All posts by Phil Slattery

Publisher, Rural Fiction Magazine; publisher, The Chamber Magazine; founder, the Farmington Writers Circle. I have written short stories and poetry for many years. In my careers as a Naval officer and in the federal government, I have written thousands of documents of many types. I am currently working on a second edition for my poetry collection and a few novels.

Winter Violence

Winter Violence, 2015
Winter Violence, 2015

I have been preparing for my upcoming show in Farmington and I have spent a good portion of the day creating new works, of which “Winter Violence” is the first I shall publish here.  It is a small work, 16″ x 20″, and done mostly with acrylic and latex on a canvas purchased from Hobby Lobby. I wanted to experiment with white and therefore did not prepare the canvas in any way other than to take off the plastic wrapper.  I chose mostly variations of yellow and gold to make the work bright. The title was Rohrshach moment being the first thing that popped into my head. I may change the title later. My only concern is the same as when I wear anything white:  getting it dirty.   I took the photo of it near sunset and the white appears gray vs. bright white.  I will have to re-take the photo when opportunity permits.

Green Flash

Green Flash, circa 2010
Green Flash, circa 2010

I created “Green Flash” about 2010 for a show at the Corpus Christi Art Center.  A “green flash” is what occurs just as the last bit of the sun sinks below the horizon.  Because of various optic principles involving color, the bending of light, and the make-up of the Earth’s atmosphere, flash of green light occurs frequently (if not always) as last bit of the sun disappears from view.  I chose to represent this phenomenon with a minimum of representation.  I was living in south Texas at the time, which is very flat, so I chose to portray this as it might appear along the south Texas horizon.  Red, of course, is frequently the dominant color of sunsets, so both the sky and Earth are red, though in different shades and, also of course, it is great for bringing out green.  The green is the last bit of the sun and the short, black lines represent the south Texas scrub, which is mostly mesquite.    The paint is acrylic and the canvas size is 30″ x 40″.

Show Pub Brave

Show Pub Brave  by Phil Slattery
Show Pub Brave
by Phil Slattery

Another work created using Photoshop Elements 2.0, but instead of using a photograph from a Renaissance Faire, I used a photograph of a alleyway in Japan (either in Tokyo or Yokosuka).  The woman’s silhouette I created using a photo of a statue, while her face is created from public domain image that I reversed horizontally and to which I made a few other alterations.   I like the atmosphere that it transmits to the viewer: very moody and ominous.   I feel about it as Van Gogh felt about one of his paintings of billiard tables in a bar and which Kirk Douglas (as Van Gogh) said in the movie “Lust for Life”:   “I tried to show a place where a man can ruin himself, go mad, or commit a crime.”

Dancing through Hell

Dancing through Hell by Phil Slattery
Dancing through Hell
by Phil Slattery

Another work created by using a photograph of a Danse Macabre from a Renaissance Faire and Photoshop Elements 2.0.  I tinkered with the photo until what you see here emerged.  I named it for the first impression that popped into my mind.

Death Calls the Tune

Death Calls the Tune by Phil Slattery
Death Calls the Tune
by Phil Slattery

I created this using Photoshop Elements 2.0 several years ago using a photo I took of a violinist in a Danse Macabre at a Renaissance Faire.