Bridge No. 5

Another in my series of bridge images. This is after mybsecond painting session. I'll do a few more things to it. It is oil about 14 inches wide.  

I grew up in Pittsburgh, the land of bridges, so perhaps that explains part of my interest in this nice example at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. 

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.