FLOOD (2000)
Acrylic on Canvas - 36” x 48”
Faced with the prospect of cancer surgery, I thought that while awash in pain killers I might at least experience some interesting dreams. Instead I found that the medications did exactly the opposite, completely deadening any creative sense I had. 1/4
EBB (2000), Acrylic on Canvas - 36” x 48”
EBB and FLOOD were done on faith. It didn’t matter if anyone—even myself—understood what they were about, they had to be made real.
I was having a conversation about my work with Betsy Wollheim, longtime friend and smart editor/publisher. She said, “What do you mean you don’t know what they are about? It’s been obvious to me from the first time I saw them.” 1/2
THE CROSSING (1997)
Oil on Canvas - 30” X 60”
The uncertainty of and inescapable attraction to the concept of life after death. 1/2
THE END OF NATURE VII (2005)
Acrylic on Panel - 25” x 40”
Up until this point in my End of Nature series, I had portrayed the people who represent humanity in general as somewhat oblivious to the support that nature was providing for them. 1/2
GRAVITY (2002)
Acrylic on Canvas - 35" x 43"
Once when I was being sedated for surgery and I was counting backwards, “99, 98, ...” I felt this surge of irresistible calm sweep over me like a vast tide of night. While I floated away, I felt myself become totally, completely relaxed. 1/3
#fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #cancer #mskcc
CAUSEWAY (1992)
Oil on Canvas - 48" X 36"
The colors came from a foggy morning walk at a reservoir near my home. 1/4
PIPEDREAM (2008)
Acrylic - 20” x 30”
Most days I take a walk in the late afternoon to clear my head and stretch my legs. Sometimes I come across trash thrown in a field or left in a parking lot and I get annoyed thinking about how thoughtless people can be. Before I know it, my mood has spiraled into a negative worldview and I come home more stressed than when I left. 1/5
SILVER TIDE (2006)
Acrylic on Canvas - 60" x 36"
Painted as I was 55 turning 56 and pondering the intransigence of time. I swear I was not consciously thinking, "Time and Tide wait for no man!"
PASSAGE: THE RAINBOW (1991)
Acrylic on Canvas - 36” X 48”
The surface meaning of my Passage paintings is technical—it signifies a passage from working nearly exclusively in acrylics to attaining a greater technical flexibility in oils. 1/2
LUMEN 4 (1997)
Acrylic on Canvas - 48” X 36”
Despite the numbering, this was the first painting in a series of gallery paintings. 1/3
Michael Whelan