"Fortune Teller"  oil on canvas  by Anwar Shaikh 2012   $300.00

This is the 2nd studio painting since I started renting a place on the lake near the Howard el.  This one is called "The Fortune Teller".  This image was thought provoking for me while I painted it and interesting as subject matter.  It is a mix of Asian and Persian objects and had me thinking about China and Pakistan as allies which they are.  Also about the "Silk Road Trade Routes and the cultural exchange occurring there. It now seems to me that pre-Islam Persia is THE missing aesthetic link between East and West and that art invested in historical Persian culture can appeal best to both Western and Eastern sensibilities.  Such positive and rewarding associations are subdued in modern non-objective abstraction which appears more often concerned with technique and surface qualities.

"Night Time"

                                                    Night Time 20x20 oil on canvas 300.00.

So, this is the first still life painting done in my new studio.  The one I set up via Mark Carder's advise.  And this painting uses colors and technique newly learned via Mark.  I find that with Mark's method the paint remains thin and fine detail is possible.  The paint took weeks to dry and accumulated some dust which I did not like.  That said I have learned some new things in this method of which I am surely grateful.

Setting up the Studio

Been busy, no have not been neglecting my painting.  As the cold weather made itself apparent I began retreating back to the studio and painting still life paintings as is my habit.  I have tried something new and that is to listen to another painter regarding technique.  I am taking advise from Mark Carder regarding studio set up and many technical aspects of painting.  Mark's most impressive credential for me is that he painted a portrait of George Bush the 2nd recently.   One of the strange things he advocates is to paint the studio walls black!  This is to cut down on reflections cast onto a wet painting.... sounds reasonable and thus I have adopted the practice myself....