Charles Keenan's
~ Weekly Art Journal ~
July - December 2010
Last month I finished and released our newest book "Quiet Changes". It included a concept that I began to develop during family vacations to the sea shore, and I became determined to develop the concept further.
This new theme will be comprised of paintings of moments in history as my muse and I place sand in one another's hand, each asking the other to imagine being with them during a different time.
Monday, October 4, 2010
As I developed this theme I became concerned that I might become blind to the daily inspiration around me that has been the core of my work for over 20 years. Saturday, in the brisk early autumn morning, I sat on a bench at the end of a long university campus mall not far from where 2 of my children were taking music lessons. I had sat there many times before, and had often sketched the colorful people and buildings. I went through other sketches that I had not developed into paintings - sketches from coffee shops, dance classes, city hall's courtyard and classical music concerts - and slowly realized that ALL of those sketches SHOULD be paintings, and that to work on them now would erase my fears of 'losing touch' with daily inspiration. It was an exciting moment - an epiphany. 
So, now I am currently dividing my studio and my attention between those two themes - historical paintings and my usual paintings of daily life, and I hope to begin making my usual weekly posts to this journal once again.
Friday, October 8, 2010
While I continued to make progress on my "Sands" theme, I also began to develop paintings from the last few years of my sketches.
this is from a small string performance at the Kimmel Center...
a few lunches eaten in City Hall's courtyard produced the idea of 'crossroads of culture'
from my daughter Rose's dance classes 2 years ago
from the ever charming 1 Shot Coffee house
Friday, October 15, 2010
Worked on bringing several paintings from under-drawings to under-paintings...
Friday, October 29, 2010

Finished the first 2 paintings
for my new theme
"The Sands of Time"
As the year 2010 draws to an end I continue to develop 2 major new themes - one is observational paintings many developed from the sketchbooks that I carry, the other theme involves romantic travels through history.
I have completed 4 paintings for this "Sands of Time" theme...
...but the approaching holidays are beginning to limit the peace and quiet required for painting.
I am using some of my scattered available time to develop stories to accompany my 2 painting themes
and some time to replace many of my stiff and worn brushes 
Friday, December 3, 2010
after using these brushes to complete over 60 paintings some of them have worn while others have become stiff with dried paint deep in their base
eveything I need to make some new brushes
Friday, December 17, 2011
Finished another painting for my Sands of Time theme...