Lobster Traps, 10x12

What says 'Maine' more than a pile of lobster traps waiting to be put to work.   Bouncing around on a floating dock made small marks difficult....but at least we were out of the wind sheltered by the stone bulkhead opposite the one you see.

The challenge was to find a way to say 'lobster trap' without actually painting in all the wire mesh they are made of.  Did you know that lobstermen pay $250 to $500 for each trap?  That makes losing one a pretty significant deal and, since there were lobster wars taking place, quite a number of them are now sitting on the bottom of the ocean with no buoy to show where they are or rope to retrieve them.

Happy Thanksgiving!  (Lobsters must breathe a sigh of relief)

Desert Rains, 10x12

Just outside of Tucson, somewhere to the east, a large spring comes out of the ground.  It was turned into a reservoir for a ranch and now is a park.  Fish swim lazily from pool to pool in the shallow water.  Waterfowl swim in and out of the trees and the air has a fresh scent from the flowers.  You can stand in all the lushness and stare out at tall cactus, rock and sand, dry as a bone, and watch as the rains evaporate before hitting the ground.  A refreshing place.

This was painted there several years ago but didn't make the cut.  I stumbled on it going through one of my boxes and realized that it just needed a few strokes to pull it together....so I added them the other night and think it's good enough to be called a study for something larger.  Who knows when that might happen....

Runoff, 11x14

Water is great fun to paint.  It gives me such a satisfying feeling to lay on thick and chunky paint with all sort of color nuances.  I think this is the fourth or fifth painting at this little curve in the stream....and the only one that I kept.  It was the rocks, not the water, that refused to look right, either being too modeled, too gray, too colorful, or uninteresting in shape variety.  Most people looking at paintings don't realize how many 'don't make the cut' but hopefully will eventually lead to a successful one.

Spring's Blossoms, 11x14

Easter Sunday.  While riding the ferry back from an early Easter breakfast I was thinking that all our holidays are about appreciation, recognition and hope (OK. Halloween doesn't exactly fit too well).

Hope is what keeps me going in life, and there is nothing so much that way than the flowers of Spring.  So many blossoms coming out in a flurry of color and shape, each one designed for the future....yet so fragile and temporary.  I like the internal patterns of the branches in this painting as they frame quirky little vignettes of the sky, flowers and leaves.

There are a some other blossoms I have in mind to paint if the weather and my energy level and my commitments all line up that I can actually get to them.  Can't wait.  I'm hopeful.

Morning Harbor

Greetings from Prince Edward Island! Boston to Camden, Maine to PEI....what a great trip. I brought acryics this time because the person I was painting with is allergic to solvents. Plein air acrylics present their own problems but the fast drying time is always a pleasure when packing for traveling.

This is a quick morning study of a boat that tends the mussel lines that hang in the harbor. I was trying to subdue and abstract the background so the focus was clearly on the boat. This would have been easier with oil and I may try to repaint this both larger and in oil later this month. I'll post more when I get back on Thursday.

Bob's Tepee

This 12x14 was also painted before breakfast one morning. I wanted to catch the light just as it first lit parts of the tepee. As soon as the light hit the right spots I placed them and continued with the rest of the painting. When light strikes a cone shape it does strange things and does them quickly. In only forty minutes it had traversed to the other side.

I almost didn't paint this as it is so much a western stereotype, the symbology tending to overcome the rest of the work. It looked like fun so I did it anyway. Perhaps it's fodder for a larger piece. I do like the repetition of cone shapes that the trees add.

Deanna's Sunflowers, 12x12

Here is another from the Bitterroot Valley....that I painted in my pajamas. I woke up and there it was in the morning light. I have another 'before breakfast' painting that I'll post tomorrow.

I'm finding it difficult to get the color/value balance in these paintings. After I finish here I will reload the last post to make it more accurate, I hope. Even in this one the colors are just a bit too intense...but you get the idea.

Bitterroot Morning

I got an hour free to go down and paint the Bitterroot River south of Missoula. Free from what, you ask? From helping my friend write his drawing book. I'll post something about it when it gets published.

This image will likely have to be reloaded once I'm home as the colors/values appear incorrrect on his computer. We'll see.

Simple palette. Cobalt blue, Cad red med, Cad Yel Med, Cad Yel Light and Raw Umber. It makes for quick color cohesive paintings, even if it lacks some of the vibrancy of a fuller range of colors.

'The Drawing Session'

Here is another painting, 18x24, done at our weekly session. It's my friend, Cliff, who is a very talented artist, both fine and graphic. Look closely. Click on the image to enlarge it. Find the hidden image which will show you that this was painted over a different painting.

The photo is not as representative of the painting as I would want, but it still gets the idea across. I like the expression on his face and the slight leaning forward as someone would be doing while drawing.

'Bob'

Bob--16x20
I've been so busy with the book, painting the house, cleaning the studio and whatever that there hasn't been much painting time. Bob was the model at our painting group a few weeks ago. I like models that are animated while they are posing; it gives them life. Bob is a talker, but his stories are terrific. So much so that I think I only spent 2 hours on this painting....the other hour went to breaks and listening to his tales. I hope his spirit comes through in the work.