Four years after I first picked up a paint brush, I still don’t consider myself to be a real artist. Part of that is that I live with an actual fine artist, but the larger part is because I am a novelist and a photographer. Though I enjoy painting, it is a distant third for me measured both by talent and experience. I have begun liking some of my work, though I’m probably only up to liking 40% or so.
That said, my wife, Maria, convinced me to pull together an end-of-year collection of my work. So, without further ado, here ’tis.
The Artists' Sanctum 
Oh Bill, you are an artist experimenting in a new and difficult medium. I’m drawn to your mix of abstract and realism, and color! I love that you are becoming more comfortable, and it shows, in all of your paintings. Are many of these drawn from photographs? I ask because the ‘street themes’ of Hot Dog Seller and the marvelous gent seen sitting behind glass (seller?) remind me of your photography in mood and style. I’m curious about the more abstract ‘creatures’ and where you are when you create them? Solid year, Bill, keep going and sharing, please.
Debra
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Debra,
Thanks, as always, for your kindness and encouragements. Around half of these are drawn from photos, including all of the “street photography” paintings. “”The News Seller” and “Nowell’s Shell Service” were painted from photos by Vivian Maier and William Eggleston, respectively, who are two of my favorite photographers. I couldn’t license their images for sale, but since I never sell or license my paintings, it doesn’t matter. I have them in my home, and that’s all I wanted.”The Hot Dog Vendor” and “Water Rationing in Madrid” were taken from old photos I found where the photographer’s name has been lost. The Madrid photo was black and white, so it was interesting trying to figure out how to colorize it. I made it too small for my skill set (small is harder than large) so I could have done it a lot better, but oh well.
“Times Square Mondays” was painted from one of Maria’s street photos. “Las Seis Marías” was painted from photos of a town in Romania, and I used 6 old photos of Maria in it, including 3 of mine. The other 3 street scenes were painted from my photos.The more abstract ones pretty much came out of my head. For most of them, I used AI to figure out the pose and composition, but with “The Writer” and “Afropunk” I combined several AI images. None of the paintings look like the AIs I developed, because I was just using AI to explore ideas. “Ancestor Spirit,” “First Visitors,” “The Flower Seller,” and “Peace Paint” I pretty much just improvised. I didn’t really have a drawing for any of those.Thanks for asking.
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I appreciate your detailed information on your methods and inspiration, Bill and look forward to seeing much more! 🤩
Debra Moore sent via android
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