Streaming In-6x8-SOLD

 SOLD

a view of traffic at twilight as it passes by the Key West Yacht Club. never seen so many "No Trespassing" signs to ignore!

Angela St. in Morning Light-12x16

SOLD

 

US 1 at 5:30-6x8

$99 plus $10 s/h
to purchase with PayPal or credit card click the "buy now" button below

Fleming St. Late Afternoon-8x10

Quiet Lane- 8x10
i think this will be on the invitation to the show we're mailing out

Angela St. Morning Light- 8x10


some of my recent paintings headed to Gallery on Greene for the march show. Ive been painting lots of small color studies to see how i like the composition, color harmonies, and to get to know the subject intimately. this really helps when it comes time to bring out the bigger panels. thing is you have to go the next day or two later at most. after that the experience and the memory fades quickly.

I'm working on a 12x16 based on the above Angela St. Morning Light painting. got the underpainting done this morning and i'll go back tomorrow morning and finish it. having done the 8x10 first really made this morning flow! i'll post the 12x16 when i finish it. i'm ahead of schedule for getting the show stuff done in time. i paint every day of the week that the sun is shining. you never know if we'll get a rainy streak and not paint for days on end. i dont want to take that chance!

Southard St. Roof-6x8-SOLD

Gotta love the architecture of this one. and the lush tropical greenery that envelopes the houses here is heaven to me after leaving a cold and gray NC a month ago. thanks nettie!

Smathers Beach Vignette- 8x10

may be headed to Gallery on Greene show in march

Dont Be Shy-8x6 SOLD

 SOLD

this is the drawing and shadow block-in on the commission below

Sarahs Granny Smith-6x8

SOLD

Truman St Morning

 

Truman Street Morning-8x10

Headed to Gallery on Greene show that opens in March

Lavender Houses Green Palms-6x8-SOLD

A luscious knifed piece from the neat little neighborhoods downtown. does this one make you feel the sun on your back just a little bit? something to warm you up if youre feeling the chill in your bones.

Figure Study #012311-8x6

this is on gessoed masonite

 

Golden Bottle on Blue Batik-6x8

$200 Framed

Headed to Rowley Gallery on Cape Cod

contact Liz if you'd like this one

her link is over on the right sidebar

Perfume Triad-6x8

$200 Framed

Headed to Rowley Gallery on Cape Cod

contact Liz if you'd like it

her link is over on the right sidebar

Southard and White Midday Light-12x9

SOLD

Conch St.- 9x12

contact me if you'd like to purchase

Did these two on the streets with a knife and a toned background of yellow ochre instead of white canvas like the cape school folks do it. makes it faster my way since i'm a little more detailed and need to save time out there. gives a nice warmness to the pieces i think. also payed particular attention to not making the darks so dark in an attempt to lighten up the key and make it look "airier" and like sun is bouncing all around. the few darks i do have make it look like a direct sunlight type of day.

Figure Study 011911-6x8-SOLD

this is on gessoed masonite

From last nights Life Drawing class. Amazing what a few weeks of these sessions will do for your ability to capture the grace a pose has. i can feel the "gumby-ness" slipping away! well worth the cost of time and finances.

View of the Armory-6x8-SOLD

think i'm going to quit the Ebay auction format. i know i wouldnt want to have to watch a painting for seven days or go thru the rig-a-ma- roll to go to ebay, bid, wait, etc. When i want a painting online i want to buy it right that minute. dont know how many found me just thru ebay but i suspect it wasnt many so we'll try it "click and Buy" on here for now.

this old building used to house troops and act as a lookout spot up in those towers. you can see out all over the island from up there. today it houses the Studios of Key West where i teach some classes. the second story houses artists studios. cool building and great organization. if you come down this winter any, check it out, White and Southard St.

Moped Hospital Key West-6x8 SOLD

 SOLD

loved this old gas station turned into a moped rental place. there are as many (if not more) mopeds on the roads here than cars. its the easiest, cheapest form of transportation. i loved the sun on the side of the building and those old-timey winged street lamps. i can see in my minds eye when they first built this and it was ultra-modern looking. now its retro and cool!

Blue Heaven-8x6-SOLD

This 100 year old house is now the Blue Heaven Restaurant. as you sit eating, at your feet are a bunch of chickens, roosters and chicks walking around like they own the place. this place really captures the atmosphere of the Conch Republic. its baby blue in the early morning but at this angle and at lunchtime (when this was painted) it looks warm, french gray in the bleached noon sun. i love the counterbalance of warmth i left where the porches are and disregarded what i saw in favor of making a better painting. took me years to figure out that i didnt HAVE to paint exactly what i saw.



Here i am heading to get some cuban food after painting Blue Heaven. everything i need to paint is in the basket (including a box full of wet paintings) and the backpack on my back. and yes! i am sporting my new hat. i love a hat as good as a woman loves a pair of shoes, and believe like they do-- you cant have too many. and i find the best ones here.

Bikes are the absolute best way to get around key west and provincetown. finding a spot can take half an hour, if you can find it at all. with the bike you can go slow and "crawl" the streets looking for something that you "have to paint!"

Figure Study #011611-8x6-SOLD

this is on gessoed masonite

another short pose from my figure drawing session.

Today i ate conch salad or "saviche" as its better known. also had stone crab for the first time at an outdoor seafood festival before heading off for my afternoon painting session. i went back to yesterdays alley and did an 8x10 of it. i'll post it after i tweak it a bit. it'll be going in the march show i'm having at Gallery on Greene.

Duval Side Street-6x8-SOLD

After a few really windy days (where i stayed in the studio) i got back out today and "crawled" the side streets looking for light "doing its thing". this is what i came up with. i was set up right on Duval St. (the equivalent of Bourbon St.) packed with bars with their doors open, playing music, drunks wandering the streets, tourists trying to buy something, and locals trying to sell em something. the place cranks up at noon and goes hard till dark, harder after. so i'm right in the midst of the throngs, looking up this side street. other than painting to a guy playing in a nearby bar, that could play about any song the crowd requested, i totally block out all the rest and paint. plein air painting is very zen-like in that respect.

Figure Study 1-11-11- 8x10

Been doing life drawing sessions weekly since i got here. we do 6-8 gesture drawings as warm up and three short poses. having a blast and its improving my drawing, immensely, even outside

Wash and Wear-6x8-SOLD

Even the laundromats have style here!

Stock Island Sunrise-6x8

Not For Sale

Got out early saturday morning and here's what i saw. the colors in the tropics are beautiful!

Last Sliver of Light-6x6-SOLD

SOLD

Just off Southard St. A little light on a bldg. just before the sun slips into the bathwater temperature sea.

This was where i painted this morning. not a bad place to come to work eh?

i've done a few paintings since i got here, but then jumped right into teaching a three day plein air workshop. it was a packed class, as we hit the outdoors with our paint, up and down the streets of this town that has such a cool vibe. its got an energy about it, but still laid back at the same time.

i taught the class the importance of simplifying and massing together values and to stop seeing "things". squint and see the masses. then simply and with no fuss, lay in the shadows, then lay down the proper "color spots". after that you go in and add the nuances, detail, pop or "bling, bling" as i call it at the very end. massing in and simplifying is essential here as everything is shoved together into tight little streets and detail abounds. this is the original place where gingerbread men where cut out of wood and placed all along the porch's eaves. there are a million details in this type of architecture, not to mention railings, bannisters, and palms with a thousand leaves! you gotta simplify or go mad.

Palm #010311-SOLD

8x6

My workshop in key west starts tomorrow morning and i got out this afternoon looking for places to take the class. thing is.... everywhere you look there's a great painting, so we wont have to go far from the center. today i peddled all around the island on my bike, getting my bearings, and found out just how out of shape i got over the holidays. but i also found this great late afternoon palm scene. by doing these studies of palms you learn to understand the structure of the tree. how to best describe it simply, in paint. you want them to look effortless when theyre anything but (especially when i first get here) not only that, they sway in the breeze changing shape everytime you look up at them. knowing them intimately (by doing these studies) helps you immensely, and after doing them awhile you can even "fake" em, if you have to.

Spray On Sunscreen-6x6-SOLD

SOLD

 

Happy New Year!

i want to thank all of you for following my plein air painting antics, paintings, lessons, and rants here on this blog! 2010 was a great year for me beginning with a great winter painting in key west and workshops all spring. then my trip to teach in italy and then a month long trip to cape cod, and new teaching gigs in rhode island, and maryland. not to mention lots of great NC workshops, students, kiteboarding this summer and sweet painting sessions. Wow. could it get any better in 2011 than that? dont know but i'm going to try!
hope you had a great 2010 and have an even better 2011!