Paintings

November 2022

W A L K I N G M A N

Oil on Panel, 30" x 48"

Based on a Bruno Catalano sculpture I saw on the streets of Paris in late 2019

"The trace of a journey at once mobile and motionless. For the Traveler is not only the person who has left everything behind for a dream and an elsewhere. It is the one who, fully attired, suitcase in hand, with a straight and dignified posture, represents each and every one of us. It is with this idea that Bruno Catalano created "Pierre David Triptyque" a plastic metaphor, limpid and just, of our human condition, circumventing the taboo of senility and death. Whatever our itinerary, vagabond or more sedentary, here is what will remain of us, ephemeral travelers on the Earth: a few traces of worn, derisive matter. A pair of shoes, a suitcase, metaphors for the legacy of every human being after his or her passage. In the maturity of his work, the artist increasingly shows the passage of time; with his Triptych, he proposes a crude and eloquent emblem of our mortality, of our being mere travelers of life."

–Ravagnan Gallery, Venezia, VE, Italy

April 2019

M A N N E E D S A R T

A R T N E E D S M A N

Oil on Canvas / Adobe Illustrator

Giclee on paper, 20" x 20"

When great ideas and great images merge, they're stamped with honest imprints of their authors. They take-on worthwhile parts of human itinerary and synergies form.

Symbioses form too. The familiar becomes wonderful, the wonderful familiar and art becomes essential. Man Needs Art Needs Man™.

My favorite artist/painter, Wayne Thiebaud, put it this way, "Paintings," he said, "are inert, still, quiet; but painters found a way to bring it [them] to life. A new visual species is another kind of world..."

I cannot say it better than that.

August 2021

T H E M I S C H I E F

Oil on Canvas, 16" x 21.5"

Norwich, England

Late afternoon light and shadow blanketed the Norwich cityscape as we watched two passersby turn and enter this endearing old pub. Legend is, Norwich has 365 pubs, one for each day of the year, along with 52 churches. Conveniently, one can repent over-indulgence in a different church every Sunday.

My unrepentant Mischief moment contained an Edward Hopper-like bard of solitude. Three years later, following my last visit to Norwich, I tried capturing it on canvas.

December 2023

N O R T H W O O D S D O E

Oil on Panel 18" x 30"

Some time ago, amidst tranquil Northwoods surroundings, I spotted a graceful doe standing alone in a sparkling bog. I instinctively raised my camera, but as I pressed the shutter she bolted and vanished. I was left with a solitary, out-of-focus, digital image. Surprisingly though, its softness and lack of detail enhanced my perception of the scene’s color shapes and mood.

Meanwhile, the image etched in my memory was vivid and tactile. My final visit to St. Germain - a decade later - beckoned me to paint the memory.

August 2018

D E B B I E

Oil on canvas, 16.5" x 18.5"

In mid 2018, Debbie and I attended what must have been our fourth or fifth Sargent exhibition. Included, among other period painters, was renowned Swedish artist, Anders Zorn.

I left the exhibit inspired to paint a portrait with a Zorn-style limited pallet (consisting of only titanium white, ivory black, cadmium red light and yellow ochre). I took to the palette and was pleasantly surprised by its range of hues. In all my years of painting, I'd never owned a tube of black.

This is my second portrait of Debbie. I painted the first in 1969, our senior year in high school. Seems like yesterday now.

March 2021

H O P S C O T C H

Oil on Canvas, 11" x 14"

Depicted here is my sister leaning into her and her granddaughter's next leap during a game of hopscotch. This was my first painting following a month-long, on-line oil painting class taught by one of my favorite figurative painters, Marjorie Hicks.

From her home studio, Marjorie taught her method of spontaneously and expressively portraying the human figure. Attendees were scattered halfway around the world, from Hawaii to Paris, with Marjorie in Nashville, TN, me in Alexandria, VA.

July 2018

W I N G S O F F R E E D O M

Oil on Canvas, 16.5" x 18.5"

Wings of Freedom, my first retirement painting, is based on a photo I shot at Chicago’s Palwaukee Airport.

The small but well attended airshow featured several WWII bombers. My favorite was this battle-scarred, but still airworthy, B-25 J. The plane's moniker, Tondelayo, was inspired by Hedy Lamarr's leading role in the classic 1942 movie, White Cargo.

This painting's title, its strength, brightness, upbeat hues and optimism reflect my disposition as I embrace the milestone of retirement.

Keith Shackelford

Fine Arts Portfolio 1973 - Present