North Beach / Virginia Beach

This is the larger finished version of the smaller study below (which I love very much). At 24 by 36 inches this oil painting is a very pretty reminder of days gone by and days still to come --once this cold weather is gone for a while. 

Just a few more touches and it will be listed for sale here and then on display and sale at one of the Stravitz Galleries --it is in the Stravitz Laskin Avenue gallery now, framed with a complimentary simple but substantial gold frame.

North Beach Evening Study

9 x 12 inch oil on linen panel, January 2015

Here to the left side is the mouth of the channel which is the inlet to the Chesapeake Bay and Norfolk and Baltimore ports, etc. Soon after this moment, one of the Navy's aircraft carriers emerged into view heading out to sea. I may do another larger version of this study and include the carrier.

Henry B. Hyde Wreck in Virginia Beach

This is a fresh 5 X 7 oil of what the sailing ship Henry B. Hyde might have looked like after beaching here in Virginia Beach. Imagine what that must have been like!  What weather would confuse a crew to think they were further out to sea. Of course, now the beach is well illuminated here, but a hundred years ago that wasn't the case. The saying was, concerning the coastal lighthouses like the Cape Hatteras light, that if you could see the light --you were too close to shore. Recently one of the Volvo Ocean Race yachts hit a reef off of the eastern coast of Africa. They were running fast at night, with GPS, radar, and all sorts of computer aids and, ..ouch! So what did it feel like and how sickening for the captain and crew of the Henry B. Hyde to know that, OOPS! --this ship was doomed and they might not get away safely?

I've been examining several photos of the wreck and it appears part of the upper foremast fell over the starboard bow. I'm trying to establish what happened. At any rate, though grounded, depending on the surf and storm, this fine cargo ship might have been beat up and turned around before she was scavenged and abandoned. Part of her is probably still there buried in the sand. A future hurricane may temporarily reveal the carcass and timbers some day.

Cold Sunset with Warm Light

One of a series of new 9 X 12 oils, this is a winter beach sunset.

SOLD (Thanks Ann!)

Delivered Portrait

I'm happy to say that I've delivered a portrait today and everyone is delighted.  This beautiful young woman posed for me and sat several times for this 20 X 30 inch oil on linen.

I've several new portraits underway and a new large canvas for a church --a complex scene of working children on the Sea of Galilee with Jesus visiting.  I've made several such large paintings for churches and am looking for more ways to follow through with plenty of other ideas. If you are interested, I'll send you details.

Mother Earth

Last week's plein air paining event in Kinston was lots of  fun, although the timing was difficult with so much activity in the city with crews getting ready for the weekend festival.  I mentioned how noisy it was as I made my first pastel at the bridge (River Willows was the only item I offered for sale at the show) -well, painting on the downtown side of the river was even worse as the grass was getting cut, tents and tables were set up, etc., etc.  We experienced a range of weather, too, from a very cool day on Wednesday to a pretty warm afternoon on Friday and it was breezy all that time.  I had a couple of incidents that strong gusts blew over my panels and they fortunately landed with the wet side up!  I always tell people that the way to spot a real Monet is to look for dust, dirt and bugs in the paint.  As someone who mainly works inside and ventures outside in mostly fair weather, I can appreciate the work of others who persevere in the worst conditions to paint on location.

Here is Mother Earth Squared  --Mother Earth visiting Mother Earth --a 10" by 10" oil

River Willows

This was fun to do. Mostly, it is being present to -- attending to a view of these hardy trees and standing for two hours in one place listening and watching and painting. By the way, this is a noisy place!

On to the next image( in the shade) and back to The Nature Center to make a labyrinth this afternoon -- helping a Girl Scout project.


Pictures to come!

Spires & Steeples of Wilmington

I had been attracted to the architecture of Wilmington for some time and decided years ago to proceed on this project. I visited each building numerous times and photographed them in various conditions. This assembly --this composition has much to offer, I think, in the way of architectural integrity and aesthetic design. Combining the steeples of so many buildings is a perspective nightmare, one I believe I solved or worked through by planning around the symmetry of the larger buildings and the balanced array of smaller towers, plus the inclusion of two beautiful fountains and two ancient trees from downtown and north near the new bypass (this live oak off 17 North was spared, thankfully, and deserves a spot for perseverance if nothing else -PERSEVERE, by the way, is the adopted theme of Wilmington, as seen on the seal of the city).

There are a few other churches I considered, but frankly, I can't do them all, and I selected these classic spires & steeples for their unique contribution to the skyline of Wilmington. You won't find any pre-fab fiberglass units here, in fact, some of the stone on the older churches has had to be repaired and now the churches have a slightly different look due to basically sealing the stone in a durable colored paint concoction. When I started this project, First Presbyterian was looking old and dirty and previous repair patches were showing, especially when the building was damp. Now, the revealed tower looks like new, except the fragile stone is hidden under a warm almost peach flavored beige paint --an expensive but necessary step and I'm glad I have the new First Presbyterian look in this painting.

The Spires & Steeples of Wilmington is a large pastel that was made as a special project at the suggestion of a local business. A misunderstanding left me bereft of the original painting and a large set of prints I supplied--I never made a penny off of any of this. Thats the way it goes sometimes. If you know where the original has ended up, own, or know where any reproductions are hanging--I'd like to know about them. 

See the video made below.

Spires & Steeples Video

Click the image to view a video of the Spires & Steeples in HD at Vimeo and here for YouTube version.

For our wonderful Thanksgiving holiday we moved furniture for our daughter who is now living in Washington, DC. On Thanksgiving Day the Smithsonian Museums were open, so an easy trip to the National Gallery of Art and the Freer were in order. What a treasure we have in those museums. The Corcoran has a Sargent exhibit that will leave early January. We weren't able to take that in this time but hope to return with another load of boxes.

I haven't been able to post lately but have plans for several DC images along with plein air pieces of local items of interest. On Thanksgiving morning I got out on the mall early and found a wonderful fog was present and providing the perfect atmospheric background for the old Navy Memorial (Peace Memorial) and the Grant Memorial at the foot of the Capitol Building. The fog was pretty thick and the Capitol dome was barely visible. The last time I was in the area I was taken with the Navy Memorial or The Peace Memorial, but it was a sunny afternoon and the statues were surrounded by white tour buses, which made for a curious view. This time only a few joggers and occasional police cars came by. It was pretty great! I'm so glad I got up and out early. I'm thankful for many things.

Below are some of the drawings I made for this painting. There were several variations but I quickly settled into what I needed to do. Symmetry of buildings, balance of sizes, the inclusion of fountains and trees, and the civic buildings central seemed the correct way to proceed.



I did entertain working them up separately and then combining them digitally into a larger composition. You may recognize the solo spire as a street view of First Presbyterian. I made a pastel of that church as it looked before the restoration.

Happy Fellow

Often when riding through the country I will stop to stretch my legs and visit favorite trees, vistas, and farm animals that attract my eye. This little goat was such a friendly guy, he walked right up to the fence and stuck his head through the wire. I scratched his head and admired his fresh face and what looked to be a smile. I think many of us respond to creatures that convey emotion or what we human beings interpret as such. Our wonderful Golden Retriever named Guinness has the most expressive eyebrows. You can read all sorts of things into his expressions, No one can tell me I'm imagining something when I detect that my dog is irritated with me whenever I'm leaving him in the house or that he's looking purely delighted after his bath and towel rub-down.

As I mentioned, I met this sweet fellow a few years ago on my passage through the country on my way home from church in Bentonville, NC. I always wanted to paint this image from the photo I was fortunate to have taken, and decided I would do so while recording the entire process. This video is about 13.5 minutes long, and has no audio since it just sounds like a lot of scratching anyway. I realize now that I hold my breath and sigh a lot while painting --quite revealing! --like I have paint apnea! Maybe other painters will be interested in observing some of the technique and method. It was very good for me to witness myself objectively and plan for my next paintings and any future videos which will definitely be shorter, narrated, and produced in a different manner.

This is an oil painting made on canvas that was previously toned and prepared with paint mixed only with linseed oil for a dried, smooth, primed colored and defined ground. I prefer an oil primed linen or thick canvas that is not too absorbent. When using a cotton and gessoed canvas I will completely cover the canvas by scrubbing in and laying in large zones of color. I'll create an under painting of a buttery paint mix that when dry will accept new paint on top without absorbing it through or below. It is a technique easily accomplished and makes for such a pleasant painting experience. I think few amateur artists ever have this pleasure, for painting on canvas duck as most do is sort of like painting on a piece of carpet. Even those who work with acrylics would benefit from priming their canvas with paint and acrylic gloss medium to tone and begin to define their work. After it is dry, working on top of a glazed oil or acrylic is a dream! It is like working on glass and painting becomes more like sculpture than coloring. Too bad this is rarely taught or expressed! If it was demonstrated more people would probably stick with painting since it would be a hell of a lot more fun and produce much more acceptable results.

Happy Fellow is sold and in the possession of a happy young couple. I hope I will get to paint all their kids someday!

Enjoy! --Jack Anglin