The Light Within

I'm Moving . . .

2007-05-25T17:44:00.000-05:00

I've set up a MySpace page to promote my online gallery and blog in one location.
MySpace comes with a built-in audience which seems to be much larger and more accessible
than Blogger.

You can find me here: http://www.myspace.com/corbinchoate

And if you have a MySpace page, don't hesitate to send me a friend request.

- The Light Within . . .

2007-04-27T16:47:00.000-05:00

Joseph Christian Leyendecker, J.C. to his friends. J.C. Leyendecker was THE most successful, accomplished, famous artist of his day. He was beyond famous actually. When Norman Rockwell was a boy, he used to go to the train station in New Rochelle just to watch J.C. arrive from New York City, get off the train with his entourage and step into a waiting chauffeured limousin. Leyendecker was a celebrity on the level of the Beatles before they existed and his work defined American life by capturing the essence, the innocence which existed in the country in the years between 1900 and World War II. His work appeared as illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s Magazine, The American Weekly, Success Magazine and others, as well as magazine ads for companies such as Kelloggs, Kuppenheimer’s Clothiers and Arrow Collars (the character he created for Arrow Collars was based on one of the male models he frequently used. The Arrow Collar man became so famous and popular with the ladies that the company actually received fan mail wanting to know who he was, what was his name, where did he live . . . and he was even more famous than Rudolph Valentino) The covers of these magazines provided the perfect medium for reproducing his work in all its splendor. At the peak of his career he was the most famous Post artist they had ever had. He turned the Post covers into mini-posters, incorporating all of the elements of the cover into each piece.

Artistically speaking, Leyendecker was an incredible genius whose work is instantly recognizeable even today. He was the king of America’s “Golden Age” of illustration and through his work he virtually invented the look of the modern magazine cover as a purely attention grabbing device. Leyendecker’s work contains elements of both Art Nouveau and Art Deco, and it is dynamic, graceful, elegant and sophisticated. His unique style of painting captured the attention of the public as nothing before had, and only a handful since have.

J.C.’s work was about the endless pursuit of perfection. He developed his own system of creating an image based on the working methods of the great masters. He began with a series of thumbnail sketches, and from there he would work up a series of larger rough paintings. These were used to determine how to best proceed with the actual finished painting. When he applied his colors, he would let areas of blank, raw canvas show through. These were often areas which would be included as part of a highlight or the white background. J.C. was very secretive about how he worked and very little was known about how he achieved such luminous finished surfaces until his brother, Frank, shared the paint recipe with Norman Rockwell after swearing him to absolute secrecy. The colors were composed of Turpentine, stand oil and linseed oil, mixed fresh each morning in specific proportion. The colors were very thin, “slippery” if you will. When these colors were applied to the canvas they showed no sign whatsoever of having been applied by a brush. This resulted in a finished painting composed of precisely arranged areas of light and color. Every stroke was applied perfectly . . .once. J.C.’s brush control and mastery of his talents are legendary still today.

Leyendecker’s finished canvases were masterpieces of technique, color and magic. He influenced America at a time when we were just beginning to discover who we were as a nation. His work has influenced me to my very core and I am extremely grateful. I enjoy looking at his work over and over.

J.C. Leyendecker lived a quiet personal life that included a circle of very few friends. I wish I had been there. For all of his fame a fortune, for all of the love and admiration he received from his adoring public, he died alone in his home by the sea, in New Rochelle, New York. I feel him with me every day.

- The Light Within . . .

A Time to Grow . . .

2007-04-23T16:15:00.000-05:00

As I write this I find myself at a crossroad, artistically speaking. All of my images up to now have been done using the hard-edge, flat technique I have perfected over the past twenty years. I have something different in mind which has been brewing inside me for several years. The subject matter, colors, and stylization will still be there, but the application of the paint will be different...painterly. My 40th birthday is in eight days. Time is passing...it's time to grow.

The subject of just how short our lives really are has been on my mind a lot lately. We’re just here for the blink of an eye and then we’re gone. It’s what you do in between that counts.

What seems like an eternity when you’re young and self-centered becomes more and more precious as you get older. As years go by and time picks up speed, you experience what is commonly known as “The Quickening”. This is when your life passes in blocks of five or ten years before you wake up and say “Where did those years go?” Pretty soon you reach a point where you begin to realize “Half of my life might be over” and you take stock of your priorities, your interests, your dreams. You keep the things that can help you move forward and discard those which hold you back. Time is the one thing we can never have enough of, that thing for which kings will give up a kingdom, yet we waste it anyways because there will always be more tomorrow.

Each person’s life is like a string of time. It is finite in length, with a beginning and an end. Imagine where you are right now as a single point in your time. Where are you on your string of time? What are you doing with what you’ve been given? How are you living your life? When all is said and done, what will your history be? Did you realize the light within and share it with the world? Did you inspire anyone to live differently or reach for their dreams? Did you strive to reach upward and live vertically, aspiring to higher levels of consciousness and awareness? Did you come to know God? I’m thankful that I don’t know exactly where I am along my string of time. I only know that I try to make the most of what I have and inspire others to realize and do the same. History has proven it only takes one person to change the world.

One Cosmos says:

The time allotted to us is analogous to the shutter of a camera; it opens with our birth, allowing in the small amount of light we must work with before it closes and the universe vanishes. With that light we must enter our “dark room” and develop our conception of existence--what we are, why we are here, and what is our relationship to the whole. There are pneumagraphs laying around that others have left behind--scripture, books, images and institutions. Some of them were successful in capturing the Light, others only darkness visible.

There is so little time, but time is literally all we have: we must work while it is day, for the night cometh, when no man can work. Saying you have no time is logically equivalent to saying that you have no life, light or freedom. If you are not free, then your time really is nothing more than duration. And if you have no light, you are free in the illusory way that an animal is--free to be led horizontally by your instincts and learned behaviors.

Time. Freedom. Light. If you don’t have one, you really don’t have the others either. Your life is history.

Live your life . . .Make A Difference . . .

- The Light Within . . .

Archangel Gabriel . . .

2007-04-12T14:45:00.000-05:00

Gabriel is my guardian angel. He is my saint. I am Catholic.

Gabriel is of significance in each of the world's three major religions.

He is one of seven Archangels, and one of three mentioned by name in the Bible. It was Gabriel who appeared to the prophet Daniel to explain his visions regarding the Messiah...and it was Gabriel who had the most significant of all angelic appearances...appearing before Mary and announcing the birth of the Saviour. His name means "Man of God, God is my strength" and he is the patron saint of communication workers.

Gabriel came to me when my art was at a turning point 12 years ago. I was sitting at my art table, experiencing a severe creative block which had been going on for a couple of months, when I received a phone call in which I learned about the death of a life-long friend. After hanging up the phone, I returned to my art table and sat there in a state of shock. Since it was a Sunday, I naturally had the newspaper in a pile on the floor beside my table. I reached down and picked up whatever happened to be on top in an attempt to take my mind off of the just received news.......and there was Gabriel on the front page of the travel section. He was in sculpture form, of course. It was a story on traveling to Italy. The sculpture of him lives at the Vatican, holding up a large bath of Holy Water.

My friend's name was Keith Ebanks. He was Catholic before I ever knew what it meant. I think of him often and sometimes I feel him nearby, and I will be forever grateful for the sense of wonder and curiosity his Catholic faith instilled in me.

Angels exist as beings of pure line and color, pure energy, and they are quite real indeed, I assure you.

The angels are ALL around us.

- The Light Within . . .

Archangel Michael II . . .

2007-04-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

This is the Archangel Michael.

The actual title of this painting is “Emergence”, but over the past three years since its completion, Michael kept coming back to me over and over . . .and over. I wasn’t sure which angel this was when the painting was finished, so I used the title Emergence due to the fact that it seems to be emerging directly in front of you . . .also because it represents a landmark in the deepening of my style. With this painting I was led to a place of deeper knowledge and understanding of the abstract qualities in my work. There is line and color, and nothing else. It also represents a step towards understand something, the event, which led to the vision of my style 15 years ago.

This image is quite powerful, almost confrontational at times. It came to me during an extremely tumultuous and stressful time in my life. St. Michael is the warrior angel and protector of souls. He is revered in each of the world’s three major religions. He was created before Gabriel . . .he is the angel of mercy. His name means “Who is like God?”

One of my artistic heroes is the Italian Rococo sculptor Antonio Canova. This painting is based on one of his sculptures which lives in the Hermitage Museum, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Canova’s work was nothing short of absolute perfection. The lines, the shapes and forms are so pure, its as though they existed before the sculpture was ever conceived.

- The Light Within . . .

Gallery Additions . . .

2007-04-03T12:40:00.000-05:00

If you haven't been to the gallery within the last week, stop by and sign the guestbook. Just look for "Sign the Gusetbook" on the gallery's homepage. Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think of the angels, and let everyone know where you live. The Choate Gallery receives visitors from literally every corner of the world.

Here are some of the countries from which the Choate Gallery has received visitors since the beginning of April.

Singapore
United States
United Kingdom
Netherlands
Turkey
South Korea
Poland
Canada
Germany
Yugoslavia
France
Australia
Romania
Croatia
Portugal
Russia
Slovak Republic
Israel
UAE
Angola
Greece
Argentina
Japan
Austria

I appreciate the time everyone takes to visit the gallery. Please don't hesitate to sign the guestbook or send me an e-mail and let me know what you think. Finally, I'll be adding a forum to the website in a week or two so you can all have a place to get together and share your thoughts about the angels.

- The Light Within

Another Step Forward . . .

2007-03-11T17:57:00.000-05:00

My charitable foundation project has taken another step forward. I have started accepting donations in order to fund the next step in the process.

I'm raising funds to purchase software upgrades in order to build the foundation's new website, as well as to purchase web-hosting space and services. Please make a micro-donation of at least $5, $10, or $25. Since the IRS has not yet granted me tax-exempt status these donations will not be tax-deductible.

You can read about the foundation's purpose here, here and here.

Please donate using the "Chip In" button below or the donation button on my website. Thank you.

- The Light Within

It's About Giving . . .

2007-03-01T12:16:00.000-06:00

If you remember my earlier post “Hope & Light” you’ll recall my mentioning a charitable foundation, whose purpose will be to help families who have children with cancer. The time has come to get started.

I am currently in the beginning stages of getting the organization set up. Then I’ll establish an internet presence and begin. This foundation will be closely associated with the Choate Gallery, and sales from my prints will provide some of the funding. Once things get up and running I plan on auctioning off an occaisional canvas or two for the charity.

For now please check out these two websites:

http://www.networkforgood.org/ and http://www.sixdegrees.org/

They’re both great.

I’m also in the middle of creating a line of high-end licensed products using my paintings, such as calendars, bookmarks, book plates, etc. More on that soon.

- The Light Within . . .

In The Beginning . . .

2007-02-21T14:17:00.000-06:00

Please allow me this space to explain, as fully as possible, exactly what these angels represent and why they appear the way they do.

The angels serve a bridge between God and man. They protect us…they inspire us…they are God’s messengers for the benefit of ALL mankind. We all have a guardian angel looking out for us, guiding us to fulfill our purpose in this life. God has a purpose for your life.

The white space represents purity, infinity, and the profound whiteness of pure… universal… white… light. The kind of light which can only emanate directly from God.

Angels are beings of light and spirit. In my images they are composed of line and color. The lines represent the surrounding energy and the colors are always clean and pure. I do mix quite a few of the colors I use, by hand, but the end result must always be perfect.

The roots of my style are based primarily in two distinct areas of art history. My drawings, which are done in line only, are deeply influenced by the sculptures of Michelangelo and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Their influence on art history can only be described as “touched by the hand of God”. The purity and perfection of line and form in their sculptures is always the standard I set for myself. Nothing less will do. The finished paintings are deeply influenced by the French Rococo period of art history. Eighteenth century classical French painting is among the most beautiful in existence. This is especially true if you’ve ever had the privilege of experiencing a painting from this era in person. From the Rococo period, I have taken simplicity, purity of line and form, curvilinear rhythms, and classical subject matter and made them my own. Finally, I have taken the bold stylization from Art Deco…incorporating all of these into a style that is as unique as it is beautiful.

Each image begins as a full size drawing. Once the edges of the image have been defined, I use nothing but graceful, elegant lines to shape the space within in the purest manner possible. When the drawing is complete it is transferred to the canvas and everything is covered with white. Each color goes on in layers…water-thin layers which are built up and up (sometimes twenty or thirty layers) until the shapes become opaque. This technique causes light to become trapped between the layers and makes the colors luminous. In addition, there are certain colors which, when placed next to one another, will cause your eyes to see vibrations exactly on the line where they meet. Finally, the lines are painted in layers as well. They end up actually being sculpted by the repetition caused by the process of layering.

The process involved in capturing one of the angels on canvas is extremely time consuming but well worth it. Nothing is finished until the angel says it is.

One of the representatives at the Montserrat Gallery in New York mentioned that she sees something…a light coming from within…that captures her attention when she least expects it.

- The Light Within . . .

Gabriel III . . .

2007-02-16T22:58:00.000-06:00

The Archangel Gabriel is a theme upon which much of my work is based, and he will make many appearances on canvas before I leave this world. This painting was completed during a time of great personal stress and anxiety. It is titled “Gabriel III” and is Gabriel’s third appearance. He always appears when I need him most . . . when I’m not sure which direction to go with my life and when I don’t know who to turn to. There have been several times in my life when I was forced to choose between painting and supporting my family. Being forced to give up something you love so dearly, something that is a part of you, is painful . . . . . . . however, something tells me that these paintings, these images were meant to be. Each time circumstances forced me to give up my art, to let it go, it always came back stronger . . . more focused and more real.

In this painting, Gabriel is reaching out to you, the viewer. He reaches out of the picture plane, to touch you, to heal and comfort you. The halo behind his head if full of golden light which envelopes nearly all of his being.

In my earlier post, In The Beginning, I shared with you my process of building the colors up in layers. This allows light to become trapped between a color’s layers . . . creating a strong and luminous appearance. This is the light within. It is also how I painted Gabriel’s red robe. I first laid down enough pure magenta to become opaque, about a dozen layers. Then I added layer upon layer of red, allowing for drying time in between. Each color is applied in this manner, but the jewel tones (reds, blues, greens and purples) usually require an opaque underpainting.

The lines in this painting are full of energy. They have an electricity about them which appears immediately. In some places the lines are actually sculpted in layers. In other places the lines are exactly as they appear . . . laid down in a single stroke, even some of the longer ones. Those are the best ones. The brush does it’s thing and I sit back and watch.

I have had to come to terms with this painting. For the first two years after it’s completion I did not think it was up to my standards. But the more I see it I realize that it is. Perhaps it was ME who was not living up to my standards at the time, rather than the image. It can take weeks to finish an image. Half of this one was completed in a single thirteen-hour marathon session. By the time I was done I was mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. I was driven to do it.

This painting, Gabriel III, was displayed at the Montserrat Gallery, in New York, from September 2004 thru May 2006.

- The Light Within . . .

Print For Sale . . .

2007-02-13T15:10:00.000-06:00

Affordable Inspiration.

Click here to visit my online store.

Title: Archangel Gabriel
Print Type: Giclee on Canvas
Dimensions: 17 7/16" W x 22 7/16" H
Edition Size: Open

- The Light Within . . .

Follow Your Dreams . . .

2007-02-09T13:12:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid I used to have this recurring dream where I was always struggling to wake up, to become completely conscious. I couldn’t wake up completely, at least not enough to do whatever it was I had to do in the dream. There would always be things happening right in front of me that I wanted or needed to do . . .join my friends, tie my shoes, get on the school bus. Then there was always the big one . . .answer the phone or remember phone numbers. I was always afraid that I was going to miss out on something really important. Eventually, as the creativity inside of me began to really evolve and take control of my life, the dream faded. Finally, when I began painting angels the dream went away completely.

Too many people in this world sleepwalk through their lives, going through the daily motions on autopilot completely unaware that their life is passing before their eyes and they are missing it. They don’t know what their dreams are, or if they even have any. They fail to see the surrounding signs, the beauty of God’s world and the universe he created for us. They never see the gifts all around them, the people they meet who drop little clues as to where to go next or what to do . . . people who come up to you out of the blue and share something with you. The people you don’t expect are the angels and they have something meant just for you. There are no coincidences in this world.

As an artist, I am poignantly aware that time is passing before my eyes. It gets worse as you watch your child grow and become their own person. Time flies. I am constantly reminded of the struggle to follow my dreams . . . to live my life as consciously aware of everything in my human experience as possible. There are successes and triumphs, there are failures and setbacks, there is joy and sorrow and sometimes pain. But it’s through living in this state of awareness that I’m able to see the big picture, to share and enjoy the gifts I’ve been given.

Wake up and realize that your life is passing before your eyes and make the most of it. Do something to make people’s lives better . . . something to enrich their experience. Always be aware of where you are in your life and what you’re doing.

Never be afraid to follow your dreams.

- The Light Within . . .

Time . . .

2007-01-31T22:35:00.000-06:00

There is a line from a song on side one of the greatest album of all time which changed my life in an instant one day. It sank in and woke up something inside of me..."...and then one day you find, ten years have got behind you...No one told you when to run...you missed the starting gun...". That's from Time, on side one of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon".

The subject of just how short our lives really are has been on my mind a lot lately. We’re just here for the blink of an eye and then we’re gone. It’s what you do in between that counts.

What seems like an eternity when you’re young and self-centered becomes more and more precious as you get older. As years go by and time picks up speed, you experience what is commonly known as “The Quickening”. This is when your life passes in blocks of five or ten years before you wake up and say “Where did those years go?” Pretty soon you reach a point where you begin to realize “Half of my life might be over” and you take stock of your priorities, your interests, your dreams. You keep the things that can help you move forward and discard those which hold you back. Time is the one thing we can never have enough of, that thing for which kings will give up a kingdom, yet we waste it anyways because there will always be more tomorrow.

Each person’s life is like a string of time. It is finite in length, with a beginning and an end. Imagine where you are right now as a single point in your time. Where are you on your string of time? What are you doing with what you’ve been given? How are you living your life? When all is said and done, what will your history be? Did you realize the light within and share it with the world? Did you inspire anyone to live differently or reach for their dreams? Did you strive to reach upward and live vertically, aspiring to higher levels of consciousness and awareness? Did you come to know God? I’m thankful that I don’t know exactly where I am along my string of time. I only know that I try to make the most of what I have and inspire others to realize and do the same. History has proven it only takes one person to change the world.

One Cosmos says:

The time allotted to us is analogous to the shutter of a camera; it opens with our birth, allowing in the small amount of light we must work with before it closes and the universe vanishes. With that light we must enter our “dark room” and develop our conception of existence--what we are, why we are here, and what is our relationship to the whole. There are pneumagraphs laying around that others have left behind--scripture, books, images and institutions. Some of them were successful in capturing the Light, others only darkness visible.

There is so little time, but time is literally all we have: we must work while it is day, for the night cometh, when no man can work. Saying you have no time is logically equivalent to saying that you have no life, light or freedom. If you are not free, then your time really is nothing more than duration. And if you have no light, you are free in the illusory way that an animal is--free to be led horizontally by your instincts and learned behaviors.

Time. Freedom. Light. If you don’t have one, you really don’t have the others either. Your life is history.

Live your life . . .Make A Difference . . .

- The Light Within . . .

Influences - J.C. Leyendecker

2007-01-27T10:52:00.000-06:00

I intend to post this from time to time. J.C.'s work is so extremely influential to my approach and work that I owe it to him.

Joseph Christian Leyendecker, J.C. to his friends. J.C. Leyendecker was THE most successful, accomplished, famous artist of his day. He was beyond famous actually. When Norman Rockwell was a boy, he used to go to the train station in New Rochelle just to watch J.C. arrive from New York City, get off the train with his entourage and step into a waiting chauffeured limousin. Leyendecker was a celebrity on the level of the Beatles before they existed and his work defined American life by capturing the essence, the innocence which existed in the country in the years between 1900 and World War II. His work appeared as illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s Magazine, The American Weekly, Success Magazine and others, as well as magazine ads for companies such as Kelloggs, Kuppenheimer’s Clothiers and Arrow Collars (the character he created for Arrow Collars was based on one of the male models he frequently used. The Arrow Collar man became so famous and popular with the ladies that the company actually received fan mail wanting to know who he was, what was his name, where did he live . . . and he was even more famous than Rudolph Valentino) The covers of these magazines provided the perfect medium for reproducing his work in all its splendor. At the peak of his career he was the most famous Post artist they had ever had. He turned the Post covers into mini-posters, incorporating all of the elements of the cover into each piece.

Artistically speaking, Leyendecker was an incredible genius whose work is instantly recognizeable even today. He was the king of America’s “Golden Age” of illustration and through his work he virtually invented the look of the modern magazine cover as a purely attention grabbing device. Leyendecker’s work contains elements of both Art Nouveau and Art Deco, and it is dynamic, graceful, elegant and sophisticated. His unique style of painting captured the attention of the public as nothing before had, and only a handful since have.

J.C.’s work was about the endless pursuit of perfection. He developed his own system of creating an image based on the working methods of the great masters. He began with a series of thumbnail sketches, and from there he would work up a series of larger rough paintings. These were used to determine how to best proceed with the actual finished painting. When he applied his colors, he would let areas of blank, raw canvas show through. These were often areas which would be included as part of a highlight or the white background. J.C. was very secretive about how he worked and very little was known about how he achieved such luminous finished surfaces until his brother, Frank, shared the paint recipe with Norman Rockwell after swearing him to absolute secrecy. The colors were composed of Turpentine, stand oil and linseed oil, mixed fresh each morning in specific proportion. The colors were very thin, “slippery” if you will. When these colors were applied to the canvas they showed no sign whatsoever of having been applied by a brush. This resulted in a finished painting composed of precisely arranged areas of light and color. Every stroke was applied perfectly . . .once. J.C.’s brush control and mastery of his talents are legendary still today.

Leyendecker’s finished canvases were masterpieces of technique, color and magic. He influenced America at a time when we were just beginning to discover who we were as a nation. His work has influenced me to my very core and I am extremely grateful. I enjoy looking at his work over and over.

J.C. Leyendecker lived a quiet personal life that included a circle of very few friends. I wish I had been there. For all of his fame a fortune, for all of the love and admiration he received from his adoring public, he died alone in his home by the sea, in New Rochelle, New York. I feel him with me every day.

- The Light Within . . .

Exercise in Line & Light III . . .

2007-01-11T10:30:00.000-06:00

If you haven't already done so, please take the time to become familiar with the Art Renewal Center. It is an online museum, which is dedicated to the restoration of truth and beauty in contemporary art, and the revival of long lost standards of draftsmanship and excellence. It is a worthwhile visit indeed, and I truly hope that my work will someday be included in their collection.

It all begins with the basics. Draftsmanship. It's ALL about the drawing in the early stages. This is where you work out problems in symmetry, proportion, and perspective. It's where you decide areas of light and shadow. It's where you get to know your subject . . .let it in . . .so it can be expressed. The drawing is where you create the underlying structure for the painting. It's where you define your space. Structure and space are fundamental. The drawing is where I decide line thickness to show weight and volume. The drawing I ‘m presenting to you tonight was extremely difficult. It is a study of an angel which lives in the Hermitage Museum, in St. Petersburg, Russia. I tried to reduce everything to line, while showing you the volume and mass. The lines have an energy which leads your eyes along their lengths. This drawing will probably make it onto canvas someday. Until then it remains an exercise in line . . .and light.

My favorite draftsmen are Michelangelo, William Bouguereau and Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres. If you look at their drawings, the first thing you'll notice is the quality of their lines. They are at once expressive, beautiful, subtle yet bold, forceful and inviting . . .so few lines, so much life.

Michelangelo's drawings are instantly identifiable. At first glance they appear quickly done. But upon further study, you will notice a sublime beauty that reveals itself like a flower, opening layer after layer . . .telling secrets. Each drawing is just a few lines, weight here, volume there . . .the thoughts inside. Michelangelo's drawings are studies in the psychology of his subjects, their souls, as much as they are about their image.

William Bouguereau had the rare ability to work from memory as well as he could work from life. He believed in absolute perfection of the finished image, and thus would create numerous drawings, mastering the history of his subjects. He made a deliberate, careful study of form and technique, and saturated himself in knowledge of classical sculpture.

Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres was a master of line. In his time, he created an unrivalled and highly detailed record of the female image, primarily through portraiture. Ingres could, using nothing but line, make you experience the sensation of touching the fabric on his subjects. He was obsessed with perfection and mastery of form. He was an idealist in pursuit of "high art", combining the purity of draftsmanship with a love of classical historic painting.

The Light Within . . .

A Christmas Poem . . .

2006-12-24T10:43:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas . . .

Forever Dusk

A setting sun,
her colors bold,
cast light and dark
reflections cold
upon the early winter sky . . .

The evening dimmed,
this Holy eve,
called my witness
I believe,
to eternity before my very eyes . . .

As darkness fell
but never quite,
my soul was greeted
by the sight
of crescent blue
and silent misty veil . . .

- The Light Within . . .

Cathedral . . .

2006-12-21T22:02:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while God pulls back the curtain to give you a peak of what's on the other side. A vision of true beauty whereby you become witness to the suspension of time itself.

It is during these moments, when the sky is abalze with layers of bright golden orange and magenta . . . purples and blues . . . I am convinced that God uses sunsets to draw us to Him.
He uses them to hold our attention and slow us down long enough appreciate the majesty and beauty of the catherdals he builds for us . . . using only the sky.

Cathedral

The evening sky begins to slow,
Heaven’s own transcendant show
intensely burning colors glow
ethereal silver light...

Brilliant blue, orange, gold,
a painter’s vision to behold,

this lonely fire the sun does hold,

receding to quiet darkness...

- The Light Within . . .

For Art Lovers . . .

2006-12-14T12:17:00.000-06:00

A perfect Christmas gift for the art lover in your life.

Click here to visit my online store.

Title: Archangel Gabriel
Print Type: Giclee on Canvas
Dimensions: 17 7/16" W x 22 7/16" H
Edition Size: Open

- The Light Within . . .

Decide to Make A Difference . . .

2006-12-08T10:59:00.000-06:00

A few years ago we sponsored a child through the Christian’s Children’s Fund. It was a pretty rewarding experience in that we knew the money we were providing actually went to that child and her family. She would send us letters and drawings and pictures she colored, and keep us up-to-date on how she was progressing and growing. I still have a picture of her , her sister and grandmother on my refrigerator and I think of her often. The money went towards providing everything from medical care to school books, shoes, clothes, and anything else she needed as she continued on her journey. A little money goes a long way.

Last week I made the decision to sponsor another child and did just that. This time I was able to browse through a database of children and actually see a small picture of each one. Each picture was accompanied by a brief description of the child’s situation and needs, where they lived, how the family made a living (or didn’t), etc. I browsed through the pictures until my heart told me to stop on a picture of a little girl from Honduras. She is seven years old and, as I found out later, has the same birthday as me. What are those odds? So I decided to sponsor her.

If you haven’t thought about it before, look into sponsoring a child through the Christian’s Children Fund. The process couldn’t be made any easier and the rewards last a lifetime. The cost is nothing.

http://www.christianchildrensfund.org/

Decide to make a difference.

- The Light Within.

Burning Twilight . . .

2006-12-02T15:29:00.000-06:00

The week after Thanksgiving provides some of the most beautiful and intense sunsets of the year. Dusk seems eternal as as it struggles to remain, before it finally withdraws into the night of deep Autumn. This time of year inspires my poetry like no other . . . here is one.

Burning Twilight . . .

Fiery canvas
set ablaze
by nature’s own
mysterious ways,
defiant sun
with all it’s might
denies the falling
of the night . . .
Visceral silence
absent time
my soul is witness
true sublime . . .
. . .beauty . . .

Vatican Inspirations . . .

2006-11-29T15:29:00.000-06:00

Gian Lorenzo Bernini…his name conjures visions of Rome, the Vatican and the incredible sculptures, architecture and artwork contained therein. He was, and still is, the most widely recognized star to shine throughout the seventeenth century… not to mention the most prolific and accomplished representation of seventeenth century Catholicism. He is responsible for giving Rome its baroque character.

Inside the Vatican you will find a sculpture titled “Habakkuk and the Angel”…this is the angel. The angel is smiling persuasively at Habakkuk…seizing him by the hair with his left hand, and pointing to where he wants to remove him with his right.

I deliberately focused on the angel’s face in order to capture his expression, the smile, while he stares directly into Habakkuk’s eyes. The secondary area of focus is the robe, which is wrapped around the angel’s left forearm. The layers of folded and wrapped cloth force your attention to hold just long enough to accentuate the sweeping reach of his left arm in the direction of his gaze.

The sharp contrast of light and shadow in the angel’s hair is repeated down the front of his body and under his left arm. This only adds to the power of the image.

This painting, entitled “Baroque” is acrylic on canvas, 40w by 30h inches. It has been exhibited at the Austin Diocesan Fine Arts Council winter exhibition in January 2006. The exhibition was held for the 2006 Southwest Liturgical Conference, held at St. Margaret Mary Parish, Cedar Park, Texas.

Gratitude . . .

2006-11-23T13:05:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving.

Remember to give thanks to God for everything and everyone in your life.

- The Light Within . . .

In The Beginning . . .

2006-11-21T12:46:00.000-06:00

Endless Leaves . . .

2006-11-10T19:47:00.000-06:00

This one was born of frustration.

There are times when I am paid a visit by a phrase, or a sound, or a sentence . . . something that reveals itself slowly, and always when I least expect it. It's as though something unseen walks right up behind me and whispers only what it wants me to have. I was standing outside one cool November afternoon, treading my way through piles and piles of leaves, while thinking about my art, where I was going in my life . . . thinking about my dreams. The leaves were enjoying themselves riding whirlwinds around and around and around while making that crunchy sound that only leaves of late November can . . .when everything suddenly stopped, and it was silent, and I could see.

Endless Leaves

The season's change
called out to me
before it settled
in the trees
and scattered light
upon my dreams
like endless piles
of endless leaves
I try to gather
from the breeze,
collecting colors
no one sees . . .

endless leaves fall
through my hands
my hopes my dreams
I take my stand
through darkened forest,
weathered trees,
to find the path
through endless leaves,
the path my heart does see . . .

there's something about
the light today . . .
the endless leaves
have blown away
revealing colors
here to stay,
leaving whispers on the breeze . . .

I await the colors of my dreams . . .

- The Light Within . . .

Awareness . . .

2006-11-01T17:41:00.000-06:00

Do you ever find yourself completely caught up in the moment of something, so much so that everything else recedes into the background or disappears completely…if only for a short while? That short while seems to last forever doesn’t it.

That’s a magical place indeed. One exercise I do each year is to try and remain completely aware of the beautiful Fall season as it passes by. Until late September I was looking forward to the beginning of Autumn, Indian Summer, realizing that the time of its arrival was drawing nearer with each passing day. As September turned into October the season’s light began to change…getting sharper and more focused. It became golden. Now that October has given way to November, the time has changed and we have the beautiful early evenings. Autumn has given way to Fall, cooler temperatures, misty-grey skies and the season of Thanksgiving. In a week or two the trees will begin to reveal their true colors, and their leaves will blanket the ground…preparing for the coming cold and their winter’s sleep. There is something magical about the silhouette of bare trees against the darkening evening sky of Fall. Soon, November will give way to December and the Christmas season, cold temperatures, Yuletide decorations and “the darkest evening of the year”. It’s been quite a fulfilling experience so far to watch nature reveal herself and time and life happen before my watching eyes. I’m looking forward to all of it. All it requires is an awareness of life around you.

Don’t let a day of your life go by without trying to be fully aware of friends and family, gifts from God…aware of your experience in this world. Make a conscious effort to live fully and completely.

- The Light Within . . .

Archangel Gabriel Print Now Available . . .

2006-10-24T12:14:00.000-05:00

Click to Bid . . .

Title: Archangel Gabriel
Print Type: Giclee on Canvas
Dimensions: 17 7/16" W x 22 7/16" H
Edition Size: Open

The New Gallery Opens Its Doors . . .

2006-10-24T10:55:00.000-05:00

So I’ve been blogging lightly for a while. I’ve been busy.

If you’ve visited my website before, upon your return you’ll notice things have changed. It’s been expanded, enhanced, improved upon…it just looks and feels better.

Now it is the Official Corbin Hollis Choate Gallery. A place where you will be able to view everything that’s for sale and purchase online. The gallery will grow over time and I expect the store section to be the main focus. This new site has been a long time coming and I am pleased with it. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Visit the gallery anytime: www.corbinchoate.com

- The Light Within . . .

Archangel Michael . . .

2006-10-18T12:37:00.000-05:00

Time . . .

2006-10-16T11:08:00.000-05:00

The subject of just how short our lives really are has been on my mind a lot lately. We’re just here for the blink of an eye and then we’re gone. It’s what you do in between that counts.

What seems like an eternity when you’re young and self-centered becomes more and more precious as you get older. As years go by and time picks up speed, you experience what is commonly known as “The Quickening”. This is when your life passes in blocks of five or ten years before you wake up and say “Where did those years go?” Pretty soon you reach a point where you begin to realize “Half of my life might be over” and you take stock of your priorities, your interests, your dreams. You keep the things that can help you move forward and discard those which hold you back. Time is the one thing we can never have enough of, that thing for which kings will give up a kingdom, yet we waste it anyways because there will always be more tomorrow.

Each person’s life is like a string of time. It is finite in length, with a beginning and an end. Imagine where you are right now as a single point in your time. Where are you on your string of time? What are you doing with what you’ve been given? How are you living your life? When all is said and done, what will your history be? Did you realize the light within and share it with the world? Did you inspire anyone to live differently or reach for their dreams? Did you strive to reach upward and live vertically, aspiring to higher levels of consciousness and awareness? Did you come to know God? I’m thankful that I don’t know exactly where I am along my string of time. I only know that I try to make the most of what I have and inspire others to realize and do the same. History has proven it only takes one person to change the world.

One Cosmos says:

The time allotted to us is analogous to the shutter of a camera; it opens with our birth, allowing in the small amount of light we must work with before it closes and the universe vanishes. With that light we must enter our “dark room” and develop our conception of existence--what we are, why we are here, and what is our relationship to the whole. There are pneumagraphs laying around that others have left behind--scripture, books, images and institutions. Some of them were successful in capturing the Light, others only darkness visible.

There is so little time, but time is literally all we have: we must work while it is day, for the night cometh, when no man can work. Saying you have no time is logically equivalent to saying that you have no life, light or freedom. If you are not free, then your time really is nothing more than duration. And if you have no light, you are free in the illusory way that an animal is--free to be led horizontally by your instincts and learned behaviors.

Time. Freedom. Light. If you don’t have one, you really don’t have the others either. Your life is history.

Read the rest at One Cosmos.

Live your life . . .Make A Difference . . .

- The Light Within . . .

Autumn Afternoon . . .

2006-09-30T10:46:00.000-05:00

Autumn has arrived. It is a time of change, a time for reflection, and the most beautiful of all the seasons.

For me, it marks the passing of another year of my life. People come and go and children grow and change is all around.
Have you ever come across an old family photograph that takes you back and floods your mind with memories so real you could touch them?
Maybe a picture of a beloved relative's house where you can see into the open window on a sunny day? Somehow you know that if you could just see around the corner they would be there. . .you could talk to them and share just one more day with them. I found a picture like that. It was a picture of my mom and me standing in front of my aunt and uncle's house on some past Autumn afternoon. Behind us is an open window
where the sunlight streams in to the living room and an open doorway. Part of me knows that there, in that time, is my uncle. . .living, talking and knowing that I am just outside. My aunt took the picture. I used to stay with them nearly every weekend. They are responsible for who I am, and I know that their being there for me saved my life from going in wrong directions. The values of their generation, the greatest generation, were passed on to me.

This poem was written in memory of them. I make it a point to re-read it on those golden Autumn afternoons that seem to never end.

Autumn Afternoon

When you sit and watch the shadows grow long across the room
at the end of a golden Autumn afternoon,
you face the souls who have passed through your life . . .
and come to terms with their absence . . .

The season's light is ever changing and reminds you
that all things must pass,
leaving their mark in ways unknown,
until they are gone . . .

As Autumn's memories fall softly one by one,
in colors too beautiful for words. . . felt only by the heart . . .
they take their place of rest in the shadows of your life.

As the seasons pass, you see never ending reflections of their time . . .
a ray of light, a color that burns intense with love and hope . . .
a promise to return anew in time, when the shadows grow long
at the end of an Autumn afternoon.

- The Light Within . . .

New Print Coming Soon . . .

2006-09-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

I want to let you know about a new print which will be available to you very shortly. The painting has already been to the publisher, where they've digitized it. They will be producing the final prints within a week or two. This edition will be limited to 20 and the print itself will be a giclee' canvas print, with a size of roughly 15" x 20". Each print will be $150, and is suitable for framing. To see a larger version of the print simply click on the picture above.

If you would like to purchase one before they become available online please e-mail me and I will be glad to contact you.

The proof came back from the publisher on Thursday, and I have to say they did a superb job matching the colors. My first thought upon seeing the proof was "My God, this is incredibly crystal clear". The lines and colors are extremely sharp and crisp and clean and the entire image has a luminous quality about it. Apparently the light within translated to the print. This doesn't suprise me at all because these images (the paintings) were originally made to be published a some point. That time has arrived.

Finally, please remember that a substantial portion of the money from my work will be used to assist families of children cancer patients.

More very soon,

- The Light Within . . .

Influences - J.C. Leyendecker

2006-09-10T18:59:00.000-05:00

Vatican Inspirations II . . .

2006-08-26T18:06:00.000-05:00

New Image . . .

2006-08-06T19:59:00.000-05:00

Here is the most recent image I have available to show you. It was a successful expirement in which I was able to refine new directions regarding some of the pictoral elements. This image has some very nice abstract qualities which are based in part in the theories of minimalist structure. The painting also reveals, structurally, the re-appearance of my strongest influence. It shows up in the way in which I've defined the space, using only pure, clean line and form.

The creation of this painting was difficult to say the least, but it was successful. It has a strong presence about it. The colors which appear next to each other were chosen to play with your eyes. Certain colors, when placed adjacent to one another, will cause your eyes to see the light vibrating, fluctuating, on exactly the line where the colors meet. This is one of the ways I can help you to see the energy contained in the painting.

I hope you enjoy this image. Please let me know your thoughts.

- The Light Within . . .

A Few Things . . .

2006-07-28T21:20:00.000-05:00

I would like to begin by thanking everyone who has subscribed to this blog and everyone who reads it. It's good to know you are out there. It's pretty cool when someone contacts you from Poland. Here is his beautiful site.

Second, I have finally begun to raise money for my foundation (notice the Amazon donation box on the right-hand side of this page . . .as one small example). The funds raised will help families of children cancer patients. I work for the Texas Cancer Registry, and see on a daily basis what cancer does to people's lives and what their families have to go through. It is devastating. I see how many children are stricken with cancer. Surely my art can be put to use to help these families. I believe this is why God put me where he did. Please help me spread the word of what I'm trying to do with this artwork and fund raising. Please share this reminder with as many people as you can.

Finally, you will be able to view a new image in just a few days. An additional new image will be available for viewing in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks again.

- The Light Within . . .

Is It Pop Art?

2006-07-21T20:32:00.000-05:00

Roy Lichtenstein is one of the major influences in my artistic life. I am drawn to the simplicity and the abstract qualities. I am drawn to the childlike colourations. I am drawn to the graphic purity which permeates his work. I feel his influence very strongly in this painting. You can see examples of his work here. My work has been considered to be Pop Art by a reviewer in New York, but I don’t think of it in such a way.

There are angels everywhere in our culture, as has been the case for over a thousand years. However, one of the tenets of Pop Art is it’s lack of substance. For the most part it is extremely shallow and meaningless. There is nothing but surface. The angels that come to me through the paintings are full of substance. They are full of meaning. They are powerful.

The painting above was began five years ago this Easter, thus I always think of it as an Easter painting. A few months into working on it, a friend of mine was having a major operation. I had had some visions of it not going well and they bothered me quite a bit. While I was working on the painting one day I was overcome by the need to repeatedly as for my friend to be brought through the operation safely and with no complications. My prayers were not only heard, they were answered, because everything turned out alright. This is a painting of the Archangel Michael.

Every painting is a new journey which reveals to me new depths within this style. I didn’t find this style . . . it found me, at a time when I needed something to turn my life around. Through this painting I discovered simplicity and purity of abstraction using simple lines and vibrant colour.

Many thanks Roy.

The Light Within . . .

The Calling of the Fall . . .

2006-07-11T22:02:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been feeling Autumn's call pulling at my soul. Even though we're still several weeks away from the most glorious of all the seasons, I'm already beginning to sense its coming . . .a shadow over here . . . a ray of late afternoon golden light over there. I'm looking forward to the early evenings, when the treetops are alive with color and everything below rests in the shadows of the day. The calling of the Fall . . . it's a tangible sensation I feel in my heart and soul. Fall inspires my poetry and the two are deeply and lovingly connected.

The beauty of Fall is always accompanied by the music of George Winston. His series of the seasons (Autumn, December, Winter Into Spring, and Summer) and his interpretations of the music of Vince Guaraldi have touched my life deeply. Each note of his music expresses gently falling leaves and long shadows of late Autumn days. His musical tone captures the longing of the season to remain through the inevitable shortening of her days. It is sublime beauty tinged with sadness and love. I am grateful beyond words for his talents and vision.

I was introduced to George Winston's music, his art, exactly ten years ago this fall (how appropriate). A 1996 sampler cd from Windham Hill Music arrived in the mail quite literally out of the blue. It contained nearly 50 song samples from various artists, and Winston's music touched me immediately. The universe dropped the gift of his music into my life and it becomes more special, meaningful and reverent with each passing year. I cannot imagine my life without it and that's why I'm sharing it with you.

- The Light Within . . .

The Spirit of Light II . . .

2006-07-03T16:58:00.000-05:00

There is something about light. It speaks to my soul. It beckons me to open up and let it in.

Light is ethereal, light is eternal, light is divine...it often serves as a metaphor for the spiritual. Physical light is the closest approximation to spiritual light in our lives. It serves as a means of revealing God's presence in our universe and in our lives.

The goal of my art is to capture a single instant of each angel's eternal existence and share it with people all over the world. Since they are made of light and color, capturing them in paint only makes sense . . .with the tightly finished lines acting only as an infinitely thin boundary, expressing the energy and light within.

These angels have had tangible affects on people's lives, inspiring them to look within and examine what they can do for others. How can you tap into this energy and create your own light . . .and release it into the world?

When I was doing the line work for this painting, I had an experience which I have not been able to put into words. There was a moment when I felt completely surrounded by warm, golden light. It was a tangible exchange of energy between myself and the image on the canvas . . .I could feel it in my hands . . . it engulfed me.

To this very day, this particular canvas emits a certain energy. It has a presence about it.

The Light Within . . .

The Trial By Existence . . .

2006-06-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

The poetry of Robert Frost has touches my soul like no other poet ever has. There is an instant connection between the two of us that transcends the years and space between us. If I've gone too long without picking up my copy of "The Complete Works of Robert Frost" I begin to feel like something's missing. Here is one of my favorites, it is titled "Trial By Existence" and I think it speaks to me and about my life . . . and the choices made before I came into this world. It talks about God, light and the angels. The life I am living and the things I experience are not of my choosing. I have always felt that I was being guided towards and prepared for something that will make a difference for humanity. For a nearly complete collection of Frost's work for your soul to enjoy, go here.

The Trial by Existence

Even the bravest that are slain
Shall not dissemble their surprise
On waking to find valor reign,
Even as on earth, in paradise;
And where they sought without the sword
Wide fields of asphodel fore'er,
To find that the utmost reward
Of daring should be still to dare.

The light of heaven falls whole and white
And is not shattered into dyes,
The light forever is morning light;
The hills are verdured pasture-wise;
The angle hosts with freshness go,
And seek with laughter what to brave;--
And binding all is the hushed snow
Of the far-distant breaking wave.

And from a cliff-top is proclaimed
The gathering of the souls for birth,
The trial by existence named,
The obscuration upon earth.
And the slant spirits trooping by
In streams and cross- and counter-streams
Can but give ear to that sweet cry
For its suggestion of what dreams!

And the more loitering are turned
To view once more the sacrifice
Of those who for some good discerned
Will gladly give up paradise.
And a white shimmering concourse rolls
Toward the throne to witness there
The speeding of devoted souls
Which God makes his especial care.

And none are taken but who will,
Having first heard the life read out
That opens earthward, good and ill,
Beyond the shadow of a doubt;
And very beautifully God limns,
And tenderly, life's little dream,
But naught extenuates or dims,
Setting the thing that is supreme.

Nor is there wanting in the press
Some spirit to stand simply forth,
Heroic in it nakedness,
Against the uttermost of earth.
The tale of earth's unhonored things
Sounds nobler there than 'neath the sun;
And the mind whirls and the heart sings,
And a shout greets the daring one.

But always God speaks at the end:
'One thought in agony of strife
The bravest would have by for friend,
The memory that he chose the life;
But the pure fate to which you go
Admits no memory of choice,
Or the woe were not earthly woe
To which you give the assenting voice.'

And so the choice must be again,
But the last choice is still the same;
And the awe passes wonder then,
And a hush falls for all acclaim.
And God has taken a flower of gold
And broken it, and used therefrom
The mystic link to bind and hold
Spirit to matter till death come.

'Tis of the essence of life here,
Though we choose greatly, still to lack
The lasting memory at all clear,
That life has for us on the wrack
Nothing but what we somehow chose;
Thus are we wholly stipped of pride
In the pain that has but one close,
Bearing it crushed and mystified.

- The Light Within . . .

Exercise in Line and Light II . . .

2006-06-19T15:49:00.000-05:00

From Time to Time . . .

2006-06-14T22:24:00.000-05:00

There is this really old, really big tree I like to go and spend time with. It provides a circle of shade which is at least 50 feet across and at the base of this tree is an iron bench. Sometimes I'll sit and study Robert Frost . . . sometimes I'll just sit with a pad and pen, hoping something comes to me. One day last summer I was under this tree with my eyes closed and I must have dozed off. I awoke when a short breeze blew across my face and with it this entire little poem. It was literally written on the wind.

From Time to Time . . .

A gentle breeze
across my face
returns me
from a distant place,
where drifting thoughts
this summer day
carry me
from time to time . . .

The Light Within . . .

Origins . . .

2006-06-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been without inspiration. I have a painting that needs to be finished. In fact, I had a dream a couple of weeks ago where I saw the painting, and it was wanting me to finish it. It's based on the image from my last post about Time, and just how short our lives really are.

The picture above is the one that started everything for me. This is the Archangel Gabriel. When he's not with me he lives at the Vatican in Rome. This picture came into my life at the exact moment I needed it most. I had just received news that a lifelong frient had died, and creatively I was exhausted and burned out. It took some time to figure out how to abstract the essence while keeping the realism and power of the angels. It was time well spent. They helped me deal with the passing of a friend and showed me a new direction for my life.

When I saw this picture a light went on inside me that has grown brighter and brighter. I was to share it with the world. Little did I know what I had started. This picture could have very easily been overlooked, ignored, thrown away . . . but it wasn't. It was meant to be.

Pay attention to the little things in your life, the thing that seem insignificant. They're usually the one that make all the difference.

- The Light Within . . .

Time . . .

2006-05-27T19:42:00.000-05:00

One Cosmos says:

The time allotted to us is analogous to the shutter of a camera; it opens with our birth, allowing in the small amount of light we must work with before it closes and the universe vanishes. With that light we must enter our “dark room” and develop our conception of existence--what we are, why we are here, and what is our relationship to the whole. There are pneumagraphs laying around that others have left behind--scripture, books, images and institutions. Some of them were successful in capturing the Light, others only darkness visible.

There is so little time, but time is literally all we have: we must work while it is day, for the night cometh, when no man can work. Saying you have no time is logically equivalent to saying that you have no life, light or freedom. If you are not free, then your time really is nothing more than duration. And if you have no light, you are free in the illusory way that an animal is--free to be led horizontally by your instincts and learned behaviors.

Time. Freedom. Light. If you don’t have one, you really don’t have the others either. Your life is history.

Read the rest at One Cosmos.

Live your life . . .Make A Difference . . .

- The Light Within . . .

Take A Chance . . .

2006-05-21T21:16:00.000-05:00

You know that quiet thought, that idea that returns time and time again, a little more developed each time. That's your heart telling you what to do with your life . . .which way to go . . .what direction to take.

Don't be afraid to take a chance. You only live once.

- The Light Within . . .

Follow Your Dreams . . .

2006-05-18T11:52:00.000-05:00

Hope & Light II . . .

2006-05-11T12:26:00.000-05:00

Here is a reminder of my near-term plans and why I will need your help. The paintings are enroute from the Montserrat Gallery in New York. When they arrive I will begin working with the publisher in creating the series of prints I've been telling you about.

Hope and Light. Two things there are not enough of in this world.

Every day my job puts me in contact with cancer and what it does to people's lives. A very large percentage of the phone calls we receive are from people looking for help, of any kind, on how to deal with a disease which is destroying their life, or the life of someone they love. I hear the sadness, the desperation, in their voices. "Can you help?" they say.

They are looking for hope. They are hoping that the person on the other end can give the something, no matter how small, to hold onto.

The reason the angels came to me to give them expression is to give people hope . . .to inspire them to follow their dreams and leave something behind for humanity.

I am working on starting a charitable foundation, which will exist to help families of children cancer patients with their medical expenses. It will also help provide resources to make the children's dreams and wishes come true. I've been thinking about this for years, and am just now coming into a position of being able to do something about it. Keep in mind, however, that it is not about me in any way. It's about the look in someone's eyes when they find out that the thing they need most right then is theirs . . .when they realize that at least part of the burden they have been living under has been lifted . . .when the child gets to go to Disney World, or have a little book with his poems published. It's about the look in someone's eyes when they realize that there is hope . . .and that things can and will get better.

This foundation will be funded by sales of my artwork, corporate donations and gifts . . .and it will be set up so the donations are tax deductible. I have chosen to begin the funding with prints because a single image, printed and sold many times, will earn more than a single painting. The prints will look very much like the prototype above, and some of them will include images from the paintings currently on display at the Montserrat Gallery in New York City. This will be my small contribution to the hope and light of humanity.

If any of you have experience or thoughts on this subject, please e-mail me, using the link on the right side of this page.

Stay tuned.

The Light Within . . .

Influences - J.C. Leyendecker . . .

2006-05-06T21:26:00.000-05:00

Solaris . . .

2006-05-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

This is the one. This is the painting which best sums up everything I was about at the time it was completed. This painting is titled “Solaris” and it was completed in March 2003. This is by far the strongest of all of my paintings in the current series. Not because it is technically better than any of the others, but because this is the one which emanates pure spiritual light from within. The title Solaris comes from the light within this painting. It is also due to the ideas that the circular shapes behind the angel’s head have been interpreted as both the sun and his halo.

If you ever have the opportunity to experience this work in person, a chance to stand in front of it and see the light for yourself, you’ll feel it. The blue of his robe has a presence which cannot be described. It’s just there. This is the painting I was working on when I had the tangible exchange of spiritual energy with the canvas. I was laying down the lines in the folds of his robe when I found myself surrounded by a golden energy. The stream of light ran from the canvas through my brush and surrounded me. It seemed to last forever . . . it came from within.

This is one of the paintings exhibited in New York, at the Montserrat Gallery. It is on it’s way back to me this week and I can’t wait to see it again. It will be a great birthday present . . . I turned 39 today.

Please go back and re-visit my previous post “Hope & Light”, from Friday, April 7. I discussed the beginning of a series of extremely limited edition gliclee prints, which will be sold to raise money for my foundation. This painting will be the first in the series to be published.

If you are interested in owning a print please feel free to e-mail me. I will be opening an e-commerce site in the near future where you will be able to purchase prints and original paintings online. More to come . . .

- The Light Within . . .

Inspiration . . .

2006-04-25T22:04:00.000-05:00

A cathedral is a place of worship. It is meant to draw you upward to heaven . . . to inspire a sense of awe through beauty and majesty. Every so often a sunset comes along which draws you up into it. The sky is ablaze with colors and power, as if God pulled back the curtain just to give you, and you alone, a glimpse of the eternal. The most powerful sunsets happen during late Fall and Winter. There is a window of just a few minutes when everything comes together, exactly between day and night . . . dark and light . . . when the magic quietly appears. It's here and then it's gone but it always leaves a mark on your soul

. . . Cathedral . . .

The evening sky begins to slow,
Heaven’s own transcendant show
intensely burning colors glow
ethereal silver light...

Brilliant blue, orange, gold,
a painter’s vision to behold,

this lonely fire the sun does hold,

receding to quiet darkness...

- The Light Within . . .

Gabriel III . . .

2006-04-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

The Archangel Gabriel is a theme upon which much of my work is based, and he will make many appearances on canvas before I leave this world. This painting was completed during a time of great personal stress and anxiety. It is titled “Gabriel III” and is Gabriel’s third appearance. He always appears when I need him most . . . when I’m not sure which direction to go with my life and when I don’t know who to turn to. There have been several times in my life when I was forced to choose between painting and supporting my family. Being forced to give up something you love so dearly, something that is a part of you, is painful . . . . . . . however, something tells me that these paintings, these images were meant to be. Each time circumstances forced me to give up my art, to let it go, it always came back stronger . . . more focused and more real.

In this painting, Gabriel is reaching out to you, the viewer. He reaches out of the picture plane, to touch you, to heal and comfort you. The halo behind his head if full of golden light which envelopes nearly all of his being.

In my earlier post, In The Beginning, I shared with you my process of building the colors up in layers. This allows light to become trapped between a color’s layers . . . creating a strong and luminous appearance. This is the light within. It is also how I painted Gabriel’s red robe. I first laid down enough pure magenta to become opaque, about a dozen layers. Then I added layer upon layer of red, allowing for drying time in between. Each color is applied in this manner, but the jewel tones (reds, blues, greens and purples) usually require an opaque underpainting.

The lines in this painting are full of energy. They have an electricity about them which appears immediately. In some places the lines are actually sculpted in layers. In other places the lines are exactly as they appear . . . laid down in a single stroke, even some of the longer ones. Those are the best ones. The brush does it’s thing and I sit back and watch.

I have had to come to terms with this painting. For the first two years after it’s completion I did not think it was up to my standards. But the more I see it I realize that it is. Perhaps it was ME who was not living up to my standards at the time, rather than the image. It can take weeks to finish an image. Half of this one was completed in a single thirteen-hour marathon session. By the time I was done I was mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. I was driven to do it.

This painting, Gabriel III, is on display at the Montserrat Gallery, in New York, until the end of the month. Please stop by and see it.

- The Light Within . . .

Gallery News . . .

2006-04-20T10:54:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that my paintings will be on exhibit at the Montserrat Gallery until April 30th. If you are in New York City, please stop by and see them.

Montserrat Gallery
547 W 27 Street, New York NY 10001
Phone: +1.212.941-8899 Fax: +1.212.274-1717
Open Tuesday to Friday from 12 pm to 6 pm
e-mail: art@montserratgallery.com

The Light Within . . .

The Thoughts of Others . . .

2006-04-16T21:39:00.000-05:00

Review from "Gallery & Studio", November-December 2004/January 2005, Vol 7 No. 3, New York

"Andy Warhol once said that "once you 'get' Pop nothing ever looks the same," and the work of Corbin Hollis Choate, seen recently at Montserrat Gallery, 584 Broadway, is a perfect illustration of what he meant. For once you have viewed Choate's paintings, you can never again view cherubim, or putti, in quite the same light.

Whether Choate considers himself a Pop artist or not is really a moot point at this late date. It is very likely that he considers himself an abstract painter who uses imagery simply as an ironic attention device to draw the viewer's attention. And a good case could certainly be made for this way of looking at his paintings, considering their formal virtues. These are considerable, since Choate's paintings are executed in a hard edge style that calls attention to the clarity of his form and his cool, carefully harmonized color areas. There is also a good deal of white space in his paintings that adds to their formal purity. So one can easily appreciate these cunningly conceived works for their abstract qualities alone.

That said, Choate's preoccupation with putti cannot be dismissed as a mere formal ploy, being far too resonant of art history, religiosity, the heavenly realm as well as more down-to-earth aspects of love. Cherubim, after all, are among the most ambiguous of symbols. We can just as easily think of them as messengers of Eros and harbingers of profane love as biblical attendants of God or a holy place. Indeed, they had their origin in Greek and Roman antiquity; thus in their more pagan incarnation they often figure prominently in depictions of the feast of Venus and are seen flocking like so many playful birds around a statue of the goddess. In much Renaissance art, however, they are guardian spirits, benign little angels, protecting souls during life and finally conducting them to heaven.

Corbin Hollis Choate seems to play off this ambiguity by employing neon colors and dynamically cropped compositions that give his images a campy charm in paintings such as "Gabriel III," where the figure wears its halo with a suggestion of foppish wickedness, as though his important role as messenger of God and herald of birth in the Annunciation has led him into vanity. By contrast, in "Raphael," the almost Grecian purity of the figure's profile does indeed suggest the archangel, the guardian spirit and protector of the young.

In most of the paintings in his recent show at Montserrat, with the exception of the full figure entitled "Solaris," the composition consists of close-up views of a face and part of a wing, the severe cropping increasing the abstract impact of the composition. However, as in the work of John Wesley, that other Pop formalist, we are compelled to consider possible meaning in Choate's work, even as we take pleasure in its formal attributes, which alone are sufficient to compel our admiration. This duality lends a complexity to the paintings of Corbin Hollis Choate that deepens and enriches their appeal.
-Gloria Kiehl

Resurrection . . . . . .

2006-04-15T23:21:00.000-05:00

The Light Within . . .

Is It Pop Art?

2006-04-11T22:25:00.000-05:00

Influences . . .

2006-04-09T20:29:00.000-05:00

The poetry of Robert Frost has affected my life a great deal. Here is a poem of his which talks about angels, light and heaven. It deals with the choices you make before coming into this world . . .and what God says in the end. Frost's work has a wonderful transcendent quality. The deepest understanding comes from repeated readings. Enjoy.

The Trial By Existence

Even the bravest that are slain
Shall not dissemble their surprise
On waking to find valor reign,
Even as on earth, in paradise;
And where they sought without the sword
Wide fields of asphodel fore'er,
To find that the utmost reward
Of daring should be still to dare.

The light of heaven falls whole and white
And is not shattered into dyes,
The light forever is morning light;
The hills are verdured pasture-wise;
The angle hosts with freshness go,
And seek with laughter what to brave;--
And binding all is the hushed snow
Of the far-distant breaking wave.

And from a cliff-top is proclaimed
The gathering of the souls for birth,
The trial by existence named,
The obscuration upon earth.
And the slant spirits trooping by
In streams and cross- and counter-streams
Can but give ear to that sweet cry
For its suggestion of what dreams!

And the more loitering are turned
To view once more the sacrifice
Of those who for some good discerned
Will gladly give up paradise.
And a white shimmering concourse rolls
Toward the throne to witness there
The speeding of devoted souls
Which God makes his especial care.

And none are taken but who will,
Having first heard the life read out
That opens earthward, good and ill,
Beyond the shadow of a doubt;
And very beautifully God limns,
And tenderly, life's little dream,
But naught extenuates or dims,
Setting the thing that is supreme.

Nor is there wanting in the press
Some spirit to stand simply forth,
Heroic in it nakedness,
Against the uttermost of earth.
The tale of earth's unhonored things
Sounds nobler there than 'neath the sun;
And the mind whirls and the heart sings,
And a shout greets the daring one.

But always God speaks at the end:
'One thought in agony of strife
The bravest would have by for friend,
The memory that he chose the life;
But the pure fate to which you go
Admits no memory of choice,
Or the woe were not earthly woe
To which you give the assenting voice.'

And so the choice must be again,
But the last choice is still the same;
And the awe passes wonder then,
And a hush falls for all acclaim.
And God has taken a flower of gold
And broken it, and used therefrom
The mystic link to bind and hold
Spirit to matter till death come.

'Tis of the essence of life here,
Though we choose greatly, still to lack
The lasting memory at all clear,
That life has for us on the wrack
Nothing but what we somehow chose;
Thus are we wholly stipped of pride
In the pain that has but one close,
Bearing it crushed and mystified.

The Light Within . . .

Hope & Light . . .

2006-04-07T20:24:00.000-05:00

Hope and Light. Two things there are not enough of in this world.

Every day my job puts me in contact with cancer and what it does to people's lives. A very large percentage of the phone calls we receive are from people looking for help, of any kind, on how to deal with a disease which is destroying their life, or the life of someone they love. I hear the sadness, the desperation, in their voices. "Can you help?" they say.

They are looking for hope. They are hoping that the person on the other end can give the something, no matter how small, to hold onto.

The reason the angels came to me to give them expression is to give people hope . . .to inspire them to follow their dreams and leave something behind for humanity.

I am working on starting a charitable foundation, which will exist to help families of children cancer patients with their medical expenses. It will also help provide resources to make the children's dreams and wishes come true. I've been thinking about this for years, and am just now coming into a position of being able to do something about it. Keep in mind, however, that it is not about me in any way. It's about the look in someone's eyes when they find out that the thing they need most right then is theirs . . .when they realize that at least part of the burden they have been living under has been lifted . . .when the child gets to go to Disney World, or have a little book with his poems published. It's about the look in someone's eyes when they realize that there is hope . . .and that things can and will get better.

This foundation will be funded by sales of my artwork, corporate donations and gifts . . .and it will be set up so the donations are tax deductible. I have chosen to begin the funding with prints because a single image, printed and sold many times, will earn more than a single painting. The prints will look very much like the prototype above, and some of them will include images from the paintings currently on display at the Montserrat Gallery in New York City. This will be my small contribution to the hope and light of humanity.

If any of you have experience or thoughts on this subject, please e-mail me, using the link on the right side of this page.

Stay tuned.

The Light Within . . .

Exercise in Line and Light . . .

2006-04-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

If you haven't already done so, please take the time to become familiar with the Art Renewal Center (via the link on the right side of this page). It is an online museum, which is dedicated to the restoration of truth and beauty in contemporary art, and the revival of long lost standards of draftsmanship and excellence. It is a worthwhile visit indeed, and I truly hope that my work will someday be included in their collection.

It all begins with the basics. Draftsmanship. It's ALL about the drawing in the early stages. This is where you work out problems in symmetry, proportion, and perspective. It's where you decide areas of light and shadow. It's where you get to know your subject . . .let it in . . .so it can be expressed. The drawing is where you create the underlying structure for the painting. It's where you define your space. Structure and space are fundamental. The drawing is where I decide line thickness to show weight and volume. The drawing I ‘m presenting to you tonight was extremely difficult. It is a study of an angel which lives in the Hermitage Museum, in St. Petersburg, Russia. I tried to reduce everything to line, while showing you the volume and mass. The lines have an energy which leads your eyes along their lengths. This drawing will probably make it onto canvas someday. Until then it remains an exercise in line . . .and light.

My favorite draftsmen are Michelangelo, William Bouguereau and Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres. If you look at their drawings, the first thing you'll notice is the quality of their lines. They are at once expressive, beautiful, subtle yet bold, forceful and inviting . . .so few lines, so much life.

Michelangelo's drawings are instantly identifiable. At first glance they appear quickly done. But upon further study, you will notice a sublime beauty that reveals itself like a flower, opening layer after layer . . .telling secrets. Each drawing is just a few lines, weight here, volume there . . .the thoughts inside. Michelangelo's drawings are studies in the psychology of his subjects, their souls, as much as they are about their image.

William Bouguereau had the rare ability to work from memory as well as he could work from life. He believed in absolute perfection of the finished image, and thus would create numerous drawings, mastering the history of his subjects. He made a deliberate, careful study of form and technique, and saturated himself in knowledge of classical sculpture.

Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres was a master of line. In his time, he created an unrivalled and highly detailed record of the female image, primarily through portraiture. Ingres could, using nothing but line, make you experience the sensation of touching the fabric on his subjects. He was obsessed with perfection and mastery of form. He was an idealist in pursuit of "high art", combining the purity of draftsmanship with a love of classical historic painting.

Until next time . . .

The Written Word . . .

2006-04-03T22:58:00.000-05:00

I promised you that I would share my poetry, as well as my paintings.

Here is the first poem I want to share with you, entitled “Endless Leaves”. Every year around September, my creativity is awakened from its deep summer sleep by the calling of the Fall. Of all the seasons this one is my favorite, and I am always grateful that God has given me another year of seeing the seasons change. Autumn is a deeply personal experience for me . . . it is religious. The colors in the trees . . . the deeply golden light . . . the burning sunsets . . .they call out to me in a way nothing else does. There have been times when I’ve actually felt the light beckoning me to come outside and be with it. God calls in mysterious ways.

My poems allow me to reconnect with my soul. They allow me to find that magic place where, for a few moments, I am at total peace with my self and my life. Each poem is an attempt to capture this fleeting experience of eternal beauty.

. . . Endless Leaves . . .

The season's change
called out to me
before it settled
in the trees
and scattered light
upon my dreams
like endless piles
of endless leaves
I try to gather
from the breeze,
collecting colors
no one sees . . .

endless leaves fall
through my hands
my hopes my dreams
I take my stand
through darkened forest,
weathered trees,
to find the path
through endless leaves,
the path my heart does see . . .

there's something about
the light today . . .
the endless leaves
have blown away
revealing colors
here to stay,
leaving whispers on the breeze . . .

I await the colors of my dreams . . .

The Light Within . . .

Emergence . . .

2006-04-01T15:38:00.000-06:00

The Spirit of Light . . .

2006-03-29T20:16:00.000-06:00

Vatican Inspirations . . .

2006-03-25T13:51:00.000-06:00

In The Beginning . . .

2006-03-22T21:20:00.000-06:00

Gallery News

2006-03-20T11:52:00.000-06:00

This is a reminder that my paintings will be on display at the Montserrat Gallery in the Chelsea Arts District of New York City until Saturday, April 29th.

If you will be in the New York City area between now and then, please stop by and view them in person. You can speak with Michelle, Monse or Jim and they will be more than happy to help you.

Montserrat Gallery
547 West 27 Street
New York NY 10001
phone: 1.212.941-8899
fax: 1.212.274-1717

Archangel Gabriel . . .

2006-03-18T09:10:00.000-06:00

Welcome to "The Light Within" . . .

2006-03-17T15:06:00.000-06:00

Thank you for stopping by.

Here I will be discussing and sharing my art.......talking about it, writing about it and analyzing the theories and philosophies behind it. I will also use this space to provide up-to-date information on my upcoming images and series of prints and posters based on angels you can find on my other website.

If you appreciate poetry, I will also be sharing my poems with you and their influences.

Please bookmark this page and come back often. I promise you will not be dissapointed.

Until next time . . .