Southernmost Casas-8x10

Available at Gallery on Greene-Key West

was not having the best day yesterday. a tree from some guys yard fell on my truck, and then every stroke I made on a painting I was working on was bad and had to be scraped off, then put back on. drawing was a real chore and tourists asking directions were really freaking me out. a total wash for painting really. I'm thinking to myself "how can this get any worse"

well, this well dressed guy jumps out of big car with an entourage, to see what I'm working on. he's in shiny shoes and a nice suit. well obviously he's from out of town because everybody else is in flip flops and shorts.

he ambles over to me and starts loudly proclaiming "this guys great. look at that painting. Sir, you are doing a fine job on that" etc. etc.

I think to myself, well at least I got a compliment on the painting, maybe its not as bad as I think it is and the days not all bad.

I say thanks man! and he quickly shoots out his hand. he says something like, I'm MR. X (name left out) I'm running for governor again, in florida and I'd appreciate your vote.

 

Jeez, we all know what politicians will do to get a vote.

 

so much for my compliment!

SOLD-Johnson Lane-18x24

another classic island motif. conch house kapok tree, and scooter.

this has a lot going on but I tried to make you look at the tree first.

this one has great temperature shifts and subtle value changes, when you see it in person. unfortunately computer screens and cheap digital cameras wont allow you to see them but you get the idea.

 

I found Johnson Lane by accident and ended up loving to paint there. not much traffic and paintings galore in that honey hole!

SOLD-Near Virgilio's- -0314c-18x24

Sold to dear friends who were the first to let me stay with them when I first arrived in key west years ago. The play of light the mornings I worked on this painting were phenomenal.

 

Catholic Lane-0314c-8x10

available at Gallery on Greene Key West

 

going for the dreamy look in this early morning interpretation. my biggest improvement this year is the shadows on the buildings. I'm designing them instead of seeing whats really there. when you paint the real thing it looks fake. the fake one looks real.

Life's Good in the Sun-18x24

available at Gallery on Greene Key West

another painting from the show. the van and shadow on the building and roof are my fave parts of the painting. the subtle temperature shifts in all the paintings shapes were a blast to play with. this picture does the painting no justice

 

Workshop News

 

Want to go to Maine the first week of September and paint? I'm holding a plein air workshop on Mt. Desert Island at Acadia Workshop Center from September 1 thru September 5. I was there year before last and it was a blast. i'll teach you how to simplify the outdoor landscape and paint with color that shimmers. contact me if youre interested.

 

SOLD-Waterfront Eatery-18x24

SOLD

 

this was the first to sell in the show. Nice folks from Annapolis Md. bought it.

Key Largo Workshop- Color Studies

here was a color exercise I gave the class. divide the canvas into four sections, and paint three apples and a lemon in a different composition in ten minutes per square. this exercise forces you to paint directly, accurately, and fast! I think this key largo crowd is the smartest ive had this week.

note: if you click on the image you can see it bigger.

Teaching in Key Largo

 In Key Largo teaching day one of three, at the Purple Isle Art Guild and what a blast these gals are! we laugh and cut up and do some really great three value exercises. I ran everybody thru their paces with three, four, and five value black and white paintings of still life setups. and then we painted color over the grisaille. as they say "value does the heavy lifting in a painting and color gets all the credit". if it looks good in black and white it'll be dynamite in color right?! tomorrow we'll delve deeper into color and simplifying complex subject matter.

yours truly showing off about 2/3s of the show. as you can see, ive got a lot of bigger ones this year. I'm happy to report that many of them have sold. thanks to Nance, Karen, Cathleen, and Frankie from Gallery on Greene for a wonderful reception and all their hard work selling my work year round in key west.