Welcome to pbrennan's gallery

The Beach  

Acrylic on canvas 20 x 24

(2009)

This image evokes many peaceful hours spent on tropical beaches mostly in the Caribbean. I’ve substituted an orderly background for the randomness of the natural scene—it’s an experiment in form and color that pleases me. 

Poppies  

Acrylic on canvas 12 x 30

(2022)

This is one of the series I produced, mostly as an experiment in form, color and texture. The paint for the flowers was applied using a pastry bag and the stems were drawn using a paint marker. I used more realistic colors for the flowers but varied the backgrounds with bold yellows and greens to give it the abstract quality I favor.

Homage to Meis 

Acrylic on canvas 18 x24

(2022)

This work was inspired by my appreciation of the Farnsworth House designed by Meis Van der Rohe. Though not precisely representative, my idea was to evoke the orderliness and balance of the design and surroundings. I purposely used bolder colors rather than attempt to replicate the actual colors and forms because I wasn’t trying to portray the actual bu

Club Room 

Acrylic on canvas 16 x 20

(2009)

When I created this painting I had fun playing with the notion of perspective and art deco themes. The resulting image suggests a sophisticated club room or the billiard parlor I used to spend time in. 

Green Sea I 

Acrylic on canvas 24 x 20

(2024)

This abstract tactile image suggests movement and fluidity. The contrasting red and blue forms are not meant to be representative but, rather, pollutants or interruptions against a vast background.

Marvelous Party 

Acrylic on canvas 20 x 24

(2008)

Borrowing the phrase from Noel Coward, I had many marvelous parties at my home in Boston and this painting as this painting reminds me. Balloons of various colors suite the occasion and the harlequin diamonds I painted on the walls can be seen in the background. 

Asian Forest 

Acrylic on canvas 24 x 36

(2021)

This painting began as an entirely different idea but evolved into one of my favorites. For months it stood on my easel uncompleted. I knew I wanted the texture that the black lines provided, and was thinking of a map I had seen. Had I planned the circular “leaves” I would have painted them first then added to black trunks, but I ended up doing it the ot

Forest 

Acrylic on canvas 24 x 36

(2023)

I had seen some large triangular sculptures at a park in the Catskills that reminded me of pine trees and I thought I could experiment with using those forms to evoke the quiet majesty I love most about the forest. I used a black wash in the background to suggest nightfall and an oversized red sphere which could be the sun or moon. The finished work expresses 

Disarray 

Acrylic on canvas 24 x 36

(2024)

This work is intentionally stark and unsettling. The image of the sullied globe towards the center of the painting is interrupted by a series of red-orange kinetic outbursts, at one steady but random.

Skyscrapers 

Acrylic on canvas 24 x 36

(2022)

A wall of skyscrapers has emerged along Central Park South over the last fifty years that I have spent time there and that wall of towers inspired this painting. The irregular darker shapes between and behind these abstract forms are not shadows per se, but nearby canyons of smaller buildings receding in the distance. The muted background represents neith

Behind the Chorus Line

Watercolor on paper 10.5 x 14

(2023)

This image suggested itself to me one afternoon when I was playing with watercolors. Not many of my paintings are representative, they’re mostly abstractions. But this one makes me laugh. 

Fast Car 

Watercolor on paper 12 x 16

(2023)

This image is meant to suggest movement and relates to my unrepentant love affair with cars. 

Untitled 17 

Watercolor on paper 14 x 20

(2022)

This abstract watercolor suggests a playful interplay between appealing forms and complimentary colors. Thin green lines connect two solid blocks of bright yellow and orange.

Untitled 4 

Watercolor on paper 14 x 20

(2022)

This abstract watercolor suggests a playful interplay between appealing forms and complimentary colors. Olive and gold blocks are separated by a red stripe.

Bound Guy 

Watercolor on paper  16 x 12

(2023)

This image is more impressionistic than accurately representative. It’s intended to suggest eroticism without being plainly erotic or appealing to the prurient. 

Fingerprints I 

Watercolor on paper 15.5 x 11.5

(2023)

My fingerprint paintings (I and II) are an experiment in color and patterns. (They are not actual fingerprints). This one is bright yellow and purple on a white background.