Dog Hill, Cherokee Park

"Dog Hill, Cherokee Park"

11x9", oil on canvas

I have been thoroughly enjoying painting from sketches done on location, much more then plein air painting lately. Maybe it's a phase, but I feel I am having good results. I still get the outdoor experience but can tweak a painting to my liking in the studio. It's the best of both worlds.

C & O Trail

"C&O Trail"

Oil on board, 24x18"

Last week I posted a couple sketches that I did at the C&O museum in Maryland, before a storm ran me out. This painting is produced from a reference photo while working that day. For a while the light was brilliant as I sat below the bridge that crosses the canal. There was just enough shade to work under.

Harpers View

"Harpers View" 

oil on canvas, 12x9"

I spent part of last weekend in the Northern Va area, painting in the cemetery at Harpers Ferry, WV. It is such a beautiful location. I edited the scene a great deal, for artistic and sacred reasons. Still the painting turned out much to my liking.

Spencer County Farm Lane

"Spencer County Farm Lane"

Oil on canvas, 14x18"

I went out sight seeking a couple of days ago, to seek both inspiration and composition. I didn't end up with a whole lot of material, but I had enough to work with to be able to combine photographs together, to make several potential paintings. This is the first.

Black Mountain, oil on board, 14x11"

I returned yesterday from NC full of inspiration. As a landscape painter, I am always invigorated by change of scenery, large expansive spaces containing small intimate shapes.  I tried to capture the light that took over the area for a few moments. The fields were illuminated and shaded by the swift clouds which made for some nice patchwork.

Lit Forest Floor

"Lit Forest Floor", 10x8", oil on panel

The weather turned hot yesterday, which provided the perfect opportunity for an early morning hike.  It also provided the perfect opportunity to have the forest to myself. And I wish it was mine. Creek crossings and lots of limestone, pooled water (my dog enjoyed that), bird calls I haven't heard in a season,  drystack walls from multiple generations back, moss starting it's spring coat and more. It was senses overload for a good morning.  The tree canopy is yet to grow, but I will be back.

"Lofty Space", oil on board, 20x16"

I have been wanting to do an interior for a while, since wintertime is generally when we turn inward, literally and figuratively. This scene from a lofted building is a photo I took last winter about the same time. I thought it would be an easy one to start with, but it got the best of me. While most of the scene is outside the windows, I attempted to paint it so it would be secondary to the viewer, with the bright empty space being the more important. I hope I pulled it off. It is hard for me to gage since this is my first interior.

Purple Plant

"Purple Plant", oil on gessobord, 7x5"

This house had a streak of light dancing across it when I took it's photo. It was also framed in green, which often happens in my neighborhood which thankfully contains old-growth trees.  I had to rework this one a couple times to get angles right and lines un-crooked.  It was such a sweet little house, I wanted to do it justice.

Labor Day

Labor Day, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

I started this painting on Labor Day but wasn't satisfied with it in order to post that day. So here it is, tweaked here and there.  Labor Day weekend was a very productive painting time period for me. This is the last one that came out of that binge and I like it! It's like icing on a cake!

Open Road

Open Road, oil on gessoed board, 24x18"

I've been working on this one for the last three days.  It is not one I felt rushed to finish, and allowed myself the time to think about attempting new things and changing others that I felt weren't working. The photo I worked from was taken on my trip last summer where we drove from Louisville to Colorado, Utah and New Mexico and saw non-stop beauty along the way. This was a simple highway scene, to contrast the grand-scale beauty within those states, but it was it's simplicity that brought me to it.  Sometimes the simplest things go unnoticed within the grand scheme of things. As Ghandi said, "Simplicity is the essence of Universality"

Parklands #3

Parklands #3, oil on Arches oil paper, 16x12"

I've been using wonderful references photos as a starting point for for my paintings in this series, but eventually I reach a jumping off point and focus on what's unfolding.  These painting have definitely been an experiment for me. When I gave up painting in 1990, I had reached a point where mark making was just as much a part of the final interpretation, as the image itself.  When I returned to painting (almost 2 years ago) I thought I would pick up where I left off. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. But that's ok, because in all the experimentation, I had the opportunity to explore different methods, re-learn aspects of painting that where forgotten, and learn what I like and what I don't.  This is still evolving and will continue to do so. For now, I am struggling with working through a painting and not giving up on it. I guess this is a metaphor for  a lot of things in our individual lives - not giving up. I will always be an eternal student, so as frustrating as the challenge can be at times, I welcome it. 

Morning Shadows and Red Bud

Morning Shadows, oil on gessoed paper, 12x9"

I was walking my dog this morning on this cold, clear day and returned to find the sun blasting my neighbors garage. I ran inside, grabbed a piece of gessoed watercolor paper, brushes, turp and medium, and I threw some paint on my palette. I moved quickly because I didn't want to lose the light.  Twenty minutes later (I was moving really quickly!) and with frozen hands and legs (I was standing in shorts) I finished this little painting. I am quite happy about a few things here: that I was able to pull this off so fast - actually the majority of my life has been pretty spontaneous so I shouldn't be so surprised, and that I improvised in a few ways I wasn't used to and it still worked. My hands have warmed up enough to type so I will just say, maybe another quick painting later today.

Dynamic Duo

Dynamic Duo, oil on hardboard, 10x10"

I went a little bigger with this one. The shadows were definitely more wonky then whimsical. I tried to convey that.  

*One corner of the painting is 1/8" wider because I cut this board myself and went past my cutting line. * 

Shadows 2

Shadows 2, oil on gessobord, 6x6"

Here is the 2nd in the series of shadow paintings. I think I'm  hooked.  Advice: if you are in a rut of any size, shift your gears.  I've always looked at shadows as whimsical, but they are becoming a joy to paint.

Shadows

Shadows, oil on gessobord, 6x6"

Several weeks ago, when the weather in Louisville had turned cold but sunny, I took a walk on the city's pedestrian bridge that crosses the mighty Ohio river. There seemed to be an abundant amount of cyclist that day. I began to notice all the shadows taking different shape the closer they came to me. I snapped a few photos to paint from and noticed when I zoomed in the actual shadow took on a more beautiful form. I may do a few more paintings from the photos, but I think it is a good start! #251