Coming Storm, Whitlock, TN 256

Lookout Moon Pie, 224

Love this retro logo with the name of it's hometown in the title. Good Stuff.

Destroyed Tide, 213

I really pushed the limits of this painting, abstracting almost beyond the point of recognition. I still don't quite know where these are going, but the journey continues to amuse me.

Sinclair, 212

Love this Sinclair logo... How braZZEn to use an actual dinosaur on a logo used for fossil fuels! Sometimes the obvious is the way to go. Easily one of my favorite gas logos, next to the pegasus used by Mobil. There is a great story there I am sure. I am sure there has got to be one behind this dinosaur as well!

Mini Lucky Strike, 208

Continuing with the theme of the day, advertising. These are much smaller pieces than the others... the siZe of the daily pieces. They enable me to experiment on a much cheaper basis. I like the idea of old advertising so I try to give the impression that these paintings have been out in the environment and that rain, sun and gravity take their toll on an abstract level. I have always loved drops of paint and the physics that they represent. However, it is a direct contradiction to what I stated above. The signs look like the paint, over time, has oxidied and run down the sign, but I have intentionally place the paint splotches on this one while it was laying down. I never turned it up and let the drips run down. I love the look of the "drop" and not the "run".

Box of Ginger's Tomates, 170

This piece was done for a friend of ours who was just recently married in Mississippi. She said she wanted me to paint the best things on earth, her Mother's tomatoes.

Golden Maple leaf on Lavendar 167

Another leaf painting from before they turned crusty. I am looking forward to painting the crusty, crunchy ones. They have kept their color and will cast great shadows...

Orange Maple Leaf on Blue 166

This leaf was still nice and lifelike, no crustiness here. However, that did not last long. I have a few more of these, them they turn hard and crunchy, but the light and angles of the gnarled up leaf was nicer to me that these... those will be coming soon.

Robins Egg Blue Caddy, Front 145 SOLD

Here is another big one for the week, I hope to do one or 2 more before the Cotton Pickin' Fair. I painted the back of this car earlier this summer, so I thought it was time to do the front. I lobe the bumper and front of this model Caddy almost as much as I love the fins in the back. It is a beautiful example of American design in the 50's, on of my favorite time periods as evident by my Googie Art sign series. As a friend of mine mentioned the other day, "Is it in a hole or is it supposed to look like that?" I will let you decide for yourself...

Wilson Farm, 137

In checking location for our school annual art auction, we visited my friend and fellow art teacher's farm in Roscoe. It is a beautiful spot and I couldn't help but to take a few picture to bring home and practice with the palette of death. I really don't feel like this piece was that successful, but it was the first landscape in quite sometime. This was definitely to get back out there with the plein air setup, landscapes should just be done that way. Photographs do not do them justice. I hope to do a few more small landscape in the 8"x8" format.

Georgia Peach, Halved and Quartered, 134 SOLD

It is that time here in the south when the peaches are full tilt. I almost missed the season due to it's shortness. Meriwether County, where I live, was once the peach capitol of Georgia, producing more peaches than any other county in the state. We still have 2 huge orchards in the area you can buy directly from. Both also serve homemade peach ice cream, you can get a bowl and sit in a rocking chair and enjoy. One of them has been around for several generations. You can pick you own as well, they also have pick your own blueberries and strawberries. Gotta love it.

Apple's Eggs, 129 SOLD

This latest nest was based on my profile picture on my Mac. As you can see, I am in dire need of finding nests, my friend and sculptor, "Camper Bob," has volunteered a nest or so for my collection, so I hope to be painting from the real thing very soon. I have been told than fall nest hunting is much easier since there is no foliage to hide the nests, then I will just have no supply my own eggs...

This one was done in much the same manner as the last, using the "Palette of Death" and a bit more of my rigger brush. I also used burnt umber and a bit of cerulean on the eggs, the were much greener and warmer than I could ever hope to get the cobalt blue light.

Pears on Gray, 119 SOLD

I found these great pears in the the store yesterday, the were very muddy looking and neutral, not the usual green or red I would expect. They don't even look like they would taste good but the do. I was drawn to the lack of color they had, but they also seemed to glow in all of their beigeness. I did 3 smaller paintings of them and experimented with the color I saw oozing out of the pears, they had pinks and greens and red, though very subtle. This first piece I really liked at first, but has fallen out of favor with me. The shadows are very hard, seems to upset the delicate values in the pears, but one man's transh is another man's treasure.

Lemon on Lilac, 116

Very pleased with this smaller piece, I love the play of the yellows, oranges and purples. I have used this color combo before, and I loved it.

North Field, 105

The past few weeks I have felt very lack luster about my skills and the work I have been putting out... so today I treated myself to the Old Dave landscape-style landscape and it felt pretty damn good. I guess when you play around with new stuff, i.e. colors, brushes, styles, etc. you will flounder, and I have been floundering a bit with a few good pieces here and there with some not-so-good stuff thrown in. It felt pretty good to do my old thing and have it come out exactly the way I wanted it to, or is that just because I am so used to the materials that I knew what it would look like before I started... makes you wonder. It also make me wonder about the "formula" we all settle into as artists and have to break through every now and again. Regardless, I love the end result...

Shrimp Boats, Darien GA 104 SOLD

This piece was done from part of a photo taken earlier this year. I have wanted to paint boats for quite some time but had yet to muster up the courage to do so, at least on this scale. I still have quite a bit to learn about painting boats and what not. The negative spaces are difficult as are the guide wires and supports. I am pleased with this first attempt and I look forward to doing more of these, especially in a larger format...

Morning Greens, Marsh Study 093

I dusted my old stand-by palette off this morning and tried another marsh with some materials I am more accustomed to: cad yellow pale, . It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, my indecision turned the piece a bit abstract, but that happens. Overall, I think this is a very interesting piece and one of my favorite marshes thus far. Tomorrow, I hope to do some fruit or perhaps something a bit larger for a weekend project.

Chevy Dump Truck 070

I have been sitting on this picture for a while. It was a great, torn up, rusty dump truck. The reference was taken on a cloudy day, so the end result is kind of foggy. next time I am up near Union Point, it better be sunny. I still have more photos of that truck I would like to paint. I enjoyed working large again, I hope to amass enough work for a show by the end of the summer or sooner. Daily painting is great, but bigger is better! I love the colors of this piece, and I really think you can smell the rust on the truck and see the oxidized paint.

Mother's Day Request 069

Julie's mom asked her if I still had the last pair of avocados I had painted on red, and of course I had sold them during the fair. Last night I sat down and used the same color scheme for this painting. I love the contrast of the red and green with a dash of coral and yellow-green. I could paint avocados all day. I need to do some large scale. Maybe this summer. Happy Mother's Day!

More Fungus Among Us 067 & 068

This Portabello mushroom has ruled my life since Monday. This series makes 4 pieces all together. I plan on reworking the one from from Monday with the blue background. I moved my still life table in order to create a different light direction, which changed my idea about this series. I see tham as 4 pieces that, put together, make a whole. The first was on a blue background and was laying on it's side, and it just doesn't work with the other 3. I still used my burnt umber and yellow oxide instead of mixing a brown. I actually hope to do a larger series of abstract mushroom in non realistic colors. These turned out well and I am very happy with them.