New paintings, hot off the easel, and some thoughts on art and life ...

I just finished a triptych, "Persephone's Dream" and not too long ago I did another triptych called "The Midnight Garden." So I thought maybe I should take a moment to explain what a triptych is. It's just a painting in three parts. Wow - that was easy! But that's all there is to it.

Why an artist would make a painting in three parts is harder to explain. Triptychs started in the Middle Ages as a common form of painting for churches, and many Renaissance altar pieces were triptychs. But for me, as for many artists, it's simply an easier way to make a large painting. I have a small studio, so for me it's convenient to work on only one panel at a time. One big disadvantage to triptychs is that they don't photograph well. By the time I get the whole thing in view, the photo has to be smaller than the average painting photo. To make up for that, I posted a "detail" from "The Midnight Garden" at the top of this post (a "detail" being just one small part of the triptych).

If you follow this blog you know that I've been posting my progress on "Persephone's Dream" and now I put together a video of the development of the painting from start to finish. Take a look at it on YouTube. There's also a smaller version that should play well on a cell phone on my Facebook page.