Consumed

The air was cool and damp, the night was clear and many stars filled the sky. Now my hands are stiff, almost numb, my legs are cramping and my back hurts. So many hours and days of doing nothing but painting are taking their toll on me and now I’m just a physical wreck. On the up side, paint is flowing and my color combs are working great. I so lose myself in the wet of the paint that I just don’t know where the time goes. I’m transformed to a place and time where I feel the sand, the air, the sounds, the very scent. I am the paint, it calls me, moves me, fills me and consumes me.

Is the color white really white?

White green blue water
White clouds laced with lavender
White tan yellow sand

A soft roar

White gray fleeting clouds
Bitter biting chilling winds
Rolling rolling waves

Tweaking a new look

The week has just flown by; I worked hard all week at finishing a new set of paintings. Yesterday I stopped in to see a woodworking artisan located not far from me here on the Eastern Shore. He is working on making a few very special hand made frames for this new set of paintings. I’m very excited to see the finished product. The frames are being made out a light maple with a shadow area of rich deep walnut. It’s a very, very classic look and I can’t wait to show them off. We are now looking at the overall scale of the frames verses the paintings and after a few tweaks we should be good to go.

Infinite sands await

Soft white and tan sands
Cerulean blue sky, white clouds
Light emerald green seas

Water, sky, sand

Waves break
Gulls sound
Sun peeks

Foot prints

Broken shells peek through the sand
A soft breeze, slow rolling waves
Left only faint foot prints

The sound of pipers running

Along waters edge I walk
Salty air at my back, sun in my face, long shadows follow
Waves roar, pipers run

All in a days work

lost oh so lost

Sand as far as I can see, sand to the left of me, sand to the right of me, sand, sand, sand... ah but before me the beach, and not a soul in sight, ahhhhhh bliss.

Impressions

Mixing and then remixing of colors, light and deep in tone on it went all day. Layering and relaying color upon color, wet over wet, and finally the work is taking on shape and form. After a few days of drying I’ll add some more layers of color and refine the composition. It’s a powerful and fresh work I can’t wait to finish it. Later today I worked on painting and sizing backgrounds for a new set of paintings that will be based on impressions of Assateague Island.

Dancing at the edge

Water from the wetlands backed up into yard today making a large lake. I always wonder where all the little fish come from as I never seem to see that many when I look into the swamp. Maybe they live at the base of the bushes, as there are many holes there full of black, swampy water. When it rains and the lake forms it seems they just love to race around until the sun dries it back. The early morning sun brings with it flocks of black birds which seem to be drawn to the new lake, and at its edge they dance, bathe and just simply have fun for hours at a time.

lost in the moment...

Today I needed to stop at the Bishop’s Stock Gallery in Snow Hill, MD to pick up a few paintings that had been hanging in their Winter Abstract show. If you’re ever going past Snow Hill, you really need to stop in and see the gallery. Ann and Randy Coates have done a wonderful job at setting up a world-class gallery with a very interesting mix of artists.
After my stop, I ran up the road a bit from Snow Hill to see the beaches at Assateague State Park. Driving into the park, I was faced with a number of foreboding signs that state that there could be a 3 mile back-up at times (note to self: don’t do this in the summer). As I turned into the totally empty parking lot, I was so relieved. Over the dunes I head, straight to the water, right to the edge and then back quickly as a giant wave comes up to greet me. Large clumps of sea foam are being pushed up the beach by the soft cool breeze and I watch its faint trail fade away into the sand. It’s been a long time since I walked a beach without seeing a soul; as I walk, I watch my long shadow grow and go in and out of the waters edge. It’s timeless here, so peaceful, yes so peaceful… I feel refreshed, ok maybe that was a chill as I return facing into the cold wind.
My steps match the rhyme of the sea, mindless, lost in the moment at peace I walk, listening to soft sounds of the waves… time fades away. I’m almost back at edge of the dune, when suddenly out of nowhere, a jet fighter with all it's missiles and guns alit by the setting sun roars by me… shaking the ground, the very air and me to the core. The moment is gone… we are not at peace.

summer schedule

The weeks and weeks of researching up coming shows, filling out forms, making slides and then sending them off to be juried is finally paying off, and my summer schedule is starting to fill out. I’m so looking forward to getting out there and showing my new works. This year I’ve up graded my display and can’t wait to meet new and old clients a like out on the open road.