Art of Don DeLeva

I paint portraits in abstract form for people who realize humans are abstract personalities. -Don DeLeva

 I am told the LHC smashes particles together to find new ones and to understand how a "Big Bang " may have taken place. In one way I am not really concerned weather I am right or not about the purpose of the LHC, although I might find out I am utterly wrong about the purpose of the LHC.  What attracts me to the LHC is more about the side effects of smashing particles particles together and how many universes we bring in to existence and destroy during these smashing sessions.  Think about this, history repeats itself. What if human animals are just a force of nature,, like weather, that creates universes not only in thought but in physicality. Placing particles of minerals, metals and dyes in arrangements on wood panels for me is a way of creating a universe. Once you whitens it or you assign your own icons to the images if images are fabricated or hinted at. Enough for now, time to paint.  

Sometimes i just get ahead of myself. I forgot about the work and just get so involved with trying to find a place to show.  These last 2 month have been about getting my website in functional order. These last 2 years of fortune with two solos at Confluence and disrupting life changes have kept me focused on the basics of maintaining the every day. The heartbreakers for me have been the possible opportunities I had to back down from. The funny part is that I am not sure if these opportunities were fabricated by my own delusions or vague innuendos of reality.   I am happy to say that the last few years of trying to slow down time and listen to the moment has been really good for me.  Diving in to isolation and trying to control my own interpretation of time and control bring me far deeper rewards then any list of exhibitions. I can only be a message in a bottle or one weed that grows in the middle of the freeway on a rock in a infinite universe that offers each of us a limitless galaxy

Yellow Camero: 4"x6", oil on panel. 7-6-2023    I am kind of feeling a direction. these small paintings are coming out so fast. Currently, I am  painting with a turp + sun thick + cold press medium. It dries fast like overnight. I add cold press and damar as the painting progresses, in a fat over lean fashion. This mixture is very thin and blend ability of brush strokes is limited. it is almost best for drawing and scrubbing. However the sun thickened linseed oil is good but it's more about drying then getting a reflective pool of graduated color like stand oil does.  I'm telling you this because I have been thinking about a sunthick +  stand oil + turps mix. This should give me a full body, blend able medium that dries faster then just stand oil and turps. It will leave an enamel type finish and color.   

This is a Camero 4"x6" oil on panel. 2023bsai  This is the first of a suite of small paintings. It is called a Camero. Yes, it is like the car however it is spelled with an "e" instead of and "a". This is the first one.

  This is a Techina head that can be inverted to show the duality of the symbolize the positivity and negativity of all actions and nonactions.