"Open Window" (on painting last life) (SOLD)

I found a photo of a painting that I did in 2007. Acrylic on Canvas 22"X16" This seems like a lifetime ago. I 'd say that my favorite postings are the ones that end with the word (SOLD)!
I recieved this as a response on my painting of the Avalon Pier. It was signed as anyomous,

"I love this painting it is hanging in our
guest cottage on the sound. I also bought "Open Window" Everyone who visits love them also."

Rick says "Excellent".

"Rooster in Nocturne" (on painting things)

I am beginning to paint differently. Less things, more shapes. Color exists where you don't cover it up. Acrylic on canvas 24"X24".  this painting is no longer available.

Sweater on the Hoof (painting on cardigan)(SOLD)

I got this nice email yesterday. I had to post it.

" I just bought this on Friday from the KDH Cooperative…

I’ll be moving into the family house in a couple of months, and the wall in the dining room is a very pale pink. The pink in the sheep’s coat will look great… There’s also turquoise and yellow in the adjacent room.

If I had only known I could have purchased it directly from you… for cheaper! Oh well… The Cooperative is a great cause.

Thanks for the artwork.

Robin

"Sheep are weird." Oom Flippus Nygardt said.

Its all about the color with this one. It was a fun paint. palette knife's with pastel colors and washes for the highlights. Acrylic on canvas 24"X24". (SOLD)

1 2 3 4 (on painting by the numbers)(SOLD)

In a phone conversation someone said to me "Just the color".

Just the color. I have been trying to achieve that. It sound easy doesn't it. The which color and where is the ghost in the machine. I am trying to use brushes like pens. I found myself holding a pencil like a brush. We've all been there. Acrylic on canvas 12"X16" and photo shop sketch. (SOLD)

Enemy Swim (SOLD)

The following is an email I received yesterday. Its from a woman in Ohio that vacationed here and bought one of my paintings.

Rick
This is just to say thank you for painting my picture of the outer banks house.. I purchased it at the obx grill in Corolla while having breakfast there.. I am back in Ohio now and the painting is hanging in my living room. It will be a reminder of the beautiful vacation there and will be my special house on the beach ..every day of the year...I have never put a brush to a canvas ..perhaps I will try now ( smile) I hope you continue to paint so others can enjoy as I do the gift you have to share..

again thank you and God bless..Barb
I swear I did not make this up.

There is a lake not far from Webster, S.D. Just for the sake of editorial revisionism this is the account that "they" have written about what supposedly happened at Enemy Swim Lake. It isn't really worth a fight either way! But just for the record and to quiet any doubt. It does vary from the account that Gordie told us.

http://www.sdglaciallakes.com/AboutUs/Legends/EnemySwim/

There is an Indian Reservation with a school and lots of pastures near Enemy Swim Lake. They probably have a website too. Anyway that wasn't the point. This is about Pasture Month. It takes one hell of a fence to keep buffalo in. They have such a thick skull that they are impervious to reason. They will "bunch up" in corners and suffocate. You can well imagine how much this complicates the fencing process. The Indians had it right. Our neighbor raises buffalo for breed stock and specialty meats and stuff like skulls and hides. He runs the bait shop in Webster, South Dakota. Right across from The A&W. Just ask Doug. He knows where the walleye are biting. Tell him I said hello. http://www.sportsmanscove.20m.com/

Acrylic on canvas 24"X24". (SOLD)

The Cow Incident (the magical qualities of milk)(SOLD)

The cow incident happened one June afternoon while I was out looking for some stray cattle. After lunch I liked to look  for them in the soft grass under the willow trees. On ocassion I would look for them all day or until the sun was setting. I was not the type of farmer that could be found lying about the house when there was "man's work" to be done. From that particular vantage point in the shade of the willows not even the smallest calf could twitch it's ear without my noticing. I also became aware that the tops of my boots could make Willard Horter's silo's in the distance appear and disappear if I closed one eye and then the other, ..........

I was startled out of my heightened state of concentrating on finding cattle by the sound of breathing near my face.

Acrylic on canvas 24"X24" (SOLD to Toni in Maryland)

BlueCrab (painting in recovery)(SOLD)

I took a group of paintings to a restaurant in Corolla yesterday. I got a call this morning from the restaurant and they told me one of them sold. I looked at the photo of they one I sold. Bad photo. Gertrude Stein wrote "You can either go to restaurants or you can own fine art". I don't have good photo's of my work, and as much as I hate the idea of prints, well you know........I sold 3 paintings last week and when I went back and looked and I don't have a single photo of one of them. It could have been just a myth. Acrylic on Canvas 24"X24".

(SOLD)

Good Cow Bad Cow (painting on grass)

Why it seemed like only yesterday Oom Flippus was telling all the little children not to be afraid of cows and just ask to speak to an attorney. You must know now that June is pasture month.

Today, all across the great plains, heifers are dining in lush green pastures with horny bulls that are using pickup lines like "......look honey, I'm only trying to keep you out of the feedlot". Acrylic on canvas 24"X24".
this painting is no longer available.

Large Fries to Go (Van Gogh Approximately)

I had to leave the McD bag full of fries and I added 1" to the vertical dimensions of the original. So......meanwhile.I went to France. I looked for Potato Eater's in the Louve. The place is so damn big that I spent 5 hours wandering without seeing it, I think they moved it to Holland or somewhere. Victorie de Samothrace on the staircase was incredible.I marveled at the missing head, arms and wings. I think they could have put a stack of crabpots on that landing and Wow. Crabpots. And the missing ones are just as good! I was not all that impressed with the Mona Lisa, its like the size of a postage stamp, and most of the time it looks exactly like the back of some guy's head! Acrylic on canvas 33.3"X44.9"
My daughter Sarah wanted this painting. It is hers now. hope she finds her car keys.
your father.

Lobster Boys! (on painting an appetite)(SOLD)

These 3 paintings are going to be hung in a seafood restaurant. I don't think they will serve waffles. I have read and heard that blue is a "turnoff" color in regards to appetite. That was the motivation for limiting use of blue. I finished all three paintings with touches of the same 3 colors. You know to create a harmony. Are there any color experts around that would concur or discuss. Acrylic on canvas 24"X24" (SOLD)

Screaming Grouper (on painting with insecurities)(SOLD)

Do you like waffles? I really like the Belgium waffles with lots of butter and warm maple syrup, and some strawberries and you gotta have whipped cream. This painting could be hung in any angle. Wait........ I'm waffling. Everywhere you look you read stuff on indecision and how bad it is to paint indecision. ".........the brush strokes showed indecision in the artist's work"..... well, I don't want to be wrong about this......so ........ you decide, ok.

I better take out the garbage. The lawn will need mowing soon. Yeah, I sure do like waffles. Hope I don't go senile! Acrylic on canvas 24"X24" You can buy this painting directly from the artist and hang it any ole way you want to, or I could change it, or. what do you think? (SOLD)

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY I'M TALKING TO YOU(SOLD)

On painting with confrontation. This was a fun paint. Ok, here's today's true story. I caught a crab while fishing for trout. An obvious sign that I was working the lure too slow. I hooked him in the front left claw. Growing up in South Dakota did little to equip me with the knowledge of handling live blue crabs. He got me! **SON OF A BlueCrab##@! As I slung my hand around wildly to get it loose I managed to remove the hook and his left claw. Screw this. I returned him to the canal and studied the severed claw very carefully.

After a while it started to smell bad, so then I put it in the garbage........and then a little while later I painted this, and then I made a sandwich. Acrylic on canvas 24"X24" (SOLD)

Saturday Tease (painting with envy)

For the brave but not so brave. Wait near an intersection. Best to even the odds and try to catch him in the heavy sand near the gate. On saturday morning the tease would appear out of the crowds dressed in white. His weekend pastime was toro le taunte . Everyone laughed in quiet terror as he dodged in and touched the horn. Everyone smiled in commonality at his bravery. Everyone is happy. Just inside the gate death awaits.....the bull has picked a beautiful day to die! Acrylic on canvas 12"X16". Buy this painting for $130.00 or take your own trip to Spain.

A horse of a different color (painting with negotiation)

Once upon a time a very nasty gin colored horse lived on an island far out in the ocean. At a glance the gin colored horse looked like the ones that swam ashore when ships would run aground far out to sea. Those horses have a very unpleasant taste from eating all those funky smelling marsh grass's. This gin colored horse tasted different. G.S.B.'s mother would scare us to sleep with tales of the ghost horse that was the color of gin, and how it would drink "little boy blood" or at the very least make them quite drunk. (This horse is available for public viewing on Kitty Hawk Road) Acrylic on canvas 18"X18"
this painting is no longer available

Crouching Rooster (Hidden Puppy)

Painting the unpaintable (Hidden Puppy) Go away Mean Kitty. Rather than looking for the puppy, just say "Come on Boy....." wait.... He may scare away Crouching Rooster. Acrylic on panel. 6"X8" NFS

mug and flowers (painting with loathing)nfs

I started this painting yesterday with freshly picked hybiscus. This morning the flowers were dead dead. The problem began yesterday when I was looking for my shoe. I often rearranged my studio in attempts to find stuff. The act of looking for my shoe is not unlike a treasure hunt but for the treasure. On other ocassions a voyage of discovery into the past, and then there's the stuff nobody should have to touch. Dang...There it is, stupid shoe. .......Dang.I moved the stuff I had been painting. Still life means the stuff doesn't move around while you paint them. A real no no for still life painter's. Everything was different and the flowers were, you know, dead. I winged it, all the while loathing the flowers in their withered repose and new shadows. Acrylic on canvas. 16"X12 (GOOD LUCK TO THE BRIDE AND GROOM)

Trout (painting with denial)

The paint should be dry next fall. Oil on Canvas 12"x16"

Beachroad remodel (SOLD)

I call this remodel because I painted this a few months ago. It has lingered around looking like it wasn't finished. Last years goldenrod blooms in reds and gold in the late afternoon sun. Another scene along North Carolina Highway 12, (the beachroad). Acrylic on canvas 16"X14"(SOLD)

yesterday's flower

Hi, my name is Rick, I am a photoholic and this is my 4th painting without a photograph. I moved the tomato. I must be suffering some kind of photo withdrawl. Wow this hurts! I have had the hiccups off and on for the last 24 hours. Now my stomach muscles ache with every hic. If it keeps up I could get sixpack muscles by default. Hic. Wow, if you see the flaw's in this painting I blame it on the hiccups. I get them sometimes for a day or more maybe once a year. It could be what kills me. Yeah, sure, hiccups can kill you. I heard about some guy that lived with them for 50plus years. Hic woke me last night a couple of times. I have been to the doctor about hiccups. Doctor shruged his shoulder's and said, "Rick, take this thorazine". I am going to scour the medicine cabinet, but I know Cindy threw them away. Hic. Hey Doc, moo...ore thorazine hic please....... It... does.... the.......trick.....e..v...e....r....y..............t.....i......m.......e...... Hic. Wow this hurts.
Acrylic on canvas 11"X14" . You can buy this painting directly from the artist for $120.oo

Tomato and elephant foot

Hi, my name is Rick, I am a photoholic and this is my third painting without a photograph. Our favorite watering hole sold these cute little elephant foot cups to tourists one summer. They gave them to their best customers. We have a complete set! Acrylic on canvas 14"X11". You can buy this painting directly from the artist for $120.00

I found a great site today. "Bar None" is a scream.http://www.willbullas.com/frameset.html

parrot cup and tomato

Hi, my name is Rick, I am a photoholic and it has been 2 paintings since I had a photograph. Acrylic on canvas 11"X14" You can buy this painting directly from the artist for $120.00

CW Mug

So the more I read in other blogs the more mistakes I am aware of in my paintings. Help, Marilyn, its happening. Disappearance by committee. In an artblog yesterday I learned how bad it is to work from photo's. Meanwhile somewhere between slowing down in an effort to improve my paintings and in an effort to not paint from photo's heres a still life. My very first still life. My favorite cup with a flower. I guess its inside plein air painting. Acrylic on Canvas 14"X11". You can buy this painting directly from the artist for $120.00

I blame myself (SOLD)

The photo does not do the painting justice. too much flash. Another few hours with washes and bob ross clouds. I think it wise to set this aside and move on.
I felt I should slow down on this painting. It just seems like I ignore it and attack it in short bursts. The house probably has 9 coats of paint. pretty much oxide red. the sky has changed colors about 6 times. I had some great clouds that resembled potatos. The green area has only about 3 to 6 coats of paint. I scraped off paint a couple of times. I read in an artblog today "if you can't paint, paint big." People like that. this painting is definitely lowercase. all the way. My camera caught this at 35 miles per hour. I don't know how I have missed this beautiful little red cottage. I doubt that it will be around long. I will look for it now on my trips back and forth along North Carolina Highway 12, the beachroad. When it meets the wrecking ball it may be replaced by a 12 bedroom 14 bath McMansion. Glad I caught it.

Check out this artblog. Its a riot. http://onpainting.wordpress.com/

Acrylic on canvas 18"X36. (SOLD)Thanks Debbie from Richmond. I hope you like the painting. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Its all about you (SOLD)

I really like the subject. Suitable for boss's or any authority figure you are trying to suck up to. Yeah, buddy, its all about you. lowercase unplugged dogs at the beach. When I post something I feel like that truckdriver out on the highway at 3:30 AM on his cb radio CLICK"..........are you out there good buddie?....., your the only friend I got."

Makes a great gift for the conference room's or the boss's office. I know you always say that you agree. Acrylic on Canvas. 11"X14" (SOLD)

Pelican in seascape (SOLD)

I was sort of trying for green waves with shadows. Rough water for such a placid bird. Who doesn't like pelicans?

(SOLD)

Clinton's Mistress

I guess one could almost say that Clinton's Cows are out to pasture. Good luck. This painting is hung at the KDHCOOP. Acrylic on Canvas 24"X24"

Clinton's Hiefer (painting bleak lives)

The promise of a brief life as a milk factory. 24"X24" Acrylic on canvas.

This painting is available in the KDHCOOP.

May Show

Here are a few shot of my little gallery in Manteo. I took all the shots before the pursedogs showed up.

Bait on ice (SOLD)

I photograhped this without the flash. a lightbulb close to the canvas. The most fun paints are the ones right out of your head. Acrylic on linen. 9"X12"

(SOLD)

The Beach Road

I am trying to determine how few shapes and colors represent a universal view of North Carolina Highway 12 (the beachroad) . How few strokes are required for you to recognize and think, "yeah,.....we're at the beach." Could be very boring or........aligorical? I have been thinking about this and then the idea "jelled" into this painting after a comment about unplugged lowercase art. See milepost 3.5 "life is just flyin' by"! You can buy this painting directly from me for $250.00

Bluefish (SOLD)

When I heard about the bluefish blitz's that happened along North Carolina Highway 12, I knew I had to move here. I have been very fortunate to say that I fished lots of 'em! From the Virginia State Line to Ocracoke Inlet I chased these guys. I never kept one. A lot of them ended up in dumpsters in Virginia. They have an oily taste. Ginsoaked boy claimed he could catch them with spell check and a garden hose! Acrylic on linen 9"X12"

SOLD

Well Just Because

More of those shore birds making a living. Acrylic on linen 9"X12". You can buy this painting directly from the artist for $75.00

Flounder

Summer Flounder. This painting can be hung at any angle. Something completely different. Throw the little ones back or else! Acrylic on canvas 24"X24" this painting is no longer available.

Debbie's foal

Debbie is an internet friend. her blog is on the bottom of the page. see the foal there. This painting is kicking my but. lots of hours. some progress. I am down to 40 layers of paint on poor debbie's face. The good new's is she lost 20 pounds, but I can't finish the face. I tried a cap and that didn't help. how can an area 1" X1" be so tough. Acrylic on canvas 16"X18"
this painting is no longer available.

BANG BANG (painting with remiss)

Two bucks by the lake. Take careful aim. Do not miss. Your bullet may ric-o-che, and kill somebody! Take a deep breath and say goodnight. Acrylic on canvas 36"X24".This painting is no longer available.

State Bird

South Dakota invites "out of state" hunters to come hunt their state bird. Every year the bird literaly runs for its life. Can we discuss open season on the cardinal. I have fond memories of shotgun blasts blowing these beautiful birds out of a red morning sky. The ring neck pheasant was imported to the great plains from China. Acrylic on Canvas 18"X18"

Round (SOLD)

This is a familiar scene for me. I guess I have painted this house in a variety of ways maybe 5 times. I should be tired of it. But this is another scene along North Carolina Highway 12 ( the beachroad) Acrylic on canvas 12"X30". (SOLD)

OBX aframe (SOLD)

I drive past this house a lot of days. You have too! Oceanfront Yellow AFrame. This place has seen more storms than it's fallen neighbors. Erosioin never rests on the Outer Banks. This is just like another sunset scene along North Carolina Highway 12 ( the beachroad)

Acrylic on canvas 16"X24"

this painting is sold.

KITTY HAWK MEETING! (SOLD)

Nobody even told me there was going to be a meeting. I walk through the Kitty Hawk Walmart to buy canvas and candy. I wonder who are these people that are on my island! Meanwhile, this is another scene along North Carolina Highway 12 (the beachroad). Acrylic on canvas 16"X36". (SOLD)

Mile Post 3.5 (Donation)

Just over this mound of sand lies the entire Atlantic Ocean. Its awesome. I moved the power pole to a more prominent position in the painting. It's shadow showed up on the roof, and meanwhile, another scene is happening out there, somewhere along North Carolina Highway 12 ( the beachroad). Acrylic on canvas 12"X18" I donated this painting to the Dare County Arts Council. $150.00 (I hope the new owner enjoys it as much as I did.)

can you please crawl out your window (painting with lust)(SOLD)

What else would you call it? Its just another oceanfront scene along North Carolina Highway 12 ( the beachroad) sometimes called Virgina Dare Trail. Acrylic on canvas 20"X16"

(SOLD)

Sidewalks Fences and Walls(SOLD)

Another bar scene. I like sidewalks fences and walls. great Solomon Burke song. Don't drink and drive on North Carolina Highway 12 the beachroad! Acrylic on Canvas 24"X24" (SOLD)

Jennifer's Rooster

Jennifer, Thanks for the great photo's of this bird. I thought it best because I want some more photo's. I will change the name on the ticket. You take good shots. more chicken please. Another shot of that beautiful bird on Buzzard Bay. Acrylic on Linen. 9"X12"

Lagoon Como

There is a picturesque lake somewhere in Italy called Lake Como. A lot of respected painters try to capture moments in places like that or Venice. It looks a little like this only there are lots of stone vases with red geraniums set out along orange stucco walls. Other than that its still Lagoon Como. Do you like sausage on your pizza? It is difficult to turn away from beauty like this!

Acrylic on Canvas 12"X24"

This painting is no longer available.

Spotted Hog

A spotted hog lived in a grove of trees. He wasn't wild, just wary after the eartag incident. We saw him in the early mornings. In the afternoons we knew that he was sleeping in the shade of the cottonwoods. That is how it used to be, a long time ago, before the Lowe's parking lot. Acrylic on canvas. 24"X16". You can buy this painting directly from the artist. How much is pork in euros? $100.00

Rooster on Buzzard Bay (SOLD)

Mrs. Haywood lives on Buzzard Bay. She is alway's bragging about her beautiful rooster. She sent me an email. I agree with her, he is pretty cool looking. I added the spur. The poor guy broke it off a few month's ago. He will get to wear it again, someday down by the sound. Acrylic on canvas 24"X16". (SOLD)