Join or Die

Join or Die, 20"x24", oil on gallery wrapped linen, available at my show on November 12th

Paying homage to the first political cartoon ever run in an American newspaper by one of my favorite Americans, Ben Franklin... and man of many talents. You may or may not know that I am an editorial cartoonist and the son of a man who ran a printing business for 30 years so he could syndicate his own cartoons. We have been working together on this endeavor since 2004, Dad started in 1969. I have deep respect for me who speak their minds in front of many.

Best Painting Blog... EVER

I have been so busy reading the blog of New England artist, Stapleton Kearns, that I have neglected my own blog. I have never found a blog and read it from the first post to the last... until now.

Stapleton Kearns has been a full time painter for over 40 years and has all kinds of tips and advice on everything from the making of panels to the chemical make-up of oil paints. He discusses other painters at length, including one of my favorites, Emil Gruppe.

He is a no frills, straight up kinda guy and a painters painter. His work is beautiful and he is so kind to share his wealth of knowledge with us. I am incredibly grateful!

Gadsden Flag

Gadsden Flag, 18"x24", oil on linen gallery wrap, available at my one man show in November

Always been a huge fan of this flag and what it stands for.

Arches

UGA Arches, 11"x14", oil on RyaMar panel, SOLD

Painted this commission for a client who wanted this for her daughter who is currently enrolled at UGA. I had this image from a shoot I did for another client several years ago when I was doing a lot of photography.

Decoy

Decoy, 11"x14", oil on museum wrap, available at my one man show in November

Found this little gem in a junk/antique store in downtown Newnan, which is rapidly becoming the antique and junk store capital of the tri-county area.

Shhh... I'm Hunting Wabbits

Hunting Cap, 8"x8", oil on gallery wrap, available at my show in November

I have no idea why, but my parents let me get this hunting hat for my grandfather on his birthday when I was about 4 or 5... he graciously gave let me wear and keep it. I suppose it was because it was way too small for him. However, on the bright side, it fits my smallish tater just right these days. Julie made it perfectly clear that just because it fits, doesn't mean I get to wear it. Kinda like my overalls. What she doesn't know won't hurt her.

Rawlings

Rawlings, 8"x8", oil on gallery wrap

Sorry, still on this sports, man-cave thing at the moment.

Daily Painter Originals

Just in case you don't already follow me dailypainters.com or dailypaintworks.com, you can now follow me through dailypainteroriginals.com. I have loved daily painter and daily paintworks, but daily painter originals is a MUCH smaller group. At the moment, they have around 30 member as opposed to the 150 or so on daily painters and the 300 or more on daily paintworks. Daily paintworks does have a small core group of amaZing painters like Carol Marine, Michael Naples, Laurel Daniel, and the like... but I have yet to get my invite from them:) Honestly, if you are here, there is nowhere else you need to go!

Everlasting

Everlasting, 11"x14", oil on museum wrap, available at my one man show in November

Got some boxing gloves... obviously. The composition of this one needs a little work, but a great place to start. I love the fluffiness of the glove, but at the same time it has it's hard edge areas as well.

Big Pink Brandywine

Large Pink Brandywine, 16"x16", oil on RayMar panel, SOLD

Did a larger version of Pink Brandywine for a client's wife's birthday.

Seventh Inning

Seventh Inning, 12"x16", oil on museum wrap, available at my one man show in november

Sorry for the AWFUL image... I think I have found the prefect spot to take pictures of the paintings in black... but this wasn't it. I will put a better image up when I get home form work. One of my best pals and fellow teacher, J. Jeffrey Stuart brought this jewel to me when I put an APB out for old school baseball mitts. This one really fit the bill, a Wilson infielders glove from the 1930's. Beautiful and one of my favorite pieces of all time.

Life and Death in Black and White

Life and Death in White, 8"x8", oil on gallery wrap, available at my One Man Show in November

Another study out of the shadow box. This one is small, but I have a 24"x24" canvas ready for the big daddy version of it.

Mini Fake Rooster

Little Fake Rooster, 8"x8", available at my show in November

I had the paint left over from the big rooster and i didn't quite like his posture, still didn't get the posture quite right, but it was interesting going from large to small...

Pink Brandywine

Pink Brandywine, 8"x8", oil on gallery wrap, available at my show in November

Well, the $200 tomato just became a $100 tomato. We were lucky enough to harvest another one and I think we will have more.

Once again, this image just doesn't look right.. the blacks aren't quite black enough and it really washes the color out... I'll keep working to find a solution.

Pretend Rooster

Pretend Rooster, 16"x20", oil on raymar panel, available at my One Man Show in November

My mother was glad we moved from the country, closer to the fam... but sad we had to get rid of our roosters and chickens, so she got us this little charmer. He doesn't poop as much or make as much noise. I enjoy him more than Julie. BTW,  the chickens were a wedding present, if that says anything about the wonderful community we left!

For some reason, the dark background is not reading black like it should, no matter where I put these paintings the pick up reflected light from everywhere!

FairHope Farm

FairHope Farm, 11"x14", oil on RayMar panel

Found this picture while going through reference materials I was collecting for the next show. Thought I would play around with it. Pained this with an earthtone palette and a palette knife.

In the Corner

In the Corner, 16"x20", oil on RayMar panel, available at my One Man Show in November

The first in a series of studies that will be based on dilapidated or old, abandoned shacks or houses. This on is in the country outside of Newnan, Ga where we currently reside.

Big Green, Little Red

Big Green, Little Red, 8"x8", oil on gallery wrap

The last installment of the $200 tomato before it became part of dinner! After it ripened, we cut it up and ate it... it was worth every penny.

Big Green

Big, Green, Pink Brandywine, 8"x8", oil on RayMar panel

Behold the $200 tomato. Our garden didn't fair too well this season. We had great basil and some other herbs, a ton of grape tomatoes, but my favorite of all are pink brandywine tomatoes... and this is the only one we got. While we waited on it to ripen, I painted it several times... this is the first.

Getting back to me?

Rawlin's Buick, 12"x16", oil on RayMar panel, $285

Having an interesting time re-adapting myself to myself after the workshop, so I decided to paint something  I would normally paint... this is just a dust of, so I hope that they improve as I go along. I also think this piece would look much better LARGE! I was really drawn to the red wheels and the broken windows.

Beginning to End

Water's Farm, 6"x8", oil on linen panel, $150

Water's Farm, 12"x16", oil on RayMar panel, $285 SOLD

Water's Farm, 16"x20", oil on RayMar panel, SOLD

I did a small plein air sketch for a client and after approval did a larger study and then moved to the final piece.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone, 6"x8", oil on RayMar panel

Did this little study after decompressing a bit and wanted to use some photo reference from the trip. I played a bit with the color of the sky and thought the outcome was pretty interesting.

Marsh Study 4 of 4

Marsh Study 4 of 4, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel

Marsh Study 3 of 4

Marsh Study 3 of 4, 8"x10", oil on Ray Mar panel

Marsh Study 2 of 4

Marsh Study 2 of 4, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel