"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.

"Mill Street"

This little street was compiled to fill an odd sized piece of paper i had laying around. It is 6" X 29". I think the format works well because folks will often have an odd wall or wall end they cannot really do anything with. It was mucho fun to do and there are two more in the works in similar formats. A winter scene, and a summer scene. Tonight there is an opening at the gallery and i am holed up in the basement wanting to paint but think it may be a bad idea as there are many art officienados milling about. The folk club sounds like a good alternative for me just now so i shall bid you adieu and go listen to some great music. An artist has to re-fill those idea wells you know.  By for now all, God bless and happy painting.

"A Safe Harbor"

My last painting to post for a while till i can make some more. I have a show to prepare for in Feb. and have to have about 30 at least. So far i think i have maybe 10 hidden away. Yikes! Better get to work. My 17 year old daughter always confides in me about boys, school troubles, school joys, and all that goes with being 17. I am a good listener but the other day i thought i would share with her the stresses of being a lonely studio artist preparing for a show and the task of coming up with new ideas all the time. Hehe! Thought i would turn the tables on her and see what she did. She simply said in a young persons idealistic way of seeing the world, "why don't you just paint what's on the inside?" and then went back to complaining about her biology teacher. They are so cute aren't they? I thought about what she said all day and realized she was so right on. I spend too much time looking at art on the web and in books. Ultimately painting is an inside job. I now have it written on a card and posted in front of me for a reminder. I told her the next day how smart she was, to which she promptly replied "I know!".  Smile!  I am going to paint what is on the inside now. Hope to post it here for you soon. Blessings as always. ross

 

Boats and reflections are a bit of a passion for me and i love doing them even though they take a while to make. This one is on a full sheet of 300 lb. arches CP paper. My initial plan was to make it quite dark but as the painting progressed it was wanting to stay light. Have to listen to the painting and let it guide me. I love when that happens and a new direction is unfolding as paint goes to paper. I thought i might post the photo i worked from here too for you to see. It was one i took a few years ago in Vancouver and always wanted to do something with it. Hope all are well out there in studio land. Blessings. Ross