Solo en la Calle (Alone in the Street) -24x30

 

Solo en la Calle (Alone in the Street)- 24x30

headed to Gallery on Greene- Key West

 

my focus on this painting was to play warms against cools colorfully in the shadows. and use the 2/3 shadow against 1/3 light value plan I loved in my sketch.

 

the chrome on the car glinting in the sunlight should draw your eye more than anything in the painting. the very definition on a focal point. the car is the star of the show and the buildings are the supporting actors in this one

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!

Cape Street-24x30

Cape Street

24x30

Headed to Rowley Gallery, Cape Cod

contact me for details

Wellfleet morning light. Cant wait to get back up to the cape and paint. leaving soon!

Sittin' Pretty-24x30

 

Sittin' Pretty

24x30

email me for price and availability

 

wow! look a the looseness of this one. drips, scrubby strokes, large brush frenzied controlled chaos, one stroke bravura brushwork, thick thin, scratches (thanks for the scratch technique Dan N)

 

Time Standing Still

24x30

email me for price and availability

 

more coming off the easel. has been a really productive week. I'm in my groove. here's what the average day looks like. wake up and eat, then play some steel drum in the morning. block in a canvas or two. eat lunch. work on paintings in varying stages of completion in the afternoon. take a nap. more easel time till supper. more steel drum practice and a little more easel time. a little marketing and setting up workshop stuff on the computer. late night snack ( I know awful right?) who cares! then bed about 1 am.

wake up do it all again. getting about five large paintings done a week not counting some smaller ones here and there. the paint seems to flow out all by itself when you get a life-rhythm like this going on. I think the start and stop lifestyle I sometimes lead is counter productive to serious quality painting. painting isn't like painting a house where its mindless putting on of paint 100% of the time. painting pictures is 10% putting on of paint and 90% spent thinking about how you want to put on the paint. you have to be in the right frame of mind to do it effectively?

South Harbor in Afternoon Sun-24x30

 South Harbor in Afternoon Light

24x30

email for price and availability

one of the newer pieces coming off the easel this week. all these are from the Atlantic, NC trip I just got back from. it really lit a fire under my muse and she's giving me all kinds of mojo.

 

here's the photo reference for the one below 

the black marks on the acetate (taped over my laptop screen) are for accurately placing the paintings big pieces on the much larger canvas.

 

something I have on the easel this week. a 24x30 I believe.

here, I've got the block-in in basically three different colors. blueish purple for the darks, yellowy orange for the grass and lit parts of the trees and pinks for the water and sky. I let all this dry thoroughly then I use glazes and opaque paint to put more realistic color over the crazy colors

 

workshop news

I have a workshop in Raleigh NC, this month on how to mix any color with a limited palette of red, yellow, blue and white. email me if youre interested in signing up. its at jerrys artarama around the middle of the month.

in other news my new calypso/steel drum act (calypso kid) is going great. I'm playing around topsail island the whole month of july, during the dinner/ tiki bar happy hours. my next gig is at the Trailer Bar this Thursday and Friday from 4-7 and Buddys from 8-10. if youre on the island come check out some of my island style steel drum music. I started playing the pan down in key west this past winter and have found my new favorite instrument.

Blue Heaven at 11 am-24x30

 Blue Heaven at 11 am-24x30

Caroline Street Afternoon-18x24

just dropped these off at the Gallery on Greene for my upcoming show. having a ball painting these big ones out on the street. I clamp the wet painting to my bicycle basket and go several days in a row at the same time. seem to be accentuating the color more this year than in years past.

The reception will be march 8th from 5-9 at The Gallery on Greene, 600 Greene St. Key West. come check it out if youre in town.

In the Short Rows

Waterfront Dining in the Keys-24x30
SOLD

Didnt Get Away-8x10
SOLD

a couple pc.s just finished for the upcoming show of new key west/middle keys stuff ive been working on for Gallery on Greene in KW. the opening is a week from tomorrow (saturday) on march 3rd. come by if youre in the area and  check it out in person and say hi! ive got a few more days to tweak and frame, then deliver. then the pressure is off. then a different kind of stress takes over as everybody walks by looking at it rubbing their chins. i watch their faces for smiles. anything else signals disinterest (not good) or that theyre not feeling it. also the speed at which they leave is a good indicator. if they speed by and dont stand a minute to look at it that means it hasnt caught their interest. the composition and/or color could be too weak or its just a ho hum painting. as one painter i know says "we dont need any more mediocre paintings. there are plenty already" How true!

note: sorry for the glare on the nocturnal scene. most agree that its impossible to shoot a pic of dark paint without some glare on it.