'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.

'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.

'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.

'River Chairs'

5" x 7" Oil on Canvas Panel

I was anxious to use my new travel easel over the Memorial Day weekend at the river-house, but also anxious to fish, kayak, windsurf, catch crabs, ride bikes, and...relax. So, I designated two hours of my Sunday afternoon at the river for painting...Painting counts as relaxing so I killed two birds and downed a few Coronas in the process. Quite enjoyable I must say.

As for the painting...Conditions were tough, but such is outdoor painting. I mixed my paints beforehand because I wanted to get the scene down quickly before the light changed, but as soon as I had mixed my colors, the sun went behind the clouds. I tried to compensate, but may have overcompensated. Either way, I enjoyed it and I left the painting at the river-house for others to enjoy as well.

'Floyd'

5" x 7" Oil on Canvas Panel
Commissioned - Sold

Floyd is an Italian Greyhound, NOT a miniature Greyhound, which I'm told is the same thing as a whippet. I'm surprised Floyd turned out as well as he did given that all the while I was painting him, I thought he was a whippet.

I have a lot more time on my hands these days and I'm looking to do some commissions. Please contact me if there is anything I can paint for you.

'Into the Light'

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Panel
$40 Plus Shipping - Sold

Must have been in an interesting mood when I painted this one. It's a little dreary, but I like it. I've had this image in my head for a while now and it fell right into place. The scene reminds me of the rock quarry where my dad worked when I was a kid. There were hundreds of acres of land in addition to the rock quarry, most of which were undeveloped, or overgrown farmland with old barns and machinery like you see in the painting. None of the barns had electricity though - the light was added for interest.

Unfortunately, the camera was up to its old tricks so some of the colors in the image are not as subtle as they appear in person.

'Small Boat Dock - Alexandria'

16" x 20" Oil on Canvas Panel
Sold

I picked this image from a stack of reference photos at the Herndon Art Space where I recently finished a painting class. I painted this over the span of a few weeks and one day, while the painting was still in process, I was looking through the art instructor's website, and I discovered that she had painted the exact image. Here is a link to my instructor's version of the same painting, which was painted outdoors, on site:

http://www.blehert.com/gallery/pages/Small_boat_dock_Alexandria.htm

You might have to copy and paste the link because I don't know how to embed a working link...

In other news, I sold three paintings at my latest exhibit in Poolesville, MD. Pretty good considering the cafe where the paintings were hanging just recently opened and is still not well known.

I'm hoping to do some outdoor painting any day now, although my motivation is lacking of late. Inspirational comments appreciated!

'W&OD Herndon'

From New Paintings

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Panel
$35 plus shipping - Sold

I know this doesn't look like much, but I painted it outside on a windy afternoon in Herndon, VA.  Painting outside is challenging compared to painting in studio.  I plan to do a lot more outdoor painting now that it's getting warmer and my wife gave me an outdoor easel for Christmas.  Like I said, it was windy, the light was fading fast and I am an inexperienced outdoor painter.

'Warehouse District Train Yard'

16" x 20" Oil on Canvas
Sold!

Well hello...It has been a while.  It's true, I haven't been painting AS MUCH and I've been posting even less.  Unfortunately, I've been too busy with the job that pays the bills. I actually painted this back in January after visiting Asheville, NC with my wife.  We were sitting outside under some heat lamps at a brewery called, The Wedge, Brewery - so named because the brewery sits on a wedge of property between the street above and the train yard in front.  The train went by once and I kicked myself for not taking a photo because it was such a lonesome scene - the train rolling through at dusk with its light shining on the tracks and snow in front.  As fate would have it, the train stopped and then backed up into the same position as before.  Not wanting to tempt fate a second time, I ran out through the snow and snapped some photos. 

Tasty beers at the Wedge - I recommend touring the art galleries in Asheville's Warehouse District and then having a few.

'Two Apples Reflecting'

16" x 20" Oil on Canvas
$75 Plus Shipping

I set this still life up in my makeshift shadow box with glass in the bottom.   As usual, the photo doesn't do it justice - for some reason, the shadow at the bottom of the painting shows up a lot darker in the photo than it is in person.  I took several photos and this is the best I could manage. 

I'm happy with this painting - it's clean, meaning that there are no, or few, overworked, or muddy sections.  My main focus right now is cleanliness...I want to make one brush stroke and leave it because it's the right brush stroke. 

'Orange Tree Lake'

16" x 20" Oil on Canvas
$100

I'm taking an oil painting class at the Herndon Art Space with a local artist instructor.  This is the first painting I've completed in the class.  I can't say that I received a lot of instruction on the painting, but I think it came together well.  Just spending three, uninterrupted, hours painting with no distractions is helpful enough.  The teacher did provide one helpful suggestion and that was to bring the reflection of the sky out and to the bottom left of the painting.  This way, the reflection leads you into the painting, whereas I had originally painted it as a straight line from the horizon to the bottom of the painting.

What I don't like about the class and I guess there is no way around this in the middle of winter, is that we were painting from photos, and small, dark, photos at that.  The painting is quite different from the photo - I really had to move things around and create to make it work so that's good.  My biggest gripe against the photo and maybe this is the teacher's fault, is that she didn't know where it came from.  Hence the name, 'Orange Tree Lake.'  To my knowledge, Orange Tree Lake does not exist. I like to have some sort of attachment to my subjects so next time I'm bringing my own photos.

'Miles'

11" x 14" Oil on Canvas
Commissioned - Sold

This is Miles.  He's a Corgi/Lab mix and although I've been staring at his face for the last month, I wasn't able to meet him until today when I delivered his portrait to his owner.  He's a good dog and luckily, he looks a lot like his painting. 

Happy anniversary!

'The Beltway II'

8" x 10" Oil on Gallery Wrapped HD Canvas
Commissioned
Sold

Back by popular demand...Believe it or not, there was a little buzz surrounding this painting at the Marriott Craft Show.  More than one person wanted it and I felt bad that I couldn't give it to both, so I offered to re-paint it.  It took a little while to build up the motivation to try it again, but I had some meetings yesterday that required me to drive the beltway in its entirety and I came home inspired.  This one may be uglier than the original...

The photo makes it look a little more yellow than it is in person - not sure why.  Sorry this took so long - hope it brightens your workspace.

'Nighttime In the Valley'

11" x 14" Oil on Gallery Wrapped HD Canvas

Sold

I had a hard time photographing this painting - it's looks much cooler in person. Either way, I really like this one. And, it's 100% original. I did a painting a few months back called, 'In the Valley,' which was a landscape that I created. 'Nighttime in the Valley' is the same landscape, just....at night. It's a simple landscape, but to me it is reminiscent of the landscapes that I grew up with in the Shenandoah Valley. Hope you like.

'Mandarin Teapot'

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas Panel
Sold

For those of you who thought I'd gone crazy yesterday...you're probably right, but I'm returning to sanity today with a good ole-fashioned still life of mandarin oranges and my green teapot.  I like the contrast of the orange against the green and I think leaving some visible brush strokes makes a painting look more alive.  What do you think?

'Empty Mind'

16" x 20"
Oil on Canvas
Sold

Even as an "artist," I struggle to understand some abstract art.  The 20' x 20' blank canvas hanging in the museum of modern art is a mystery to me.  But, if you've read my previous posts, you know that I struggle with the idea of originality.  I do most of my work from photo references and while I do not simply copy photos, when you work from photo references as opposed to observing nature, or working from the mind, it's tough feel like you've created an original work.

I do a lot of reading on the subject (art) and I know that no matter how accomplished the artist, just about every artist, even abstract artists, use photo references.  This knowledge helps me to invalidate, or confront the negative feelings I have about using photos -

The point of this rambling is that pondering the idea of originality has had an unforeseen yet positive effect on my outlook in that it has lead me to a better understanding, or appreciation of abstract art.  While  there are limitless ideas and reasons for creating art, maybe some of those abstract artists have had the same thoughts I've had about what it means to create original artwork.  (Does that mean it's not original?)

So, with that weirdness in mind, I decided to try something new (new for me anyway).  And that was to see what would happen if I just painted without thinking (or while thinking as little as possible).   I did think about the colors that I wanted to use beforehand - earth tones, however the turquoise was a spontaneous decision as was everything else including the strange patterns.

I think it is well balanced, the color scheme works and could fit in just about anywhere.  It's tough to tell from the photo, but there are some really interesting patterns going on and while you may not want to hang it on your wall, I like it.  My first original painting!

Strange Path - Framed!

8" x 10" Oil on Panel
$75 - Framed - Sold

This is one of several paintings that I had framed for an exhibit that I have coming up in January.  The others are matted with glass over them and I'm trying to figure out how to photograph them without a reflection of myself in the glass...

I'm very impressed with how this turned out - the frame looks a little dark in the photo, but it has some reddish accents that really pull out the colors in the painting.  'Strange Path' will be on exhibit starting in January, but you can still contact me if you want it.  I'm trying to keep my prices down, but with the cost of framing, I had to up it a little -

'Girl on Beach'

16" x 20" Oil on Canvas Panel
Commissioned

If nothing else, this is the most creative title I've come up with yet...As for the painting?  I really like the shadows on the dress.  I didn't get a lot of direction from the "commissioner" as far as the layout or colors so let me know if you want any changes. 

'Heads Above Water'

16" x 20" Oil on panel
Sold

This is Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.  I guess it was around 3pm, but the sun was already going down on the town because of the steep hills to the south and west.   I tried to exaggerate the contrast of the cool shadows on the street and storefronts against the warm sun on the rooftops still peeking out.

In other news...My show at the Marriott landed another exhibit opportunity in Poolesville, MD at the "Connection Cafe."  Poolesville is a little bit out there, but it's a great opportunity to showcase my work and it sounds as though I can hang as many pieces as I want between January and March, 2011.   Thanks for the opportunity!

Between work and traveling EVERY SINGLE weekend I haven't had time to paint as much.  I do have a few things laying around that I need to post, but my plan, if I get some time over the holidays, is to work on a series of semi-abstract paintings with actual color schemes based on some images from Washington, DC.  I'm hoping at least one of them will be quite large in size...So look out!

Successful Day at the Marriott Craft Show

Well, the craft show turned out better than expected.  What a wonderful opportunity and a great group of people who work at the Marriott corporate office.  Everyone was extremely friendly and for anyone who took a card and is checking out the blog for the first time - Thank you!

I was a little nervous at first, especially upon witnessing the quality of arts and crafts for sale, including another painter with some pretty amazing work, but in the end the day was a great success.  I sold 12 paintings and received quite a few commission offers.  I'm going to reinvest in art supplies and step up the quality for next year! 

I went through tonight and "adjusted" the prices of many of the older paintings and updated the pieces that are sold.  By adjusted I meant lowered so look through and let me know if you want anything.  I'm also going to add prices to the Picassa web album. 

Thanks again!