"Down East, North Carolina" (Summer 2018)

Traveling east in North Carolina, the terrain becomes more flat as you get closer to the Atlantic Coast.  Along the highway one can see many farms with various crops.  This painting is of a field of young soy beans.

                                          20" x 16"
                                          oil on canvas panel
                                          SOLD

"Blue Ridge Parkway Sunset"

                                                  16" x 20"
                                                  oil on canvas panel
                                                  SOLD
 

                                                  color painting dusk
                                                  fog descends into valleys
                                                  time for evening rest

"Fall at the Creek"

Here's a painting that I did back in October.  This creek is in Watauga County, NC.  Contrasting the sunlight coming through the trees casting shadows  with the light sparkles on the water was my challenge,

                                                  16" x 20"
                                                  oil on canvas panel
                                                  SOLD

"Zinnia Verdure"

This past summer I grew some green zinnias in my garden.  They were really beautiful with their refreshing cool color in the heat of the season.  Having made several photographs of them, I designed this still life composition and painted something more contemporary than my usual.  Here again, using only the palette knife, I worked on a black under-painting and also used the technique of sgraffito to etch patterns and texture into the wet paint. 

                                                               24" x 48"
                                                               oil on panel
                                                               SOLD

"Glorious Fall" (Hanging Rock State Park, North Carolina)

Hanging Rock State Park is about a 45 minute drive north of my home.  It is a beautiful nature preserve which is full of native trees, plants, and animals.  There's a lovely lake, waterfalls, trails with beautiful views and outcroppings of rocks.  This painting is of the summit.  Another palette knife painting except for the foreground tree limbs.

                                          20" x 16"
                                          oil
                                          SOLD

"Morning Light on Quiet Pond"

Using the palette knife once again, I'm relatively pleased with the results.  Going out early in the mornings, I can catch some great light.

                                                  24" x 30"
                                                  oil on canvas
                                                  SOLD

"The New River September 2018"

Another beautiful summer day along the New River in Watauga County, North Carolina.  I enjoyed painting the patterns of growth on the hills across the river as well as the joe-pye weeds and goldenrod in the foreground.  The sky was painted with a brush, the rest with a palette knife.

                                          30" x 24"
                                          oil on canvas
                                          SOLD

"Soft Warm Morning"

In this painting, contrasting warm and cool colors, I've tried to show a softer light. The palette was inspired by some mature hydrangea blossoms that had reached that beautiful stage where the colors were changing to rosy, rusty and green hues.  Painted entirely with a palette knife.

                                                  24"x 30"
                                                  oil on canvas

"Summer Morning at Reynolda"

                                          30"x24"
                                          oil on canvas (Painted entirely with palette knife.)
                                          GIFTED

                                          early morning walk
                                          dew covered growth makes wet feet
                                          greeted by the sun

"Burst of Light (Reynolda Woods)"

Walking in the woods is one of my greatest pleasures.  The earthy scents, the bird songs, the trickling brooks,  the insect chatter,  the occasional sound of the wind in the trees, the sunlight finding it's way through the leafy canopy, the verdant mosses, silvery lichens, lacy ferns, and all the other woodsy plants excite my senses.  The fallen trees, branches, and leaves remind me of the beauty of the process of decay that feeds the earths micro organisms that sustain life.

This painting of a fallen tree is about that necessary process.

                                          30" x 24"
                                          oil on canvas (Painted entirely with palette knife.)

"Mill Creek Reflections" (Bethabara)

 This past spring before the leaves had emerged on the trees, I did a painting of another area on this creek.  I was actually walking in the creek for this view that I painted. Summer time in this one with lots of verdant foliage everywhere.

                                          30" x 24"
                                          oil on canvas (Painted entirely with a palette knife.)
                                          SOLD

"Yadkin County Farm"

 The small pond looked like glass reflecting the soft blue of the sky this day.  The gently rolling hillsides of many pastures are typical of this county just north of where I live.  Palette knife again.

                                          21 1/4" x 7 7/8"
                                          oil on panel
                                          SOLD

"Flowing Toward Todd,NC"

  Continuing to use the palette knife (the buildings were done with a brush), I am pleased with this one.  The New River in Watauga County, NC.

                                          29 1/8" x 13"
                                          oil on panel
                                          SOLD

"Watauga County, The Road Home"

The sunlight hitting the red roofs and the fields in the mid distance caught my eye.  As the clouds moved through the sky, different areas of the landscape would be lit while other areas remained in shadow. (Another palette knife painting except for the buildings.)

                                          30" x 24"
                                          oil on canvas

                                          SOLD

"Blue Ridge Parkway, Late Summer"

                                          30" x 24"
                              oil on canvas (Painted with a palette knife.)

                              distant blue mountains
                              fading into cloudy sky
                              late summer pastures
                              SOLD

"Watauga County Field and Fence"

 Progressing with my skills using the palette knife.  I used a brush to do the house and outbuilding- I tried doing it with the knife, but it just looked like a mess.

                                          24"x18"
                                          oil on canvas
                                      

"Ceiner Garden Spring" (Kernersville, NC)

In this painting I was using a more controlled palette knife application.  I think I gained a bit more skill as I experimented with technique.

                                          24" x 18"
                                          oil on canvas

"Flowers by the Fence" (Reynolda Gardens)

With my renewed intrigue by the affects of painting with the palette knife I've continued in the same vein.  I did a bold under painting with a large brush laying in the major areas of the composition in acrylics.  After letting that dry, I created the visible layer of the finished painting using oils applied with my palette knife.

                                          20" x 16"
                                          oil on canvas panel
                                          SOLD

"Golden Day" (on the Blue Ridge Parkway)

Something new and different!
I was so unhappy with this painting that I was working on of golden rods that were growing in Julian Price Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It seemed so blah.  Never being afraid to experiment, I decided to do something that I hadn't done in a very long time.  I started using my pallet knife and things begin to happen that pleased me.  I piled on the paint, I scratched into wet paint, and I enjoyed seeing what was being created.  The color is rich, the surface textures draw the viewer to look closer and the scratches lend an interesting hieroglyphic to the image  Now I am finished and happy with the results.

                                          34" x 24"
                                          oil on gessoed masonite panel

"Reynolda Path"

                                                  16" x 20"
                                                  oil on canvas panel

                                                  shadows crossing path
                                                  dapple sunlight on my face
                                                  woodsy excursion

"Garden at Strickland Place"

                                          8" x 8"
                                          oil on canvas
                                          SOLD

                                          A friend of mine designed this lovely little garden. 
                                          There's such a wonderful variety of plants with many
                                          different colors and textures.
                                          This was fun to paint.             

"Morning Light"

                                                    18" x 24"\
                                                    oil on canvas panel                                                 

                                                    high in the mountains
                                                    tallest tree in the forest
                                                    catching morning light

"Oak Tree Study"

I found beauty in this old oak tree.  The negative spaces were also interesting to me.

                                          8" x 8"
                                          oil on canvas
                                          SOLD

"Mill Creek Early Spring"

I enjoy walking in the woods.  This creek runs through the woods near Bethabara Park.  Such a peaceful and lovely place.  I can hear the trickle of water that often invites me to wade in the stream.

                                                  16" x 20"
                                                  oil on canvas

                                                  SOLD

"Near Artum Garden"

Another scene along the path by Artum Garden.  This one after the leaves have come out on the trees.

                                          8" x8"
                                          oil on canvas
                                          SOLD

"Cherry Trees Near Artum Garden"

                                         18" x 14"
                                         oil on canvas

                                         walking down this path
                                         sights and scents of early spring
                                         when cherry trees bloom

"The New River Near Todd, NC"

This view is just before the river divides to form Todd Island Park. The water was flowing over rocks near the cooling shade of the trees on the riverbank.

                                          10" x 8"
                                           oil on canvas

                                           SOLD

"Joyful Day at Lake Junaluska"

Painted from a reference photo.  Longing for bright sunny days because of so much lingering cold and gray skies.  A challenge for me was painting the "skinny little bridge" on such a small canvas!

                                          16" x 12"
                                          oil on canvas                            .
                                          SOLD

"Trees on Cokesbury"

Continuing with my recent enthusiasm with graphite and working from reference photos.

                                                   5 1/2" x 8"
                                                   graphite on acid free paper
                                                   SOLD

"Price Lake on the Blue Ridge Parkway"

Another beautiful spot along the Blue Ridge Parkway is Price Lake.  The smooth rocks are a nice contrast to all the textures of the foliage.

                                            8"x5 1/2"
                                            graphite on acid free paper
                                            SOLD

"Blue Ridge Parkway" (near Wilson Creek overlook)

Recently I posted in my sketching blog portraits that I had drawn of my two grandsons.  Enjoying creating with graphite, which I hadn't done in a very long time,  I'm continuing with some drawings using reference photographs that I have made in the past.  Here's my first one:

                                                  5 1/2" x 8"
                                                  graphite on acid free paper
                                     

"Picote"

Every winter it's such a joy to watch amaryllis grow and then be rewarded with beautiful blooms.  This year I ordered bulbs of my very favorite one, "Picote".  The pure white blossoms are edged with a delicate red line around each petal.   I really wanted to capture the interesting colors of the reflected light on the shadowed side of the blooms contrasting to the strong bright light from the left. Here's my painting:

                                          18" x 12"
                                          oil on canvas
                                          SOLD

                                          My graphite study (14"x11"):
                                       

                                        

"Workout"

Here's something different from what I have been doing recently.  This painting was done for a conference room at a fitness center.  After doing several sketches this was the chosen composition.  Bold color and "movement lines" help to create the feeling of activity and energy.

                                          48" x 36"
                                          acrylic on canvas