted began to remind me of something else; They looked like christ descending the cross. These fallen figures embody the sacrifices many have made to empower those who come after them —one of the most important callings our souls may answer. Email Gute for price.
"The Entombment of Christ" Artist: Juan Rodríguez Juárez (Mexican, 1675–1728) Date: ca. 1702
This is an image of a french labour law demonstration in 2016; a reference I studied to guide my composition in “Fallen”.
“Beach”
Not just a day on the shores of Lake Michigan
“Beach” can certainly be read in ways far beyond a day on the shores of Lake Michigan. The entangled figures are messy. There is a horizontal figure lying on their back with two onlookers breaking up the shoreline. The piece suggests a rescue, a drowning, or maybe a baptism. The hand and foot in the foreground have purpose and they are painted calmly and in focus. The hand rests in position of the benediction (or blessing) and the foot casts a shadow that might represent shelter of the Most High; this is God’s protective presence. Special attention to hands and feet can be interpreted with specifically Christian meaning and I find these themes unfold organically in my drawing. It is oil paint, spray paint, and oil pastel on canvas. Email Gute for price.