Back of a Bike 3

Thanks to a tip from Kit there is yet another Artist to report on whose studio is transported by bicycle. :-)

The set-up used by Phil is even more elaborate than what Kit uses, and even gives HER pause. :-)

As she writes me:

Someone sent this link to me, probably in response to one of your postings. This guy is SERIOUS about packing his studio and taking it on the road. I think if I took canvases that large, I'd turn into the Flying Nun. Neat idea but too much stuff for me to haul.

Phil has an elaborate website that not only showcases a photo of his rig, and a gallery of paintings, but explains his backround, and philosophy, as well.

He writes, in part:

I am a painter because I have always been one. I paint from a bike cart because I could at one time only afford to travel by bike. I choose my subject matter, urban landscape, because it is within range of my bike cart. I seek the truth, and thick description about my world, my city and my neighborhood and myself......

I enjoy people. I enjoy the act of being out in the public visually announcing to every car and pedestrian that goes by, that their city is a worthy and beautiful subject for art. I usually set the canvas so that passersby can see the progress as they travel each day......

Many artists struggle for self expression in their work. I struggle to remove it. If I don't, then the expression becomes contrived and untrustworthy......

But despite my effort to keep myself out of the picture, the fact that I must reach all of these places by bicycle, creates a limited personal territory and makes the totality of my work into the ultimate autobiography. Then, as if to remove any doubt, I sign it, and date it when I'm done.

He has much more to say in his thesis, and elsewhere on his site.

2 of the paintings shown on his site are related to Bicycling, a 3rd has a bicycle in it,, and a 4th has a cyclist, with the one called BIKE PATH being my favorite. :-)

I like how the light, and shadow, work in the scene to highlight the cyclist in the foreground, and even got my attention on what appears to be the dark figure of another bicyclist ( ? ) in the backround.

As one bicyclist emerges into the light, it appears to me that another is leaving it, and entering into shadow.

I'd be interested to know if that is indeed meant to be a 2nd rider, or just the mere SUGGESTION of one. :-)

Or maybe its just another shadow. :-)

I might not have noticed the couple on the grass if I hadn't been drawn to look at the bridge.

Explore, and enjoy, The Portfolio of Phil Fake.