Studio Sept 22, 2013

Studio shot this AM. Ann and my December show is taking shape. The semester is in full swing so I am not spending as much time down here as I'd like, but I feel that I can work through the end of October (with hopefully a five day Edisto visit tucked in there) before I start worrying about the framing, etc. Maybe make it to 20 pieces, we'll see. I have a backlog of pieces that I've started and others that I want to do so maybe this show can't come soon enough.

Beachy Still Life #17

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Number 17 features a Kiener Whelk, two Atlantic calico scallop shells, another bottle with OBX sand and finally, another automobile plate with the Highway number 12 on it. Had to get Highway 12 in this series somehow!

Beachy Still Life #16

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Sixteen is another quick one. This features a Shark's Eye Moon shell and an Ark shell.

Beachy Still Life #15

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Number fifteen features a Horse Conch, rarely found on the beach. This is one that Ann found on Edisto Island a good while back. Stoney's Seafood is a place where we regularly got our fresh fish for grilling, done by yours truly, down in Avon, NC on Hatteras Island.

Beachy Still Life #14

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

This is a hard one to get a good picture of. And, I hope it's not "cheating", but I kept looking at this small twisted feather that I ultimately did not choose for the previous painting, sitting in it's discarded spot as I was over-working number thirteen. Somehow it looked wounded with the T-pin still stuck through, so I decided it was one I wanted to do - whether it makes Ann's and my November show or not. Plus, it was a real exercise in subtle, something that I don't think of usually, until after it's a by-gone decision. So anyway, here is number fourteen, such as it is. Now what to do next...

Beachy Still Life #13

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Number thirteen features a Channeled Whelk, a small Angelwing, a Buxton Seafood sticker on a very very old wooden paintbox.

Beachy Still Life #12

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Well I'm off to a solid start to the Fall 2013 semester, which is going to be an interesting one to say the very least. I did manage to fit in number twelve in this series, which features a Hatteras Hi license plate that really should be on the front bumper of my car. Included is a Mexican soda pop bottle and a cockle shell. I've started buying interesting things to drink, etc, if not only for the bottle it comes in!

Beachy Still Life #11

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Number eleven features a Lettered Olive shell and a Sweetgrass basket that we bought on Edisto Island, probably 23 years ago. At that time there wasn't a basket stand set up and established, but a table set out in a front yard right on highway 174. We pulled over and waited until this young lady came out of the house and sold us this one. We have the vantage point of knowing what we paid for this basket, comparing to what they are selling for today. I think in that amount of time these baskets have been collected all over the world, increasing the value. Rightly so, as they are now recognized as being more than mere craft, but beautiful works of art.

The baskets that these folks make get much more elaborate than the one shown here. Below are  a couple of paintings I did of these ladies some time ago:

Beachy Still Life #10

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Number ten features a wreath I bought from Lily Howard on Edisto Island in exchange for taking some reference photographs of her, from which I did a couple of paintings some time ago. She and her daughter, and perhaps another woman, have the only Sweetgrass Basket stand on Edisto. In the last decade or so, a lot of attention has been rightfully paid to these basket makers of South Carolina. Primarily because as a people, they have successfully held on to much of their culture through all of these years, the style of the baskets reflect a direct connection with the West coast of Africa. The shell is an Angelwing. They are so fragile a shell that this is the most whole one we've found in years and years of beach combing. They do get much larger, but good luck finding a whole one!

Beachy Still Life #9

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

This is number nine in this series. I wanted to do three of my bottles together to see what it would look like. There is featured here a young, broken knobbed whelk, I think, and an Atlantic giant-cockle shell. The background of this one has a real estate map of Edisto Island (approximately drawn).

Beachy Still Life #8

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

This is number eight. This painting features a Shark's Eye Moon Snail shell. I found this at Edisto of course, at night with a flashlight in the surf on one of our daily evening strolls after dinner. The sand in the bottle is from our favorite house in Avon, NC on Hatteras Island. The background is this piece of rice paper that I've stapled to an old drawing board. I'm progressively adding a blue wash on it as I use it as a background for this series. This is unplanned, but it might take off as an interesting (yeah right) element to this series - don't know.

Beachy Still Life #7

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Back to the old sketchbooks again. Here is a Knobbed Whelk from Edisto Island, SC. The background is a watercolor sketch I did when we were staying at a really nice house in Duck, NC. The house was almost too nice, we were used to a bit rougher accommodations down in Avon. It did feature this wooden model of a schooner up in the arched window facing the ocean. I liked the silhouette created by the early morning sun.

Beachy Still Life #6

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Here is number six in this series. I think this is a Kiener whelk found on Edisto Island, as so many of the shells that we've collected are. I have never experienced a beach like Edisto when it comes to complete, whole seashells on the beach itself. There must be someone out there who can explain just why, but I sure can't. I think it's great that there are State Parks like Botany Bay where you cannot collect the shells like we did these probably some twenty years ago. I don't know how to identify sea birds by their feathers, but this one is like no other that I've come across, kinda fluffy.

Botany Bay surf

Beachy Still Life #5

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

This is number five, with a small Tun shell. I also collected this one in Bermuda. Tun shells are very fragile, and this one had a crack in it, so I guess it's proper that I did some sort of painting with it before it's too late!

Beachy Still Life #4

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Still Life #4 features a Queen conch I collected way back when I was in the Air Force and stationed in Homestead, Florida. That was an awesome place to live when you are 20 years old and single. I was certified in scuba diving and we went out nearly every weekend. Homestead is 30 miles or so south of Miami, so it is situated between Miami and Key Largo. Heaven on earth. I was saddened back in the early 90's when hurricane Andrew flattened the place.

Three Nemcosky's

15x22" Watercolor on 300 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Here is a just completed, long promised portrait of Uncle Bob, Aunt Sher and cousin Jeremy. It took me a while to get to. I think there was a confidence level of uncertainty going into this, not really knowing where my skills were with portraiture that counted. Since of late I have been "in-production" as much as I ever get really, so I thought now was the time to "just do it". I'm generally pleased with the results, but being so close to it, well, you know how that goes...now to ship and await the long anticipated response. But I have just begun the drawing of Beachy Still Life #4, which in theory will not have the same concerns that a triple portrait does indeed have.

Studio Production

A studio shot this AM. I'm trying to finish a triple portrait of some of my relatives, which I will post as soon as I'm finished. I have Beachy Still Life #4 all set up and ready to go, but I really want to finish the portrait, as it was promised some time ago.

Beachy Still Life #3

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Here's number three. Sketchbook and old unclean palette in background, with a Tun shell I collected way back when we lived in Bermuda, while snorkeling at one of our favorite spots. Ann found the whale bone vertebra at Edisto Island a long time ago, and finally one of the bottles that I collect for this very purpose.

Hand Pan Man - At the Farmer's Market #5

15x22" Watercolor on 300 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

There's not much to say about this piece other than it is my 4th attempt at this particular image. I was doing some experimenting with my painting process and thus got into trouble with some of the materials - mainly the masking fluid. I blamed it on the product that I had, but we all know that is the craftsman blaming his tools. I learned some things I guess, mainly patience (yeah, right). So this is pretty straight forward painting. It got too dark too quickly and has a few spots of trying to recover lights and I scrubbed a bit too vigorously. So I was thinking at that point, what, would I even try a 5th attempt? I thought not so I just went with what I had going and will happily let this image go peacefully into the sunset.

Beachy Still Life #2

11x15" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

This is the second in this series, so now I can compare these first two in order to get an idea of where this may go - what to do, what not to do, etc. The idea of putting a painting in the still life came from Ann. I've done it before, but it has been a very long time. In this instance, I've clipped one of my open sketchbooks onto an old drawing board to use as a backdrop.