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.

Beachy Still Life #1

11x15 Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Once I realized that Ann's show in November/December was actually a two-person show it motivated me in a way that only deadlines can. The show will be up during the Christmas buying season, so the lady that runs the Rock School Arts Foundation in Valdese, NC indicated that the show should be of sell-able art, that that is what she had in mind. Well, it's been awhile since I have done work with that specifically in mind, but I thought what the hell, that will be fun. I work , usually on holiday relaxing with family and friends when I do landscapes and still lifes, etc. and I really do enjoy doing them. But usually the work that I do are like journal entries with personal notes, etc. on them, which in my mind renders them not for the open market. So I made a plan to do at least one still life on the quarter sheet size every week end between now and mid-November. That should give me about 16 to 20 of these babies. I don't plan for all of them to work out to be of show quality over the span of that time, or I might poop out on the idea after a short while - but what the hell...here it goes.

At the Farmer's Market #4

15x22" Watercolor on 300 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

Oh gosh, what to say about this one. It was one I had to do because I had failure 3 times in a row trying to do another piece and I was really frustrated with myself. I'm still going to do the image that I was attempting, I really like it a lot, but need a "cooling-off" period first. So this piece, yes, is another performer at our local Farmer's Market. I'm adding these pieces to a series of street musicians that I have the opportunity to meet.

At Work in Tennesee

22x30" Watercolor on 300 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

I did not really meet these people. They were getting to work as we were leaving the hotel we stayed at overnight on our way back from Cincinnati. This was one of those compositions I was not so sure of when I started out. As this was in development I started getting into the personality of the woman on the right. I talked to them for only a brief moment, but through painting them you feel that you get to know them on some level. Strange. Fun.

Detail - the woman on the right

Supermoon Day 2

Some of the reasons I got the new camera that I did was that it seemed perfect for me, a few more mega pixels, a decent zoom and some opportunity to shoot out of auto mode. Not bad for a $200. camera!

Stanley

15x22" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

This is a portrait of Stanley. Ken and I met him as we were leaving Botany Bay, a state park on Edisto Island, SC. We were stopped by Stanley as we were to take a left on the highway because they were paving the road. We got to chatting; Stanley was born on Edisto and was giving us suggestions as to go around the traffic hold up. I did not want to trust my directional abilities and chose to wait until Stanley would allow us to take our left turn - so we chatted some more. Everyone I meet on Edisto, especially those who have lived there for a long time express the same love for the natural beauty of the low country. I know that we do too.

Oh no, these details are too much fun !

Before Edisto. Birdhouse Man Paul

22x30" Watercolor on 300 lb. Kilimanjaro WC Paper.

This is Paul whom I met for the first time a month ago down in Charleston County, SC. He lives just before the Dawhoo bridge that connects the mainland to Edisto Island. My friend Ken has been collecting his work for a number of years. I decided to head out with Ken and the family this past visit and meet him (after buying a birdhouse for our yard).

Detail of Paul

At the Farrmer's Market 3

15x22" Watercolor on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro WC paper

I took the photo of this little guy some time ago at Boone's Daniel Boone Park, which is adjacent to the Farmer's Market. It's a wonderful setup, as the park has an outdoor amphitheater where performances might be happening, or pioneer re-enactors making crafts around log cabins, or just someone playing banjo while sitting on a log such as this little fella.

Tambourine Player in Montgomery

22x30" Watercolor on 300 lb. Kilimanjaro WC Paper

This is the third (and last) of the three musicians we came across at a Krogers grocery store when in the Cincinnati area last February. I started this third piece about two months ago, but the semester bore down on me and the events of family life kept me from the studio. It is so hard to finish a piece after such a long absence from the flow of the mini series. I decided to do some experimenting with technique and plain invention in order to just finish it and move on. I like some things about it, hoping the wonderful smile this woman had would carry the day. But it's hard to cover up the over-worked quality - so that's it - I'm moving on.

Edisto in May

These are a few watercolors I did while at Edisto with the family and our watercolor buddy Ken. I honestly don't know what I'd be like if we didn't go to Edisto a couple of times a year. These sketches sure help in loosening up. I have quit worrying so much about the drawing, sorta embracing the inaccuracies and chalking it up to expression. I'm learning this from my old pal Hugh. Gotta let the media do it's thang.