Autumn Lake 289

One of the larger plein air pieces I have done. Roger Dale Brown gave me some great pointers on painting water... reflections are vertical and light is horiZontal... and no hard edges in the reflections. This one tipped over in a wind gust and had Gamsol spilled on it. That's what I get for stepping away from the easel in a wind. I took it home after cleaning up and fixed the ruined areas. Gotta love oils!

Movalli Inspired Marsh 288

Movalli covered a 24"x30" canvas in about 30 minutes and it was brilliant... so I tried. I love the less is more theory of painting as well. His palette was simple, cad yellow, yellow ochre, cad red, ultramarine, and pthalo.... he may have had aliZarin, but digress. He used only 2 brushes... 90% of the time he used a number 12 bristle and and at the end, for about 5 key strokes, he used a number 8.

I came home and wanted to try, not that I paint slowly, just a bit more deliberately I guess. I had these 18"x24" canvases sitting around , so I vowed to put the to good uses using some of my marsh reference photos from the weekend.

Marsh Studies 286 & 287

Marsh I, oil on panel, 5"x8" 

Marsh II, oil on panel, 2.5"x5"

While in Myrtle Beach for the OPA show, Martin and I went out to Cherry Grove to do some plein air studies. Martin did a large piece and I focused on doing 2 smaller studies in hopes of producing larger pieces later this winter

Oil Painters of America, 10.17.10

Julie and I talk with Atlanta artist Charles Walls

My nook shared with Bill Farnsworth's piece on the right

The Wall

The overview of the show

It has been a couple of weeks since I last updated the blog, so I will be brining it up to date in the next few posts.

The weekend of the 17th, Martin Pate, Julie and I traveled to Wilmington, NC to view the OPA Eastern Regional show that Martin and I were accepted to. We stayed in North Myrtle Beach and did some painting when we weren't at the show or an event.

Friday the event opened, you can see my shoddy camera work to get a feel fro the space. There was a great crowd. CW Mundy was there as was Neil Patterson and Robert Movalli, who was the judge. Kevin MacPherson had a piece in the show but was not there. Movalli studied with Emil Gruppe and co-wrote 2 books with him. I own one called Brushwork for the Oil Painter.

Movalli demonstrated Saturday morning and it was amaZing... He talked most of the time and still managed to paint and 24"x30" canvas. He worked so quickly... both the drawing and the painting. See the video for clips of his demo. He never stopped moving and he talked to the canvas, so the audio stinks.

Anyway, it was a great experince and I could not have been more humbled. My '59 Caddy hanging on the wall, sans frame, with the likes of MacPherson, and CW Mundy.

Tomatoes on Green 284

Wanted to get one more daily painting in before we left for the OPA Eastern Region Show in Wilmington, NC this past weekend. Got back late Sunday night, so as soon as I get these up, finish my cartoons for the Monday deadline, I will download the video and pics from the weekend to share!

Mt. Carmel Revisited 283

Can't get enough of this subject. I really like the colors in this one better than in any other. They harmonies are perfect.

Two Pears and a Plate on Pink 282

Started this one as a demo at the Cotton Pickin' Fair, but got so busy talking to people... I never wrapped it up. This was the first time I had really worked on top of a dried underpainting. Interesting experiment, I like to outcome but I don't know if I will continue to do that. I love alla prima... the way the paint flows together in one uniform soup on the canvas.

Trinity of Pines 281

Had this weird shaped canvas left over from my last order. Thought a little stand of pines might be in order.

Caddy in a Square, 280

As promised, here is the real thing... all 16 square feet of her... she is hanging in the Legacy Theater in Tyrone, GA for the show, Driving Miss Daisy, contact Greg at the Dogwood Gallery for purchase info.

Galveston Caddy in a Square

Just finished the 4'x4' monster last week before the Cotton Pickin Fair. I have been busy prepping for the fair, so this mobile image is all I have at the moment. I hope to poast a better image before it goes off to the Dogwood Gallery and then the walls of the Legacy Theater.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Kiwi on Pink SOLD

Love me some kiwi...

Kiwis on Lilac 278 SOLD

Daily painting, sometimes it is good... sometimes it is bad. This one made me smile, anything is better than wondering why you waste your time. It the grand scheme of things, just doing it is never a waste. Inherently, there is something to be learned from every success and especially in every mistake... I just can't always find those.

OPA 2010 Eastern Regional

see the works of all the finalists accepted to the OPA Regional show... my Caddy rear end stands out from the crowd...

Good News Flowers 278

My wife put these together for the alter of our little country church. The timing was nice as her father had gotten some good news about his fight against cancer. I wish I could have done them justice. I took several pictures and hope to correct this one soon.

Square Caddy Study 277

Doing a huge 4'x4' caddy to keep the good times rolling. Here is the study for it...

A Pair of Pear Paintings 275 and 276

Still trying to get my daily painting groove back... getting close.

Mr. Chestnut's Barn 274

A favorite subject amongst us plein air painters in the area.

Coke and a Smile 273

Not at all what I was hoping for, but interesting.

Fenced in 272

99.9% done....

Fenced In, My Latest Project...

Living large. Here is a series of photos from my latest creation. This studio is on lend from my friend and fellow art teacher, Meredith Wilson. I have been using the space to paint my new series of larger works. I have been saving time and money to paint these. As a boy, I saw the work of my parents friend, Lu Steed. They were what seemed to me to be life siZed tractor trailers. They were incredible.

I have long admired the works of the Abstract Expressionist like Pollock, Rothko, Motherwell, Kline and Still. Their painting fill up your senses, standing in front of one is all encompassing, a true experience. Mine are tiny in comparison, but never the less, larger than I have ever worked.

In doing these, I am creating my own collection of these things that I stop to admire along the road and covet. Look for more to come.

Backstory

In preparing for a speech on my artwork a couple of weeks ago, I uncovered some relics from my past. Seeing that this blog started little more than 2 years ago, I though I might give some backstory on myself and show these first paintings.

I am the eldest of 3 children born to Rosalyn and David Boyd of Newnan, GA (just south of Atlanta). I have 2 younger sisters, Rosalyn Moore and Bonne, both married now with children. My father is an editorial cartoonist and illustrator for comedian Jeff Foxworthy and the series of You Might Be a Redneck If... books.

The folks always encourage my artistic endeavors as did my teachers in high school. I attended SCAD from 1991-95 and returned with home with no job and no hope and a degree in illustration, a field that was in revolt as the computer came into being. Having been a house painter for a construction company during summers and winter breaks, I created The After Midnight Painting Co. Being from a respected family brought many great painting opportunities for me, however the long days and hard work quickly drove me into the ground... managing clients, workers and painting 12hrs a day was killing me.

As, luck would have it, my old art teacher had enough and was retiring. I filled in for her and quickly grew to love teaching. I have been the middle and upper school art teacher at the Heritage School in Newnan for over 15 years now.

I continued to teach and die a little bit every day as I was doing nothing for myself. I was in a town that cared little for art, I had friends who really never understood what I did or what I loved. In that type of environment I withered away. I did logos and painted murals here and there, but that was just for the money and never went anywhere.

In 2003, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer and I had to take his place at Mark Morgan Syndicated Features, Inc. My father started this company in 1970, three years before I was born and he had never missed a cartoon deadline. This helped me get back on the horse, but It was very difficult. Three cartoons a week, holding down a full time job, watching a ton of news and dreading every weekend.

I dabbled a bit in painting around this time as well, I will show those images in a future post. In 2005 I quit smoking in an attempt to quit drinking so I could clear my head. Out of the haZe came the realiZation that I wanted to be a painter, but know nothing about it. I had my first workshop with friend and mentor Millie Gosch in the winter of 2006 and I have never looked back.

My life was changed forever. I dream in oils I can't wait to get home everyday to paint. Vacations are time for me to paint LARGE which is all I want to do. Small pieces are great, but nothing feels better than knocking out a giant.

These image that I have posted are the first real paintings I ever did. The tree still is a recurring image and theme in my work. 15 years after the first piece, I still paint trees... mostly from south Georgia, born out of the windshield of my '79 Toyota Land Cruiser as I made my midnight runs from Newnan to Savannah and Charleston.

I see these paintings now, and I am surprised. Sometimes I feel like I knew more then that I do now...

Enjoy!

Melons, Cherries and a Plate 271

Sunflower 2 271

Sunflower 1 270

Halves and Quarters 269