River Reflections detail 2

"River Reflections" showing a detail of the shoreline.

River Reflections detail 1

Detail of River Reflections showing brushwork on trees and river.

River Reflections

New painting- details to follow.

Went to the Outer Banks

Just got back from a week at the Outer Banks where I shot this image as we looked out across the Currituck Sound from the Whalehead Club. I always drop by this spot every time I'm down there to see what's happening with the light and I am rarely disappointed.

Cedar Island

Here's another old favorite that sold recently. Painted in 2003, it is now in a great home and is being cared for lovingly. Like the previous post, this one has some sentiment attached to it as well. I dedicated it to Gil Stone, my painting instructor at the School of Visual Arts who I studied with back in the 70's. While I was working on this piece, I learned that Gil had not survived that era and had been gone for many years. It came as a shock to me and I ended up corresponding with some old friends and students of his regarding his life and work while I was working on this piece. It's painted at dusk, the bow is pointed out into the bay and there's no one at the wheel- Just the way I was feeling.

Snow on the Poe House

Just sold this piece last week and I've got mixed feelings about letting it go. Created in 2002, this painting was the first piece I did after several years of absence from painting due to illness, so it has a special meaning for me. I spent way too much time on it, and it has some obsessive compulsive tendencies, but now it has a new home and I have to let it go. I've been working on some new pieces lately and my mind is set on them.

Trekell Brush Artists

Here's a a video Trekell brushes created that shows artists at work with their brushes. They invited me to participate in their featured artist program a couple of years ago and this video was a recent addition to their site.

Quiet Clearing

This grove of trees appeared to me out of the fog as I rounded a corner on a winding back road somewhere in Goochland County. These trees all appear to have been planted at the same time - probably put there to replace a previous forest that had been harvested. I like the rhythms that are created by the repeated pattern of the trees as they recede into the mist. The old tree trunks lying on the ground in the foreground held my attention as well.

Peace Tree

This painting depicts a huge evergreen tree in the Constitution Forest outside of Lexington, Virginia. I pulled over in the deep fog to read the historical marker and stood underneath this old tree for quite some time. The marker reads as follows:

"In 1938, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the United States Constitution, the Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored the planting of Constitution Forest in this area. With the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the United States Forest Service, the memorial forest commemorates the Virginia framers of the Constitution. In 1987, the 45 acres of red and white pine seedlings have matured to a forest that provides protection for birds and other wildlife as well as for the watershed of the James River."

St. Michael's Church Show

Here's the announcement for my current show which opened on Friday night the 9th of April. We had an excellent turnout and had to send out for more wine. The show will run through May 7th and showcases 6 new paintings, two recent paintings and one from the permanent collection at home. St. Michael's church has an ongoing artist exhibition schedule and invited me to show for the month of April. The church is at 8706 Quaker Lane in Bon Air, Virginia.

Crossroads

Crossroads is the first image in a series of paintings I just completed. This lonely old building sits on the edge of a pasture at the intersection of two county roads that stretch away in either direction outside of Lexington, VA. I knew when I saw it that I liked this old store or filling station as they used to be called. I look at the chimney and can imagine the smoke curling out of there on a freezing winter morning, I look at the space underneath the covered porch and wonder how a car could ever pull in there comfortably and I look at the siding that is falling away and think about the stories that were told around the pot bellied stove that probably sat in the middle of the floor. I have decided to paint this entire series with a limited palette of five colors. Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Pale and Flake White. Seems to be working well and I can supplement with the occasional spot of color as needed.

Buffalo Barn

The Forks of Buffalo is a crossroads outside of Lexington Virginia where I found this old barn. The strong geometry of the shape of the barn juxtaposed with the soft shapes of the hills that surround it really stood out for me. The addition of the small smokehouse on the right made it even that more interesting and I love the scalloping of the trim along the roofline of the main barn.

Open Fields

"Open Field" is a recent small painting taken from some reference material collected last winter at the farm of one of my collectors. He had asked me to do a commission piece for him and while I was there I observed this view of his pastures as the clouds made a bid at hiding the sun from view.

Size Doesn't Matter

Glave Kocen is hosting a small works show this week and I will have two paintings on display. This has become an annual event and is the third year that the gallery has sponsored this show. My paintings "Grey Barn" and "Open Field" will be available for purchase through the gallery.