Saturday, February 19, 2011

"Santa Maria" & "Pittenweem"




"Pittenweem" is a little Scottish coastal village i enjoy visiting on Google.  I love the names they have for their towns. They are so poetic..... 

Friday, February 18, 2011

"The Trouble with the Universe"

I always used to wonder what the trouble with the universe was. Now i know it is all the cats fault. He appeared in the lower right corner of my painting as i was putting these rather shifty looking characters into a universe of their own. This is also a palette painting. They were just there one day looking up at me.

The gallery has some speed daters here tonight. They are all quite lovely and many have come down to see the artist in the basement. They wanted to know if i would like to come up and mingle with them. I thought better of it, preferring to keep my "Mysterious Artist" profile intact and remain the cellar dweller. Besides, i don't think my wife would like it much even if i did sell a few paintings because of it. Smile!

I greatly admire the speed daters for their courage and desire to change their situation. I also enjoy hearing the wonderful sound of people having fun and laughing. It makes a cellar dweller quite happy it does.

Now, what to do with that darn cat.....

"Mount Biddie" & "Dipper Creek"


Somebody had asked me to do a ski hill painting. So i took one of my little villages, gave it some snow and added a ski lift. The end result was quite
lovely i think.  I feel the next ski hill may have to have some more black- diamond runs and perhaps a high speed quad. The folks at the bottom do not seem to mind the wait as they are having quite the lovely time chatting and such.

This is my one and only attempt at doing a "loose" watercolor. I told the gallery owner it was loose and she laughed. I suppose it is not as loose as some watercolorists would do. I love the very loose style with subjects simply stated though. Perhaps this could be my Christmas card for next year? It did sell which was most pleasing to me.

"Mid-day Matinee" & "You Never Listen to Me"


This is my rendition of an old theatre in town. It is in a trendy little area where i love to go for coffee and watch all the people go by. One day, there was a school bus filled with happy children going to a mid-day matinee. Hence, the title for this piece, "Midday Matinee"! 
 Sometimes, i look into the puddles of paint in my palette and see all manner of things. These two unique characters were there having quite the discussion. I decided to give them a planet and a floating house to live in. I called this one, "You Never Listen to Me" because that seems to be the point of their rather heated exchange. I sure hope they work it out.... 

"Dancer" and "Priscilla"


I love doing boat reflections. The patterns intrigue me.
I also love to do cows still. To me they are such beautiful animals who give us so much. I'm planning on becoming a vegetarian and just do cow paintings.
I named this one after my sister. She didn't mind.