"Afternoon Shadows"

6"x8"     Oil     Canvas Board    

This is another little plein air painting done in the late afternoon, one September day, on the edge of Island Park. Like so many plein air subjects, this one is all about light and shadow. That's what usually attracts me to a scene, and that's what usually proves to be the biggest challenge to capture.

"Island Park"

6"x8"      Oil      Canvas Board       

What could be more peaceful than a summer afternoon spent under the elms, with the dappled light dancing across the lawns and sidewalks, and not a care in the world except trying to capture the scene in paint...and somehow mix all those greens.

"You Win Some, You Lose Some"

30"x30"     Acrylic     Gallery Wrapped Canvas (nine 10"x10" canvases)

This piece was done for the FMVA (Fargo Moorhead Visual Artists) show opening this weekend, with the theme, "It's All in the Game." I had so much fun painting these small canvases and putting them all together to convey my take on the theme. The following statement goes along with the painting and explains what I was trying to say: "In this collection of paintings, I tried to represent that essential ingredient of childhood, the board game. Who doesn’t remember all the vivid colors, iconic illustrations, bits and pieces, and particular details of at least one game from our youth? There was always a start and a finish, rules to play by, sometimes skill involved, sometimes just plain luck. There was the sound of the spinner and the tap of those game pieces on the cardboard as we counted out spaces. There were winners and losers, but that never mattered as much as finding someone willing to play the game with you. That was just one of many life lessons learned as we dove into those adventures and imagined it was we, ourselves, moving, one space at a time, from one end of the board to the other."

“Butterfly Garden”

Oil     6"x8"     Canvas Board    

I was thinking about packing up and going somewhere to paint this morning when I looked out my patio door and saw the shadow of the fence stretching across the lawn and the wildflowers lit by the sun. I made a quick sketch to remember where the shadows were (since they were changing by the minute), and put it all down on canvas as quickly as I could. Monarch butterflies came and went, but I didn't try to include them this time. You can imagine them there among the flowers if you want.

"Tree Study"

Oil     6"x8"     Canvas Board

This is a quick little "warm-up" painting I did from a sketch....no photo involved. I really like it, and I enjoyed the freedom of not trying to paint every leaf that a photo would have documented. I think that's what I love about the look of plein air paintings. There's an uncomplicated freshness about them that sometimes gets lost back in the studio. On location, you can't possibly include all the details. You have to try for the essence of the subject and be happy when it occasionally all comes together. Below is the sketch I was working from.

“Mobiloil”

Oil     6”x8”     Canvas Board    

I bet this old gas station saw many a family like ours pull up in their ‘58 Chevy Bel Air, fill ‘er up, and head back out onto the open road, in search of the next tourist attraction or a roadside cottage to spend the night. One of these days, I’m going to paint the neon sign they would have seen from the road.

"Cocoa Beach Pier"

Oil     6"x8"     Canvas Board    

I would love to have set up my easel and painted this right on the spot, but there was too much wind and too big a crowd of people milling about, and there were too many more places to see and things to do. So I did this little painting from photos and just imagined I was back there.