Surf Shop Confidentials (SOLD)

and now it looks exactly like this.

a bit more in focus with blue washes over the area in shade and a little more white to define area in sunlight. The only color I have used is a mix of blue and raw umber as my black and white with the red tone of the background being my middle ground. Happy New Year. I keep telling myself something's coming..........................................

I might not paint anything else all year. still working on it.
Kevin likes my works in progress. This is the Secret Spot Surf Shop in Nag's Head, NC. I start most of my architectural paintings this way. Red toned to a middle ground tone. The remnants of my grid is still visable in the center of the painting. "Do you have dreams?"......... "Yeah, I have dreams. I dream of fire and intense heat....Don't pay any attention to my dreams."
Acrylic on canvas 12"X24" (SOLD)

The "Mini-McMansion" (on painting ill advised)(SOLD)

I will leave the work in progress below and above is the finished painting.
I have painted this house before "Design Gone Wild". A tiny ocean front house in Kitty Hawk that has tried in a series of remodels to look like all it's bigger brothers up and down the beach road. "The McMansions" I had been painting on this and it just wasn't working for me. It seemed somehow "unimportant". I thought perhaps it wasn't quite "........crooked enough". I start to add a personal slant and (all day long my counselor's paid just to warn me) "...man,...you're painting ill advised".
Acrylic on canvas in sepia 18"X18"
This painting is sold.

The Backyardagains (on waterfowl migration)(SOLD)

Thank you to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for "straightening out" the Missouri River.

Acrylic on canvas 16"X16" (SOLD)

Bring your best game (on Bitter Lake)(SOLD)

It is a true saying that man may plan, but that God has the last word (Oom Schlak Lourens said.) Acrylic on canvas 18"X18" (SOLD)

I don't mind you cheatin' on me, but I sure wish he'd take that off his head

Ok. This painting is free. For you. Be the first person to send me an email requesting this painting and I will send it to you. I will even pay the postage. The only criteria is that you do not yet own one of my paintings. Acrylic on canvas 6"X8". Merry Christmas, Mary, I hope you enjoy it.

And the band played on

The ochestra played "Happy Birthday to You". And then "The Sound of Music" was in every corner. St. Mark's Square. Acrylic on canvas 24"X36"

Blue moon (on when its too late to do a painting)

I did this as a sketch and then I decided to try it as a painting. This was too much fun to take seriously, but here it is. Acrylic on canvas 12"X16"

Are we there yet, again? (Kitty Hawk, 2008) (SOLD)

I painted this originally about 7 or 8 months ago. It hung in a gallery for 6 months. I took it out and replaced it with something else. I had to decide rather to gesso or modify. I modified it and added life that could been happening......... sort of like in "The Shining". Sometimes I think your paying attention and then sometimes I just fall flat. Acrylic on canvas 18"X18" (SOLD)

Food Fight!

(I'M LOVIN' IT.)

acrylic on canvas 12"X16"

The Smart Continental (Dona Palace,Venice, June 11,2006)

above is a revision after reading Marilyn King's dots on "............good"
We fell asleep to the sounds of the shops closing and the clatter of tables and chairs being taken back into the restaurants on the street below. In the morning we were enjoying a smart continental breakfast on the balcony overlooking the canal. The newspaper had an article about Dragan Nikolic, a commander in the Bosnian Army that was being sent to Italy to serve a 20 year imprisonment for war crimes. I looked up from the paper and said "Happy Birthday Love........" Acrylic on canvas 16"X12"

Terns and Bloods (Cape Hatteras National Sea Shore/December 2008)(SOLD)

I am of the mind that giving a painting a place and a date in the title somehow signifies "important and relevant". You should agree. One can occasionally throw in words like "blood"and "saga", and hints to human strife and suffering. However, they must never be overused and should imply historical significance. I couldn't help smiling at these guys as I painted them. Acrylic on canvas 18"X22". (SOLD)

Marching to the City (OBX Hospital Donation)

I am amused by the thought of crabs marching. Sideways, goosestepping and claws akimbo. Or just easily amused. I liked the monotone red that defines this painting. Acrylic on canvas 18"X18" (I have donated this to The Outerbanks Hospital. I hope the new owner enjoys it.)

Around the world in a dirty gondola (on when I paint my masterpiece)

Well, I just do what I'm told. My wife says to do a painting for her. "Do one of those like the boats in Venice"........... "Do one like that." She hands me a photo from our vacation in Venice. I just do what she says, of course. Then I painted this and then later I showed it for her to see. She looks at it and then she says ".....yeah. just.......not that size." Well, I just do what I'm told. Acrylic on canvas 16"X24"

Two penned

I painted a cottage painting for 2 days and then I painted these sheep on Bitter Lake. I didn't like the cottages much, but this was fun to paint. Acrylic on canvas 22"X18"

Green Frog

This photo is pretty bad. I will post a new one with my next painting. Acrylic on canvas 20"X20".

Ewe on Bitter Lake

I limited my pallete to 4 colors and white. More than that seems a sloppy induldgence. Acrylic on canvas 14"X18"

DUDE!

I try to get flesh tones, and then I............well, Dude! Acrylic on canvas 12"X18 Who else has these crazy sized canvases. Dude!

Aristocrabs (SOLD)

 Acrylic on canvas 32"X32"
This painting is sold.

Bureaucrab (SOLD)

Bluecrabs are worth about $10 a bushel to the guy harvesting them. Acrylic on canvas 10"X14"

(SOLD)

Shala looks over her glasses and asks if I still love her (SOLD)

Acrylic on canvas 22"X18"

(SOLD)

Let me molt into something more comfortable (SOLD)

I placed these 2 blue crabs in the position that VanGogh painted his "stonecrabs"

I think they were stonecrabs.

Acrylic on canvas 16"X20" (SOLD)

Bluedog's cow (Call Your Mother)

 

In the glacial lakes region of South Dakota an Indian chief named Bluedog lived a wonderful life and he had a lot of buffalo in his pastures. These two descendants spent the summer of 2008 in sweet grass growing older. I got no business painting buffalo on an island. The great-great-great granddaughter of Chief BlueDog came and stayed in my house. She did not scalp me in my sleep and I gave her this painting.

Acrylic on canvas 16"X12"

Mississippi (SOLD)

I knew a mule from Kansas named Mississipi. This is not him. This one is from Texas and that is all I know about it. Thanks Debbie for the photo. Acrylic on canvas 12"X10" (SOLD)

Crab Fight! (Donated to a worthy cause)

This painting has been donated to a worthy organizatioin, The Dare Co. Hospice.

The bottom of a crab is one of the most complicated shapes I have painted to date. Lots and lots of moving parts.

Acrylic on canvas 12"X14"

The Supper Club (SOLD)

I have painted on this for a while. I keep going back to The Rainbow Herd. Cows out west. Rawhide! Eartags required. Damn, you got shit on your tail! Acrylic on canvas 14"X36"

(SOLD)

Beach Boys(SOLD)

Crabs out there at the beach.

Acrylic on canvas 14"X36" (SOLD)

Viceroy Crab! (SOLD)

This crab just happened. I like the dark background.
 Acrylic on canvas 16"X24"
This painting is sold.

You're Way Wrong!

He looked a little bewildered, and I said "You're way wrong!"

Acrylic on canvas 20"X20"

Run here somebody! (on painting addictions)(SOLD)

I have lost count on how many times I have painted these houses. There are other houses along North Carolina Highway 12, but one is running all around my brain. "Run here somebody, won't you please run here in a hurry! This old (house) has got me worried!"(Rev. Gary Davis)
 Acrylic on canvas 20"X20".
This painting is sold.

Sedentary Crab (hesitation blues)(SOLD)

 I have spent the week without Cindy around. She is away on a conference in D.C. We have vacationed there before. Our vacations are usually loaded with sightseeing. It gets pretty lonesome around here without her. Even the dog suffers withdrawal. So here I sit solitaire and sedentary.

Acrylic on canvas 16"X24".This painting is sold.

Fishing with Buck Rogers in the 20th Century

If you follow my blog then you know about my love of fishing the outer banks. Ginsoaked boy, will you testify? On a cold Sunday in January, 1988 I was fishing with Buck Rodgers for bluefish in the surf north of the Kitty Hawk Pier. We had tried a few places farther south earlier in the day with no success. The bluefish blitzes that were the stuff of legend had dwindled in the last years. I fished a lot of them with Frank, Buck’s dad. Then, we both hooked up on simultaneous casts. We both landed 8 lb. plus stripped bass. Someone came over the dune with a camera and took pictures. I saw the guy with the camera again a couple of weeks later and he gave me a photo of myself holding up my catch. This is my first attempt at a self portrait. Always the Aggie, my thumb is up. I did not realize it at the time, but I witnessed the end of the famous bluefish runs. The bluefish are still out there. Commercial fishermen are catching a lot bluefish right now just off shore. I don’t know why they don’t chase bait fish out of the water the way they used to. The stripped bass has replaced the bluefish in that part of the food chain in my chunk of the Atlantic ocean, just east of North Carolina Highway 12 (aka the beachroad). It is very difficult to bring amounts of paint to the canvas that would fit easily on the tip of a pin. Acrylic on canvas 6"X8"

On Rick Nilson painting Rick Nilson.

Three(SOLD)

I read somewhere about how paintings are sometimes done with one brush. I have tried it and found it very frustrating. I second guess myself and think maybe I just picked the wrong brush. This time I stayed with it. Acrylic on canvas 14"X24" (SOLD)

Bourgeois Crab (SOLD)

About 5:00 PM I get the urge to post. Sort of a punctuation point that defines art for the working middle class! "See the bourgeois crab with stage fright, he got caught in the spotlight".

  Acrylic on canvas 18"X18".\

This painting is sold.

Ol Buck on Bitter Lake (SOLD)

I have learned how things must be "just so" in order to stand in front of a canvas and complete a painting in a single go. Of this I can't say very much. I thank Mrs. Jorgensen for letting me into her pasture to capture these shots of this old buck on Bitter Lake. Acrylic on Canvas 18"X18"
(SOLD)

Chase (the Santa Monica dog)

In California there are lots of dogs. This is one of them. Acrylic on canvas 16"X20" Private commission. (Not for Sale)

The Beach Access (Modern Roma)

This is a preliminary sketch with washes, but I am starting to like it. I have been a little slack with producing lately. I am going to Santa Monica tomorrow. I won't be back until next week. So while you are looking at this view east to the Atlantic, I will be looking west to the Pacific from modern Roma. I had a wonderful day yesterday, and a bird crapped right on my shoulder! Does it get any better? Is there anything you can say? Acrylic on canvas 14"X20". Hold on there sailor!

Missionary Crabs (on painting the marathon)

I am making up another crab scene. This seemed to be a very complicated painting. I painted on it long enough to call it "Marathon crabs". These crabs were tired of holding this position for 3 days. I heard a daily painter referring to painting daily as a marathon. He said you can't start a marathon and then quit after ten minutes and say I will finish it tomorrow. I painted this right side up and then upside down and then sideways. I struggled with this one. Acrylic on canvas 18"X18"
This painting is no longer available.

Do I make you randy? (Meet Bob!)

(Yeah, Baby!)

If I would have painted slower, then..............yes, I suppose it "may" have lasted longer. I made this scene up. It seemed very complicated when I started. No gasping now! Acrylic on canvas 18"X18"

SeaSick (on what not to paint)(and when not to paint it)(SOLD)

Fin

Work in progress

Sometimes I just don't get your drift!
Sometimes I have cold starts. That's when I start a painting and question if I have mixed the right.....(green) say or why did my big beautiful potato turn into a cloud................again! Or how long is all this going to last....really? Before the cold start things, there is the bit when I am trying to decide what not to paint and how not to paint it. If it doesn't bother you the ocean is running off the canvas, then I have succeeded in my goal for this work. Or maybe its just high tide. 4 photos before "Eggs and Sausage" Acrylic on canvas 16"X36"

http://avalonpier.com/wavecam.html

check out this wavecam. avalon fishing pier. (SOLD)

Ped-X (On Sandspurs)(SOLD)

One snapshot before "Eggs and Sausage". I started with a deep red black undertone. This is a fun painting. The sun is coming up over the Atlantic Ocean and the wheel ruts along Virginia Dare Trail, The Beach Road. Thank you, to The U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers, for planting sandspurs as dune stabilization. Acrylic on canvas 16"X12" Do you want this or not?(SOLD)

Old World Crab (SOLD)

I have had a wonderful day so far. I caught 5 fish in my back yard. 2 striped bass, 2 flounder and a puppy drum. Texas A&M beat Army. and I painted this. I tried to give the background an old world yellow thing. I 'm going fishing again. Gig 'em Aggies.

Acrylic on canvas 18"X18" (SOLD)

I got the cooler and the dog! (SOLD)

This is a fun start anyway. Things that people do every day. I will paint on this some over the weekend. I was looking for a focal point so I added the dog. Before that it was the cell phone. Before that the sign on the pole. Acrylic on canvas 14"X18"? (SOLD)

"I look at you and now I sigh" (on Ol Bill Yeats)(SOLD)

Taadah!

This is about as good as I can make this painting.

I am still working on this. I am closer. I spent quite a bit of time refining the perspective. I still am not satisfied with the over color of the house. Battleship grey is a no brainer. I sometimes catch things to fix during the process of posting a work progress. I look and now I sigh.William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

  A Drinking Song

Wine comes in at the mouth And love comes in at the eye; That's all we shall know for truth Before we grow old and die. I lift the glass to my mouth, I look at you, and I sigh. 

Someone tell Ol Bill .....

 Acrylic on canvas 16"X36" (SOLD)