...I spend most of my life alone....it comes with the territory. Being an artist requires that solitude and it is an exercise between you and your own mind making art. ...So, ....when you meet someone "out of the blue", and there is a profound connection...after many years of solitude...it invites influence and affect on your state of artistic "being". As an artist,...has this ever happened to you?
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....Thrilled! over a recent sale at Meyer Vogl Gallery in Charleston, SC....this minimalist or "quiet" painting was recently acquired by a collector. ...from memories gathered at the beach...always a place for quiet contemplation and meditation.....
Honey Saffron Beach, 36"w x 36"h, framed, acrylic paint, pastel & collage on canvas, 2022, Andrew Portwood.
Honey Saffron Beach, 2022, 36"w x 36"h, framed, acrylic paint, pastel & collage on canvas, Andrew Portwood, 2024
One of many new large abstracts in the works.......:) shown installed into pleasing digital interior space with frames. It adds another dimension when seeing these large paintings in proportion to its interior surroundings and natural lighting....this one is available here in New Orleans at Jillian Mac Fine Art
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| Cloud Nine, 2024, acrylic, pastel, charcoal on canvas, 48"h x 60"w, Andrew Portwood copyright 2024 |
....another layered abstract pushed to the limit. I really like this expressive painting with underlying structure....and heavy mass,....almost sculptural.
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....I like this new one...it is actually a happy painting. ...Trying to let a little light in with bright color and some drawing (pastel) on the canvas....more white space.....sometimes the anxiety connected to my current state seems to lend itself to expressive paintings. :) Available at Meyer Vogl Gallery, Charleston, SC.
https://www.andrewportwood.net/
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| Hey Violet, 48" x 48" x 1.5" dp, acrylic & mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2023 |
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| Hey Violet, 48" x 48" x 1.5" dp, acrylic & mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2023 |
....another large 48" x 48", acrylic paint on canvas. This one is headed to Blueprint Gallery in Dallas, Texas :)
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| Pick up your toys Raspberry, 48" x 48", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood, 2023 |
....Trying to paint more like I draw....that is, yes, the "automatic drawing"...more from the subconscious...relaxed....and then stop, and not over-work-it....keep it fresh. There was a time when I literally "drew" for a living....building all kinds of representational visuals for Ad campaigns...it put food on the table, I had a wife and two baby girls to feed and clothe. ...and I drew ,and I drew,...under pressure...on a drawing board (before Mac's)....No time to analyze.! What good practice for what would become my present artist self ! ....all the while building a "visual library of my own in my mind"...all of that personal visual language now comes out on canvas as "automatic drawing".
Something akin to one's own unique handwriting...in a way (?)...or self taught riffs on a guitar (?)
Available at Meyer Vogl Gallery, Charleston, SC
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| Orange Whip, 48" x 48", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2023 |
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| Orange Whip, 48" x 48", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2023 |
Can I just say that I paint what I like and what I feel....can I just say that ?
This very Yellow painting is available at Blue Print Gallery in Dallas, TX
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| She wore Lemon, 3"w x 40"h, acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2022 |
💓....and loving it ! Here is an example of some new large works in progress.
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| Scattered Persimmon, 48" x 72", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2022 |
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| "Untitled Dream", 30" x 40", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2022, sold |
I like to buy canvases by the box....I don't make a painting a day like some do...(well sometimes :))...but my mind certainly flows into the next painting...and it is a good thing to just grab another canvas ready to go.
This one is the 3rd canvas from my box of 6.
"Untitled Dream", 30" x 40", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2022
Sold through Blue Print Gallery, Dallas, TX
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| "Untitled Dream", 30" x 40", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2022 |
Here is a new one...a happy one. Raspberry Garden Party...Although it took a few tries to get here. I really think I could have stopped painting this one 2 times previously. I took photos at 2 different stages where I felt that I had a finish, but I kept on pushing and pressing, and I like it at this stage and think of the others as ideas or roughed out plans for 2 new paintings later. There is certainly more texture on the surface because of the layers of paint underneath.
Sold !! at Meyer Vogl Gallery, Charleston, SC
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| Raspberry Garden Party, 36" x 36", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood, 2022 |
I
Titles;...sometimes they come easy..and sometimes they don't....they are necessary....and sometimes I think of song titles that might fit...I wanted to use "Walk don't Run"...it popped into my head and I thought that it fit perfectly, but...that's not my title, it belongs to The Ventures ...yes, it's surf and beach...because I seem to be gathering all my work from collective memories of the beach....Anyway, I came up with an alternative...Rosewater Beach Party...which has been shortened to Rosewater beach, or just Rosewater :)
This painting is Raw...and un-fussed with! I put it down bravely one morning on canvas with exuberance and child-like joy...and I just plain "felt" it. ...like I said , it's kind of raw and thinly painted ...but it is pure and deliberate!...and I hope will lead on to the next better painting. :)
This painting has sold through Meyer Vogl Gallery, Charleston, SC
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| Rosewater Beach, 36" x 36", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood, 2022 |
One of a series of abstracts painted late last summer, Abstract No. 10, available now at Meyer Vogel Gallery in Charleston, SC, USA.
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| Abstract No. 10, 48" x 48", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2021 |
A new painting shown, or depicted in a digital interior environment. Tense Viridian, 36" x 48"
Sold at Blue Print Gallery, Dallas, TX
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| Tense Viridian, 36" x 48", acrylic on canvas, Andrew Portwood, 2022 |
The joy of working large, ....more abstract landscapes. :)...this one also SOLD at Meyer Vogl Gallery, Charleston, SC
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| Happy Joy, Abstract N0. 16, Sold, 48" x 48", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood, 2021 |
A recent abstract from the studio here in Nola...Exhibited and available at Meyer Vogl Gallery in
Charleston, SC......continually influenced by the music around me and my memories/flashbacks of the beach and ocean views on the gulfcoast....Happy Days :)
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| Abstract No. 15, Blue in Green, 48" x 48", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood, 2021 | |
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| Pink Sand, work in progress, 40" x 40", Andrew Portwood, 2021 |
An abstract landscape,..with beach color and abstract shapes, and pink sand...All in my mind that is....memories of the gulf coast and of course that one trip to the Bahamas - where they do have pink sand and snorkeling...which made quite an impression on me...I started this painting several weeks ago, then put it down and came back to it....I have to analyze it of course...but I realized that this is an "abstract memory postcard" from our Bahamas Trip...over 30 years ago...and that building on the right is the hotel where Howard Hughes lived at the end of his life...so the locals told us....because I remember standing knee deep in the surf and my feet sinking into that pink sand which is very fine like silt and looking up at that hotel. When I paint, I always chase this blurry/fragmented image/idea in my mind that eventually comes into focus...Then after I get to maybe a "finish", I can recognize and usually connect it to an actual event or story in my own life.....sometimes :)
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| Three Trees, 30" x 40", acrylic paint on canvas,SOLD, Andrew Portwood, 2021 |
A recently sold painting through my Chairish page...Very Thankful!: Andrew Portwood Studio/ St. Charles Apartment, Three Trees, 30" x 40", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood, 2021
So, I am really loving living now in New Orleans...I've been here 4 years...this is my 5th summer. Everything with the studio is great...staying productive and painting alot of artwork...Making paintings, painting paintings. I have to re-iterate this fact and keep on proclaiming my self because My identity is sacred to me. I have been painting and drawing since I was five years old....I am pretty sure I know who I am....55 years I have known that I was an artist...and being an "artist" translates and manifests itself into many things...depending on your vehicle of expression that you personally choose.....whether it be writing, dance, performing arts, music and visual art. I am primarily a visual artist but also a musician...self-taught...not a professional music guy, but Ive been playing guitar since highschool and was in a band and played in jams and parties in college...my friends can attest to that, and I love jazz and rock and good music and that attracted me to Nola as well...just like everybody else here....so HERE is where the conundrum begins....there is another Andrew Portwood in New Orleans that is a music guy...he is younger and has red hair....i don't know if he is real or fiction. but people are confusing our identities....I am just trying to do my thing and I'm sure he is doing the same....I have recognized him...as long as he does the same for me....don't ride my coat tails....I am sure that we can coexist and help each other out...right? So maybe I'll get to meet him, or...maybe we have already crossed paths.
Anyway...happy to announce that I have gotten on board with two new AMAZING art galleries....Myer Vogl Gallery in Charleston, SC and Blueprint Gallery in Dallas, Texas!...looking forward to showing work and establishing strong & productive relationships with both.
Sharing a new painting, Reverent Celebration,...Much to be thankful for Today :)
Click on the image ....it will take you to my online gallery..Cheers
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| Reverent Celebration, 36" x 36", acrylic paint on canvas, 2020, Andrew Portwood copyright 2021 |
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| Reverent Celebration, acrylic paint on canvas, interior shot, Andrew Portwood 2020 |
It's an abstract piece...but it kinda looks like a blue jean denim submarine...This one is available at Alkmy in Birmingham/ Mountainbrook, AL
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BlueJean Submarine 36" x 36", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2020 |
I suppose during this pandemic, it was bound to happen...more abstract, less thinking, more disconnect, less rules of picture-making. It's fun just to make visuals like making music...just play- and see what happens- just for yourself. No pressure.
Both of these paintings have Sold !!...through Blue Print Gallery, Dallas, TX
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| Beach Stuff, 36"w x 40"h, acrylic paint & collage on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2020 |
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| Walking Tall, 36" x 36", acrylic paint & collage on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2020 |
This painting is available on my Chairish Site: Andrew Portwood Studio/ St. Charles Apartment
https://www.chairish.com/shop/stcharlesapartment
This painting has Sold :)
A painting on wood panel from last year. I sometimes depict St. Joan of Arc in my work...I think I have made altogether 4 works on the subject. This is one, Flowering Fields, 24" x 24", mixed media on wood panel.
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| Flowering Fields, 2019, 24" x 24", acrylic paint & mixed media on wood panel, Andrew Portwood copyright 2019 |
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| Reception, 36" x 36", acrylic & mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2019 |
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| Shakespeare Stage, 24" x 24", acrylic paint on wood panel, Andrew Portwood 2019 |
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| Backyard Love Corral, 36" x 36", acrylic paint on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2019 |
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| Dance of Arcadia, 24" x 24", acrylic paint on wood panel, Andrew Portwood copyright 2019 |
