On Hold

Due to unforeseen circumstances this blog is on hold until further notice.

View from McKay Road - plein air

"View from McKay Road" - oil on canvas panel SOLD

12 in x 9 in or 30.5 cm x 22.9 cm

Not exactly photorealist again, but done in a style of realism anyway. Painted en plein air (outdoors) late last summer. This painting is sold.

View from Picnic Drive - plein air

"View from Picnic Drive" - oil on canvas panel SOLD

12 in x 9 in or 30.5 cm x 22.9 cm

Not exactly photorealist to be certain, but done in a style of realism anyway. Painted en plein air (outdoors) late last summer. This painting is sold.

It does a body good

“Antique Milk Bottles”
Hand painted in oil on archival panel
8 x 10 inches
20.3 x 25.4 cm
original: not for sale at this time


This painting is complete. The two antique milk bottles came from Klondike dairy farm in North Carolina. I’m originally from Wisconsin, which is the dairy state. Some of my relatives are dairy farmers and others are retired dairy farmers (but they are not all dairy farmers). I did spend some time as a child at a couple of those farms and these bottles remind me of them. Well, I had a lot of fun making this painting even though I was interrupted by a lot of things in the process. I hope anyone reading this has enjoyed my “in progress” postings to this blog. I don’t think I’ll do “in progress” postings all that often.

Last leg of the milk run

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"

This will be my last "in progress" posting for this work. Sorry for the poor quality of this photo the final will be much better. I'm closing in on completion and the next post will be the finished piece. I've still got some work to do on the glass of milk, and a few other details here and there that are not quite right yet. I'm on the last leg of this milk run.

I could use a drink

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"



Detail

Yes, I could use a drink, but I'm finally painting again and it seems like it's been forever. At least I'm back at it and that's whats important. I worked on the labels today. The label on large bottle still needs some work, but I think the label on the small bottle is good. I'm happy with the progress I made today. I had a request or two for a detail shot. I hope the detail I posted will suffice. I'm sure I'll hear about it if it does not. Ha. Well, next I'll complete the small bottle, then the glass of milk and at that point I hope to have this one complete.

Palettes

Well, more of life getting in the way. I’ve got a couple of torn CV boots on my car that I need to repair plus a few other non-auto related things to do. It’s going to be a while before I get to work on and post an update to the milk bottles painting. Well, that's unless the weather is bad because I don’t have a garage to work on my car in. In the meantime I’m going to post a small glimpse of my studio space with a photo of two of my small palettes. I don’t use the wooden palette anymore. I do like and use the ceramic tile for working on smaller paintings because it’s easy to scrape off. I have a large piece of plate glass I've used as a palette since college in the 80's. I use that palette when I work on larger paintings. I’ll post a photo of it some other time.

The bottle is half... or... maybe I'm just full of it.

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"

Well, slow progress, I've had way too many interruptions. Sometimes life just gets in the way, but that's better than the alternative. Well, I'm back on the bottle now... I mean back in the battle now. This should not be taking so long. That being said, I worked on the large bottle and I'm happy with it so far. Also painted the background. You can't see it in the previous photos, but the background was very thin and see through (part of the painting in layers process). Now the background is complete. Just need to paint the label on the large bottle, then do the glass of milk, then fix some color issues with the small bottle, then get a lobotomy, and then maybe I'll be close to completing this painting.

Getting there is half the battle

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"

Worked on this yesterday and today. My eyes were bugging out last night. Anyway, I'm closing in on the halfway point. I'm fairly happy with the way all the glass is coming along. There is a lot of really small subtle details and so far I feel like they are working. This still life is really tough to see progress while I'm working on it. Now that I can look at the first photo from Monday and compare them I feel like I've made decent progress on the road to completion. I can't wait to finish this one. I think I may even like it for a few days when I'm done.

Work in progress

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"

Well, I wanted to make a point of posting more often. I usually only post completed works but I think every once in a while I'll show some works in progress. I'll write more on this one as I go too, but to start with, this is, or will be, a still life painting of two antique milk bottles with a glass of milk. The base tonal layer, and part of layer one is complete. This one has some very subtle color changes going on and I'm really enjoying working on it.

Happy Birthday Mom

"Grandpa"
Acryilic 24"x 28"

I’m working on some new paintings but it will be a while before they are dry and I can post them. In the meantime, I’ve decided post an old painting that I did WAY back in high school. This is a portrait of my grandfather who passed away years ago. Well, today it’s my mom’s birthday and that’s why I decided to post this portrait of her father. Happy Birthday Mom. Love you. Wish I could have been there to celebrate.

Holidays

Well, I'm on a break until 2009. The holidays are just too demanding this year for me to get any painting done. I hope to make a lot more paintings in 2009 and post much more often to this blog. Anyway, whoever does find and read this blog I wish you a safe, happy, and peaceful holiday season no matter what you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, something I'm not aware of, or even if you don't celebrate any particular holiday. All the best and happy new year too. See you in 2009.

Carolina Peaches

Carolina Peaches
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

Three Carolina Peaches hand painted in oil. A vineyard not all that far from where I live wants me to hang a few of my works for sale in their tasting room. I think this one would be a good candidate. I'll post the name and location of the vineyard once I've got some paintings there. These small still life paintings look even better in real life. The computer image takes something away from them.

Beehive Blender No. 1 relisted

"Beehive Blender No. 1"
6x6 inches
Original still life hand painted in oil.

Hay Bales No. 4

Hay Bales No. 4
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

My fourth 6"x6" small landscape painting. Titled “Hay Bales No.4” This is the fourth in a series.
I enjoy making these landscapes of hay bales. There is just something about them.

New works

I have not posted in a while. I do have some new oil paintings started. One is almost complete. I also have to wait for them to dry before I can scan and post them. The cold weather has them drying much slower. The last two weekends I was able to get out and shoot some pictures of the fall colors. I have to go through them and decide which ones are good reference material for some new paintings. I use a variety of working methods and sometimes that includes photo reference.

Applesaucer

"Applesaucer"
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

I removed this painting and reworked it. There were one or two small things that I just didn’t like. Now I think it really works well.

Lemon and a half

"Lemon and a half"
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

Here is a still life of a lemon and a half of a lemon on a saucer. I thought this composition would make a nice painting. For such a simple still life there sure is a lot going on. The light blue cloth, the red orange and yellow of the lemon, the blues and yellows reflected in the saucer, and the subtle purple in the shadows. Not to mention the translucent quality of the lemon half.

Hay Bales No. 3

Detail


Hay Bales No. 3
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

My third 6"x6" small landscape painting. Titled “Hay Bales No.3”
This is the third in a series.

Hay Bales No. 2

Detail



Hay Bales No. 2
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

My second 6 x 6 landscape painting. Titled “Hay Bales No.2”
If you like my work or visit my BLOG please leave comments or send me an email. A link to contact me is on my profile page. Would love to hear from you. Right now I don't think many people even know I'm on here. I've decided to lower my reserve prices on auctions to hopefully jump start a few sales.