"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