#Tag · bonfire.cafe

TRUST (2016)
Acrylic - 12” x 16”

The masonite board I had been using became a painting that fits a theme begun with LEAP OF FAITH and runs through WINGING IT and other paintings. 1/3

#leftoversandpalettegremlins #personalvisions #fadedstar

A low angle, slightly tilted perspective of a jagged break in a huge wall where a figure leaps from a plank into open air. Boards randomly bridge the gap, touching the other side in places. The facade is built from mismatched segments of material colored gray, brown, and red. Tattered cloth is draped across in places for visual interest. A line of doves flutters from the lower left pointing toward the figure. In their path is a blue five-pointed star painted concrete.

Michael Whelan

@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · 7 hours ago

TRUST (2016)
Acrylic - 12” x 16”

The masonite board I had been using became a painting that fits a theme begun with LEAP OF FAITH and runs through WINGING IT and other paintings. 1/3

#leftoversandpalettegremlins #personalvisions #fadedstar

hypebot boosted

Michael Whelan

@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · 2 weeks ago

LUMEN 5.1 (1999)
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.

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/lumen-51/

#fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fadedstar #lumen

3 media

A low angled view follows the curve of concrete wall up a cavernous toroidal space. The structure at the upper edge of the curve drops off, opening the tunnel to blue sky. The contrast against pale concrete evokes the appearance of the human eye. At the lower center of the opening, a figure in a cloak holds a metal ring, which simultaneously looks like an iris while echoing the artist's sigil (the letters M and W combined inside a circle). Rebar set in concrete forms a ladder up the curving slope, further defined by its rust stained trail. Next to the ladder, a weathered five-pointed star is painted in yellow on the irregularly paneled concrete wall.

Detail from LUMEN 5.1 featuring a man holding a large metal ring as he stands in the eye-shaped opening of an upward curving tunnel.

Close detail from LUMEN 5.1 featuring curving textured wall. Rusty rebar forms a ladder up the curving slope. On the right, the paint of a yellow star chips and weathers. On the left a metal grate weeps lines of rust down the concrete.

Michael Whelan

@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · 2 weeks ago

LUMEN 5.1 (1999)
Acrylic on Canvas - 30" x 20"

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/lumen-51/

#fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fadedstar #lumen

3 media

l̸̹̍̀a̸̜͋̐͜k̴̼͗̽͆̈́ḛ̵͗̈́ͅ and 1 other boosted

Michael Whelan

@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · 2 months ago

SUBTERRANEANS (1992)
Acrylic on Canvas - 44” x 33”

Companion piece to CLIMBER and THE RED STEP, this painting is firmly set within my Faded Star series.

My original conception of the image didn’t seem right somehow, and I had been wondering how I could improve on it. 1/4

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #fadedstar

In a worm's eye view up a massive stepped wall, a solitary figure crouches on the bottom tier looking up, awed by a view of concrete climbing as far as he can see. The facade shows intricate patterns, like many derelict building merged together. A trapezoid of filtered light stretches along the side wall hinting at a way out somewhere off panel. The muted tones, just gray and rust with a slight hint of blue, combine with dusty quality to give the painting an oppressive atmosphere.

Michael Whelan

@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · 2 months ago

SUBTERRANEANS (1992)
Acrylic on Canvas - 44” x 33”

Companion piece to CLIMBER and THE RED STEP, this painting is firmly set within my Faded Star series.

My original conception of the image didn’t seem right somehow, and I had been wondering how I could improve on it. 1/4

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #fadedstar

Michael Whelan

@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · 4 months ago

CHASM (2000)
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." 1/2

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #fadedstar

A woman with tentative footing stands in a tetrahedral crevice cut into the face of an enormous stone wall. With no good handhold, she extends to glance out at a track of rust stains in the textured concrete. Well out of arm's reach, the vertical lines run parallel, marked with empty pairs of holes and the occasion—often broken—rung made of bent rebar. A similar pattern, evidence of a ladder that used to run up the wall, extends down from where she stands, but from her vantage she doesn't see it. She wears a white shawl-like shift trimmed in blue that hangs to knee length on the front and down to her heels in the back. Cut in a triangular pattern, it is an obvious inversion of the nook she inhabits.

Matthijs De Smedt boosted

Michael Whelan

@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · 4 months ago

PENDULUM (1999)
Acrylic on Panel - 11" x 9"

At times the light of knowledge seems to only illuminate the negative side of our existence and becomes a burden to the spirit. He is considering letting it go—"ignorance is bliss"—as he makes his difficult journey towards the light of the sky far, far above.

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/leap-of-faith/

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #fadedstar

3 media

A man stands on an outcrop of rebar in the space between two massive stone walls. In one hand he struggles with a lamp hanging on a long heavy chain while his other grips a rusted piece of metal anchored to the stone facade. Up high and barely visible is a thin line of hazy daylight that he can't see because he's looking down.

Detail from PENDULUM featuring a man standing on a narrow outcrop of rebar. A lantern dangles low on a chain as he grabs another outcrop of rebar to steady himself as the lantern swings like a pendulum.

Figure detail from PENDULUM featuring a man precariously balanced on metal jutting from the side of a stone wall as he looks down. Light illuminates him along his left side as he reaches out and up to steady himself on a shorter length of rebar protruding from the wall. A chain wraps his other arm extended. The length of chain falls taut with the weight of a lantern hanging low like a pendulum.

Michael Whelan

@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · 4 months ago

PENDULUM (1999)
Acrylic on Panel - 11" x 9"

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/leap-of-faith/

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #fadedstar

3 media