Blockbuster...

Blockbuster

16x8,Oil/Canvas Board

When I moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1992, this old pink building was the headquarters for Blockbuster Videos. It is an architecturally interesting old building, but today all I needed was this side since I was really more taken with the tree and its white bark in the morning light. As the painting was nearing completion, my friend Eden encouraged me to add the parked vehicles. I think her suggestion taught me a lot about the spontaneous accuracy I have been searching for... paint your subject matter like it is fixing to drive away... because it did... A lesson I will carry into the New Year!

Palm With A View...

Palm With A view

30 x 9.5 Oil/Canvas

I attempted to do this painting en plein air earlier this year. The tall and narrow format of the stretched canvas made it very awkward for working outdoors... combined with the rapidly changing light and over abundance of info, it quickly became a wiper! Fortunately, I came across the reference photo I took, found the toned down canvas and did this studio version of Palm With A View. Remembering the feel of the day as I painted from the photo helped me to hold onto my plein air approach while enjoying an ample amount of time to work with no changing light.

Wet Paint, Plein Air...

2nd & Himmarshee

5.5x12 Oil/Panel

It was a clear & breezy morning that made our Winter day temperature of 68 feel pretty brisk... wearing a jacket with a hot cup of coffee in hand, our Florida blood gets thin!

Palms Up...

Palms Up

8x6 Oil/Canvas Panel

Painting out last Saturday, I was taken by how the edges of these palm fronds became a silvery gray blue against the cloudy sky. The sun peeked out just long enough to illuminate the tree on the left, warming up its silhouette. There is a lot of paint on this canvas, and today became just dry enough to photograph.

Frederic's Cadillac

Frederic's Cadillac

Oil/ Canvas 12x12

This is the Cadillac that belonged to Frederic Bartlett, the builder of Bonnet House. It is parked and on display in the garage there. This is a studio painting from a photo I took while on one of my many plein air outings there.

Wet Paint, Plein Air...

The Source II 12x9 Oil/Canvas Panel

I actually had another view in mind when I went to Riverwalk to paint with my friends, Saturday Morning. When I walked around to the other side of the fire hydrant in last weeks painting, I stopped in my tracks. I was astounded by the possibilities the morning sun presented as it played with the elements in this simple scene.

Wet Paint, Plein Air...

The Source 8x10 Oil/Canvas Panel

Be Seated 6x8 Oil/Canvas Panel

Clockwise, I got an early start painting Saturday Morning, but as we know, the sun waits for no man, nor bows to the idea of "Daylight Savings Time".. ending or beginning. I was there right on time to catch the shadows of this hedge behind the fire hydrant and the glow of the sunlight as it hit the group of palms, in The Source. I stayed with it a little longer than I meant to... lingering, yet again. Since it was still early and such a beautiful day to be out painting, I chose to do another painting. An Autumnal wedding celebration was being set up right beside me, with lushly colored fabrics and dark table cloths. This time I simply turned the easel to face the tables, found my composition and set the timer for 6o minutes to do Be Seated. Setting a definite time limit along with my focus totally recharged me... the intense scrutiny and intent to put in on and leave it alone. I am Okay with both of the outcomes, the steady and the quick, but I look forward to finding something in the middle next time.

Morning...

SOLD

..."Morning without you is a dwindled dawn"-Emily Dickinson

This quote became the inspiration for this 7x5, Oil/Canvas Panel as I tried to reproduce the brilliant way the first light of the day comes through the bedroom window, across the rug and into the quiet darkness of the room.

Wet Paint, Plein Air...

SOLD

It was an early start to a beautiful morning painting at Bonnet House with the low slung cast shadows of the garden walls and the vegetation beyond. Keeping my shadowed areas illuminated was my goal with this 8x10 Oil/Linen Panel. I am sure enjoying the occasional addition of Indian Yellow to my pallet. It is especially noticeable in the warm green foliage of the tree beyond the opening of the wall.

Wet Paint, Plein Air...

Painted Palms 12x12 Oil/Linen Panel

Private Collection

Plein Air painters are without a doubt some of the finest people to spend time with... painting , laughing and sharing ideas, all outdoors in nature. We had a great time painting Saturday morning and I couldn't help but just have fun and let go with this painting.

Blackbirds At Dusk....

Oil/Wood 9x16

Sitting in traffic at a red light the other evening, I passed the time watching several large flocks of birds moving like a roller coaster in the sky as they were deciding where to roost for the night. Their movements were amazing and I imagined the thrill they must be having... it was thrilling just to watch how fast they were moving and with such choreography.

I did this today from memory in the studio using a limited pallet of Manganese Blue, Cad Yellow Light, Ivory Black and Titanium White. I also used a warm gray that I made from mixing the leftovers on my pallet from the day before to temper the blue of the sky... that worked really well.

Here is my question about this painting... I did it with an upcoming abstract show in mind. In concept I saw this possibly working... I will be the first to declare that abstraction is not my forte... is it too defined to work for this show? Probably just by asking the question, the answer is already "Yes!"... oh well, I still have two days before drop off ...

Wet Paint, "Coming Around"...

SOLD
Coming Around Oil/Canvas 18x18

For this painting on Sunday, I revisited a reference photo that I used for Towing The Line, an earlier painting. This time, I zoomed in on the focal point, cropping out much of the background info. I was attracted by this man moving his boat from one side of the dock to the other... man versus machine... using just a rope, a piling and determination.

I apologize that my photo has a bit of a highlighted glare. I felt this photo shows accurately the richness of color and the textures of the painting as I built it up in the alla prima approach... constantly moving and working the overall painting with brush and pallet knife.

60 Minutes...

Andrews Bridge, Silver Day

Bonnet House Structures, Morning

For each one of these 6x8, Oil/Canvas Panels, I set a timer for 60 minutes, start to finish. I have no plans for hitting the road as a speed painter... I hear that gig is already taken... it was just an exercise in keeping the brush moving and the eyes open, hopefully with synchronicity.

Captain Jack's Wharf 2009...

A trip to Provincetown would be incomplete without a painting of Captain Jack's... so I did it again. This 7x9.5 version was painted when the sky was starting to pick up some pink hues from the approaching sunset. The shiny low tide made for some nice muted reflections. The Marsha Savage pastel collection I brought worked nicely for this last painting on our last day on the Cape.

The first time I saw Captain Jack's was twenty-five years ago. Since this was before the self-isolation days of the iPod, you were carried along the dock by music played from an LP. The speakers were set up discretely among all sorts of groovyness. We didn't stay there, but I do remember the music being the type that would make any pirate want to come to shore with roses for his mate.

Incoming....

About five o'clock one afternoon, I walked over to the Moors to see what I saw. It had been a cloudy, rainy day so I was pleased to see that the lowering sun was making a presence as it prepared to go rest. When the tide comes into the Moors, it comes in fast!... so, with no easel this time, I stood with paper in hand to do this 6x9, Pastel/Sanded Paper. About a half hour into it, a fine mist of rain started leaving small pock marks on the surface of the paper. I had the basic info I needed to pull it together, so I packed up, went back to the cottage and finished it at the table.

Painting In The Dunes...

Photo-Ken Tackett

Since I decided to pack light for this vacation to Cape Cod, I took a set of Terry Ludwig pastels that I thought would work best for the local terrain, 60 Deborah Paris' Plein Air. This collection has a great assortment of sandy and grayed colors plus a nice. limited range of greens. I found I was getting frustrated by the tones I was seeing versus what I was putting on my paper. It wasn't until I finished this 7x12 on Sanded Paper that I realized I had packed a different set!... the 60 Marsha Savage Southeast. This is a beautiful collection, nonetheless, and in hindsight, I see my mistake took me literally out of my box and made me look for accurate values using what was on hand.

Plein Air, Cape Cod

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We are in Cape Cod for the week. I am traveling light this year with only a box of pastels, a few sheets of sanded paper, and no easel! I actually thought it might be a vacation where I would do everything except paint. I am having a great time with my friends, running into old acquaintances and making new ones, but I started getting a little on edge with the "not painting idea". I took about an hour this morning before lunch and walked over to the Moors to do this 6x9, pastel/ Sanded Paper. This is a spot I have painted at many times before, and was only too happy to be here again looking out toward the dunes and painting...

Plein Air, Bonnet House...

I got an early start painting today with my friend Janet, at Bonnet House. I did this 6x8, Oil/Linen Panel, Raking Light. We both walked away from my painting spot a few times during the process and found it extremely funny how my painting seemed to keep getting smaller and smaller each time we came back upon it.... My plan had been to do several small quick 6x8 studies today. Instead, I got captivated by the Banyan-like tree... probably a ficus, of sorts... with its multiple trunks and the glowing yellow trim of the Bonnet House as the morning light crept up on the bank and across the lawn. Next time we are setting a timer to limit ourselves to an hour for each 6x8 canvas ....

Tarpon Bend Morning

In this 12x6, Oil/Gessoed Panel, I wanted to emphasize the high key of the clear morning light as it contrasted against the lower key of the cool shadows. I quickly put in the sunlit areas first to hold the shadowed areas in place... amazing how fast the sun rises, leaving a very small window for this sort of view.

Plein Air, Tarpon Bend

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It was a bright and beautiful morning here today painting with my friends, so this 8x10,

oil/canvas had no choice but to be bright, clear and fun ... just how I saw it, folks.