"Along a Path at Reynolda"

                                                  16" x 20"
                                                  oil on canvas

                                                  underpainting


                                                  cool day woodland path
                                                  looking up stumbling reveals
                                                  center stage allure

"Brownwood Road Farm (Watauga County)"

                                          24" X 12"
                                          oil on canvas
                                         

                                          underpainting

                                         
                                          on the way to Todd
                                          chose off route and made left turn
                                          farm on Brownwood Road

"Where Pansies Grow Wild"

Just delivered and hung this painting this past week.  My client is so happy and is enjoying having friends in to view it.  As per customer's request-lots of purple with accents of yellow.

                                          48" X 28"
                                          oil on canvas
                                          SOLD

"Sims Creek Light"

Another pleasant day sketching, painting, and picnicking at Julian Price Park.  The light always finds it's opening into wooded areas among the foliage and creates a "look at this!" moment.

                                                  16"X20"
                                                  oil on canvas

"Woodland Bridge, Reynolda Gardens"

I walked along a path that took me into the woods at Reynolda Gardens.  This path followed along a marsh area that years ago was where Lake Katharine was located.  I found  this stone bridge that (from what my research has revealed) was adjacent to a filled-in area that would have been the outdoor swimming pool during the early years of the development of the Reynolds estate.  Early photos show this area with very few trees and open to the sunlight.

                                          48" X 28"
                                          oil on canvas

"Old Salem Streetside Garden"

I was fascinated by this purple bean vine growing on a fence that enclosed a garden in Old Salem.  In the background is a lovely vitex with lavender blooms and at the base of the fence is globe amaranth and phlox along with other plants. The light showing through the fence and leaves along with the ambient reflected light was a challenge to captivate.

                                          30" X 30"
                                          oil on canvas

"Hemerocallis" Mandala

                                         36" X 36"
                                         acrylic on canvas

                                         friendship's warm embrace
                                         like sunshine after the rain
                                         brings comfort and joy

"Watauga River Summer"

Many pleasant, pastoral, idyllic and captivating scenes are to be found in Watauga County, NC. Here I have tried to interpret the beauty of a lovely farm situated at a bend in the Watauga River.  I only made photographs of the early value study (done after my initial drawing) and the completed painting.  There are so many stages and painting days along the journey of creating a painting and I get so caught-up in the process and joy of creating that I just don't remember to take photos along the way.

First the completed painting:

                                          24" X 20"
                                          oil on canvas
                                          GIFTED

Here's the under painting where I establish the overall composition and the light to dark value relationships within:

                      

"Garden by a Fence in Old Salem" (in four stages)

This time I forgot to take a picture of my sketch on the canvas.  However, I'm posting the next four stages of creating this painting.  I begin again by posting the completed painting first.  I really got caught-up in the details of the fence and garden plants. (Quite opposite from my sometimes very impressionistic renderings!)

                                          32" X 18"
                                          oil on canvas
                                          SOLD

At this stage I'm pretty well along with having everything layed-in with local color and have started detailing the most distant trees:

Here I'm beginning to paint-in local color in the darkest areas:

I've covered the whole canvas with a value study/under painting (in acrylic) and established the composition:

"Sims Creek" (in five stages)

Scroll down to see the stages (in reverse order) of my process in creating this painting.  I actually remembered to take pictures! I don't always create a painting in this same manor.
Sims Creek flows through Julian Price Park located on the Blue Ridge Parkway here in North Carolina.

First the completed painting:

                                          30" X 30"
                                          oil on canvas

Just one painting session before the completed painting:

Continuing to develop the lights,darks and local color:

Beginning to lay in the lights/darks and local color:

Laying out the composition in charcoal:

"At Rest in Paradise"

                                          20" x 16 "
                                          oil on canvas
                     
  This deserted old barn resides in our lovely Blue Ridge Mountains.  What a beautiful setting to "age in place".

"Iris for Carla"

                                                    12" x16"
                                                    oil on canvas
                                                    SOLD
I painted this for a dear friend of mine.  She's a lovely lady who shares her love and kindnesses with me (and others) in so many ways.  You'd never know her favorite color is purple!  I have several varieties of Iris growing in my garden-none just like these.  I gave them the colors just to suit my wishes for this painting.  This is the first oil painting that I have done in quite some time.  Presently, I find myself immersed in using this medium for who knows how long.  More oil paintings in various subjects to follow in coming posts.

"Euonymus in Winter"

                                          30" x30"
                                          acrylic on canvas

                                         winter's red surprise
                                         silhouettes against the sky
                                         can you hear the snow 

                                         

"Holly Days"

                                          30" x 30"
                                          acrylic on canvas

                                          season's red and green
                                          celebrations of good cheer
                                          peace and love abound

                                          
                           

"Walking through the Woods"

                                         

 Here's a project that I worked on this past fall.  It took me three months to complete.  These three panels now hang in "Willingham Court" a dining area at Arbor Acres Retirement Community.  My concept for these was to present the image in a way that would evoke the way that oriental paintings are mounted on silk panels.  Of course my images are not at all oriental in style,  however I painted the borders to resemble patterns that might be woven in silk.  The over all decor of this court has an oriental flair in fabric patterns used along with beautiful interior landscape plantings and architectural features.

Each Panel:
                                                   Left: 48" X 72" acrylic on canvas

                                       
                                          Center: 72" X 72" acrylic on canvas
                                               

                                                   Right: 48" X 72" acrylic on canvas                          

SOLD