The Yellow Flatbed Truck

8x10, oil on canvas panel

95.00

For this painting I used reference material (photo and sketches) made about 17 years ago, and the truck was old then! I would love to know the year it was made, and isn't that a grand color?

Two Barns, Sagegrass, and Dappled Light

8x10, oil on canvas panel

95.00

Fields of Yellow

8x10, oil on canvas panel

Actually the yellow in the fields is a soybean crop. Kind of takes the romance out of it! We can pretend to be Shelley and Keats and call them golden flowers.

By the way, this is the same pond that I mentioned on a recent post. The weather is so fine here, just perfect for plein air painting.

The Pond, 5:30 am

8x10, oil on canvas panel

95.00

I never tire of painting this pond. Turn 30 degrees or change the time of day, and it's a whole new composition. Some day I'd like to do a Kevin McPherson pond series. He painted, I believe, a hundred or more paintings of the same scene, just changing the season and the time of day. What a wonderful project!

Door to the Biker Bar

6x8, oil on canvas panel

85.00

Early Morning in Union County, NC (sold)

6x6, oil on canvas panel

Barn with Gothic Window, Sunset (sold)

9x12, oil on canvas panel

To Bid: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190337069225&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Since I've been well, I've had a brush attached to my hand just about all the time. This weekend I painted 6 pictures, but was out of town and could not post. This painting is slightly larger than my usual 8x10 and smaller. I am forcing myself to paint some larger ones each week since I want to look for some more galleries.

Back Soon

I have caught another bug, but should be posting again by the end of next week.
Connie

The Plant Nursery on Monroe

5x7, oil on canvas panel

75.00

My new painting friend, Jean, and I painted at a delightful little nursery and gift shop yesterday. I painted two, but have to touch up the other one. There was so much to paint that it was difficult to keep the subject matter organized.

I need to reorganize my darks and lights.

Jean is a wonderful painter. You can see her work at www.jeancauthen.blogspot.com

A Walk in the Park

8x10, oil on canvas panel

95.00

I painted this yesterday in one of our local parks in Charlotte. I had quite an audience some of the time. Almost everyone likes to watch someone paint...and sometimes give advice!

The Stand Alone Pear

6x6, oil on canvas panel

As much as I love painting landscapes, I have missed painting still lifes. I plan to paint one or two small still lifes each week for a while, as well as my plein air landscapes.

On Saturday I participated in a Paint Out sponsored by the Mooresville Artist Guild. I arrived around 8:30, registered, and had my blank canvases stamped. Mooresville is a charming town, and there was much to paint. I chose a house in town and drove out to the marina for a water landscape. Paintings were turned in by 5:00, and we were all treated to a buffet dinner. I made a new painting friend, and we are planning to go out in the morning for some plein air time. After dinner, awards were given. My marina landscape won honorable mention and my town painting won second place. So I went home with a smile on my face and money in my pocket. The paintings will be in the gallery for a month, so I do not have photos.

The Pink Roof

8x10, oil on canvas panel

99.00

Generally, when I begin a painting, I first decide on my focal point. The focal point is usually put off center on one of the cross hairs of an imaginary tic tac toe grid. It will be a little different from the rest of the painting...perhaps sharper edges, more contrast, or brighter color spots. The focal point for this painting is the bright pink roof surrounded by cooler colors.

Western Haybales

8x10, oil on canvas panel
To Bid: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190332712836


This was painted from another slide I took several years ago. It was the first time I had seen the round ones. Most of the farms in the south were still making the rectangular bales.

The Guard Cat

8x10, oil on canvas panel
99.00, to bid: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190332946246&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT


When I was teaching I took hundreds of slides to use in the classroom. Some are so faded now that they are practically unusable, but I still have some great ones, especially those taken in Europe and the American west. This painting was done from a slide I took in Metz, France. I saw the scene just as I turned the corner on one of those small winding roads and snapped it almost without stopping. I wish I had taken more that day.