arts – Rob Medley

The Calm Before the Heresy

September 22, 2017 by Rob Medley

“The Calm Before the Heresy.” 18×24 #acrylic #painting on #canvas. $300 if interested, which is, mmm, $0.70 per square inch, plus $20 shipping CONUS. That’s a great deal. Prices are sure to shoot up the moment I’m discovered 🙂

I had the idea a couple weeks back, but it really wanted out of my head today. It’s part of my ramp up to #Halloween, the season of #magic – where the boundaries between our world and the #supernatural are at their weakest.
The setting is #Colonial #America, or Europe, suit yourself (as Marty Feldman used to say). A man, walking through the woods, comes upon a scene of #occult #witchcraft, or worship as the old religions call it. You get the rest, burnings, hangings, people succumbing to their basest instincts.

Moving On

March 12, 2017March 12, 2017 by Rob Medley

A person kneels on the floor in a dimly lit hallway, staring straight ahead. The environment is dark, with muted colors and a single framed photo hanging on the wall in the background. The mood appears tense and eerie, as if they are struggling to find the strength for moving on.

Let’s entertain for a moment that someday, I will paint well enough to earn a spot in the Met; even if it’s in the restrooms. When curators look at my body of work, they will see that my realism paintings tend to be utilitarian and dark. They will dissect my state of mind during the creation of the painting and find things with which to create parallels.

Take ‘Moving On’, my latest, as an example. They’ll say there’s a certain eerie loneliness about it. References and connections will be made to social issues and mental illness. They’ll wonder why I’ve painted Vermeer’s ‘Woman Holding a Balance’ as the only thing hanging on the wall, really the only detailed object. The relative emptiness of the rest of the scene stands in stark contrast to the focused area.

If I had to make up a backstory as to the inspiration, I’d say the painting is about ending one journey and beginning another. In this case, the woman is moving out; from a failed relationship, or something else – it’s all in the viewer’s mind.

There is irony in the fact I stopped work on it today, March 11, 2017, which would have been the two year anniversary of my last relationship – A wonderful woman, she dodged a bullet. I wish her the best.

But the painting is not really about any of this. Realism is boring, tedious work. I like rapid, flowing strokes and not contained or restrained lines. I want the brush to dance on the canvas, which is why I got bored and decided to go back to abstract acrylics.

2017. 16×20, acrylic on canvas.

Available for purchase here:

Etsy: Moving On

Firefly

January 22, 2017June 25, 2016 by Rob Medley

A colorful mixed media artwork featuring a large painted tree with square panels integrated into it. Each panel has illuminated cut-out designs, including a cluster of grapes, a leaf arrangement, and a tree. One panel includes glowing lights resembling fireflies dancing over a moss texture.

Firefly is a 36″ x 48″ 3D sculpture / painting utilizing acrylic paint, multiple canvases, mirrors, LED lighting (Solar or electrical power) tissue wrap paper, model railroad foliage (branches) and fake grass. Evocative of a Midsummer Night, this piece draws on unconventional landscape effects to bring the composition to life. This is for sale. I’m asking $999.00. It may seem like a lot, but it allows me to eat and create art in an expensive area.

Firefly

A side view of an abstract art installation featuring green and red swirls, small black blocks, and a patch of artificial grass with tiny lights resembling fireflies. The background includes plastic sheeting and various art supplies, contributing to a creative studio environment.

Thin transparent plastic sheets drape across a wall, with a variety of dried, orange and brown plants peeking from the right side of the frame. The scene is dimly lit, with a few firefly-like glimmers adding to the moody and abstract visual.

A painting on a canvas depicts a crescent moon partially obscured by dark, wispy clouds. The background consists of shades of deep purple, accented by the subtle glow of a firefly. The painting is placed on a green surface with a sprig of dried, reddish foliage on the left side.

A dark surface with a cutout design of an abstract floral pattern is illuminated from behind, much like the glow of a firefly at dusk. The light shines through the cutout, creating a contrast with the dark background and highlighting the intricate details of the design.

An abstract artwork shows a bunch of grapes and leaves cut out from a black background. Golden lines and green light shine through the cut-out shapes, creating a glowing effect reminiscent of fireflies illuminating the grape cluster and foliage design.

A rectangular black canvas features a tree cut-out design at its center, revealing vibrant, colorful patterns from a different layer beneath. The stylized tree, with multiple leaves and an abstract form, almost glimmers like a firefly. The edges are adorned with touches of red and green.

A square patch of dense green foliage, illuminated by small, scattered white fairy lights, glows against a dark, blurred background with green and red hues. The lights create a warm, glimmering effect among the leaves, reminiscent of fireflies on a summer night.

A rectangular canvas with dark, abstract brushstrokes is mounted on a wall with vibrant, swirling green and yellow patterns, reminiscent of a firefly's glow. The canvas features a variety of shades, predominantly dark colors with hints of green and yellow.

A vibrant painting features a large tree with multicolored leaves. Two black squares with intricate cut-out designs, one of a grape cluster and the other of a floral pattern, are placed on the tree. A small crescent moon illuminates the night sky in the top right corner as fireflies dance around.