Wesley Woods Open House

While house hunting, Julie and I found a great farmhouse that we fell in love with... however, it needed time and money... 2 things we do not have. Even though it hurt our hearts to pass on it, we did become friends with the owner, Beth Lever. Her folks had lived in the house and she and her brother were fixing it up to sell it.

Beth is head of marketing at Wesley Woods, a beautiful retirement community here in Newnan. She asked if they could use my work to decorate an independent living cottage for their open house this Sunday and I happily agreed. I have a special place in my heart for people who work with the elderly, having a grandmother who had Alzheimers and one that was incapacitated by a stroke. They do great things at Wesley woods for our seasoned citizens of all ages.

The work is a mix of pieces that I have kept over the years for personal reasons. I have paintings that have been accpted into OPA shows and works from the Southern Living Idea House in the mix as well. If you missed OPA or the Idea House, go to Wesley Woods this Sunday!

SOLD First Light 302

I have been wanting to paint another large landscape after the one I painted for the Southern Living Idea House. I think I have redeemed myself for now...

SOLD Bascom's 301

Did this painting for a patron of mine. They are the proud owners of MANY large Boyd pieces. Her parents met in this store in south Georgia. This will add to the decor in her mothers new condo.

SOLD Neighbors Barn 300

Did this commission for a workmate of mine... I am a sucker for old barns and they know it. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I must say I think it turned out well. I am tackling a larger structure this weekend.

Big Egg Little Nest 299

Got this egg from a client when I dropped off a painting. It proved to be the MOST difficult subject ever. After 2 failed attempts and scrape-offs, I decided to put it in a more logical setting. The first 2 made it look like a a pear. I cursed to myself a threw it in a nest and here you go. It is a chicken egg in a barn swallow nest, so don't bother to point that out to me! Just goes to show that the top 3 words in real estate sometimes work with still lifes as well... location, location, location.

Clementines and a Bowl 298

Sorry for my absence. The holiday season puts me on the road a great deal. My wife and I live in middle Georgia and her family is in western Tennessee. So, needless to say painting has been sparse and the paintings I do this time of year are usually Christmas presents and cannot be put on the blog as of yet. We have also been house hunting... we all know how great that is.

Trying to get back into the swing on small daily paintings, but I am beginning to feel like they have run their course... at least for now. I am seriously considering doing a 365 blog of plein air paintings... but we are moving back to the city. May have to be cityscapes!

Anyway, glad to be back!

Frank's Red Hot 297 SOLD

Winstons 296 SOLD

Gay Dolphin 295

Finished up the large version. I wanted to do something different so I painted on linen instead of canvas which I loved, but I don't think I can afford it. The surface took the paint very well and with minimal effort. I also made small changes from the sketch like lightening the sky so the sign stood out more. That was about the only change.

Stand of Pines 294

Did this commission piece for a friend that "Just wanted something of mine, do whatever you want." Love those clients. I had been wanting to do a larger, vertical daytime version of the Stand for a while now, I think it is awesome and I wish I could keep it. I guess that is what happens when you let a painter do, "whatever you want."

She has a beautiful gold frame for it as well. When it is dry enough, I will put in the frame for the full effect.

Study, The Gay Dolphin 293

Fellow painter, Martin Pate, turned me onto this sign while we were staying in Myrtle Beach, SC for the Oil Painters of America Regional Show last month. This is a study for a larger painting to come.

Tin Gin 292

Some open air buddies of mine came down for a visit and an afternoon of painting. I have been trying to get people to come to my neck of the woods before all the cool old stuff is gone... although I don't think things are going to be cleared to bring in new industry or business, but because at the rate of decay, some of this will not stand for long. We drove around for a bit before settling on the Cotton Pickin' Fair Grounds. I did a quick 6"x8" color sketch and that night, did a larger 11"x14" piece of the whole building.

OPA Lamar Potts Shack 291

One of my favorite places to paint. Got a ton of reference material here . There is a great red barn there, too. My shack is a little bit too purple, I still have a lot to learn about painting buildings and shadows!

Chandler Road Field OPA290

Last Saturday, Millie Gosch hosted the first ever OPA Paint Out in the state of Georgia. It was great fun! Here is the first painting from early that morning.

Chandler Road Hay Bales 290

Field study from the final day of Roger Dale Brown's workshop last week.

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.
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