Monday, October 27, 2014

On the Docks-12x16

On the Docks- 12x16
email me for availability and price
 
playing with shapes continues. the dock here was the perfect lead in to the painting and sets up the feeling of depth I was after. seeing how abstract I can make things and it still look like a building, boats tied up, or distant trees.

love the light on the front of the house, in contrast to the shadowed side.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Island Morning-30x40


Island Morning
30x40 oil on gallery wrapped canvas
email me for pricing and availability


still stoked about painting ocracoke island, even tho I'm back in surf city.
Playing these days with making the shapes way more colorful and making interesting "shapes within shapes" but trying to make sure they hold together as a unit, from a distance. I like the new direction this is heading.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Key West Light-6x8

$75 plus $10 s/h
to purchase with PayPal or credit card click the "buy now" button below


Found this one hiding while cleaning up the studio this week. its a key west plein air I did last year. its just up from Duval Street.
 
to be honest when I can see my breath in the air like I did last night, I get the itch to get down there!. ive got a big season planned down in Key West this winter, with private lessons, a trip to cuba, teaching weekly at TSKW (the islands biggest art center) and last but certainly not last, painting for my show at Gallery on Greene.
 
I also found out where ive stayed for the last several years is not available to me (she's moving off island). if you know of anyone that would like to rent a room to me from December to late April. please email me. I'd be grateful!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Two Diners -SOLD


SOLD

I'm unloading a bunch of paintings that ive had in my studio for quite some time. its time to organize and I just don't have room to keep them around any more, as much as I'd like to. they were studies for much larger paintings. if youre interested email me at rooneystudio@hotmail.com and put the title of the painting in the subject line. free shipping on this one.
 
these two are catching up at their favorite restaurant. I love the color harmonies of orangish reds against the blues!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Elizabeth City Splash event


Charleston Color-18x24
if you'd like to purchase email me for price and availability
 
this one was started outside and finished in the studio. when I set up on the street in Charleston I got the drawing done and then the clouds came and blocked out the sun. luckily, my friend (and awesome Charleston painter) hilarie lambert had a photo reference of something sorta close, so I finished it from that. like all the drawing and all the temperature shifts in this one.
 
Just agreed to be part of Elizabeth City NC's Splash Event the week of Nov. 2-9. i'll be one of the artists in residence and will be doing private lessons in the Elizabeth City area that week. so if you're from the Tidewater Virginia area, Outerbanks of NC, or close to E.C. and want to take some plein air lessons from me in this beautiful waterfront town, and hang out with an assortment of artists from all over the place, email me or call 919-920-9718 and let me get you on the calendar.
 take a few hours, half a day, or several half days. $35 per hour (less for half day).
i'll also have paintings for sale on display all thru the week. Looking forward to this event and seeing the whole EC crowd!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

a new one on the easel


heres a shot of my 30x40 on the beauport easel in ocracoke. what you see is the setup on the second day with the underpainting on the canvas from day one. unfortunately the clouds got in the way for day two. so I had to paint from memory. I stuck with the strong, direct sunlite I saw the first day. luckily I had tons of painting done and was able to finish it. that's joanne geiselle setting up her easel across the street.
 
i'll show you the finished painting pic, soon!

Friday, October 10, 2014

Ocracoke Shine 24x30


Ocracoke Shine- 24x30
 
Now available at Down Creek Gallery on Ocracoke Island NC
 
This one really shows the new direction my painting has been evolving to in the last six or seven months. everybody is starting to say they see a big shift taking place. 
 
I'm becoming less and less enthralled with copying what I'm actually seeing. these days I seem to want to put my own twist on what I'm seeing and I love pushing around the more saturated color. That's what inspired me to paint this scene. the contrast between the flaming yellow orange fall grass and the deep blues of the water and sky, as well as the red roof of the building in the distance.
 
was able to stop painting when I needed to, to give me the raw energy in the strokes that I wish I had in all my big stuff.
 
Thanks to all my friends that showed up in Ocracoke to paint for the week. they were: Sue Morris, Dan Nelson, Joanne Geisel, Fen Rascoe, and Scott Boyle. You made me laugh, contemplate a lot of things, and really inspired me creatively. It was great fun hanging out with you all, making paintings!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Ocracoke Trip


a 22x28 painting on the easel on the waterfront of Ocracoke Island NC. The block-ins with acrylic continue, allowing me to use giant chip brushes to lay in big color notes on these bigger canvases. then I put the oil paint over it that to "tweak" it to the right color, temperature, value, and saturation. The trick is leaving some of the original right out of the tube acrylic, showing in key spots to energize the passage. Still experimenting and pushing myself to see what i can get away with. I like my migration towards more saturated color and looser edges with very accurate drawing. its a journey not a destination thankfully. all I know is it gives me something to wake up in the morning for.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Ocracoke Retreat

My buddy Dan Nelson and I had such a ball painting together for a week in June that we decided to do it again and make the group larger. so I rented a house on Ocracoke Island for a week and we split it with four more painting friends. Great comraderie eating, painting, co-miserating and then on the other hand saying how blessed we are to make paintings and have people buy them. IMHO the best affirmation I know of for our craft!
 
I'll be posting all along my progress this week.
 
Below is a newly completed 16x20 from the Ocracoke waterfront
 
 


Workshop News
Don't forget Art of the Carolina's is coming up in november. Dan and I both teach for this annual art supply/workshop convention. Folks come from all over the country to attend and it's well worth coming to Raleigh for if you want to paint better. You can google it to find out whats being taught and the other details.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Seal Cove (maine)-9x12

 
Seal Cove-9x12
 
this painting is headed to my new gallery in maine. email me if you'd like to get it first!
 
A plein air piece from my recent trip to Mount Desert Island, Maine.
this one was fun playing with all the rock shadow colors and trying to catch that glint that happens on the water really late in the afternoon. really like the distant land mass with the sailboat leaning into the wind too.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

when you dont feel like painting

What do you do when you just don't feel like painting? I don't know about you, but I just don't. I used to feel guilty and think, 'man, this is your job, you gotta work'. But as I've been doing this eight years now fulltime, I've learned to listen to what my body, mind, and creative spirit are trying to tell me. Thus the lack of posts here on my blog.

The trip to Maine and Cape Cod seemed like a grueling pace, with a lot of pressure to perform and I think that's the reason for the burnout I experienced when I got back to NC, a few weeks ago. It's been a crazy paced year and I was running on fumes!
So I just worked on my steel drum music and did email stuff, lining up next years workshops. And what about the guilt about not painting. Too satisfied with the knowledge that when I get the itch to paint again, (and I can feel it coming) I'll be rested and happy to create again. Thankfully, guilt doesn't factor into the equation any more.