Sunday, December 23, 2012

Pemaquid Point

6" x 8"
Oil on Canvas Panel
$35 plus shipping

Ironically, I painted Pemaquid Lighthouse years before I ever visited Pemaquid Point, ME, and it turned out to be one of my favorite paintings.  Sarah and I drove out to Pemaquid Point on a whim as part of our trip north from Boston to Bar Harbor, Me., this summer, and it was incredible.  The ocean is full of color regardless of the coast, but I have never seen anything like this.  My painting does not do it justice.  I'm going to apply a heavy varnish to the painting once it dries a little more to bring out the colors and give it a wet look.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Orange Line

8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas Panel
$50

I've had this painting in mind for a long time now, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It's not pretty, but if you've ever taken the Orange Line back from DC after a long night, you might understand why it looks this way.

Morning and Evening




8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas Panel
'Evening'
$35 each - $65 for both

I had a bunch of paint left over after I finished "River Kayaking" so I squinted my eyes at a couple of photos and slapped on the paint as fast as I could in a loosely representational style.



8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas Panel
'Morning'

This one's really abstract, but I like it.  These would look nice side by side in wooden floater frames.

River Kayaking


8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas Panel

My Aunt Diane is in the Kayak next to her dog, Marley. Sister Katherine is wading toward her off to the right. I wanted this painting to be a lot less realistic and representational than it ended up, but it's really hard to paint that way. I'm trying to avoid replicating photos.

Bud

8" x 10"
Oil on HD Canvas
Commissioned

This is Bud.  He's an old dog now, but I turned back the clock for him in this painting. I think it turned out pretty well considering I've never met the dog and my only reference was a 2" x 2" photo print from many years back.

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.

Friday, July 13, 2012

River Paintings

The Point
8 1/2" x 11"
Watercolor on paper
Sold












River Cypress
8 1/2" x 11"
Watercolor on paper











River Chairs
8 1/2" x 11"
Water Color on paper











Sarah and I painted these during our river trip over the 4th of July holiday.  I painted the top two, and Sarah painted "River Chairs."  I like her painting the best.

I haven't done a lot of watercolor painting, but I'm really happy with how these turned out; especially The Point.  There is nothing I would rather do than sit by the water and paint. A beverage or two helps the process.

Storm on the Mesa

6" x 8"
Oil on Canvas Panel
$25










I painted this from a photo that I took out of the car window during our trip out west last summer.  The location is somewhere near the border of southern Utah and Colorado. Rain is rare in this area during the summer, so it was pretty cool to witness a storm on the mesa.

La Jolla Cove

12" x 12"
Oil on Canvas
Sold

This is La Jolla Cove in San Diego, CA.  The painting was originally 12" x 24", but I didn't like the other 12", so I sawed it off and re-stapled the canvas.  I did create a small rip in the canvas on the top left edge of the painting when I cut it so beware if you're interested in purchasing.

Friday, June 22, 2012

'The Garage'

12" x 16"
Oil on Canvas Panel
Not for Sale










There's a half-empty beer on the work-bench.  Drive by Truckers on the radio. He's working on something.  Someone sits in a folding chair, and the German Shepard watches close by.  Right now, it's summer, but it could happen any time.   Come on in. No need for TV.

Valley Visions














12" x 16" oil on canvas panel
Sold

My first year of teaching didn't leave a lot of time for painting.  However, I did manage to squeeze in a couple of paintings just before/during winter break.

Cedar trees with sunlight on them look warm no matter what time of year.  This is sort of how I picture the Shenandoah Valley in the middle of winter. I've had this image of cedar trees at sunset in the Valley in my mind for a while.  I'm not sure this is exactly what I had envisioned, but I like the way it turned out.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

St. John Dinghy















12" x 16" oil on canvas panel

Not for sale

I painted this over the summer.  I knew it was going to be a Christmas present, so I couldn't post it until now.  I have one more to post from the summer, but I need its recipient to send me a photo.  Hope you like. 

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Marriott Craft Show/New Paintings

Been a little while, huh?  I won't dwell on the fact that it has been almost four months since I've posted, but I guess I have to mention it...Tonight was the first night in over five months that I've been unoccupied and energized enough to paint.  Man it felt great!  Unfortunately, I can't post the painting because I'm probably going to give it away for Christmas.  But it's a good one...take my word for it!

Once again, the Marriott craft show was good to me.  I sold six paintings and Christmas is saved!  Thanks to my repeat buyers - I really appreciate your support!

I'll probably post the paintings after the holidays, but I'm not sure when I'll get to paint again.  On top of the twelve hours a day that I already work, I'm starting classes toward my master's in Special Education in January and the SOL's are approaching...How I will live through this, I'm not sure...Please send positive vibes my way.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

'Clearing'



12" x 24" Oil on HD Canvas
$150 plus shipping - Sold

This is a painting of the valley just west of the Bryce Canyon "Amphitheater" in Tropic, Utah.  I painted it back in the beginning of July after my wife and I returned from a 17 day National Park tour of Utah and Colorado - I've been a little lazy about posting.  I thought I would do a lot more painting from the trip than I've done, but I feel like none of my photos do the scenery justice.  Plus, I've been a little preoccupied with finding a job and now preparing for that job, which is teaching 8th grade Special Education English...I have a lot to learn and a ton of work to do so the posts and paintings may be limited for a while.  But, one of the many reasons I wanted to teach was so that I could have my summers off to focus on painting...ahh, already looking forward to summer!  Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze some paintings in this year, but we'll see.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

'Tomatos, Tomahtos'



8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Panel
Sold

Had a really tough time getting a good photo of this painting...It really does look better in person.

'DIFFICULT Run'



8" x 10" Oil on canvas panel


The scene is Difficult Run about a mile up from where the stream empties into the Potomac River in Great Falls State Park.  I painted it on site and the conditions were challenging...This was the first time I had ever tried hiking to a location with my travel easel so there was a bit of a learning curve.   To make matters more difficult, a small piece of the easel that keeps the paint and brush tray from sliding out broke off and all of my supplies emptied onto the ground...then I had to figure out a way to keep the tray from continually sliding out while I was hiking...Once I worked through the glitches though, I really enjoyed painting outside and hiking to my location.  The day was really overcast, which may have made the painting easier because there were fewer lighting changes.  All in all, I like the way the painting turned out and I can't wait to get outside again!

River Daylily II



6" x 8" Oil on canvas panel
$15 plus shipping

Almost didn't post this one because I didn't like the way it turned out...It's kind of interesting though.

Friday, June 10, 2011

'Avocado with Spoon'


6" x 8" Oil on Canvas Panel
Sold!

I was going to do a set; one with the pit in and spoon inverse and one with the pit removed and spoon concave...Didn't quite work out as planned.  I squirted lemon juice over the avocado which is supposed to stop it from browning, but by the time I was done with the first painting, the second half of the avocado was brown and I didn't feel like painting another one.  I like the way this turned out though - it's cheap, and would look nice hanging in your kitchen, or dining room.

By the way...best way, in my opinion, to remove the inside of an avocado is to cut it in half as shown above, remove the pit and make lengthwise slices.  Then, take your spoon and scoop it out...Try putting the slices on some toast...

Send me your commissions.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

'Belle Isle Footbridge II'



16" x 20" Oil on Canvas
Commissioned:  Sold


I received a request for a second, much larger, version of my original Belle Isle Footbridge painting and I was happy to oblige.  The larger version allowed me to expand on the detail of the original, pictured below:



I think it turned out well.  I only used three colors to mix the entire original painting as sort of an experiment, but I went with a full palette on the new version.  I think the expanded palette helped me to create more of a contrast between the shadow areas in the foreground and the brighter areas in the riverbed.

I'm searching for more commissions so let me know if you have any requests.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

'Pemaquid Lighthouse'



8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Panel
Sold!

This is Pemaquid Lighthouse in Maine...I started on this as practice because I didn't have anything else to paint, but it really came together nicely.  It may be one of my best impressionist pieces to date.  As usual, the painting looks much better in person.  It's tough to tell from the photo, but I added a tiny strip of blue to the right hand side of the painting where the fence-line ends.  The blue strip in the painting does not exist in  my reference photo, but I think it adds a nice new dimension to the scene.