"Dappling of light" by gerald schwartz

Revisiting this painting, I softened the background and gave the shadows of the trees more of a dappled feeling.   All the colors are glazed on giving the richness of greens.  The dark trees in the foreground are really shades of blues, cadmium reds and greens and when mixed in various amounts gives this rich deep color that at first glance looks black.  Just as a side note, ninety percent of the time I make my blacks for my paintings mixing as little as two and most times up to six different colors giving a depth to the dark that straight black cannot achieve.  This painting is on wood and size is 6x6" requiring no frame.      

"STrike1" by gerald schwartz

I revisited a recent painting last week and thought "this" is the sky I want.  I must say what a difference a day makes...  This is a 24x24 oil on canvas and will be in this summers Laguna Beach Festival of Art.

"UNwrapped" by gerald schwartz

Influenced by so much, I approached this with a looser attitude.  For one, the canvas was not my usual smooth surface and the brushes were not their usual perfect self.  Some bristles were a little bent and some not as needle sharp as I am accustomed to... all this forcing me to be far more free and not so controlling.  This was not an easy transition but one that was much needed at this time.    The moral to this if there is any is, "it's good to be uncomfortable" specially when one plans it for themselves.   This is a 24x24 original oil painting and will be a part of this summers show.       

"HEY!... TAXI" by gerald schwartz

Latest in a series for this summers show...  I wanted the feeling of realism and abstract, this gave me both.  The clarity of the sky and the blur of the taxi was the trick.   The cab is really nothing more then color and shapes, but our mind recognizes it.  My challenge was to ask myself "what is blur and how to paint it?".... It was nothing short of fun.   On closer examination of this painting, part of the landscape is also out of focus.  One can settle the eye's on the distant hills and feel the speed of both the taxi and us speeding down the highway...  This is a 36x36 original oil painting. 

"OPENING DAY" skyscape by gerald schwartz

This painting has been an interesting journey in it's making from how it first started to now.

The metamorphosis it has gone through is in so many ways parallel to my life.  Sometimes everything is clear and sometimes not.   Do I do this or that, say this or that, paint things in paint things out.  It originally had a totally different foreground and I kept it that way for months then, taking another look at it, I said "I don't like you".  Putting it back on the easel I started with a few people, after a time more people began to show up, each person jockeying for position and over the fallowing three weeks it became a crowd.   It was at this point everyone settled into where they had to be and a mood of anticipation took holed for opening day.  This painting is 36x36 and can be seen in this summers show in Laguna Beach.

"Next Left" urban landscape by gerald schwartz

Funny how even after one thinks that a painting is finished its not.  This is just another in the series of reexamining, not just the painting but how I feel about the subject and where it wants to takes me.  I work on rising the bar for me and only me...  I compete with myself and try for perfection hoping  never to reach it.  This painting is slated for a show, interest is thru email at "Interest"

Last Post..... by artist gerald schwartz

Here is the last post on this painting, I have about three hours left of work to completion.  It has been quite the journey these last three weeks.  I remember what I thought I wanted it to look like at the end, but so much like life there was twists and turns and it began a slight other direction and to be honest, I'm liking it better.... I don't want to show the whole painting because I need it fresh for this summers show in Laguna Beach, but to see a bet more click on "NEW PAINTINGS" and take a sneak-peek at a little more of it:  This painting is slated for a show, interest on it can be through email at "Interest"

"The Process" by artist gerald schwartz

Some of the steps in creating a painting.  Yes there was many in-between each of these images.  This is the fourth in the series for this summer's show in Laguna Beach.   The size of this (Not yet named) is 36x36 inch, there is more to the canvas then this, each candy apple is 22.5 inch in diameter just to give a perspective of scale.   Stay tuned for more post's of this and others...    

"Sacramento Delta" landscapes by gerald shcwartz

I first learned about fishing for bass with a good friend who happened to be a great bass fisherman.  He lived up along California Sacramento deltas at the time.  We would get out on the waters early in the morning in his sleek bass boat , find quiet places with thick over hanging brush, all making for dark shadowy places where bass loved hiding out....  It was good times and many years since I was up there, I thought painting this would gave me a chance to daydream and remember one of many fishing trips.   

This original 6x6" oil painting is on canvas, mounted to a 1.5" deep varnished wooden box. 

"Journey of a painting" landscape by gerald schwartz

Playing with light is what this painting is all about...  When one looks into the sun, most things disappear leaving everything as a silhouette.  This would be fine but not interesting enough for me, so a series of photographs was taken adjusting the settings with each shot.   A year later, a second round of photos was to set up using the marbles.   Lying in the street in-order to photograph the light passing through these spheres of glass was an interesting challenge.    After all was done came weeks of thinking on how marry both photos began to come together reviling a story with with room for interpretation.  My madness complete, I present to you "Street Games"  Click on this and see the complete painting..   This is anther in the series for this summers art show "Festival of Arts" set in Laguna Beach CA. 

"Vegas in 1987" oil painting by gerald schwartz

Rummaging through a box of memories from my past I find this snapshot of Las Vegas.   Not remembering when I took the photo other then I did it with my Nikon camera and film.   I thought to myself "film!", how far I ( We) have come, digital cameras, Still a Nikon... iPhone, iPad, Mac book pro, Photoshop and everything Hi-Tech and getting crazier each day... I love it, I must say...   So I'm staring at this photograph and flip it over and there on the back it says 1987 "WOW!" I say...   I take the photo, thumb tack it to my easel and began to capture this memory.  This painting is on Birch wood that was mounted to a 6x6 varnished wooden box:

"Hello Evening" landscape by gerald schwartz

This painting that I just did I made another video of me painting it in time-laps.   It took about 3.5 hours to do and broke it all down to a 2.min 35seconds....  I enjoy using my imovie and get just as involved in video making as painting... This painting is from a group of photos and memories, put them all together and I had my painting..  It is on canvas that I mount to a varnished 1.5 inch deep box, the size is 6x6in.   For the video click here     

"Night Rain on i494" urban landscape by gerald schwartz

 So I land at the airport in Minnesota, my son picks me up and off we go...  It was great catching up
with him and sharing much needed laughter and good talk.  After some time, I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.  It was wonderful not having to drive and think if I was going in the right or wrong direction.  
This gave me time to watch the crazy traffic, see the sky turn gray and the beginning of this evening's first rain.   I was staring out the window letting my thoughts drift when out of nowhere something inside my minds eye began a journey into full consciousness, and with that I sat up straight, grabbed for my camera and began clicking away at the same time announcing to my son "here's my next painting!" he responded back "Cool!"

The picture above is part of a 36x36 oil on canvas, it is the second in a series for this summers Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach CA.   Below is a short movie of stills taken starting with a gray canvas to its end, hope you enjoy.

"Carnival & Moonlight" forest painting by gerald schwartz

This painting is the last of four attempts in my such of story telling.   For the last two months I started and stopped three paintings then, this painting began to come into focus.  I took some still shots and made this YouTube movie.  This painting of a forest in moonlight is one of five new painting I will be presenting in this summers Laguna Festival of Arts... it is a 36x36 inch oil painting, this is just a part of the painting...  

"Canyon Fog" landscape oil painting by gerald schwartz

After looking at this painting, the smaller one above, I decided to repaint and change coloring, cooler in tone, softer in feel for me.  So often, just when I thought I was through another feeling comes along and the painting is put back on the easel and the paintings journey continues.  I hope you like the newer, I know I do and after all, that's what counts.  : )      
Racing up the canyon I looked back to see the fog rolling in obscuring the sun and everything around.  I had to keep going knowing that coming back down this canyon late tonight was going to be a lot of fun.   The fog here in Laguna can be as they say "thick as pea soup".  It's bad enough during the day but at night coming down the canyon in the fog is a real joy ride with virtually no lights till you are almost to the coast, around Ganahl Lumber Co.,  a well known land mark here in Laguna Beach.  Then, some lights can be made out even in "pea soup fog".  This is an original 6x6" oil painting, on canvas mounted to a 1.5" deep varnished wooden box, no frame needed.   

"laguna sundown" 6x6 oil painting by gerald schwartz

So much to see, so much to paint... It is the mantra of all artists... The more I paint the more I am aware of how much more there is to do.  It is not just the painted subject, but the interpretation of it, whether it be an apple to the Grand Canyon, all is painted according to each artists Mind's eye.   Taking a low view of this is what I wanted to capture, just beyond the silhouette lies the coast and the vastness of the ocean...  This is a 6x6 inch canvas previously mounted to a 1.5" deep varnished wooden box: 

"Looking North" seascape oil painting by gerald schwartz

 A friend let me use a photo to do this painting.... It brought back memories of living in Dana Point.  Gosh! it seems like a lifetime ago when I lived there.  It was a time when I was truly a wild and crazy guy... I can write a few book on that time in Dana Point, most would think I'm making it up, but there are a handful of people that would prove me right in telling the madness of my life..
That story will have wait, so I will tell you of this painting, it is a 6X6" oil on canvas that has been previously mounted to a varnished 1.5" deep wooden box and today you can have it for $135 + s/h. (Sold)

"SUGAR & SPICE"

Continuing with more edible things at the fair, my favorite, the "CANDY APPLE".  

They where invented in 1908 in Newark by a candy maker named "William W. Kolb", genius in my opinion.

Over the years I have painted a half-dozen or so canvasses of candy apples from this 6x6 inch to a 72x30 inch and many sizes  in-between.  I just might do another for this coming summer show in Laguna Beach.

I am still tweaking this painting here and there.  I let it dry then go back in and play a little, making it even better.   If someone wants to claim it now, send me an email and I will send you a price.  If you accept, I will send you a PayPal bill,  then when it is completed and dry I  personally will wrap and box it, assuring it's safe journey.   This 6x6" painting is on canvas previously mounted to a varnished 1.5" deep wooden box, no framing needed.        

   

"OH! SO GOOD"

It has been years since I have been to a State Fair.  Well, a few months ago I went and I was taken back by all the fried food that adorn this kind of happening.    Name it and it's fried,  just amazing!  From bugs to butter, all battered and deep fried.   After an hour of walking around knowing I wasn't going to be eating any of these "yummies", I pass by a candy stand with freshly made candy apples.  Some were dipped in caramel and rolled in chocolate, cookie bits, peanuts, and colored sprinkles but my personal favorite is the original hard, tooth breaking, sticky, spicy cinnamon candy apple... I was in La La land and for a brief moment I found myself disappearing back to being a little boy of six in Coney Island.  It was at this point worth the trip to the Fair ...   This is an original 6X6" oil painting, on canvas mounted to a 1.5" deep varnished wooden box requiring no framing: For price just email me at  "Price"

"AMERICANA"

I grew up in a generation with some of the most iconic treasures of all times with things like colored sugar water in little wax bottles that one could chew like gum, wooden toys, and comic books with caricatures which became some of the most recognizable icon symbols the world over. While always looking for things to paint, I was surprised to have missed something that has been around me for years. In my studio doing my weekly cleaning and dusting there, sitting atop a cabinet, was an accumulation of stuff. Stuff like a white ceramic human scull, two statues made of marble and bronze, a robins nest that I found and keep in a frosted glass bowl, a small American flag, an orchid that I baby and two iconic figures that I am not even sure how I came to have of “Popeye & Olive Oil.”

I began putting everything back when I realized there could be a painting somewhere amongst all of this. After taking a closer look, I set up a still life and took what ended up being a dozen photographs. Viewing them all, I found just what was needed for a brand new painting. I was glad for the discovery and equally happy to realize I had also found the title for my newest painting, “Americana”. I suppose serendipity is alive and well after all.

This 6x6” oil canvas is mounted on a 1.5" deep varnished wooden box with no framing required. For info on this and of the possibility of a limited number of giclees, email me at: "ARTWORK"

"MORNING CLASS"

Seeing the school bus picking up sleepy children in the early chilly morning fog seamed so calming to me.  I don't remember if I ever got to ride on a school bus, even after searching deep into memory the answer was No! No school bus rides for me...   I wanted the painting to be the moment the bus had stopped and boarding had already begun, a moment of innocence.   An original 6X6" oil on canvas mounted on a 1.5" varnished wooden box: 

(SOLD)

"MY TURN"

I can't remember the last time I played with marbles, off the top of my head I would say 45 years ago with my kids and countless years before them, needles to say, "A long time ago".... Little did I know that back when,  my real fascination wasn't the game, but what these shiny colorful little glass objects were about.  I used to hold them up and look deep inside and imagine walking around and thru the swirls of colors, they held magic.... I know what your thinking.... "What a strange little kid"  And I was, early signs of being an artist was there, no one guest at the madness that was looming, not even I....    Recently I came across a leather pouch bound with a thin leather tie, I opened it and there in the shadows was marbles, twenty or so of these little beauties, I poured then out into the glistening sun and all at once I was sent back-in-time.   Smiling, I grabbed my camera and fired of many shots,  turning this way and that and finely settled on this one for now.   This is painted on canvas mounted to a 6x6" by 1.5" deep varnished wooden box:   For questions email me at schwartzart@earthlink.net     

"CHILL"

With a chill in the air and music playing almost inaudible inside the van I"ll just stand quietly and wait for the sun to get a little lower, I know those dark shadows will soon come creeping behind the trees and over the snow.   It's all about patience, we live so erratically in this now society, the iPad and iPhone, the world is at our fingertips streaming in at an instant,  its hard to stop and say hello to mother earth, don't you think?....  Oh well! its time for me to get back in the van, make a few calls,  check my emails, get back on the road...    Original 6x6 oil painting on wood, no framing required.      

"HEADLIGHTS & FOG"

On a back road with soft fog beginning to roll in making for a really moody painting this came to be.  The fun part about painting is I get to adjust the lighting intensifying shadows, eliminating this and that till it comes to that point where I can step back and say OK! I'm finished.   This is an original 6x6" oil painting on canvas mounted to a 1.5" deep varnished wooden box so no framing is required.         
Slated for the "RANDY HIGBEE" Art show Dec3

"OUR PARK"

Another in the sepia color tones.  This is one painting went through a few scenario's before I stopped with this.  There was more trees in one version, another had a heavier dark foreground, then finely...

Painting is a journey I must say, it is at times like packing your bags and not sure whats on the other end of the trip.... I do love : )...   This is also an original oil painting canvas mounted to my varnished 1.5" deep wooden box's:   Email me at: schwartzart@earthlink.net      
Slated for the "RANDY HIGBEE" Art show Dec 3

"LATE NIGHT"

Loving to paint in those monotone colors is both challenging and wonderful.   Finding the subject,  sometimes elaborating by intensifying coloring and composition can give more depth then was originally there.  As much as I am a colorist, the idea of using two or three colors becomes an exciting journey.

This original painting is on canvas that has been mounted to a 1.5" deep varnished wooden box requiring no framing. Email me at: schwartzart@earthlink.net
Slated for the "RANDY HIGBEE" Art show Dec 3

"Palm Springs" landscape by gerald schwart

Traveling back to LA from palm springs I caught this sunset thinking this would be fun to paint.

I keep thinking that I'm not going to paint any more skies, but when I see something like this it is hard not to put it down on canvas...  Speaking of canvas, for the last 5 years that I have posted my miniature 6x6 & 8x6" paintings they have all been on wood, still enjoying the process I decided to return to canvas.   This painting is a 6x6" painting is on canvas mounted to a varnished 1.5" deep wooden box with no framing required:  For purchase or questions, please email me at schwartzart@earthlink.net