I love being out in the woods. I do fear deer ticks but slather on the Deet. This site is not far from our house, near an old cellar hole. Here and there in you see piles of dead trees; I guess when one falls it often takes others down with it. They decompose, get covered with moss and lichen and provide all kinds of benefits to forest fauna in their little microcosm. The dappled light among so many standing trees is wonderful for a painter. I used a palette knife on a lot of this. I’m liking that tool more and more.
Woods Pile 9 x 12 oil on masonite $150 unframed
Between trying to stay ahead of the weeds and getting ready for a show I’ve been remiss about blogging. I wound up hanging 29 paintings–a few old but mostly new ones– at a very nice gallery in a retirement community here. A 93-year old friend who lives there had been bugging me to have a show so I finally got it done. Here’s a bit of the wall. Unfortunately the people who will mostly see it are not at a point in their lives to be buying much new stuff.
Here’s the last one I finished before the show–a sketch (later worked up more fully). Later I went back to the site to do a larger version. It was a wonderful place. I had to trek back along the stream for a way to get a good view but with my recently-acquired dolly, carrying all my gear wasn’t a problem. I was pleased that a guy who was delivering something to the retirement community called and said he’d fallen in love with the painting. Alas, it was too expensive for him but it’s nice to know that someone likes what you’ve done.
Sketch for Field and Stream 9 x 12 oil on masonite $150 unframed
Field and Stream 18 x 24 oil on masonite $800 framed
