GENTLENESS (1997) by Michael Whelan
Acrylic on Canvas - 11” x 13”
Not a classical Virtue, but based on observing my young son with our aging family cat. It’s how I hope we’ll care for all the earth’s creatures.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
LUMEN 5.1 (1999) by Michael Whelan
Acrylic on Canvas - 30” x 20”
The shape of the opening admitting the glare of light is somewhat like a diagram of an eye, with the circle held by the figure representing the iris. The further one goes outward the greater one can see inward.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
FLOOD (2000) by Michael Whelan
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. My net sum of interesting creative ideas while in the hospital was zero! It taught me a valuable lesson: creativity is linked to my reasoning and thought; interrupt the flow of thought artificially and the creative forces are negated altogether.
Some time afterwards I did experience some particularly compelling waking dreams. I didn’t know what they were about, but I felt that I had to paint them. 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.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
CHASM (2000) by Michael Whelan
Acrylic on Panel - 30" x 20"
I keep a sketchpad next to the bed for recording ideas which arrive as I am falling asleep or waking up… prime time for my “muse channel.”
(via theartofmichaelwhelan)
Source: michaelwhelan.com
DOORWAY TO THE WEST (2006) by Michael Whelan
Acrylic on Panel - 12" x 9"
Another search for the light. Creating the illusion of texture in paint, the process of actually painting it, can be an act of meditation. If it were not so, the painting of all those rocks would be torture, especially for someone like me with an impatient nature.
(via theartofmichaelwhelan)
Source: michaelwhelan.com
HARBINGER (2015) by Michael Whelan
Acrylic on Linen - 36" x 54"
The essential composition of HARBINGER came to me many years ago, and it has always centered on the wasp nest surrounding a stoplight—an omen of something running out of control, a slippage into chaos.
My initial inspiration, I believe, grew out of concern for the destabilizing and immense effects of global climate change, a sense of nature out of control and giving birth to unnatural and cataclysmic phenomena. I realize that it is not the happiest of subjects to dedicate a painting to, but the idea just wouldn’t let me go without painting it.
It remains to be seen whether the catharsis of this painting will suffice or if I will have to revisit the idea again in the near future.
FREEFALL (2001) by Michael Whelan
Acrylic on Panel - 12" x 12"
(via theartofmichaelwhelan)
Source: michaelwhelan.com
MISTY PATH (2002) by Michael Whelan
Acrylic on Panel - 24” x 18”
Based on an experience I had while hiking in a local park on a very foggy day. There was a path that runs through an overhanging mass of vines and other foliage near a lake, and I was the only person in the place, except for my infant son, who was napping in the carrier on my back. As I stood enthralled by the scene I saw this image in my mind’s eye.
(via theartofmichaelwhelan)
Source: michaelwhelan.com
EMIGRE (2006) by Michael Whelan
Acrylic on Panel - 12" x 12"
A study done at the time I painted END OF NATURE VII, later finished to become a new small painting in its own right. If only she indulged in a little self-examination, she would know that she carries the means to a new beginning on her own shoulders.
(via theartofmichaelwhelan)
Source: michaelwhelan.com
Source: michaelwhelan.com
