Welcome.
Last day of the year! 2015 has been very good to me..the grace I have received is beyond words. I salute you with roses! I salute you also who are looking at my art and reading my posts. Happy New Year. I wish you every desire you hold in your heart come true.
This is a 10 x 10 inch square oil on gallery wrap canvas. It is by far one of my most gestural florals yet. (This is a good thing, a happy intention realized in case you were wondering) And if you think it might be a salute to the immensely talented Mr. Manet, you are correct!
This is a work that is in a private collection created specifically for my very good friend Melissa who is a constant gardener. Thank you for all of the nurturing love you give to the earth and the humans who are lucky enough to be in your orbit.
More to come.....
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Ahhh, now that's just right. I have liked this painting since creating it and it did not take a lot of revision. However the cloud/sky photo that I was using as reference was in a much more grey tonal mode. It felt as though the boy might be surrendering to a storm...that was not my intention. It is the surrender of the day, one's trials, one's choices to the sand, sky and sea to be washed clear in meditation.
Giving the background sky a bright day color of blue sets it apart I think. There is a bit more color overall in this version and more depth.
This painting is 12 x 16 inches and is framed in white board 1 inch thick by 4 inches wide. It is oil on canvas and is available for purchase to add to your collection. The price is $1,200.00 USF plus shipping. If you are interested you can contact me, Alan at alanlovesart@gmail.com
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
My nephew Ryan is an Atlantic Beach lifeguard. This is an interpretation of what a solitary morning might look like on a day that was not precisely a 'beach day' where he would be surveying his territory. However, every day is a beach day for me and I am always on the lookout for interesting things to paint and make art from that occur on the beach.
This is an oil painting on a watercolor canvas panel that is 12 x 16 inches. I find so much color available in what many see as a gray and tonal world. If you look closely and with receptivity you too will find a universe of color at the beach. And, do I just dig that bounce of red in the chair and orange in the flag against the more subtle color!!??
Just a short mention here that I do accept commissions for paintings like this that are beach related. Just contact me, Alan at alanlovesart@gmail.com to discuss your specific ideas.
Ryan's Watch is now in a private collection.
More to come......
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
This is a stretch of my favorite beach. It's lonesome and peaceful and I like it that way. I get ideas out here. I mean I get ideas anyway, all day, every day. However they seem to be more elevated, a higher quality when I am walking with the waves, the sand and sky as my companions.
I really dig the configurations of these tide pools often leaving behind small fish, shells, crabs until the tide comes back up. It is also a comfort to have a warm splash for my bare feet when I have traveled a few miles or more.
This is oil on canvas and is 14 x 17 inches gallery wrap.
This piece is available for purchase for your collection. Please contact Alan at alanlovesart@gmail.com to inquire about price and shipping.
More to come......
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome!
It's great to see prints of my art out and about in the world. Often, when I am visiting a collector from years gone by or a friend who owns a 'Phillips' I just smile with gratitude as I spot one of my works hanging in a prominent place in their home or conference room. They are like old friends themselves.
Yet, I get even more satisfaction when it's a piece I want for myself and by having high quality giclees I get to have some of these favorite pieces to hang on my walls as well since most originals are purchased. This is the second painting I have now produced as a giclee print along with "The Pink House Woody"
This art is painted in oils on canvas twenty inches by forty inches. It is a cozy inlet in Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA. I used to go there with friends to enjoy the sunrise, sunset or a conversation that required an environment of quiet beauty.
The Giclee of "Whispering Adirondacks" is priced at $650.00 US plus shipping outside the Jacksonville, Florida USA area. It is gallery wrapped with a uv coating finish and is 20" x 40"
The original is available for sale as well and is the same size for $3,800.00 USF plus shipping.
Please contact Alan at alanlovesart@gmail.com if you are interested in a purchase of this beautiful work of art for your collection as a giclee or original.
More to come...
Art is copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome,
Ok, so Claude Monet had his haystacks and I have the jetties!
There is something a little more lush about the springtime version don't you think? I like them both. I dig the contrast of the field and the trees with the Autumn colors.The Fall version "Return to Forever" was sold and so I went back because I like the view and the composition.
Maybe for Winter and Summer versions I'll have the Egret flying from another position or better yet an Ibis, Great Blue Heron, Marsh Heron, or a gull or pelican....
"The Jetties in Spring" is an oil on canvas framed in white barn style wood 1/2 inch thick x 4 inches wide on the frame and the size over all is 12 x 16 inches.
It is available for sale. If you are interested please contact Alan at alanlovesart@gmail.com
More to come....
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
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The first painting above "Heading To The Beach" was the the first finished version of this painting. The second is with revisions.
One of the obvious differences is that the second appears much warmer and has a more harmonious and balanced feel to the warm, cools and the varied shapes. The second is also a bit more simplified, has more movement, and emphasizes the point counterpoint of the composition in addition to a generous helping of depth.
In most instances I feel a painting is good and stop. However that doesn't mean it is finished. More often than not I need to think about about what else is needed even though I am not quite sure what that is, yet it is an intuition that speaks to me and let's me know there is more to do so that it "feels right" which is different to me than 'looking right" the first one essentially looked right to me probably because that was what was there.
What I advise most students is, paint what you think is there, what you think you see, what you see and then paint what you want to see. You see?
This is a 11 x 14 inch oil on gallery wrap canvas and is available for sale. Please contact me Alan Phillips at alanlovesart@gmail.com for details if you would like to purchase this classic Neptune Beach scene for your collection.
More to come......
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
It seems in the steamy summer when I take a break in this spot that it is ten degrees cooler than anywhere else. The quiet here is like a soft melody and you can always feel a breeze, I take a deep breath and give thanks. When I am here at sunset I laugh because it is so joyful to me that the earth itself could be so stunningly beautiful, every day. It is communion with the earth and my soul.
Capturing the golden light and the iridescence of the sky with those candy colored clouds was imperative when I stumbled upon this scene on the way home one evening. Even though this is a majestically simple scene it plays on so many artistic levels of using tone, color, composition, shapes and light to make a statement. There is a terrific harmony don't you think?
This is an oil on gallery wrap canvas that is 11 x 14 inches. It is available for sale. Contact Alan at alanlovesart@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing it for your collection. This is a study for a larger piece (36 x 48 " or larger) of an ongoing coastal series.
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Thank you. All of you who come and visit and refer to earlier posts when I have not posted in a while. I appreciate your interest.
I have been working hard on my next series of which this is one. If you have been following for any length of time you know I am a creature of the Atlantic..fairly evident here I would say..! This is actually a stretch of beach called Atlantic Beach. A Common gull and a Royal tern are companions on this journey.
This is an oil painting on wood panel. The size is 28" x 48".
It had several passages that had been scrapped back and starting over worked through new solutions. I had other birds flying, Rusty Turnstones running on the beach, a greater cloud scape and did not feel that any of those were working. I often feel my painting is finished when I can no longer add or subtract anything of value. The balance, rhythm and flow live comfortably in sync now. I also feel a painting is complete when the final image is equal to the joy that inspired me to make it. This is my bliss. I smell the salt air, hear the curling of the waves, float with with the feathered friends and revel in the sand beneath my feet. And perhaps, just maybe find a little treasure tucked into the tideline.
It is available for purchase. The price is $5,000.00 in USD plus shipping.
All inquiries are welcome by email to: Alan Phillips alanlovesart@gmail.com
put coastal art in the subject line. All correspondence will be answered promptly.
More to come......
Art is copyright by Alan Phillips 2015 and may not be reproduced without written permission.
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This is a an oil on board study of a Royal Tern meant for a much larger painting. I post it now because I have decided not to use it in the final art. I dig the soaring upward pose . It is 5x7 inches. These are my favorite shore birds. They are very supersonic looking when rocketing around the beach and give great chase after those that have caught fish and great fun to watch.
I like the bold gestural brushwork here, just an indication of cloud,sea and surf.
More to come.....
Art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Here is a little 9 x 12 inch watercolor that is a study I did just for myself because there is something satisfying about rowing, say, a Banks dory or making a little painting because it is fun and brings you to a memory of a moment you enjoyed.
It was done on Whatman watercolor board. The harbor where I rowing was in Camden, Maine.
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
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Oh, the good stuff is so worth waiting for, don't you think?
I painted The Pink House Woody 6 years ago, sold it 3 years ago and now I am happy to announce I have made my first set of giclees on canvas and they are a delight!
This first series is an edition of 100 and are signed in oil. Notations on the edition are in pencil on the flip side. The size is 30 x 40 inches on archival smooth portrait canvas (shown on my easel) with archival inks and is mounted on gallery wrap style stretcher bars at 1 1/2 inches. They are coated with UV acrylic protector. The stretcher bars are also cross braced and made with sturdy poplar.
I am selling this first group at $825.00 US per print plus shipping.
You may pay by check or money order only in US funds.
I will ship flat via UPS in the USA and can give you a rate on that once I know where to send it as rates vary. International inquiries will be handled as per customs regarding the destination for exports.
If you are interested please contact me and I will forward an address for you to mail your check. Contact me at alanlovesart@aol.com or alanlovesart@gmail.com please include your name, phone number, address and the quantity you would like. It takes two weeks to
to get one made and will be sent in week three please allow at least that for delivery. Tracking information will be provided.
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All art and images copyright Alan Phillips
Welcome.
Thank you John Lennon for that line. I just need to remember it sometimes. I send to you the thoughts from 'The Prophet' by Kahlil Gibran in the last part "On Love" and the last ten lines specifically.
"Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings it's melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love.
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate on Love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips."
The title of this piece is 'Cupid." black, red and white acrylic on paper 20 x 20 inches.
Big love,
A.
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
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Welcome.
That headline is from the awesome writer Danielle Laporte. Furthermore I like and connect to " Happiness is carbonated consciousness." Another of her quotes,brilliant!
Here is another word/art painting study. The painting is 18 x 24 inches black acrylic on paper with computer generated type. The original oil on canvas will be 3 x 4 feet.
I crave harmony. This morning I had a small confrontation. I took a positive action in handling a problem with major benefits to all concerned in my tribe. It did not sit well with one individual outside the tribe. It took me a bit of time to unravel my hostile energy and a friend reminding me by saying the words..looking right into my eyes, "positive energy" actually that's all it took, once I heard it I dropped it and went on with my day. But I thought it might be appropriate art to post today since I am needing to remember the focus of the message.
Wishing you peace my friends...
More to come...
Art and art words copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
What a gas right, you know the song "Ridgetop" by Jesse Colin Young? The Sausalito version. Slipstream overdrive is where my fondest memories and moments reside and ride.
This tune has it, that groove momentum.
"I got a yard full of bushes that turn into pies in July" ha, too good. I knew such people, up in Reading Massachusetts with such bushes and pies once upon a time I miss them all and this music takes me home in a heartbeat. "I like it."
Most of my life like my art sits up on a breeze, movement is present even when I am painting a still life or appear to be meditating still as a moment when the sun first breaks the horizon. You may see me sitting still as the forest deep but truth be told the spokes of light are beaming outward across the universe. I was trying to portray a kind of grounded version of that here. While you are on your way, there are blossoms and things are flying past....do you see them...sometimes?
I was playing with washes and opaques at this point in my illustration career. This was a piece for a mystery novel featured in the pages of WB magazine. Thank you Harry Hoffman and Alex Von Koschembahr. The art was 30 x 40 inches oil on canvas.
"Where it's quiet and peaceful almost all the time."
and you know I like it that way.
More to come.....
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Who knew? You find out I suppose, the deeper you go into a subject. There are many kinds of whelks indeed. Lightening strikes!
Listening to Randy Crawford live. The tune is Rio de Janeiro Blue. Sahmokin! "The salt sea air, your windblown hair, reflections on a dream, thoughts of you with who knows who flowin through me like a stream, Brazilian serenaders linger on, help me lose my soul in your song, and I get a feelin that I've seen the last of you, Rio De Janeiro Blue." Just plain haunting.
This was a magazine piece from 2007. Watercolor on board 15 x 20 inches. Sold. It was the first time I started really playing with neutral grounds and the subject and ground as foils. I see these shapes, the shells as sculptural objects when I travel on the beach.
In terms of their influence on the grey ground and the domination of the space I liken them to pieces that remind me of Claes Oldenburg and Henry Moore They are little pieces of found art that decorate the sand.
More to come...
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2105
Welcome,
The first time I heard Brubeck and relatively Paul Desmond lyrically dancing around that 4/5 time signature...well, Desmond said he wanted to sound like a , "Dry Martini." So dry in fact he probably had the vermouth simply stare at the vodka for a few seconds. Crisp, deliberate
floating and certainly intoxicating for me. My mood elevates every time I hear the first few bars.
It is not just the sound for me. It is an idea about otherness inside the beat, their beat, my beat, earth beat and slipping in and out, over and under it....transcendental. I smile.
More to come....
All art and words copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
In many of the sports I have played it is just a blast to get free from the defense long enough to generate some good offense!
Tommy Glynn who was the guru emeritus at The Greenwich Polo Club in Connecticut back when I was attending matches in the early 1990s mentioned to me that polo was the most democratic of all sports. He was referring to the play, you know if you could ride, you were home free, included and welcomed no matter your standing in the world.
Yet I have to applaud the fact that it was also true in the stands, whether giving a nod to Stephanie Seymour or Peter Brandt or a wave to Peter Orthwein who is seen here about to crush the ball (I think Airstream was his team at the time) or a long conversation with Henryk De Kwiatkowski about women in polo. All were engaging and welcoming wherever I landed on the field and asked me no questions about my status in the world, only my interest in photographing the event. Love it.
This is an oil on canvas, the canvas is 30 x 40 inches and the image 24 x 36 inches approximately.
It is for sale at $5,000.00 US, unframed plus shipping and handling. Contact Monty at alanlovesart@aol.com for payment, schedule for deliverey or pick up and details.
More to come.
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Did you like the movie of the same name? I felt like my story was being told. Only, it was for music,art and writing. Oh, and the main character of the story was much more in tune with his gift. Once he had the right tools he was conducting the orchestra in a composition of his own in Central Park. Me,I was taking the long road home indeed. There was a whole lot of the world I had to digest before I could get to my oeuvre and multi opus concertos!
Another of my word/art painting studies. Acrylic, coffee ring and words on paper. I shall be making the final art a 3 foot square, oil on canvas.
Today, everyday, I wish you more music, art and literature and the nourishment they provide than you can imagine.
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All words and art5 copyright Alan Phillips 2015
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Hooboy, ever feel like there is someone watching? First of all I am listening to Michael Franks "Summer In New York" If you love New York City the way I did, I do...have a listen, it will feel like a letter from home. OK, back to the art.
All my life I have felt a presence. I felt that way before I had words to express it, before I knew what supernatural or spirit meant. You know, my playmates! I have absolutely zero evidence of actual energies beyond you and I, what we can see and agree on as reality.
However I have also been the beneficiary of unexplained protection, connections,rescue, prevention and follow up that is beyond reason or even simple luck for that matter. It sure feels like a divine hand interceding on my behalf, frequently, gratefully I might add. Charmed? Possibly.
I have also felt as though there are other kinds of energies, dark ones, bored ones, mischief makers. In all I imagine they are ever changing shapes full of a kind of contained light that is moving within it. This is my take on it. This is sort of an elegy to them especially my familiars and of course the influence of the magnificent Robert Motherwell, just loving those negative shapes energizing the positive ones.
This is 20 x 30 inches black acrylic on paper with type laid in on the computer. The final will be oil on canvas 3 x 5 feet with hand lettered type.
More to come......
All words, ideas and art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
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One of my greatest assets as an athlete is and was being quick footed, fleet, no I was not fast but I sure was quick. This helped me in track, basketball, hockey, boxing, surfing and a blessed talent for dancing. It is more than the feet though dear Mercury, it is a state of mind, HG atomically!
It is also having a mind that gets the joke before anyone else...before you are finished telling it, frankly. Always had the answer first in class, even though I sat in the back of the class and rarely if ever to speak or raise my hand. I am an idea man. They come fast and furious daily. It's fun and I feel blessed to have this capacity stocked as it is with full imagination and this word/art piece is to honor and celebrate it.
This work is about 15 x 20 inches acrylic on paper and words in computer type over the top.
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All art and words copyright Alan Phillips
Welcome.
Signifying nothing.....as he struts his hour upon the stage..for me, Faulkner
Shakespeare and you!
I do love Hemingway, Jack London, William Faulkner and Jack Kerouac all for different reasons however each to their own was close to the land and a universe of difference in how they connected to it.
I took many great journeys with these writers in the comfort of their tales and many more when I was doing editorial book art for the Easton Press when I was an illustrator.
This work was 30 x 40 inches oil on canvas, I sold it about 20 years ago but it remains one of my favorite literary portraits. It was for a collection of works by William Faulkner. I really dig the thin passages of washes juxtaposed with subtle opaques. I also like the echo of Bill's friend as well as the reference of the pose echoing the other great writer of the mighty Mississippi. I think that little Jack Russell senses something?
More to come....
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
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Terrifying, fun, exciting, exhilarating, rough, smooth, glass, inside, backside and freedom are words that come to mind on one of my former favorite fun activities. I'm referring to surfing of course.
I learned to surf late in life, well, say compared to the 5 year old kids I see on the water starting with short boards in camps. I believe I got my own daughter up and surfing by the age of 6.
My board was a custom Tim Chew 9 foot beauty with lovely rails that I called the 'sofa' because it was a comfy easy ride on days with good swells and clean water.
Mine were soul surfer rides with long smooth cut backs and gliding top to bottom with a minimum of effort.
There were days I got smacked in the head and knocked off my board by an oncoming wave simply because I was mesmerized by the sunlight drifting towards the horizon in the distance. Beauty out on the water at eye level is a wonderful perspective.
This piece though refers to the that moment when you are paddling hard and you got in front and in the wave and you better have your balance, your rhythm in form as your soles hit the sex wax. You focus, you commit. If you don't, well, you are gonna have some serious collateral damage to deal with in the aftermath of going over the falls!
The art is 25 inches by 25 inches acrylic on newsprint with type added once into the computer files. The future of this piece will be oil on canvas 4 feet by4 feet.
More to come......
All art and words copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Right now I am listening to an older Jon Lucien piece, "Esperanza", do you know of a tune, a lullaby, a love song, a joy evident in singing that is more inspired? This song touches every part of the memory my soul knows of love, kindness and hope.
Piano, as many of my friends know is my favorite instrument and there are times I have sat down to play what I call 'Dialogues' and there are those who will sit and listen even though I have never had any instruction yet, this beautiful magical music carpet allows me access to other worlds and a journey that fills every vibration in me with divine. "Esperanza It's like that. I express it here, order and freedom united. Another of my word/art series this one is 24" by 18" acrylic and type on paper. It will become an oil on canvas approx. 3' x 5'.
It is indeed a soulful soliloquy....I send you love....and hope.
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All art and words copyright Alan Phillips
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Isn't movement great? Although I don't dance that much anymore other than to jump for joy at one time it was an essential part of my day. I love movement. Among the great choreographers, I admired the cool of Bob Fosse. There was a certain fluid, jazz, economy of movement but a gestural groove in his lines.
Another of my word art paintings here. This original copy is 15 x 20 inches acrylic on paper and the final will be approximately 3' x 5'.
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All art and words, phrases copyright Alan Phillips 2015
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Polo anyone? This is a small study from the Greenwich Polo Club series. It was sold some time ago to a pal who looked right at home in the thick of The Palm Beach Polo Club!
This was a 11 x 14 oil on canvas.
I love the three figures as a central point of interest and the dynamics of the diagonals that lead in and up as well as that one pop of red against the green field.
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
I read that the great painter and illustrator Bernie Fuchs who I admire greatly once remarked that he owed a good portion of his painting to the gift of classical music. In my studio it has been jazz for as long as I can remember. I love so much music but jazz seems to be my magic carpet to a zone where I can 'be' in the painting. Right now it's an album called Flute Flight with Herbie Mann and Bobby Jasper. I owe a great thanks to jazz and jazz musicians who have elevated my art with their music.
This portrait of Miles is my favorite.
Hands down Miles Davis is a genius that I consult on a regular basis. Not only did he add a few chapters to the American Jazz legacy, he was a champion for creative freedom, exploration and extraordinary innovation. When I hear the tune "So What" all of my cosmic rhythm aligns and it's like I'm wearing a custom tailored Caraceni suit walking down Fifth Avenue in NYC heading towards an art deal that's gonna make my year, all smiles.
This was an oil on board. It was approximately 20 x 30 inches. A very talented photographer and saxophone player owns it now.
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
This was always one of my favorite watercolor pieces.
It is 15 x 20 watercolor on board and was sold about 15 years ago and created five years before that. I love flowers and especially dig how color is reflected and picked up by white surfaces. The composition in this one is rather striking. There is so much action going on in the angles of shadows, stairs and molding and yet the central focus helps keep the simplicity and poetry of the piece.
I had been at a tennis camp up in Hamilton Massachusetts, USA and wandering around one evening spotted this little vignette on a porch and snapped a shot of it to paint from later.
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
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This painting has been on loan for about 15 years and just came home. Like an old friend it brings me a familiar comfort. There is a stretch of The Saugutuck River that is just about to empty into The Compo Basin in Westport Connecticut which merges into Long Island Sound.
It never fails to lift my spirits when I am here, it is quiet, flowing, colorful, alive and generally at this time of year pictured a nice 60 degrees or so, you wear a light sweater and a smile.
The size is 20 x 30 inches watercolor on board. It is available for sale $5,000.00 US unframed plus the cost of shipping. You can contact me Alan, alanlovesart@gmail.com to discuss the particulars if you are interested.
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Gunga Din!
Do we all carry the idea of service beyond ourselves, 'our brother's keeper' as it were these days? What incredible measure of respect Kipling reveals to us in his poem about the soldier that served 'Er Majesty the Queen in a regiment in Injia and finest man he knew was bhisti, Gunga Din.
This was an illustration piece I did some time ago for the Easton Press. It is oil on canvas and about 20 x 30 inches I believe. I sold it eons ago. The book was a collection of Rudyard Kipling. What an amazing amount of fun he had with the language!
In my own life I have been at times humbled and honored to have known people who are perceived to be of a station socially lower than mine and yet the content of their character is what I one day hope to evolve to in my own life and I view them as highly elevated beings.
I am grateful for them.
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
It doesn't matter to me what or who, fact is, I love grace and form in every variety of people, sea, land and nature in general. Among the great golfers that I was admiring back in my 'illustrating sports' days (mostly football, golf and tennis) Seve Ballesteros was as elegant as they come.
This was a shot of Seve teeing it off from the 4th hole at the TPC in Ponte Vedra Florida during a practice round with his partner Sandy Lyle.
I used oil on canvas for this, the size was 30 x 40 inches. It was sold last year. I developed a very sensual feel for this particular piece. It is a nice combination of edges of crisp and soft and a juxtaposition of shapes that give it a kind of rhythm that flows into the central figure.
More to come.......
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
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Wow. Hard to believe we are into July already. High time for the ocean and cooling down with the kids. This was a day where the little ones were introduced to the surfside art of 'butt busting' as one firmly and resolutely places one's posterior in position to break that wave!
I do love the Floridian waters as there is such a muted gray range within the color that is beneath, within and that which reflects. There are many points and counterpoints within this simple design from the diagonal of the first wave, the flatness and depth of the waves simultaneously. The basic primary colors against the gray green ground.
This one just drips with the sun splashed saltlife in a bravura fashion.
It was sold about 6 months ago 11 x 14 inches oil on canvas.
Happy summer thoughts.
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All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
There are things that are irrevocable. The first of things, the last of things. The canary dies.
Can we reverse the damage we have done to the planet? I hope so. I work for it. Nature is astounding and perfect. She is a treasure I hold close to my heart that brings me joy every day.
Just a little idea to ponder, to gain a moment's wisdom before engaging in a too hot pursuit or a too cold response. Consequences, decisions, actions, reactions, responses are all somehow interrelated like the butterfly effect and it happens on both a cosmic and micro level every day in us and around us.
This art is so simple, so graphic and the message so plain jane but it holds weight don't you think? Holds it's own with the drawing?
It is 20 x 30 acrylic on paper as a study and will be 3 x 5 feet when finished oil on canvas.
This is the fourth post in my gestural mark/social commentary series.
More to come......
All art and words in context copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
If you know me, you know that I often sail to great elevations, in spirit, work and enthusiasm.
I love life. I love my life. I am an adventurer, and explorer I am looking for ways to experiment with expressing my ideas creatively. Therefore in the mythology that are metaphors for my life and actions in my life I believe I would have done the same as Icarus.
There are often the uninitiated but somewhat familiar ghosts come to haunt me from my distant past who ask, "Ya still doin that art thing?" lol! Like there was any other path?
Here is another watercolor on paper of my gestural mark/social commentary series which is now 15 x 20 inches and is a study for a piece 6 x 4 feet oil on canvas.
I may even paint the larger one with feathers.
All art and words in context copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Here is the second of my gestural mark and social commentary series. This is a study for the titled piece "Conversation" It is 15 x 20 inches acrylic on paper and computer generated type which will be hand drawn on the bigger final art.
Do you notice the white going into black, the black into white? Yin and yang? Life is amazing is it not? Listening to Chris Rea right now "The Shamrock Diaries." Love it. He always sounds like he means it and his voice is an instrument with it's own universe.
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All art and words copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome!
That would be refreshing in this summer heat here in Florida, a little cool refreshment in the shade along a breezy little coastal inlet, wouldn't it?
This is a commission and just finished it goes out the door tomorrow. It is a favorite of mine of recent little oil paintings on canvas. It is 11x14 . I particulalary enjoy the light that bounces off the white structure from both the wisteria and the water including lavender, ochres and blues in the shadows.
More to come.....
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Remember lazy days on the lake as a child? I do. This is a beautiful southern lake. Mine were in the North, Thompson Lake in Maine and Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire and the lake at Breakhart Reservation in Massachusetts.
Although I am sure the homemade lean - to with the corrugated red tin roof and the small dock will be removed to make way for a more contemporary and practical and luxurious enjoyment by the new owners I bet this was a bunch of fun and perfect for the kids who ate lunch here and did cannon balls off the dock. It is a spectacular piece of land. This is a super healthy, very tall, cypress tree which shades the structure.
The flowers in the pitcher are Hydrangeas and are the recipient's favorite flower. The best symbolism I found for Hydrangeas was gratitude and friendship.
The lake is shimmering with it's white sand bottom and vast open space help to capture a certain kind of light evident in my painting. Lovely light isn't it?
This is a 30 x 40 inch oil on canvas. It is a commission. I enjoyed using a very specific but gestural and loose mark for the brushwork in this art.
More to come......
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Ok, ok so I know I am a harbor guy and a nature guy and my art is focused on wildlife, nature and the coast and tons of boats but there is a side of my brain or a place in it that just can't put the words and the abstraction away. I have a great appreciation for Motherwell, Dekooning, Kline, Pollack and the many beautiful 'marks' these artists made.
Here is the first in an ongoing post of my series of studies for larger works that will be oil on canvas that are about words, dialog, the mark on the page or canvas that serve a more direct conversation, my thoughts and ideas about certain subjects.
I have some larger coastal projects going on right and will be presenting them when complete and will show my word and art series in between those!
Happy thoughts.
More to come.......
All words and art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Listening to a live version, an acoustic version of the Beatles tune 'Blackbird' by Kenny Rankin. So simple when he sings it. I am a huge fan of his music and arrangements. I tried to learn it once on guitar, ha not for me too complicated for a beginner even with the Beatles tablature chord layout in the songbook.
However I do like to make a simple painting sing and I start with only the freshest ingredients! This was a food piece still life for Waters Edge Magazine, a full page illustration about our locally grown strawberry crop. It is a watercolor on watercolor paper about 15 x 20 inches.
I sold it about five years ago. I always enjoyed the flat overhead more 'graphic' view of the subject matter in this one and for your breakfast my dear why not accompanied by a rose?
We were only waiting for this moment to arise.
More to come.......
All art copyright Alan Phillips
Welcome.
This is a fairly humble little painting 5 x 7 inches oil on canvas using a very thick impasto. It was a piece painted on the spot by a bridge and I just loved how solid it looked in the reflective, shimmering water. There is something refreshingly sturdy about Maine lobster boats, reassuring, you know?
I sold it for $600.00 US about 5 years ago. Stay tuned if you like the working boats because I have a bunch of them coming up from Maine, some shrimp boats from South Carolina and Florida and some fishing trawlers from Vancouver to St. Augustine.
I sure hope you are beginning the summer with great gusto and enthusiasm. I know I am. Joy is everywhere, listening to Boz Scaggs "Thanks To You." right now and I love the lines, "So where does the genius go when business is slow, And even dreaming has a way of scheming to get you down, Likely off at some chateau so how would he know, It gets as lonely up there as anywhere, Where moving over to make room once seemed impossible, It's not impossible, That one handed applause, That unspoken word, That tree fall in the forest someone finally heard, Thanks to you." And so if you are here looking at my art and reading my words, "Thanks to you." Clap, clap.
More to come....
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
Welcome.
Listening to Mark Murphy right now..."The Red Clay" which I believe was written by Freddie Hubbard. On this album Mark Murphy sings and he's got David Sanborn, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker and Dave Matthews, are you kidding?
My favorite though is "Stolen Moments" By Oliver Nelson and lyrics by Mark Murphy.
This island hideaway belonged to a friend of mine. Stolen moments were every moment.
When Chet Baker sings "Let's Get Lost" (written by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Frank Loesser) this is where he's talking about (a mindset of a place like this where the two of you can inhabit that oneness of serenity) and he knew it for sure.
Languid bodies, soft happy energy, perfect music, sun, shade, air, gourmet cooking of simple and healthy foods, knowledge of the tides, lush, sensual, timeless, sleeping like a contented child met the natural rhythm of the day and night.
I like the freshness in this piece.The sun was just peeking above the dawn horizon.
There's a lot of visual information but it doesn't compete it collaborates! It is 15 x 20 inches oil on canvas and available for $1,500.00 US plus handling and shipping.
"If I told you I loved you pretty baby would it it make up for what they say?" LOL!
More to come......
If you wish to communicate you can contact me at alanlovesart@gmail.com
All art copyright Alan Phillips 2015
