Passing Storm

Passing Storm
8" x 10" oil on board
Commissioned - sold

This is the second version of this painting that I've done; the first is hanging in my bathroom.  My brother requested the painting, something with water and boats, for a coworker who's moving to the northern neck of Virginia.  I had already emailed a photo of the painting to my brother when I realized that I'd made a mistake. The horizon on the right was much lower than the horizon on the left...not physically possible.  So I scraped it off, got rid of a dock and boathouse and added a new horizon. The painting's called "Passing Storm," and I feel like the revised version does a better job of creating that effect.  Here's the original:

Here's the first one that's hanging in my bathroom:

View of Mt. Desert from Somes Sound, ME

8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas Panel



My wife and I toured the coast of Maine from Portland to Bar Harbor a few years back.  My favorite day of the trip was when we rented an old wooden Boston Whaler and explored the waters around Southwest Harbor, part of Great Desert Island; the island where Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park are located.  We saw lots of seals and wildlife, and we docked at an island that is only accessible by boat.  We found a lady selling sea-glass mobiles, one of which we purchased.

Somes Sound cuts directly into the heart of Mount Desert Island along the western edge of Acadia. The day was crystal clear with occasional white, puffy clouds casting shadows on the water and mountains.  I tried to capture the peacefulness of the scene in this painting.

National Harbor Fog

5" x 7"
Oil on board
Sold

Sometimes when I have leftover paint, I like to do a quick palette knife painting and just try to slap it down as quickly as I can.  That was my approach to this painting.  It took about thirty minutes to complete.  Maybe that's apparent...I kind of like this one though.  It's interesting.

The Lobster Boat

The Lobster Boat
8" x 6" Oil on HD Canvas
Sold

"The Lobster Boat" is hanging in a consignment shop in Maryland. I like the painting, but I'm not too fond of the name.  When I dropped it off, I hadn't thought of a name for it - I was at a loss, so the first thing that slid from my mouth was "Lobster Boat."  It is a lobster boat, but you can call it whatever you want.  The boat was parked at a dock in Portland, ME.  In reality, there were ugly cars parked on the dock and you couldn't see the water behind them.  The indistinguishable white thing across the water is, in reality, a fuel tank of some sort.  And there were a bunch of them, but that doesn't make for a very good painting.  So I got rid of the cars and gave the impression that the body of water continues upriver to the left.  I turned the fuel tanks into happy little white houses.  

The River

6" x 8"
Oil on Canvas Panel

I have painted and photographed this image countless times, but there's no end to the enjoyment I get from seeing it.  I painted this during my week at the river this August.  Sarah was reading, Riley was rolling around in the grass nearby, and I was sitting in the shade painting the view.

'City Harbor'

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Sold!

I wasn't going for the pristine harbor look that you might find in parts of British Columbia.  The photo that I worked from was taken by my wife in Vancouver, but this could be any city.  I just wanted it to look busy and urban - I think I got the busy part down...Hopefully it's not too busy.

New Framed Paintings

Email for Purchase Info: bohnec@gmail.com

'Boston Harbor Blues'

18" x 24" Oil on Framed Canvas

$250 Includes Frame

'River Day-Lilies'

11" x 14" Oil on Framed Canvas

$175 Includes Frame

"Dive Boat"

12" x 16" Oil on Canvas
Offers Accepted
Today's lesson: They can't all be masterpieces! Unlike my last painting that was a joy to paint, this one not so much. I felt like I was fighting with the paint and I never could get the balance quite right. Plus, I may have gone a little nuts with the knives. I got cocky after the last painting, but they put me back in my place today. There is a lot more mixing of color involved with this painting and my lack of experience with the knives became obvious. I guess it's all part of the learning process. The beauty is in your eyes right?

This is the one of the dive boats from Hamanasi Resort in Belize where my wife and I went for our honeymoon. Hamanasi is a small dive resort on the central coast of Belize in the Stann Creek District on the Caribbean Sea. I can't recommend the place enough if you're the type of person who does not enjoy crowds and a touristy, spring break type atmosphere. My wife and I did two dives during the week in addition to kayaking a jungle river, hiking through the jungle to a waterfall, tubing through a Mayan cave, snorkeling and a whole lot of good eating.

The boat is similar to the dead rise boats that the commercial crabbers use on the Chesapeake Bay. It has a V shaped hull so that it cuts through the waves,a center steering console, and a flat deck for easy maneuverability and equipment storage, plus, two, 225 horsepower Johnson outboard engines that really make it move.

"Tangier"

8" x 10" Oil on canvas
$150 includes shipping

This is Tangier Island in Accomack County, VA, in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The only way on or off of Tangier Island is by boat or plane. Despite its isolation, there are about 600 people who live there full time, mostly commercial crabbers. The residents of Tangier Island speak a dialect of early American English that is said to be unchanged since colonial times. Traveling there is literally like traveling back in time.

The colors here are a little different from my usual - kind of pastel I guess. Not a lot of bright colors aside from the yellow of the closest boat house. Tangier is a grimy, crab-centered, place and this painting reminds me of that. A storm has just passed - everything is wet and the sun is just now poking through. I can smell the menhaden.