City Moon

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 20x16

Beneath a Golden Sky

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x20

UFO Northern Exposure

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 16x20

Blood Moon Over the City

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x20

Rain in the City

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 12x16

Rain On The Windshield

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 24x30

A spray of drops on a car windshield create an abstract prism of light that turns a rainy night city view into something wondrous. I just wish the oncoming driver would dim his high beams!
This piece is moving towards a blend of realism and abstraction that best expresses who I am as an artist.

Scattered Showers NYC

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 24x30

Scattered Showers NYC

Clouds gather over the East river and rain is falling in the distance as the lights of New York City glitter in the fading light.

Goddess of Food and Drink

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 12x16

People gather at the bar in one of my favorite restaurants, “Crazy Waters” in Milwaukee. There is a plaster bust on the wall behind the bar. I have no idea what it represents or who it might be, but I dubbed it the Goddess of Food and Drink. The true Goddess of Food is the owner and chef, Peggy Magister.

Keep the Motor Running

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 20x16

Keep the Motor Running

The LaSalle sedan idles in the alley as a mobster calls on a rival bootlegger. The  Thompson submachine gun (also known as the Chicago typewriter) held at his side was referred to as the "gun that made the twenties roar”. Along with the rumble of thunder and flashes of lightening, it will soon be raining bullets.

Chicago Skyline at Sunset

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 30x40

Chicago Skyline at Sunset

I never tire of painting the Chicago skyline. The lights glitter and shine against a backdrop silhouette of towering buildings as the sun sets.

A Knight in Shining Armor

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x20

A Knight in Shining Armor

Our hero rides through a misty and magical forest on his way to rescue some damsel in distress. Today’s woman can take care of herself and doesn’t have to rely on some guy in a tin suit and the horse he rode in on.

Chicago From Above

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 24x30

From the air the lights of Chicago cast a magical glow skyward as gathering clouds form a dramatic backdrop. To the east, only the dark waters of Lake Michigan surge and swirl, seemingly as cold and black as deep space.

Steampunk War Horse

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 16x20

Steampunk War Horse

A steam powered war horse rears up over a devastated bombed-out landscape. Steam and smoke escape from the giant mechanical creature as it stalks the ruins looking for the enemy …if any survived the clouds of poison gas.

Milwaukee Lakefront

Original painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x20

The Calatrava design of the Milwaukee Art Museum is a spectacular achievement in beauty and engineering. The Quadracci Pavillion and the open "wings" of the Burke Brise Soleil face the waters of lake Michigan and accent the skyline of my favorite city. The city where I was born and raised.

Old Chicago Night

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 30x20

This painting is a re-creation of Chicago during the Prohibition era. It is a completely imaginary scene but I based it somewhat on my own research of vintage photos from the time period with plenty of artistic license. As an impressionistic work, I was primarily interested in capturing the hustle and bustle of a teeming metropolis from a colorful time in the past. I enjoyed painting the antique automobiles and streetcar. I purposely chose a palette of warm brown tones for a vintage look. I also used some metallic paint sparingly, in both copper and gold, for the very first time. I liked the effect on this piece and I will use it again where it might enhance a painting.

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 12x16

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train is North America's longest rolling food bank fundraiser and since it started in 1999, the program has raised close to $9.5 million and 3.3 million pounds of food. I’ll be there to watch it arrive in Sturtevant Wisconsin on December 7^th. It’s on the same day as my class Art Show Reception, but should be able to attend both. What a great way to start the holiday season!

Carriage Ride in Central Park

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 16x20

Outside the Plaza Hotel and Central Park in Manhattan you'll find one of New York City's favorite attractions - Carriage Rides in Central Park! Carriages, traditionally called "Hansom Cabs", are fun, romantic and create lasting images and lifelong memories. The horse-drawn carriage rides have been part of Central Park for more than a century. I wanted the painting to be somewhat timeless so that it had that nostalgic feel I was after. There is currently a move by some, and supported by the Mayor of New York City, to ban carriage rides and replace them with electric cars. They claim that it is cruel to the horses. The opposing side says they love their horses and that they are well-fed and cared for better than many people in New York. Some say it’s all about the money …could be true.

Art of Refinement

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x20

Art of Refinement

The intricate tangle of pipes, smoke, and glittering lights are irresistible subjects for my brush. An oil refinery at night is a magical industrial world of massive technological alchemy that visually dazzles and amazes me.

Chipmunk Island Trude Lake Wisconsin

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 16x20

Chipmunk Island

When I was young and my son was still a boy, we camped out on tiny Chipmunk Island on Trude Lake in Northern Wisconsin. We named it after the only other occupant we encountered besides mosquitoes. I’ve never been much of a camper but this memory is a good one.

Halloween Shortcut

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 16x20

Halloween Shortcut

Taking a shortcut through the woods on Halloween night after Trick-or-Treating seemed like a good idea at the time …but now, not so much. Shadows and moonlight have given the twisted tree stump a sinister and frightening appearance. Is it just their childish imaginations or is it something else?

Steampunk Vampire

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 16x12

This Victorian gentleman is no gentleman, or for that matter, even human. This vampire predator prowls the foggy London streets in search of prey and his search has been successful!

First Love

My small travel setup for watercolor

FIRST LOVE

 

They say you never forget your first love. In art, my first love was watercolor. The wet paper, the uncontrolled movement of the pigment, the fresh crisp immediacy of the process, the delicate washes of pure color ...these are the things I loved. But I didn't love the need to mat, frame and protect the art under glass. We gradually grew apart. Eventually I ended my decade long affair with watercolors and Acrylics became my new love.

Now things have come full circle. A worldwide movement called Urban Sketching has reunited us at last. Small studies painted plein air just for the pure joy of it are what watercolor does best. It's easily portable and everything you need fits in a small kit. A field kit such as the Koi model shown here comes with 24 half pans and a slick waterbrush that eliminates the need for a water container. Yes, watercolor and I are back together at last and we make art together everyday! Acrylics are still my True Love, but my first love is back to stay!

Steampunk Jack

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x12

Steampunk Jack
A tip of the top hat to Jack the ripper in this Steampunk version of London’s serial killer. Wait until he runs into the two steampunk girls in the Whitechapel alley, the outcome will be a whole lot different.

I went to the Bristol Renaissance Fair on the Steampunk weekend and saw this character in the crowd. He stood out (and above) most of the others. He gave me permission to snap a photo and my imagination supplied the rest.

Steampunk Girls

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x12

Steampunk Girls

This painting is a companion piece to Steampunk Jack. While killing prostitutes in the Whitechapel district was his specialty, Jack is about to meet his match in this East London alley. That’s not Jack in the doorway, that’s just their business manager.

Airship Armada

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 24x30

Hear the raucous cries of he seagulls echo above the beach as the waves wash upon the sand. Airships sail in stately procession across the sky towards the sinking sun. A Victorian lady follows the flight of the royal warships, the flying navy of her country.

I placed the line of sight above the horizon so the viewer could feel as though they were on the deck of an airship too!

Wisconsin Dells Fantasy

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x20

Wisconsin Dells Fantasy

The Wisconsin Dells is a scenic area, with glacially formed gorges that feature striking sandstone formations along the banks of the Wisconsin River. In 1856, tourists began taking boat tours of the Wisconsin Dells. These tours were given using wooden rowboats until 1873 when the first steamboat was used.

I used my imagination combined with research to create a whimsical scene of a steam powered paddle boat passing between rock formations that I transformed into primitive tenements (think Flintstones). When I took the boat tour as a kid I imagined living on top of the rocks in my tent and sitting by a cozy campfire. The little ducks at the base of the main rock are a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Wisconsin Ducks amphibian tour vehicles.

Airship Over the Mountain

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 20x16

Airship Over the Mountain

The airship, “HMS Standish” floats above the towering mountain peaks in all her Victorian splendor sailing slowly and serenely towards undiscovered lands beyond on a mission of exploration. Boldly going where no man, no, wait that’s the starship Enterprise …never mind.

Umm, did you know that HMS stands for “her or his majesty’s ship”?

Rainy Night Blues

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 20x16

A summer thunderstorm drenches the city and isolates the pedestrians under awnings and umbrellas to escape the downpour. Car tires swish through puddles on the wet pavement as the rain beats a steady tattoo on the city streets. The distant rumble of thunder joins the rumble of traffic and bright downtown lights challenge the sporadic flashes of lightning illuminating the dark sky above.

Airship by Moonlight

Original painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x20

The intrepid airship “Gypsy wind” floats across the night sky catching the light of a brilliant full moon. Only the flap and sputter of the steam driven propeller breaks the silence of the night as she sails past the clock tower towards distant lands and adventures.

Swamp Witch Rising

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 12x16

The swamp witch rises from the stagnant waters of the swamp. She is covered in sinewy ropes of decaying vegetation and the remains of her tattered dress. Tendrils of fog and swamp gas swirl about her and the gnarled trees where an ominous and gigantic raven with glowing eyes is perched.

Tree Party Members

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 12x16

My class exercise featuring trees resulted in this painting of a group of kids literally "hanging around". A bit of a change from my usual style.

Minneapolis Rain

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 12x16

The reflections of bright red tail lights on the wet pavement against the subdued background of the rain-washed city are the main elements that drew me to this scene. My daughter, Gina Tuchel, provided the reference photos from her recent visit to Minneapolis. The geometric abstract patterns of light and dark always intrigue me and who could resist the bright red glow of the brake lights? ...not me.

One Stormy Night

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x12

I have always loved a good thunderstorm!

This painting was inspired by the album cover of “One Stormy Night” which shows the blurry image of a man and woman seen through a rain drenched window glass. The first Mystic Moods Orchestra album "One Stormy Night" was released in 1965. This record sets storm and rain noises against easy-listening orchestral sounds. I purchased the album and often played it during real thunderstorms as I sat on our enclosed porch with my family and watched and listened to the rain beating on the roof and pouring down outside our windows.

This painting features my beautiful grand daughter, Callie Tuchel. She is an emerging artist herself and she posed for me. Naturally this painting is not for sale and is part of the family collection but open addition prints are available

The Enchanted Voyage

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 20x16

“Mr. Pecket built a sailboat in his backyard. It would never stay afloat for it was built of fantasy, irony and humaneness. One night Mr. Pecket did experience his "Enchanted Voyage", and only then did he discover what life is truly about.

A MAN AND HIS IMPOSSIBLE DREAM...

The man, who lived in a very practical little house in the Bronx with his very practical little wife, was very unhappy -- except when he puttered around in his backyard, lost in his dreams. His wife had very little sympathy with his preoccupation...

Then one day his dream began to come true and he found himself sailing far away from home in search of...who could guess?

Maybe freedom, maybe adventure, maybe even true love...” (From the back cover)

I read this small book, by Robert Nathan ©1936, as a young man in my twenties and re-read the story on my Kindle recently. It struck a chord with me back then and still does today. It’s about hope and yearning and the freedom to live your dreams. It is essentially a “Road Trip” saga of a man sailing away from his dull and unhappy existence on his sailboat, the Sarah Pecket. The homemade boat with wheels attached and Mr. Pecket on board, is launched down the city street by a sudden storm. Later two other people, a lonely waitress and an unemployed dentist, come along for the adventure. It’s a quirky adult fairytale.

Those Things Will Kill You!

Original Painting - Acrylic on canvas 16x12

Sex was her weapon of choice, but would it stop a bullet? A gunman aims to kill as the scantily clad target takes a drag, of what may be, her last cigarette.

Another painting in my “Sin, sex, and cigarettes series” …the series that pays tribute to the wonderful cover art of the vintage pulp magazines.

A Rainy Night in Milwaukee

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 12x16

A sudden Spring downpour drenches the city streets as people hurry to find a dry place to escape the cold rain. Traffic slows to a crawl as the driving rain drums on the car roofs and reduces visibility. Gutters become rivers and thunder grumbles and then booms like distant canon fire. It’s a wet April night in Milwaukee!

Chicago Raindrops on Glass

Original Painting - Acrylic on Canvas 16x20

Raindrops splatter against the window as thunder shakes the glass and rumbles across the dark and churning sky. The city looks as if it is underwater …a lost city of Atlantis beneath the waves. Watery lights gleam and flicker distorted by the droplets as they wriggle their way down the wet surface. It seems like a good day to stay snug and dry in your bed.