Lighthouse on Bald Head Island, NC

During a week's stay on Bald Head Island, NC, earlier this month, we got to see a Loggerhead Turtle nest hatch, swim in the ocean, ride bikes, and of course, paint. This was a plein air piece I did of "Old Baldy," the signature landmark and non-working lighthouse of the island. Overcast and sputtering rain, I knocked this out rather quickly. I hope the Island weathers Hurricane Irene without serious damage!

"Old Baldy" / Oil on board / 8" x 10" / $275

German Village Art Crawl

I decided to apply for the German Village Art Crawl this year. I was juried in, and will be exhibiting at 835 South Fifth Street in downtown Columbus tomorrow night, Saturday, July 23 from 6 to 10 p.m. Feel free to drop by, say hello and inspect my latest works!

Garden and Home Portraits

Westerville, Ohio, has an annual backyard garden competition, with selected winners assigned to the "WesterFlora Garden Tour." Artists are invited to participate by painting scenes of the day.

I was sent to two homes adjacent to each other. The first was the Jane's (the mother) residence.

Her home boasted a round, wooden structure they called "The Moon Gate." I was intrigued and set out to paint it. With heat in the 90s and a sun/cloud/sun/cloud scenario, it was a struggle, but I eventually saw "light at the end of the tunnel."

Next I went to Courtney's (the daughter), and settled on a scene including their porch with an American flag. About two hours per painting. And the good news? A "double." Both homeowners purchased their respective "portraits" documenting the celebration of all their hard gardening work!

Thanks again to both Jane and Courtney for allowing me to paint their beautifully landscaped properties.

Top: Westerflora 2011 Portrait, 9” x 12” / Oil on canvas panel / SOLD

Bottom: The Moon Gate, 11” x 14” / Oil on linen on panel / SOLD

Refreshing Retreat

We (the Central Ohio Plein Air, a group I paint with regularly) went south to Hocking County today. What a treat to get out of the "flatlands" and into the Appalachian foothills! One of our COPA members had a friend, Barb, who owned a 20-acre parcel that is her weekend getaway. Barb gave us a tour, which included a look down from an observation deck at a rock-strewn stream with a little stream of water running over the edge of a large chunk of sandstone. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to get "down there!"

Working my way there, I lost my footing on the moss-covered rocks and fell to my knees, luckily carrying my Soltek easel, which suffered no harm from the fall. Back-tracked, I picked my way through undergrowth until I could set up in the middle of the small streambed. Barb said that spring runoff turned the trickle into a torrent, but for the time being, all was calm. The 12' x 16" oil took about 2 ½ hours.

Barb loved it when she saw it, and we worked out arrangements for the purchase. I called it "Refreshing Retreat" and Barb said it couldn't have been a more perfect title to connect with her!

Refreshing Retreat, 12” x 16” / Oil on canvas panel / SOLD

Feels Good!

After 7 months of not posting a single thing, it feels good to get "over the hump" and be involved online again. It's the "how do you eat an elephant" thing. Just a byte at a time! Once I got over the initial inertia required, it really doesn't take all that long.

I've decided to switch my iWeb blog to Blogger, so I'm uploading all my old entries and placing them here. Adding a few new ones as I go, you'll all think I've been relatively efficient through the last year. What a joy back-dating is!

Here's a new piece I'm mostly happy with. Stopped on the way back from a trip and snapped a few pics of a scene, then invented my own out of the raw material. I'm the fat hay bale in the front.

Fall Hay Bales, 11” x 14” / Oil on canvas panel / $435

Zebra: Full Color

After several years of total concentration on oil en plein air and studio pieces, I returned to the old nemesis, wildlife art. For a show in Yellow Springs, OH, “Nature Arts and Crafts Festival” at Glen Helen Ecology Institute, I decided to try my hand at a zebra. My intent was to see if I could incorporate my newfound looseness in oils while painting a realistic animal in acrylic, while looking for color, reflected light, watching my edges, etc.

I was relatively pleased with the final result. Amazingly, I was able to do about 85% of the painting holding the back end of the brush handle. Only eyelashes, bristles around the mouth, and occasional special details required me to “choke up” on the brush in this 20” x 24” painting on masonite.

I entered this piece into the BoldBrush Painting Competition, a national, online judged contest, for January. Sponsored by Fine Art Studio Online (FASO), artists from around the country (and beyond) submit images of their paintings. Judge Kyle Stuckey, a member of the famous Putney Painters surrounding Richard Schmid, selected this piece as one of the 17 Finalists (mine for Acrylic). In addition, I was voted into the top 15% of almost 1000 images received for the month! You can see it here: http://faso.com/boldbrush/winners/44.

Cactus Blooms

On a walk with my wife, we passed a planted bed of Prickly Pear blossoms. It brought back memories of trips to the Southwest, like the Tucson Sonora Desert Museum, where the heat was almost unbearable. That’s what I tried to communicate through this image.

I started this painting at an outdoor show late this summer, then finished up later in the studio. I was pleased with the loose indication of the vegetation rather than tight, super-realistic rendering.

Cactus In Bloom / 9" x 12" / Oil on board / $495