I began working in wine and beer pours in August of 2017, after working in oils and watercolors for over 30 years. Painting had become stifling, and boredom had set in. Representational painting was not only very competitive, but lacked what I desperately needed - a way to express myself freely and creatively.
Working in pours re-connected me to the creativity and imagination I experienced in art school. The direction of the wine dictates how distorted a figure may or may not be, and no longer is representation a necessary part of my painting. There is no sketching to plan the drawing, I go right to the pour with a marker and try to reign in the happy chaos of the pour. This is a self-imposed discipline that energizes me and encourages me to think that there are no "mistakes". Three eyes and 12 fingers are actually quite the norm. The pours cause people to look, to reflect, to think and yes - to laugh. The colors and the energy draw the eye and conversation ensues. The fact that the pours get their start from wine and beer only adds to the conversation.
Pours are made by pouring wine or dark beer on #400 watercolor paper, letting the liquid dry, then looking at the dried stain/image to see what shapes appear. Those shapes are defined with markers and colored pencil, using the lines/shapes of the pour. Some of the wine or beer stain is left untouched, other areas are mostly covered, but the integrity of the pour remains.
Sometimes I have no direction for the final outcome, and discover as I go along.
So why wine and beer? I love the way the wine and beer move across the textured paper - their color, the way they puddle and leave shimmery sugars behind. I love how wine and beer can bring people together for laughs and conversation. It's an unusual medium, and that's pretty cool in and of itself. And yes, I like it - but no, I didn't accidentally spill wine and get the inspiration!
Titles of the pours are taken exclusively from current events (whether world-wide or personal events), and help
date stamp a place in time.
This medium is unique and unusual and has helped me connect with my true love for art and expression.
I hope you love it as much as I do.
Click on the image to get the story behind the titles, or to zoom in and to get sharper images.
Pours come mounted on a cradled wood board and wired to hang.
If you live within 30 miles of Rehoboth/Lewes DE and don't need shipping, use coupon code NoShipping.
Deliver Me in a Black Winged Bird
16 x 20
Cab Franc wine pour
After the Counting Crows song, Rain King. A young girl jumping up and away from her troubled childhood home.
Mother Ocean 2
11 x 14
Guinness Beer pour
No hidden meaning here....just a beautiful mermaid swimming along to a Jimmy Buffet song.
Pacing the Cage
Sold out
16 x 20
Gnarly Head Black
Created during the Covid 19 crisis and reflecting on the thought of how being past the pandemic may feel.
Come Tomorrow
22 x 30
Guinness beer pour
Named for the Dave Matthew's song "Come Tomorrow"
Old man spat and cursed as he spoke
It's all going to hell and the whole world is broken
Little kid is busy making plans
Save the whole world along with that old man
It's far as I can see
A better way for you and me
Is to let the children run the show
Not too long and we'd be good to go
All the girls and boys would sing
Come tomorrow we get everything
So as long as we survive today
Come tomorrow, we're gonna find a way
Yeah, as far as I can see
We should let the children lead the way
Bang bang you're dead now could be real
I got a bag of smoke come on let's make a deal
Yeah, bridges burn but tomorrow is another day
To feed the world and then go outside and play
Yeah, farmers farm and dancers dance all night
Lovers love and the firefighters fight
Let the children run the show
Not too long and we'd be good to go
All the girls and boys would sing
Come tomorrow we get everything
So as long as we survive today
Come tomorrow, we're gonna find a way
Yeah, as far as I can see
We gotta let the children lead the way
Storms will rise out of innocent skies
Times will change as you let the children play the game
All the girls and boys would sing
Come tomorrow we get everything
So as long as we survive today
Come tomorrow, we're gonna find a way
All the girls and boys would sing
Come tomorrow we get everything
Black Dog
30 x 40
Gnarly Head Black wine pour
After Led Zeppelin's song of the same name. He also looks a whole lot like my dog Hanks.
Seeing
Sold out
22 x 30
Cabernet Franc wine pour, marker, pencil
The Covid crisis has caused me to see some things and many people, differently.
Yoga During Quarantine
Sold out
30 x 22
Daring Escape Red wine pour, marker, pencil
Two guys, unshaven and out of f*cks, doing yoga in their living room during their quarantine.
Social Distancing
22 x 30
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
Created during the Covid 19 quarantine. The figure on the right, wearing gloves and a mask and trying to move away from the figure on the left who has no gloves or masks, and is yelling aggressively (with a peace t-shirt.) This illustrates the division (another way we're divided) regarding the quarantine. Some folks are currently storming government offices in Michigan, demanding the government "open" the state. Some of the protesters wore masks (ironically) some did not. Many toted assault rifles, trump flags, etc. How did a virus become political?
Captain Fantastic
30 x 40
Gnarly Head Black
Elton John was one of my first musical loves. His albums had some of the best artwork you could find (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, specifically). I would pour over the lyrics and the art while I wore the albums out.
This fantastic fellow is a nod to both Elton and all the guys who fancied themselves to be fantastic in the 70's.
Roxanne
30 x 22
Barbera wine pour, marker, pencil
After "Roxanne" by the Police. They started my love of the New Wave moment in the late 70's.
Tired Mother Earth
16 x 22
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
Created during the Covid 19 quarantine. Mother Earth is so tired. War, famine, over population and development and a deadly virus. She's barely hanging on, still grasping some freshly bloomed flowers.
Truly Gone Fishing
30 x 40
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
From "The Trial" by Pink Floyd.
"Crazy
Toys in the attic, I am crazy
Truly gone fishing
They must have taken my marbles away
Crazy, toys in the attic he is crazy"
Daring Escape
Daring Escape Red
Funny how the dog emerged from this multiple pour of Daring Escape Red. Just coincidental that it looks like that's exactly what he's doing.
Area 51
Sold out
14 x 20
Cabernet
Created in Santa Fe, while listening to the news about how Area 51 was going to get raided by conspiracy theorists.
Firewater
20 x 24
Cabernet
From the Barflies collection. fire + water, a calque of a Native American language term, probably Ojibwe ishkodewaaboo (“alcohol”), from ishkode (“fire”) + aaboo (“liquid”, glossed in older works as “water”). A number of other Algonquian and Siouan languages also refer to whiskey with compounds that mean "fire-water".
Starting Over
30 x 40
Middle Sister Rebel Red
From the Barflies collection. We've all started over before - getting our lives right, post-addiction, post-divorce, post empty nest. The metamorphosis follows.
Gin Blossoms
30 x 40
Malbec
From the Barflies collection. The older dude who's drank so much in his life, that his nose is full of gin blossoms.
The Jester
22 x 30
19 Crimes Dark Red
This follows "While the King Was Looking Down", a previous pour. (The Jester stole his thorny crown.)
Bob Mueller, where are you.
Ladies Night
22 x 30
Malbec
From the Barflies Collection.The beautiful woman enjoying Ladies Night.
All Revved Up With No Place to Go
22 x 30
Gnarly Head wine pour
Inspired by Meatloaf's song of the same name. One of those songs you just have to belt out.
Back on the Market
11 x 14
Petit Verdot -Black Hops Winery Red
Fresh from a break-up, back on the market, and none too happy about it.
Dream Weaver
30 x 40
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, marker, pencil
The Dream Weaver is deciding what his pupils will dream tonight. Will it be a nightmare? A lovely dream? Close your eyes and find your fate.
Goodbye Blue Sky
8 x 10
Malbec
Daddy's flown, cross the ocean. Leaving just a memory. - props to Pink Floyd's The Wall album, which is ultra-relevant today.
Star Man
Sold out
30 x 40
Barbera wine pour, marker, pencil
David Bowie's Young American album was one of 2 albums I received at about 12 years old, and caused me to fall in love with music. Bowie's music sounds as fresh today as when it was originally recorded. He was innovative, gender-bending, philanthropic and over-the-top creative. This was completed over his birthday week, which was also the week of his death.
Freebird
8 x 22
Gnarly Head Black
When I hear Freebird, my brain transports me to 1978 and 79 at the Electric Gramophone in Stanton DE. The Gramophone was an under 21 "club" that had a huge dance floor with a dj, lots of dark corners to make out in, and a big smoking lounge (seems impossible now, but yeah). Freebird was a regularly requested song because it was a long "slow" song so you could get close to someone you wanted to press up against for a while. But then the song would pick up to an awkward "fast" song and left you kind of pulling apart and shrugging at your dance partner as you would awkwardly separate. Ah, youth.
Milk In The Batter
16 x 20
Vanish Milk Stout
In the Night Kitchen was one of my favorite books as a child. This is a nod to Maurice Sendak, but there's a political twist. The old woman has a presidential face, and the "batter" is being poured over a cake that looks like Earth. Her slippers stand on the back of a terrified creature whose name is Citizen. And then there's the baker, baking it all into a nasty cake. The bakers were the scariest thing in the book for me as a kid, in a weirdly fascinating way.
Stephon's Cerebral Escape
8 x 22
Gnarly Head Black
Stephon is jamming out to Ben Folds in his Ben Folds t-shirt.
The Race for 2020
22 x 30
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
The race is on - the blue jersey Bunny has broken the tape, while the snarling red dog nips at his heels.
The Coven (triptych)
(3) 22 x 30 vertical panels
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout Beer Pour
The first panel shows multiple witches, some young and of child-bearing age with tortured souls waiting to be birthed. Behind these young women are the old crones, wise and watching.
The second panel shows a child being observed by a Coven member for "recruitment, a warlock in a grey robe and a drunken witch.
The third panel shows a prominent Leader of the Coven, looking to a former Leader for guidance and another old crone.
Well Regulated Division
Currently on view at the Fl3tch3r International Juried Show, Reece Museum, Johnson City TN
http://fletcherdyer.com/about.html. For more information about the exhibit, visit http://www.FL3TCH3Rexhibit.com and for Reece Museum, visit www.etsu.edu/reece or call 423-439-4392.
22 x 30
Gnarly Head Black
A red elephant and blue donkey, sharing the same body - one right side up, one upside down, both pulling in different directions.
A child with a Don't Shoot! t-shirt with a bullseye in the center.
A newly pregnant woman with an embryo that's up for debate.
A hooded individual and a shooting gun, referring to the rise of white supremacy and the Nazi movement
The devil - always making a show in any pour that I perceive to speak out against evil.
An old man shouting at the news because the world is changing.
A uterus with an "egg factory". Well regulated. Who does it belong to?
Eyes wide shut - a non-voter with closed eyes...taking whatever is handed to them.
Spirit of August
11 x 14
Daring Escape Red
Completed during the hot, wonderful month of August on the historic grounds of the Rehoboth Art League. Native Americans used to live along the banks of the canals.
Rocket to the Moon
16 x 20
16 Mile Tiller Brown
So many women getting recognition for their power and strength. In politics, in business, being strong and capable leaders. Makes me smile. Keep rocketing!
Olivia's Ballerina
8 x 10
Beaujolais Nouveau
A young lady named Olivia found this beautiful ballerina in this pour at the Rehoboth Art League 2018 Outdoor Show.
The Love of a Dog
Sold out
22 x 30
Petite Verdot, BHW red
This marks the day of adopting "Hanks", our new Bernadoodle puppy. It's like being a new parent again.
The Basket
Vanish Milk Stout, artist markers, colored pencil on #400 watercolor paper
Inspired by handing my daughter a basket from her childhood that was full of well-preserved toys and memories that immersed her in childhood memories.
The Poser - (click for full image)
5 x 30
Milk Stout
From the Barflies Collection. She's strutting her stuff and posing for lots of selfies.
Saturday Morning Cartoons
8 x 10
19 Crimes Dark Red
I was such a fan of Saturday morning cartoons and Sunday comics, that my brain felt like this....full of activity, completely stimulated by the colors.
Very Fine People
12 x 24
16 Mile Tiller Brown
Currently on view at the Fl3tch3r International Juried Show at the Reece Museum in Johnson City Tennesee:
http://fletcherdyer.com/about.html. For more information about the exhibit, visit http://www.FL3TCH3Rexhibit.com and for Reece Museum, visit www.etsu.edu/reece or call 423-439-4392.
"Excuse me, excuse me. They didn’t put themselves -- and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group. Excuse me, excuse me. I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name." - Donald Trump
Ugh. No, there's not very fine people "on both sides".
Mick
8 x 10
Beaujolais Nouveau
Mick looks like a combination of two people I know - Mike and Nick, hence his name. He had a lot of wine poured on him at the RAL 2018 Outdoor Show.