I'm very excited to share the artist profile that Cat Acree wrote in Nashville Arts Magazine. Check it out!

I will be in Franklin this Friday, July 1 at Gallery 202 for the  Franklin Art Scene from 6-9 PM. Please stop by and say hello if you are in the area.

The opening reception of my show at Gallery 202 was a few weeks ago. It was a great night - I got to see some old friends and made some new ones and we all had an opportunity to enjoy the arts.

I also had a chance to meet and talk to some of the collectors that have purchased my work. I feel so humbled and honored for all the people that that have made my paintings a part of their life. Thank You.

September is here and it's very exciting. The last few months I have been busy getting ready for my show as "Artist of the Month" at Gallery 202, in Franklin, TN. I will be there this Friday during the opening night at 6PM. Friday will also be the third anniversary of "Franklin Art Crawl". It should be a very fun night!

These are some of the new paintings that I will be showing there:

Please come by and say hello if you are around.
MT

Sorry for my prolonged absence here on the site. I've been busy painting! I think we've fixed the website issues for now - please let me know if anything is out of place. I decided to give the website a new "look". More to come soon....

-MT

I’ve been very busy these days preparing for a show on September 5th at Gallery 202 in Franklin, TN. I’ll be there at Gallery 202 for the opening reception. More details to follow!

This painting is one that I finished recently. The idea for this painting occurred to me last Christmas. I’m guessing this has happened to all of us, maybe more than once, that we receive a gift that we are not very excited about. We smile, say thank you, and everything seems perfect. This painting shows Popeye all by himself, considering the gift of flowers that he just received. 

Today I went for a jog while pushing Ian in his stroller. My wife is training for a 10K on the 4th of July here in Atlanta and Ian and I join her on her runs now and then. It’s difficult to go out and run when it’s so hot – it takes commitment. Lauren has taken her training seriously and runs 3 times per week.

It’s been so long since I’ve written here. Today while I was running, I promised myself that I would write more frequently. Here’s my commitment: I will write a least once every two weeks. I know that sounds easy, but taking care of Ian leaves me little free time and I try to work on my paintings every chance I get. Because of this, my blog has been pushed aside.

Today I’m starting again – I hope that writing here will help me continue to share a little bit more of my creative process and the ideas behind my paintings.

I’ll start by adding images of some paintings that I’ve completed in the past few months.

Last year we started out a bit nervous and excited; Lauren and I were about to have a baby and we knew that everything would change upon his arrival. The plan was that I would take care of the baby during the day and I thought I would have little time to dedicate to painting.

As we anticipated, Ian completely changed our lives! He has brought so much happiness and joy, but also a lot of work. It wasn’t until he was a few weeks old that I was able to return to painting a few hours each day. Luckily, Lauren was able to spend about three months home on maternity leave, taking care of Ian while I painted. Those three months passed very quickly and soon she had to (reluctantly!) return to the office.

We have a saying in Nicaragua: “En el camino se arreglan las cargas” loosely translated it means, “We’ll deal with any issues that come our way as they happen.” That’s the way it’s been around here. This year I have learned to prioritize the important things and make the most of my time at the easel. I’m learning to balance being a full time father while advancing in my career as an artist.

With a little hard work and a lot of support from friends and family, 2013 was full of success and happiness. Ian is happily and healthfully growing and Lauren and I feel so blessed to have him in our life (even though we’re always a bit tired!).

To everyone who has liked and generously added one of my paintings to their collection, many thanks! I wish you all a New Year full of many blessings and great surprises!

Cheers!
MT

When I first set up this composition, I arranged the apples, pear, cutting board and an empty wine glass that I planned to fill with a little red wine. 

Once everything was in place, however, I knew white wine would fit better with the color scheme. I picked a Chardonnay and some brie cheese to go with it.

Back in the studio, I filled up the wine glass, added the wedge of cheese, and worked a little to rearrange the composition. Once everything was in place, it was time to paint. Here it is:

If you want to see it in person, make a visit to the Lagerquist Gallery in Buckhead!
MT

Well, it's pretty obvious, I need to try harder to post more often here. It seems that there's always something that keeps me away.

I actually painted this one before the painting with foil (see previous post here) but it was bought by some friends right after I finished it and I forgot to take a photograph.

I got a chance to take this photo a few weeks ago; my friends were kind enough to lend us their pickup truck when we moved into our new home, so I grabbed a quick photo during the visit.

We are finally getting settled into our new house. We only  moved about half of a mile down the road.  The baby has now his own room and I now have a proper studio space. Cheers to that!

Ten years ago I would not have dared to paint foil, it looked too frightening, too complicated.

This is now the fourth painting of mine with foil. I wouldn't say that it has gotten easier to paint, but is always very exciting. The value (dark and light) and color changes are very subtle; you really have to slow down and look carefully before putting the brush on to the canvas. It's almost like painting in black and white...

... but not really.