First Still Life

                                                16"x20" Oil on canvas
                                                     NA
This, I believe, is my first attempt at a realistic still life.  I had a couple of those $1 "How To Paint" books and I stole oops! borrowed several items from the demos. One of my brothers wanted it and I gave it to him.  It still hangs on his wall.  I look at it now and it's so different from my present work.  I have always admired grayed down paintings and sometimes I look at my work and think "too much color".  Oh well!  For many years I have tried to decide which style is mine---and I'm still not sure.  I have some nice photos of some gray Nova Scotia fishing shacks.  Think I'll try a gray one again.      Mike

Homage to Sergei

                                                     20"x30"  Oil on stretched linen
                                                                   Sold


I very rarely do still life painting, just can't get enthused enough to attempt one.  I, of course, do get enthused when I see one of Sergei Bongart's  masterpieces.  A while back I set up one of his type of compositions, and produced this specimen.   Looking at it now,  I'm surprised at the restrained color.  I usually go for bright, pure hues, but here, when I was trying to emulate a daring colorist,  I grayed things down.  Weird!  Maybe next time I'll try one with wild color.                    Mike