Schnauzer

7" x  8"

oil on panel

I worked on two paintings, but can only show one because the other is a surprise. 

Despite the cold weather, Bald Head Island was really great. A nice way to end the holiday. Got some possible commissions and a lot of interest.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

New Calendar and Painting Demo

Inspired by a request this morning, I have put together the 2011 calendar!

You can find it here:

This weekend I will be doing a painting demo and taking reservations for pet commissions in Bald Head Island at the Woods Gallery. If your in the area, drop by!

Mighty Joe

10" x 8"

oil on wood panel

Cassis

8" x 10"

oil on wood

The first of quite few commissions!

Mighty Joe

10" x 8"

This painting is in progress, but I was so excited about this stage of it, I wanted to post.

Tribute to Andy Irons

 10" x 8"

oil on wood

I didn't know who Andy Irons was up until a few days ago. I had heard a surfer had died of a strange disease and I thought it was sad, but didn't really think about it again. Then I kept hearing about him and it turns out he was a really good surfer, a three time world champion surfer, big waves surfer and he died of dengue fever which is a virus carried by mosquitoes. 

Dengue fever causes extreme pain all over and they are not sure if he died from the pain killers he was taking or the fever. I'm guessing it was the pain killers. 

Anyway, the reason for all of this is... I started thinking it's really amazing to me that someone who battled waves the size of five story buildings was taken down by something so small, a mosquito. 

Even though this is a grim analogy, I think it really does apply... when you think you're too small and can't make a difference, think again.

Here's more about Andy:

http://surf.transworld.net/1000118469/features/andy-irons-passes-away-from-dengue-fever/

Fall Apples

15" x 12"

oil on canvas

Keeping up Appearances

8" x 6"

oil on hardboard

Saw this classic scene in downtown Wilmington Monday - really loved the whole feel of it.

All Dressed Up

8" x 8"

oil on panel

$65.00 ($8 Shipping)

Purchase

Tenderness

9" x 12"

oil on canvas panel
$85.00 ($8.00 Shipping)
Purchase

All That Jazz

16" x 24"

oil on fabric panel

Painted for the Wilmington Fur Ball

Castle Street

8" x 8"

oil on panel
$65 ($8 shipping)
Purchase

Random Facebook Pet Portrait #16

19" x 19"

oil on canvas

"Can I have one too?"

20" x 16"

oil on canvas panel
$165 ($8 shipping)
Purchase

Lost Dog

9" x 12"

oil on canvas panel

$85 (plus $8 shipping)

Purchase

International Artist Day - Georgia O'Keeffe

Today is International Artist's Day and I am honoring Georgia O'Keeffe.

I first learned about O'Keeffe in art school in 1986 (the year she died) when we were shown a film about her life. Even though I was learning graphic design, I was deeply inspired as an artist by the way she lived in peace and creativity. There were long periods of silence of her just walking though the dessert picking up bones and rocks to paint. 

I love the womanly feel to her paintings, her color and originality.

When I painted this portrait it felt so familiar and it made me want to go back to Santa Fe and immerse my self in the landscape and art.

Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American artist. Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe was a major figure in American art from the 1920s. New York Times critic, Jed Perl, in 2004 described her paintings as both "bold and hermetic, immediately appealing and unnervingly impassive." She received widespread recognition for her technical contributions, as well as for challenging the boundaries of modern American artistic style. She is chiefly known for paintings of flowers, rocks, shells, animal bones, and landscapes in which she synthesized abstraction and representation. Her paintings present crisply contoured forms that are replete with subtle tonal transitions of varying colors. She often transformed her subject matter into powerful abstract images.

Blue and Green Music, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1921

Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven’t time – and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time.

If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself – I’ll paint what I see – what the flower is to me but I’ll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it – I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.

…Well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower – and I don’t.

Georgia O’Keeffe 1887-1986
Oil on 20×24 inch canvas 

^{Photo by Irving Penn}

New Paintings

 13 3/4" x 8"

oil on wood

$65.00 (plus $8 shipping)

Purchase

12" x 12"

oil on canvas

$85.00 (plus $8 shipping)

Purchase

12" x 12"

oil on canvas

$85.00 (plus $8 shipping)

Purchase 

Well, I guess I had more time than I thought - Here are some new paintings. 

Bald Head Island Commissions

 

12" x 12"

oil on wood

This client wanted both of her dogs painted, so I tried to match them as if they would hang together. Both of them were at least 80 lbs each and so sweet.

I'll be going back to Bald Head the Saturday after Thanksgiving to do another painting demo and taking orders for Christmas. 

I will taking a break for about a week and a half to work on a very large website that needs to be up for Christmas, so you might not hear from me for awhile. Maybe some here and there - you know I can't live without painting for very long. :)

Red Pear

12" x 12"

oil on canvas
$85 plus $5 Shipping

Race Day

16" x 20"

oil on canvas panel

On Saturday I went to see a painting demo by a well know artist, Charles Movalli, who is known for loose, expressive paintings and recently judged the 2010 Oil Painters of America Eastern Region Exhibit, which was held here in Wilmington, NC.

As I watched, I realized I had never seen a painting demo and thought how great it was that this was the first! Movalli was just amazing... I loved his unapologetic attitude towards his art and the audience. His idea is - "I finish the painting when I think it's done and if you don't thinks it's done, it's not my problem." "Paintings are like steaks, some people like them rare, some well done... it's really just a matter of taste."

During the demo he just seemed to have so much fun and it looked more like play than laboring over a master piece and although it looked as though he was playing, he knew exactly what color to put where and when. He had a vast knowledge of technique and color theory. It was genius and it had a huge impression on me. 

I realized I really need to do this more often and I have to take some classes on technique and color theory - there is so much to learn. I have always wanted to take classes, but never got around to it. I now realize that it is crucial to my career as an artist. 

If you ever get a chance to see Movalli, I highly recommend it!

Here are some quotes by him:

"On the face of it, the easiest of all activities should be seeing what we see. In reality, it's the hardest."

"The painterly painter is in the highest state of tension, and the relaxation of this tension signals the finish of the picture."

"It can't look like you've worked hard and long, even if you have. A painting should be done quickly with both your intellect and your nerves. When they give out, stop."

- Charles Movalli 

Here are some of his paintings:

http://www.bayviewgallery.com/artist_55.html