SOLD-The Sun Slid Down 0131B-6x6

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i get on these night painting kicks every now and again. here's one where the lights came on just as the sun slipped below the horizon. this was civil twilite. the time when the sun has set but you can still make out objects. always glad to see some folks get their lights on earlier than the rest of town for this great lighting effect. had to finish it under headlamp light as it was totally dark when i finished.

Bobs Barricades-8x10

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SOLD-Midnite at the Oasis 0130B-6x8

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creeping and crawling at night. 

i love the feeling of mystery in this one

wish i could get really well known for night paintings. then after hanging out all night playing music i could go paint night scenes until dusk. then i'd go home and sleep all day and wake up at 7 or 8 and do it all again.

SOLD- Near Bahama Village-0129B-6x6

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as i see the planes fly over while i'm painting this one i can picture everybody on the little jet looking down on on a little jewel of a tropical island, and theyre squeezed up to the little window, sitting there smiling real big. theyre dressed in winter clothes from chicago (14 degrees) new jersey (33) and all points north, it must look wonderful coming from miami watching the little speck of a key, getting bigger and bigger in the turquoise vastness until coconut palms and banana trees appear. and then they get lower and lower until they can see us smiling back up at them. welcome to the conch republic.

$100-Triangles and Barrels-0127B-6x8

more from the middle of US1 South 

$100 plus $10 s/h

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Beware Editorializing Ahead! 

my painting bud john c. and i were comparing notes on some artists that we've encountered in person and online that we consider "bashers". they are extremely opinionated and have no tolerance for those artists that they dont consider "serious". one guy swears that if you watch tv you can never become a skilled painter and he considers you somehow unworthy. i say this as one who doesnt watch tv myself. not to make me a better painter but for different reasons.do i agree with the above artist?

yes and no. yes in that i agree that you will always get out of something what you put in. this goes for painting as well. who wouldnt agree that a person who painted instead of watching some desperate housewives wouldnt get better? but do i think that because you do watch the tube, that you wont ever be a skilled painter? no. and i dont like the elitists who say you cant have a social life or other interests and be a good painter. they just say this i think to justify their life. and thats ok to have that kind of life, just dont put down others who dont live that way, right? this type of person is usually extremely accomplished (and many of them commercially successful) yes this is true, but can you be balanced and hold the attitude that one should only be painting and all other activities are a distraction from that end. i dont think so, but again i could be wrong

will we have to work harder when we are painting, if we dont do it every waking minute, probably (unless you are a painting savante) but as for me i'll work harder and balance that with my credo that says 'work hard and play hard!'

Below is one of my newer gallery paintings and will be on the cover of the postcard invitations announcing the show starting the 16th of march

A View up Fleming 0126B 8x10

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$100-Dinghy Crowd-0118B-6x8

$100 plus $10 s/h

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and over cast day on the docks where all the people that live on boats park their dinghies when they come on dry land. love the redish gas cans and orange life vests on a mostly blue day. mice spark of complementary color.

SOLD-On the Waterfront-0117B-6x8

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this scene is right next to conch republic seafood restaurant. some of it anyway!

i made up everying to the right of the staircase, taking a page out of the playbook of one of my fave artists Edward Seago. they say he often made up half the stuff he was using in a painting. he had painted outdoors so much that he had a virtual library of stuff to pull from in his imagination. i remember early on in my painting career not being able to do that at all, and how frustrating it was to have to be a slave to painting what i saw. 

SOLD-Stock Island Gray Day 0119B-7x9

note: this is a little bigger than normal for the same price as a 6x8 

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after being sick in bed all day yesterday i went out and painted with my buddy john clayton (go check out his blog) this morning in the overcast. he really appreciates the colors of that light key. i'm learning to. i love these studies that are quickly rendered with no muss or fuss.

$100-Southernmost House of Worship-0116B-8x6

$100 plus $10 s/h

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loved the purple "glow" on the shadow side of this cool church.

$100-30 Minute Figure Study 0116B-9x7

$100 plus $10 s/h

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Figure salon has begun at the community college and this was the 2nd of a few 30 minute studies. if you want to learn to paint (draw) paint the figure.

SOLD-Yellow House on White St.-0114B-6x8

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just found out i'll have a show of the new paintings i'm doing for the gallery on greene in key west. it'll be mid march. if youre in town, stop by during the exhibition (or after) and see the new stuff! i'll start posting some of the ones ive got done here shortly.

here's the plein air mobile! my trusty $20 bicycle complete with basket and a homemade back rack made of wood and a curtain rod i found. this is the stealth model for slippin' in and out of KW alleyways and lanes. its camoflouged so wary tenants and angry street vendors dont see me till i'm almost done with the painting!

look at the lush backyard. my island hideaway. 

SOLD-Joans Neighbors-0107B-6x8

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love how all the little conch houses are packed into a block. the blocks are small and can hold four of these little beauties!

like the 'halo" effect around the foreground picket fence? 

p.s. --click the image and it will blow up to see the brushwork in detail on this one

In the Middle of the Road

here i am at the office yesterday. right in the middle of what used to be the inbound lane into KW. but the powers that be decided to put up a barricade right down the middle of the island turn what was the outbound lane into the inbound lane. theyre putting all the important cables etc under the road. all traffic going the other way is rerouted to the other side of the island. needless to say its a nightmare to drive (but a great place to paint). expected completion date? 2015

oh yeah... i'm obsessed with painting from the "war zone" as i call it. funny thing is i'm out there painting the beautiful shapes of orange barrels, dirt and construction signs, all against a blue/turquoise water scene dotted with palms backdrop. not one soul is working (or hassling me) for as far as the eye can see. then the other night i'm painting a late night scene and this guy comes out and starts jabbering away at me wanting to know why would i come out at night and paint and get away from his little concession stand. the only people that arent nice to street painters in this town (and everywhere) are people who have businesses on the sidewalk or alley youre on. very territorial.

i'll post the paintings when i get em tweaked enough for human consumption.

SOLD-Cul-De-Sac Tropical-0105B-8x6

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Had to install and use google chrome as my browser to get photos to upload. i surprised myself with my techno saavy!

One from last year

blogger's being hard to get along with today and wont let me post my most recent painting so you'll have to settle for one from last year. technology....you gotta love it when youre not hating it, right? will post the other painting as soon as i can

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if youre in KW this winter my teaching schedule is over on the right sidebar. i'll be doing weekly classes at the Studios of Key West february and march, as well as private lessons. just drop me an email for more info.

also- ive got tons of free lessons at jerrysartarama.com that you might like. just google "mike rooney jerrysartarama free art lessons" to see em!

 

looks like its supposed to rain off and on here for four or five days so i'm sure i'll be jonesing for some sunlite to paint when thats finally all gone.

Small Town Shadows-0101B-8x10

a small town sidewalk in nc in december.

 

made it to orlando on the first day of my 18 hr.trek to KW. thanks for your hospitality and great spaghetti paul!

funny story about paul (and a great lesson for plein air painters)

 

you know how when youre out there painting away in a very public place, people love to see what youre doing? and they want to talk to you about the piece, but sometimes we're concentrating so hard on the painting we arent as sociable as we usually might be?

well check this out! i'm painting in key west a few years back where the cruise ships let folks off. i'm working on a street scene and a guy and a girl come up and are very interested in what i'm doing.... its paul (and his girlfriend) we chat awhile about the little study and he says he's from orlando visiting KW and wants the little painting. so i sell it to him, find out he's also a painter and we become friends. he signed up for the italy workshop i did a few years ago, and then another one last fall in maine. we paint together every time he visits KW and we are great friends to this day!

 

moral of the story. dont ever, ever be short and unsociable with pedestrians when youre painting. if you are mean to them, they could turn out to be one of the best friends you NEVER had!