The Causeway to Atlantic Beach-SOLD

Well.... its the last time i'll post this year. hard to believe. wonder how many i did this year?
i think of all the seasons. last winter painting my soup bowl and fooling with object still lifes. then spring with the trip to key west and charleston, summer painting marshes and boats in blistering heat. then the fall with its cooler temps, bluebird blue skies, and then back inside these days painting from studies, photos, and still life stuff again. i remember fondly the wonderful people who took my workshops this year and all the customers who bought my art in galleries and on this blog. you paid my bills, encouraged me to paint, paint, and paint some more! Lotsa folks came to the half dozen or so shows i had in 08 and i loved meeting them and watching them connect with what i created. thats why painters paint!
its been a wild ride for sure and 09 guarantees to have its ups and downs as well. but i "fear no evil for He is with me" and when i get scared i'll paint. when i get down i'll just paint. when i want to quit i'll just paint. when its good and i dont think it'll get any better, i'll paint. its the only thing i can control this coming year. hey....that works for me!

Morning in Charleston-SOLD

Got homesick for Charleston SC last night and decided i hadnt painted enough yesterday (only three small ones) so i jumped up and painted it.

Its funny how painting from a photograph of a place brings back all the sights, smell, sounds and atmosphere you were experiencing that day.

the photo reference was taken in march, on my way back from Key West, and is the second trip i've taken to paint Charleston. i'm hoping to get in a really great gallery in hilton head (Morris Whiteside) and they want plein air pieces of there and charleston as well as savannah. i hope i get the gig! he's supposed to let me know this spring.

maybe i'll be going there on a regular 'paid' basis!

its a very charming city and i'll never run out of things to paint there.

Interiors Times Two-Both SOLD

The Chandelier- 6x6- oil on canvasboard

SOLD

Old Bed- 8x8- oil on canvasboard

SOLD

Today it rained most of the day and so i painted some more interiors. i'm really liking how loose they are and dreamy, something i'm always striving for. the razors edge between loose and abstract and enough reality to tell what it is and portray a mood.

Berts Surf Shop-SOLD

Stayed close to home and did this icon in Surf City, Bert's Surf Shop. this place is packed 24/7 during tourist season. this day there wasnt but two cars in the lot. well it is winter time at the beach after all.

Intimate Bedroom-SOLD

Taking a little break from the cherries. what can i say... i bore easily

i liked the way the lamp threw around warm light in contrast to the cool light coming from the unseen righthand window. had to say that in paint
this is the kind of place you'd like to spend a cold rainy weekend, right?

Cherries Part Two-SOLD

Part two of the cherry paintings. they really are challenging because theyre so reflective and the skins are transluscent and dark. i still want to do another one (or two) to see if i can nail that cherry skin!

Winter Has Arrived

Life is a Bowl- 6x6- oil on canvasboard

Available- $45

to purchase- be the first to contact me

Winter is here in eastern NC with a vengeance- what? 32 for a daytime high. no painting outside today, so i went to the grocery store to find something to paint and these little Bing cherries caught my eye. the luscious red, shiny and transluscent skin was irresistable. i love to eat em and they are so much fun to paint.

When choosing the color combo for this one i knew i wanted green to be in the mix (red's complement) but didnt want to be so simplistic. so i went with blue-green in the bowl. gives it that little zing i think this one has.
i'll be doing a few more cherry paintings in the next few days, while the Bings look (and taste) so good, and while its freezing outside.

Back in the Swing of Things

Repainting of the El-Ann- 16x20- oil on canvasboard

Available- $550 framed, $450 unframed

to purchase- contact me before it goes to Tidewater Gallery in Swansboro

Here's one that was 7 months in the making.

no i didnt paint on it that long but it feels like it.

this was started back in june on location and i meant to come back to that spot to finish it but for this reason, and that, didnt get back for several weeks. and guess what? the boat was gone, off the stanchions it was on, when they were painting her underside. good thing i had shot a photo of it, just in case.

this painting has stared at me in my studio everyday since june, screaming
"finish me!". like the item on your to-do list that never seems to get done, taunting you everyday, making you feel bad for procrastinating so long.

well,, finally yesterday i threw it on the easel, put the photo on the computer screen and finished it! man, i was so proud of myself for getting it done finally. really liked how it came out too. thats an added bonus.

in other news.... i've sent my blog for submission to the Daily Painters Gallery, the internets most highly publicized and popular "daily painter" websites with thousands of hits a day. its very hard to get into their group and they'll let me know in January if i get accepted. will be very good for me (the group will be featured on Oprah soon) and will give me a thousand times the exposure i'm getting now.

keeping my fingers crossed.

they require you to paint one painting daily, which i'm "almost" doing now. so that shouldnt be a problem.

more on what they tell me later.....

Will the Circle be Unbroken

This month is the 1st anniversary of the "mike rooney studios-a painting ALMOST everyday" blog. applause noise inserted here,,,,,
"first i'd like to thank,,,," LOL

no seriously, just as i get all sentimental and reflective on january first of every year, this blogging anniversary made me want to reflect, in words, on what it has meant, as it relates to my life as an artist. heres what i came up with.....

Todays post is going to be about blogging. the upside, the downside, the sideways stuff that i have found after doing it one whole year.

as you know, other than the last couple of months, because of events beyond my control, i have posted ALMOST every day for nearly a year. thats alot of paintings, alot of words, and inane thoughts to float around in cyberspace (they say) forever and ever. heres what ive found listed by category, from worst to greatest....

Downright sucks about blogging-
when youre tired from painting all day and it was 100 degrees and all you want to do is eat because its 9 pm, you have to shoot that days painting, making sure there's no glare on it, its not blurry, photoshop the image to make the colors truer, contrast better, hurry i'm about to faint from hunger. remember?
post the photo to blogger, think of a title, write something interesting that people wont fall asleep reading. did i mention that i'm tired and sleepy, as well as hungry LOL
then hit 'publish post', go back and see if it all looks right and you didnt mispell anything. whewwwww! glad that parts done. oh yeah gotta check email while i pop a pop tart in the microwave for supper. done for the day. wow,,,,, 10 o'clock already?

people who dont blog have no idea the time it takes to do online lessons like susan greaves, or write up a post that could go into an instructional manual on painting like frank gardner, or post every (i mean every) day like stephen magsig.
we do it because we love to do it but its grueling! and if you take a week off you feel like youre letting everybody down. your readers, your fellow artists, and mostly yourself because youre a daily painter. thats alot of pressure.

The cool thing about blogging-

Doing small daily paintings is immediate gratification. you paint the little sucker, you take a pic of it, upload it and BOOM your little baby is on the worldwide web for anybody with a computer and internet access from Eastern NC to Mars to see. some want to buy it, some artists want to copy it, some galleries want to hang it, some want to email you and tell you what it reminds them of in their childhood.
another thing i noticed was the comraderie of the blogging community of artists ive met since doing this. theyre from all over. texas, virgin islands, two hours from me in durham, nc, all over. and when i had my small absence they all wrote and encouraged me and told me things that only us artists know, because we are artists. they know the joys, the insecurities, the dedication needed to succeed, and its pitfalls. as only a fellow brother or sister of the brush could know.
thanks you guys!

i also know that blogging is good for the art business and a painters career. that blogging doesnt stop gallery sales, but enhances it. how do i know this?
well take today for example. i sold some small daily paintings to a gallery owner. i have sold tons to gallery owners and their employees.
i was asked once did i think that selling the small dailies would hurt my gallery business. i responded a resounding "no". these little gems are (what some bloggers have dubbed) appetizers and not the main course, when it comes to works of art. they sell cheap, most are small studies for larger works that will be in galleries at a substantially higher cost. so NO they wont hurt gallery sales.
then later today i sold a bunch of large gallery paintings to one of my daily painting collectors, thus closing the circle and completing the circuit. some want to start off small and very affordably and build up to buying one of my more expensive and more substantial pieces. so today was cool in the fact that i sold a gallery owner some small ones, and someone who had small ones bought several of my bigger ones from a gallery.
this is what blogging has meant to me this year. and thanks for sticking with this long post as the cardinal rule is keep a post short or they wont read it. hopefully if you stayed this long you enjoyed my take on this crazy world of blogging.
i'd like to thank those of you who have bought my paintings over the last year, and those of you who tell me you stop by several days a week to see where i'm painting or what i've painted. thanks to my blogging artist buddies who have encouraged me, and inspired me with your beautiful view of the world around you. it has enriched me tremendously.

i'm hungry and tired now and must sign off till tomorrow, bye LOL

RR Crossing

Near the Tracks- 6x6-oil on canvasboard

SOLD

here's another one from my downtown ENC series.
in all of our small towns there are these railroad crossings that run right thru the business districts and neighborhoods.
this is a classic Eastern NC townscape in the fall.

if you'd like to purchase the Painting NC Plein Air book i'm in click here to get more info on this great gift for those on your Christmas list who are living out of state, or love art. sells for $29.99 plus $8 shipping. it has 27 other plein air artists from NC painting our great state from Murphy to Manteo.
email me if you'd like a copy. if i mail it this weekend you can get it before Christmas.

Also heard that i made it into Artist Magazine in December. No they didnt write me up.... it was just an ad from Jerry's Artarama plugging my instructional DVD's. that i'd even be in my favorite magazine for that, blows me away, considering i've only been at this painting thing a couple of years. thanks Jerry's!

Three Paintings-SOLD

These were painted several weeks ago

and weren't posted. the cosmetics painting is a tribute to the queen of

cosmetic paintings- Peggi Kroll-Roberts

both SOLD

ENC Afternoon- 6x6- oil on canvasboard

SOLD

This was my first painting after a long layoff (see posts below) and i was pleasantly surprised that it didnt take me long to get back in the swing of things. i liked the orange buildings and the blue shadows, and the light on the sidewalk. Looks very 'fallish' and late in the day.

Wilmington Riverview-SOLD

Port City Riverview (Wilmington)-6x8- oil on canvasboard

This is one i did several weeks back in wilmington. the clear fall air made the colors wonderful. the deep blue water, orange brick buildings and the cereleun blue and dusty rose sky were gorgeous as i looked back towards the city to paint.

the day i painted this, i remember almost losing my brand new plein air umbrella i ordered from EasyL. i tied the top part to the tripod like the instructions said to do. a huge gust of wind hit, lifted the umbrella, and it started heading for the river 12 feet below me. lucky i had it tied off or i'd have lost it for sure.
i highly recommend the EasyL umbrella if you like one when you paint. i used to use a beach umbrella with stakes in the ground but this one is way easier to use and can stand up to winds around 15 mph. when a gust hits, instead of it dragging your easel over, the top flies off and is attached (thank goodness) to the easel with an elastic cord. great idea whoever thought of it!

Knifed Glass

Blue Glass, Green Glass- 8x10- oil on canvasboard

Available- to purchase contact me before it goes to a gallery

I'm hooked on painting colored glass. i love all the subtle differences in color even tho' it might be all blue, or all green, etc.

But for me its about showing that sparkling light... warm and light against the darker, cooler shadows and some midtones.

Loved the retro green coaster i bought somewhere, but its got a weird shape and so i turned it into an ashtray instead. every shape on the green glass was either warmer, cooler, more intense or grayer than the one next to it. this is the fun and challenge of painting!

Surf City Crab-SOLD

Thought i'd fill everybody in on my recent off and on absence. hope'd you couldn't tell but fellow blogger and cyber friend frank gardner caught me.

Not many know that back in 1996 i started a homeless shelter, where i used to live in goldsboro, nc. when i went fulltime several years ago i ran the shelter, and two thrift stores that support it, thru a few managers when i was out painting.

A month ago or so the CPA gave me the bad news that the rescue mission was about to go under financially for several reasons. those several reasons turned out to be theft and misappropriation by employees, people not doing their jobs, and poor management, in general. i am just as much to blame, as i'm the guy who was supposed to be steering the ship and i was asleep at the wheel.

That my friends is the Readers Digest version for sake of brevity.

So i went back and devoted a few weeks to getting the rescue mission back on firm footing... new policies, new personell, with me firmly at the helm.

Funny thing was, that all the while this was going on, i didnt have much desire to paint everyday, which you have to know was abnormal for me. i found it hard to create when my brain was trying so hard to figure out a way to save the non-profit from going under. i didnt know if it would last until New Years at one point. Twelve years of hard work down the drain, putting homeless men back out on the street during the holidays, employees without jobs, on and on!

The minute i got the thing running in the black again the desire to paint returned instantly. its like my brain switched from right brain thinking to left brain autopilot that couldnt wait to paint.

I did a little warmup urban scene yesterday just to get the cobwebs out of my head and i felt rusty but not as bad as i thought it would be.

Here's my second painting and i feel like i'm back in the groove.

Now more than ever i know that a bad day painting is better than a good day not painting! i'm so glad to be back!

Bowl in the Sun

Amber Glass II- 8x10-oil on canvasboard

SOLD

Here's one i did a few weeks ago. i set up one of my favorite glass bowls on a table outside and mostly knifed it (although there is some brushwork) . i like the feeling of sunlite and the warm reflections juxtaposed against the cool shadow. i'm enjoying painting these bowls in the sunlite alot. we'll see if art buyers like them too. i hope so!

Cold and Flu Season Remedy

Cold Medicine- 8x6- oil on canvasboard

to purchase contact me by email with title in subject line

$=make me an offer

Sky Study over Atlantic Beach II-SOLD

Another in the two part series of interesting clouds over the Atlantic Beach Causeway between AB and Morehead City.

Sky Study Over Atlantic Beach-SOLD

Did this little cloud study as it drifted over the Atlantic Beach causeway. like the pink underpainting peeking out everwhere on this one. there will be another companion pc. that will look great with this one hanging together. what a great gift for someone on your Christmas list.

YooHoo!-SOLD

Couldnt resist the tan chocolate milk color and i think putting that in contrast to the purple setting made for a nice color combo.

Blast From the Past

NFS

A painting from this summer of the wilmington riverfront. i like the way the buildings were backlit and the boats and awnings had sun on them. this little 6x8 sold before it was even dry, if i remember right. i better get back over there one morning and do a bigger one eh?

Tonite i had a fun time participating in a "Meet the Artist" reception at my gallery on Bald Head Island (Woods Gallery) with Jonathan Willis a very talented bird carver. we both did demonstration pieces for the crowd and had a fun auction of his carved bird and my painting.

a fun time was had by all! i love these soirees. its a chance to talk to past and (future, i hope) collectors and show them how a painting is created.

Thanksgiving Day Thoughts

Flowers and Chair- 10x8 oil on gessoboard

Available at Vision Gallery- Atlantic Beach NC

to purchase-give them a call

Thought i'd jump online and post this recent floral still life before i start cooking the turkey.

My favorite way to eat turkey is to cover it in mustard and cayenne spice and deepfry it. thats my recipe for buffalo wings too!

Todays a day to be thankful for what we all have and not think about the small things that want to ruin our stoke for life. i wish i could do this everyday, without effort, but its hard isnt it? thinking of things like, how will whats happening in todays world affect me in the months ahead, etc etc etc. When youre thankful for what you DO have at the moment its hard to think of the future (and its uncertainties) at the same time.

So think of what you have, and not what you dont. make yourself happy for at least that amount of time. plenty of time for worry tomorrow right? i'm very thankful for my family and the fact that i can paint for a living. Thank you Jesus!

Now, go have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy the day off!

New 8x10

The Outsider- 8x10- oil on canvasboard

Available at Tidewater Gallery in Swansboro

Had fun with this verrrry difficult bowl. it has a weird amber hue to it and the scallops along the top are a real challenge. i feel like i did just ok with it all. when i get this bowl down,there wont be any glass that i wont be able to paint! Isnt that what challenging yourself is all about? i used to practice playing pool with a pool stick stuck in the pocket (to make it smaller) that way when i was playing for money the pocket seemed huge (without the stick in it)
same thing with this bowl. hope you like this one, if not the glass maybe the peppers.

i want to take this opportunity to thank alice and mary for helping me correct some photographing issues. y'all are the best.... thanks!

I Scream for Ice Cream-9x12- $45

Been working on a big commission painting and i'll post some step-by-step shots and text on the WIP (work in progress) so you can see how i go about it.

I will sell several paintings during my Holiday Sale to clear out the studio of sketches and studies that i do in preparation for larger paintings. the smaller pc's give me a good gauge of whether i want to pursue the idea larger and/or what i want to change if i do.

these will make excellent gifts at a good bargain for your art loving friends and family. all without breaking the bank. you may even see something you cant live without too.

this particular piece is acrylic and harkens back to the day when i painted in acrylic before switching to oils.

Day Off? Whats That?

Made a neat little still life setup today. took an expandable pole that goes from floor to ceiling and now i can mount the floodlight any height or angle i want. the tripod with the board mounted on it can be adjusted to any height also. so of course i had to try it out!

heres what i ended up with.

i was balancing this setup with my favorite blue vase and accidently broke it. i caught this red one before it hit the floor. now the red ones my favorite, LOL. im having a ball painting glass here lately. you'll be seeing lots of it coming up.

Red Glass and Orange- 4x4 oil on canvasboard

Available- $29 plus $5 shipping

Tag-- I'm It!

I've been tagged by Frank Gardner in a blogging game called "Tag" but first i thought i'd post one i did for City Art Gallery rush rush for the holiday show i'm in. its over in Greenville on Red Banks Rd. if you get a chance go in and look at some more pieces i just took over. some are priced as low as $125 framed in a nice gold plein air frame. Doin' my part to spur the economy!

so here it is...

Takin' a Break- 8x10 oil on gessoboard

SOLD

so onto the game of bloggin' tag--

Here are the rules:

1. Put a link in your posting to the person who tagged you.
2. List 7 unusual things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 other bloggers at the end of your post and comment on their blogs to let them know.


Seven quirky things about me: (couldnt think of anything interesting- it hurt my head LOL)

1. i despise going to weddings and funerals or anywhere else i have to "dress up". i even show up delivering work to fancy galleries in painted up clothes. i will put on a VERY casual shirt and jeans for VERY special occasions. 99% of the time i'm in baggies (surf shorts), tee shirt and flip flops.

2. i absolutely love two things in this world--- Red Bull and the Soprano's! Living large would be drinking Red Bull WHILE i'm watching the Soprano's. i have to watch the A&E network Soprano's because of all the bad language and other stuff so i cant order the boxed set. My question is why cant there be "cleaned up" movies, shows etc, if we can send men to the moon and space ships to mars?

3. i dont wear a watch and one of my pet peeves is making plans. plans for later in the week box you in and keep you from painting when and where you want to because you have to "Be Somewhere" at a certain time or place. it drives people around me crazy. it all started when i wouldnt make plans because there might be some surf or some wind ( i kiteboard, surf and stand-up paddle surf) then when i started painting fulltime it sounded better if i blamed it on that.. LOL

4. my studio is a two bedroom trailer at the beach. it just happens to have a bed, microwave, TV in it. The WHOLE trailer is the studio. the kitchen table is a still life area because its near a great window, my easel, homemade taboret, and dozens of drying paintings (and ones in different stages of completion) take up the whole living room. the walls of my living room/studio are filled with my fledgling art collection, pcs ive been collecting over the years (some-daily paintings of friends i met blogging), one bedroom holds more painting storage and frames and the other bedroom holds packing materials for shipping paintings. OH yeah and somewhere for me to sleep.

5. i love painting plein air and would do it out there 100% of the time if i could. its exciting out there, and painting in the studio is kinda boring to me. but when its cold or rainy i have to.

6. i absolutely love the marketing part of the painting business. i like meeting new people and love when i have an exhibition opening for my stuff! i used to street preach long long time ago and i guess thats where i got over my fear of speaking in public. kinda of ham in fact.

7. besides art i like to collect carved beach birds. love the primitive style from the old days where they used to be used as decoys and they used nails for the beak. the hunters kept shooting the beaks off the carved ones. thus the introduction of nails which lasted longer. i have some really intricately carved ones and a few 'slick' ones but i mostly like em raw and primitive looking.

my seven "tagee's" are

1. Jeff Mahorney- very cool guy, great painter and loves sarbach, and mcpherson, also a homie from NC. own one of his little gems

2.Robin Cheers- texan and i'm proud to say i own one of her little gems too

3.John Harrell- check out his rainy street scenes. gonna get one of those!

4.Cathleen Rehfeld- just found her. nice and loose!

5.Ray Logan- another of my newfound faves. cool brushstroke and color sense

6.Eric Merrill- love his stylistic landscapes

7.Aaron Lifferth- love his glass and fruit and ceramic stuff

go check out these talented folks. theyre working hard posting everyday (or almost everyday) and are an asset to this blogosphere we live in!

well now that youre sufficiently sleepy from all this ( it wasnt my idea--blame Frank) go take a nap! Todays sunday and that sounds like a great idea.
see y'all tomorrow with more bloggin foolishness!

Plein Air Painting Book Now Available

I am so excited! the book about painting North Carolina plein air style is finally here! i got my copy in the mail today from kim (the author) and i'm so proud to have been asked to be in this book, along with NC's best plein air artists from Murphysboro to Manteo.


The book has 28 other artists in it with three works each so its chock full of beautifully reproduced paintings of everything from beach cottages to mountain streams. it truly does capture the whole state as us artists see it and all works were created plein air.
Some of the other artists include well known plein air painters including: Cathy Martin, Rick McClure, Dan Nelson, Dee Beard Dean, Lori Putnam, L. Diane Johnson, Nicole Kennedy, Kim Maselli, Kevin Beck, Brenda Behr, Judy Crane, John and Dodi Groesser, Patricia Pittman, and more. i'm very humbled to have been included with this who's who of plein air painters we all know and love.

In the book each artist writes about their painting process and how they pick subject matter, how they lay out their palette, how they got started painting outdoors, and more, so its a good read whether your a seasoned painter or just a collector who wants to know more about the process of painting a painting. i cant wait to start reading my copy to see how these folks go about the business of creating a work of art. you will not be dissapointed!

a few of mine

another of my pages. wish the photos were better. the reproductions are incredibly accurate and are exactly like the paintings i did.

the book is available on Amazon.com right now, and will be in Barnes and Noble, quite a few other big national bookstores, and also the Our State and NC Public Television Store in a few weeks.

if you'd like to order one from me for the same price-- $29.99 i'll ship it to you for $8. if you want i'll write a note on the inside cover and sign it special for you,,,,, just to get you to buy it from me instead of them! that and four dollars will buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks LOL

at least buying it from me will help support a starving artist and not some mega rich national retail outfit. help do your part to support the little man!

just contact me at 919-920-9718 or email if youre interested in getting one for yourself, or for a Christmas present for an art lover on your list.

thanks y'all!

Cold Outside Today

Unique Perspective- 8x6 oil on canvasboard

SOLD

it was brutally cold outside today and we had snow showers yesterday. very odd for NC at this time of year so i stayed inside and painted both days.

i think this is a camellia i plucked off a tree today and painted it in a cool (tiny) vase. hope you like it as much as i liked being in the warmth!

A Bunch for Sale!

The Bail Out--SOLD

Sketching in the Sun-- SOLD

Flowers in a Chair --SOLD

Glass Jar--SOLD

Above Key Lime Pie Shop (Key West)-SOLD

Lake Reflections--SOLD

Front St. Spire-SOLD

In a Pinch (Deux) --SOLD

Bocadeah--SOLD

Sorry for not posting in a while.... busy painting. some of these are brand new, some i'm posting again. a few of these were from Key West last spring.

finally all the key west paintings are sold so maybe i will go back this winter. i love going to that tropical place when its 3o degrees here!

Getting Fatter by the Day

Tortilla Chips- 4x6 oil on canvasboard

click here to bid on EBay- starting bid is $29.99

Love popping out these little junk food paintings. get to eat em when they're done.

As they peacefully lay there, i think they are enjoying their celebrity while i paint them. but they get nervous as i near the end and put the last strokes of light paints on, knowing they'll be eaten any moment!

talk about your "15 minutes of fame" cliche Andy Warhol coined.

can you tell i'm spending too much time giving human qualities to inanimate objects? I'm not crazy REALLY! LOL

Stop!-- You're Killing Me!

Marsh Abode- 6x6 oil on canvasboard

SOLD

Painting doesnt need to be a long and drawn out process. you can block in, as i did on this one, in less than 20 minutes and with a little more time tweaking of the shapes, make them closer to reality, until youre satisfied with it. i tend to not fuss over the canvas and that keeps it very abbreviated. this is starting to be the hallmark of my smaller painting style. for better or worse.
the more i work on them the less passionate they look so i stop a little BEFORE i think i'm finished. try it a time or two and see if you dont like doing it this way too!

Moon Rise

Country Moon Rising- 6x6 oil on canvasboard

SOLD

Saw the moon rising over this little slice of eastern nc landscape and had to jump out and paint it. in this fall season, the sun sets faster than in the summer. so where i used to have an hour and a half to two hours in the summer to paint a late afternoon scene, now its less than an hour. the upside is that the light is better and the air is crisp and doesnt have all the atmosphere of summer. things in the distance appear closer than they do in the summer. the light seems more orange in the light and blue in the shadows.
i love painting at this time of year. come to think of it.... i just love to paint!

Saturday Fun

Tortilla Chips- 4x6 oil on canvasboard

$49

to purchase email me before it goes to auction on EBay in a few days

Painting can be an obsession. wow i was going to take the day off and almost got all the way thru the day without painting, and at the last minute had to do a little something.

i guess when your job is your way to have fun, what could be better?

This is one is from my junk food series. so far all the others have sold so i look forward to painting (and eating) more junk food!

I still have a few of my $12 instructional DVD's on how to paint a painting using palette knives. it wont play on a dvd player that will burn another dvd, but most players dont, so its all good. contact me by email if you'd like one.

Also scheduled two one day workshop dates in January. i'll be teaching the whole day in raleigh and one in morehead city on color. we'll talk about how to mix, how to lighten without adding white (chalk dust) and how to darken colors without adding black or earth colors.

contact me if you're interested in reserving a spot in either class.

Two of Three Done Today

Rod-O-Rama - 8x10

$275 framed

available at Art Source Gallery in Raleigh

4 O'Clock at Rialto Theater- 8x10

SOLD

at Art Source Gallery in Raleigh

WOW 8x10 is a huge canvas after working for the last several weeks on my 6x6 and 6x8's.
i saw this old rod and loved the name of the shop. kept rattleing it around in my head while i was painting and kept thinking how it sounded like the buzzword of the week--Obama. i know... i'm losing it!
in this one i loved the old car seat sitting behind the hot rod in front of the showroom window.

the next one was the Rialto Theater in the Five Points area of Raleigh. best known for the frequent showings it has of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. never seen it.

sold 20 of these little blog paintings in one whack today to a customer crazy about the little still lifes, landscapes and quirky stuff i paint and post on here. gotta go back on here and mark em all sold. yeeehaaaa!

A Taste of Eastern NC

House of Faith- 6x6 oil on canvasboard

SOLD

Planning on doing a series of iconic eastern north carolina scenes. sorta like "postcards from NC"
here's the first, a neat little church on the corner of a small down east town. loved the white and orange front of the church in contrast to the cool bluebird blue sky.
my favorite part is the handrail and its shadow on the front of the building. how can i fall in love with about 1/4 inch of a painting? i dont know how, but i do.

Outdoor Stilllife

Amber Glass- 8x10- palette knifed oil on canvasboard

Sold

i took this amber bowl i bought at a thriftstore outside in the sunlite and tried to capture the shimmering yellow reflections. wish you could see all the subtle, pure color mixes.
nothing beats painting outside, nothing!
it sold very quickly so i bought three more glass bowls and i'm looking forward to setting them in the sun and painting them too.

MHC Weekend Workshop Over

too tired to upload anything tonite, but wanted to update.
the weekend workshop was a full house with 9 eager painters learning how to quickly and simply block-in a painting outside. we learned about color temperature and how important it is in painting landscapes. we all had a ball and most got where they could paint the scene in 2 hours or less.

today i was hired by a school to teach art classes my techniques and the kids were stoked to find out that they could paint the most difficult subjects in 5 values. the teacher wants me back in a month or so to do another one day workshop with the kids. on top of that the teachers at the school bought 7 of my daily paintings i took and laid out on the table for the kids to look at. this is a great job!

Pics from MHC Workshop

here's my work office this week. short sleeves, blue skies, and scenery to die for. i'm doing a demonstration here on how to block in a painting in 30 minutes or less. here we are talking about blogging and internet marketing, approaching galleries, and how to price their work. some drank coffee and some of us were drinking Red Bull and orange juice, a drink we coined Bull Mosa's because they taste like a Mimosa.

what other job can you have like this one?