Back to work

Home again.  Had a great visit with my large family (around 40 members showed up).  Haven't touched a paintbrush in over a week, and I can hardly wait!  I am going to try to get out this week, but it is very cold, so I will have to paint fast and do small paintings.  Will put something for you to look at on tomorrow's post.      Mike

Monterey Clipper in yard

                                                12"x16" Oil on linen                                                        
                                                           Sold
I really enjoy boatyard painting.   There is almost always a lot of clutter and interesting activity, and boats, of course.  This particular work was prompted by my admiration of the subject boat, a historic hull type of the California fishing fleet, called a "Monterey Clipper".  It is frequently seen in the paintings of the early west coast plein air painters;  it was much beloved for it's graceful bow and sheer line.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.  I attended a very large family reunion in Covington, La over the holiday, and a Thanksgiving dinner around New Orleans,is really a dieter's nightmare.  I'll be eating small portions of healthy (ugh!) food for the next month.                                     Mike

Thanksgiving

No work today.  Have a nice thanksgiving!       Mike 

Last Farm on the road

                                                     14"x18"   Oil on linen
                                                         SOLD
From cold winter snow in my last blog to a hot summer day!  This  is a scene I painted with my Cal. Wednesday group.  I set up on the road next to my good friend, Jeanette Wolff, who does watercolor, oil, collage, gardening, home decorating, etc. etc, and is the most creative person I have ever known.  If I remember correctly, she did a daring watercolor composition with wild colors.  Actually, I don't really have to remember.  Her watercolors are always daring compositions with wild colors.  I'll put a photo of her in one of my upcoming blogs.                          Mike

New Hampshire snow

                                                         9"x12"  Oil on linen
                                                           SOLD
I like snow paintings.  I just don't like standing in snow.  It is beautiful when you view it from the warm side of a closed window.   I did this from a photo I took from my car a few years back.   Just so you won't think I'm a wimp, I did open the window for a split second to snap the shutter.  Later, in my studio, with a hot cup of coffee in one hand, I really enjoyed doing the painting.               Mike

Quick sketch

                                                                   NFS

Above is a very flattering quick sketch of me painted last year on one of my return visits to California.  The artist is Anita Hampton, well known plein air artist.  In several previous blogs, I have mentioned that I go painting in California with many fine artists.  Some of them are well known like old friend , Anita   Old friend is a term of affection, in this case, not a comment on actual age.  Below is a photo I took of her one day, when she was hard at work in her studio.   Hee hee!                     Mike  

 

Once again

                                                     8"x10" Oil on linen panel
                                                             Sold


So many people said that my painting "One more Monday" (blog of June 2nd) was their favorite of all my  works, that I decided  to do a slightly different version in a smaller size.  The small plein aire study, along with the larger studio piece were sold long ago, and I can't seem to find any photos of the original scene, so I tried to capture it from my memory alone. I have photos of the earlier paintings, but that never works  for me.  Anyway, here it is.   Hope you like it.     Mike

Survivor

                                                     11"x14" Oil on linen panel
                                                           Sold


This painting was actually titled "At the Fuel Dock", I believe, but when I finished it and leaned it against my french easel, a gust of wind picked it up and blew it off the end of the wharf.  There was only one boat on that side, and when I raced over to see if it was floating-----it had landed, paint side up, on the aft deck of the boat.  I climbed down, retrieved it totally undamaged, and one of the people watching the incident offered to buy it.  Happy ending!   I have had a few similar experiences I will tell you about some time in the future.        Mike

Cambria beach vista

                                                   12"x16" Oil on linen panel
                                                            Sold


Considering I lived in a beach side community for a great portion of my life, I have not painted many empty beach vistas.  I've painted people on beaches, boats on beaches, umbrellas on beaches,etc.   This, I believe may be the only one of it's kind.  Probably a good thing.  If I were doing this again, I'd make changes. I was with my friend Anita that day, and she did a much better painting.        Mike

Gray day at Peggy's cove

                                                  8"x10"Oil on linen panel
                                                    Click here to buy painting

 Some blogs back, I talked about doing another "gray" painting, and one of my photos of Nova Scotia caught my attention, again.   The shacks on the water are typical of that region and, on that particular day, seemed to be deserted.  The dramatic starkness of the scene came across beautifully in the camera shot; I'm not sure my painting  captures it as well.  In any event, I did get away from the bright, color filled work that I normally do.  Hope you like it a little.    Mike

Motif No. 1

                                                 4"x 6"  Oil on board
                                                       Sold
I mentioned before that Rockport, Mass. is one of my favorite places on earth.  This little sketch of the red fish shack was done on location a few Octobers ago.  It is said that this is the most painted scene in the U.S.-- hence the title.   I did a very large work later in the studio from this study, but let it get away before I remembered to take a photo.  That has happened more than once, unfortunately.        Mike

Peggy's cove in winter

                                                        16"x20" Oil on linen
                                                             Sold

Peggy's cove is probably the most photographed and painted spot in Nova Scotia.  I painted there a few years ago and also took many photos.  This was painted from one of the photos, but I decided to make  it snow a lot more with my brush.  I have seen many other photos in magazines and calendars from this viewpoint, and the house on top has changed colors several times.  It must be interesting to the occupants to know how famous their property has become.        Mike

Another just talk

Today I will not be posting art.  For the first few years, I did not bother to photograph my work, and since I have posted quite a few paintings, I am in danger of running out of photos.  If I did a small painting a day, like many of the daily paintworks crew, I'd be OK, but I don't.  If I get involved with my gallery work, it may take a while to complete, and in that time I'll have days with nothing to show.  I am going to try to post two or three paintings a week until the end of this year,at least, and then decide if I will continue or not.  Have fun,   Mike

Cerro Romauldo

                                                 9"x12" Oil on linen panel
                                                         Sold


This beautiful mountain is one of the "Nine sisters", a group of volcanic peaks just north of San Luis Obispo,Ca.  I was painting with my old friend, George Gibson, he doing a watercolor and me this little oil.  We set up about 9am. and quit about noon for lunch and critique.  George was kindly, but totally honest in his assessments of paintings, and this time, thankfully, he liked what I did.  When my work (or his own) was not up to par, he would acknowledge it, kindly, in my case.  Since his own paintings were almost always spectacular, he was usually just quiet when we viewed his.    I miss him.       Mike

Leafy pastoral

                                                12"x16"  Oil on linen panel
                                                      Sold
I cringe when I see the title of this painting.  Sounds like Keats or Shelley was advising me.  Those of you who are artists will understand, though, I'm sure.  Coming up with titles for paintings when you have done similar work many times over, gets to be a challenge.  I sure failed the challenge on this one!   Anyway, it was a beautiful day and we had a great lunch afterwards.   You do the same.    Mike       

Boats at Rocky Neck

                                                    8"x10" Oil on linen panel
                                                 Click here to buy this painting
A painting from a photo I took a while back in Massachusetts.  Rocky Neck is near Gloucester and is a wonderful place to find New England type fishing boats, boatyards, etc.  On this occasion, I was out painting with Anita Hampton, a well known California artist, and an old friend. We painted all over the Cape Ann area, produced several "keepers", and had a great time.  You have one ,too.      Mike

Stonybrook Autumn

                                                            14"x18" Oil on linen panel
                                                                    SOLD


Painted en plein air on a large estate near Hendersonville, NC.   Autumn colors were particularly bright that year, and knowing full well that winter cold was not far away, I took advantage of a beautiful crisp day,  went out and just had a lot of fun.  This year, the foliage is not nearly as colorful, but my french easel is full of cadmiums, and I think I will still have a lot of fun.           Mike. 

October clunker

The weather here in NC has become warmer and beautiful.  Yesterday I drove down to SC to paint with my friend, Jane, and, after a short recon, set up on a country road with some nice choices.  I made a bad one.  Jane chose a home on a hill with fields and fences and composed and finished a nice little outdoor sketch.  I decided to paint some prominent trees in a small woods across the road from her.  Well, I was looking into a dark area with sunlight filtering down and I thought I could do a keeper. Wrong!  I started off with a nice lay in and then got into values.   What a royal mess!  I fought it for about two hours, fought nausea looking at it for another ten minutes, and finally accepted that it was only good for a reused painting board.  I scraped it off, wiped it down, and have a nice toned surface to try another painting.  Years ago, when I was less experienced, I would have taken it home, kept it for months, and finally given up;  then had to chip, scrape, and sand it to make it usable again.  Other than that, I had a fun day.  You have one, too.   Mike

Puerta Vallarta

                                                14"x18" Oil on linen panel
                                                       Sold
Years ago, I spent a week in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.  It was an interesting week, and many paintings resulted, from the photos I took.  This is one of them.  Unfortunately, when I took the painting's photo, I accidentally cropped a little from the top of the church steeple.  I didn't notice at the time, and since the painting was sold, I can't remedy it .now.  My life has been that way--Klutzy.    Anyway, I still sort of like it.  Have a nice day.        Mike

Farm house with cattle

                                             9"x12" Oil on linen panel
                                                 Sold 
A small farmhouse and cowshed became more interesting to me when a few hungry cattle wandered into the scene.  I was painting with a couple of other artists on a crisp autumn morning and we all did just about the same composition.  The finished works,though, were strikingly different. One saw more orange and yellow, one more brown and purple.  I am always amazed at the way different artists see the same thing.  We all had the same fun, though!  That's the most important thing.      Mike

Working

Today I'm going to work on some paintings for my galleries.  I am happy that this stage of fall is here. Temperatures are nice, leaves are falling and tree skeletons are visible.  Plein aire is so much nicer than studio painting.  Hope winter drags it's feet while it's coming.     Mike

Oregon scene

                                      
                                                      20"x24" Oil on linen
                                                          Sold
Painted from a small sketch I did on the Oregon coast.  It was a misty, dreary, day, but I had an overhang over me and a really good subject in front of me, so I enjoyed it.  The small boat in front was one of several running back and forth, and my camera was handy for reference.  Turned out to be a nice day.       Mike

Sorry

Still busy.  Have a nice day.     Mike

Busy

Today I have a ton of things to do and little time to do them.  Hope all you artists are working hard and happy.   Hope non artists the same.     Mike

First snow

                                              8"x10" Oil in linen panel
                                             Click here to buy painting                                                                                                      
I was going through some snow photos, yesterday, and decided to jump the snow season up a month or so.  There was a small creek right behind the trees, but it can't be seen from the painters vantage point.  As I previously mentioned, all snow paintings are done in my studio, now.  At my age, life is hard enough without having to wade through drifts.            Have a snug day.       Mike

Little red shack

                                                         9"x12" Oil on linen panel
                                                             Sold
For some reason I tend to avoid vertical compositions.   Since I do mostly land and seascapes, I suppose that's not too strange.  One warm sunny day I was painting with my friend, David Jonas, on a farm near Morro Bay, Ca. and this little structure caught our interest.  We set up side by side and started to paint.  I tease David (who does move slowly in everything he does) that he's the only person I know who could be overtaken and killed by a glacier.  I finished well in front of him, and yet, the paintings were pretty similar.  In years of painting together, that has only happened twice, if my memory serves.           Mike. 

Dark day at the boatyard

                                            12" x16" Oil on linen board
                                                 Sold
It was a dark and stormy night.  (Homage to Snoopy, who always started his mystery novels with that line).  Actually it was a dark and cloudy day, with the sun occasionally breaking through, giving a foreboding cast to the light.  I started the painting thinking it might become a rainy day scene, and painted quickly, but, the day remained the same with what appeared to be stage lighting on the boat.  I really enjoy painting in boatyards.    Mike