Wrap Around (On "please question the engineer")(SOLD)

I did this painting a while ago. Another scene along North Carolina Highway 12 (the beachroad) a little oceanfront house. This house has been moved back from the first line of vegetation and raised above the flood plain. You can tell by the way the foundation pilings don't align with anything above. The painting was a little too loose for my personal taste and without telling you why the foundation looked odd it seemed a little odd to me. Lesson learned "PAINT WHAT YOU SEE" and please " question the engineer". The last time I broke out the oils I reworked this, and I am now happy with it. Oil on Canvas 22"X18". (SOLD)

Purple Crab and Cork (Sold)

The oil paints have allowed me to get a little more bold with the acrylics.

I have never used purple and orange like this.

Acrylic on canvas 24"X36"

this painting is sold.

Shades of grey (on painting the beachroad)(SOLD)

A drive down the beachroad at sundown last night and this house showed up again. Another scene along North Carolina Highway 12 (the beachroad). Oil on canvas 16"X20".

(SOLD)

Hanz and Franz "Pump You Up!" (on painting wallflowers)(SOLD)

More crabs. It was just color with these guys. I am trying to get back to oil paints. The colors are so.....buttery rich, and powerful like Marlboro Reds. One coat coverage. No screwin' around. Stick around have some aqua. This was fun to paint and a great way to start back into the oils. Oil on Canvas12"X32

This painting is sold.

"Later we went swimming" (SOLD)

This painting is sold.

crab colossus and cork (on painting wallflowers)(SOLD)

This painting is hung at Lighthouse Garden in Corolla, NC. Right there by the Currituck Lighthouse. Monday or so. You know.......island time......... Acrylic on canvas 18"X48" (SOLD)

"Willing to follow"

If you count this guy over and over you will fall asleep. 1 , 1 , 1, 1, ,1, 1 ,1, , ,,,,, 16"X16" Acrylic on canvas .
this painting is no longer available.

"Crabe bleu" (real men don't do washes)(SOLD)

A painting of one of the ususual suspects. This felt a little too cool. I highlighted areas of the yellow green with a yellow white wash. I washed in a few more bluegreen shadows. Real men don't use washes. I have paintings hung in a gallery in Historic Corolla Village. So the next time you're in Corolla, NC. Stop at
Lighthouse Garden.
http://www.lighthouse-garden.com/index.html
I have added a permanent link to the site below. When you're there buying my paintings, tell Carole I said hello.
Acrylic on canvas 16"X16". (SOLD)

I'm ready for my closeup now (painting the geometry of it)

I break all the rules on crab color with these red crabs. I like red and the blue green feels cool and that's what I know about painting. (red and turquoise) I do know something about design. Fine design has recognizable geometry. Red crab or blue the geometry of the thing has to be sound. If it is all else can be forgiven. I painted on this with my camcorder running, and then I painted on it some more. I had a sandwich a little later and then I painted on it some more. After a while I painted it some more and then I signed my name to it when I liked it. Acrylic on Canvas 16"X16". You can buy this painting directly from the artist for $195.

"One Big Ass Crab" and Shirlee? (SOLD)

(cat not included)

My cat is not afraid of really big big crabs. I left the work in progress to show the scale of this painting. This cat is not for sale, but if you are interested in buying the painting, lets talk. I donate a portion of the sales of all my paintings to The Dare County SPCA. 18"X48" Acrylic on canvas (SOLD)

"Purple Cow" (on art when life gets in the way)(SOLD)

Today life managed to get in the way again. Inspite of all that here is a purple cow for your viewing pleasure. mixed media.(SOLD to a Collector in Texas)

Little m's (deliberately painting )(SOLD)

Oom Flippus looked up from his reading and said,........ "I've about had it with these queer sheep!"

Another scene along North Carolina Highway 12 ( the beachroad) The shutter's on this house have birds painted on them. When I drive by it, I sometimes say aloud, "look, little m's"! I am trying to be more deliberate with this painting. But meanwhile, I'm just sittin' here waiting thinking about little m's. Acrylic on canvas 20"X20" (SOLD)

Wool in the Landscape

Sometimes there is no reason not to paint sheep. Other times I try to forget. Meanwhile, if you have not checked out my youtube video then you have been in a cave or at least you should get out less. Here is a connection. In discussing the concept for this video, I liked the idea of adding things and then taking them away. The guys editing took the concept one step farther, in that they took out stuff that I had painted in and then added it again later. I love the way this is sort of visually confusing. Anyway, I'm getting a few views.

Dear Editing Staff, (Rick Nilson's speed painting a chicken)
Very clever and a brand new idea. I will carry this concept forward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs3CjL19yrY

Oh....incase you were wondering, yes, you can buy this painting directly from the artist for $225.00

Three (on paintings in ebay)

And just then I put my brush down. Sometimes paintings are difficult and sometimes they can be easy. If you painted houses for a living you would be drunk most of the time. No. That's not what I meant. If you were at the top of your game all the time, then you would be pretty mediocre. 20"X20" Acrylic on canvas. This painting is no longer available.

Two (on painting odd in the landscape)

When discussing affairs like landscape design 2 is an odd number. Mostly 3 or 5 or 7 can be better than 4 or 2 or 6 when considering a particular plant or element in the landscape. Just plop down 2 of something and.............. where's #3? Or it's.................. "one is never enough for you, is it? You had to have that second one!"
One is better than two, but then you have to decide if your fancy is worthy of being a specimen or is it just mass out there by itself. I have already counted them, but they could be two specimens like ewe and lamb or just 2 sheep. That is odd. Acrylic on canvas 20"X20". You can buy this painting directly from the artist for $225.00

Seasoned Crab (on painting with dissapointment)(SOLD)

Painting crabs can be challenging affairs. I painted one a few day's ago. I didn't like it much and I was a little dissapointed with my blues. I mucked in for a second time. I cooked him. He turned red and then I seasoned him with my special seafood rub (cad red and cad yellow and titanium white in equal parts) spattered on with a stiff brush, and then I got the mail and later I took a shower. I will probably have that chicken salad for lunch. Acrylic on canvas 20"X20" .
(SOLD)

Steamers (on painting proud) SOLD

I have finished yet another painting. I am so proud.

Acrylic on canvas 20"X20"

This painting is sold 

Rubens Approximately (on drawing blurred parts)

Pencil and chalk on 8X11

Buxton don't want no stinkin nudes!

(Priceless).

Two blue crab (on painting loose)(SOLD)

Anonymous said...
This picture does not due justice to the original. We catch blue crabs all summer and this is a great piece reflecting our lifestyle. Thank you!

Rick said "No, Thank you!"

(SOLD)
I have tried about 5 different paintings with this particular canvas. a fish. a fish. a crab. a crab. a crab. 2 crabs. I promised myself that I would keep this as loose as I could. The technician was squirming around in the chair and ginsoaked boy just laughed. So that being said, I just painted and then I didn't paint anymore, and then I waited until it dried. Then I took this picture of it. Then I uploaded into my artblog. Acrylic on canvas 24"x24". I donate a portion of the sale of every painting to The Dare County SPCA

Crab Approximately(SOLD)

(SOLD)

This is how I start my paintings. I did a pencil sketch on 8X11 last night. This morning I smeared a wash over the entire canvas. yellow ochre and red oxide in this case. I let it dry, this time. Sometimes I don't. I mixed my black to define the shapes of my crab in proportion to a square. I have found that I can play some with "correct proportions". In this case I want to make my crab look "beefier" (crab on steroids) I mixed white with the leftover background combo and with the black and established my masses. Then I started adding color. .....and then I posted this...... and then I made a sandwich......... I might make a few phone calls......... What is your number anyway? Acrylic on canvas 20"X20" Thanks for looking.

"Pirate Country" (SOLD)

Add captionAcrylic on canvas 20"X20"
This painting is sold

On paintings in kodak Easyshare (most of the time)

(Work in Progress)

kodak easyshare comes with the walmart machines that transfer chips to disks. I use it to crop my photo's. "easyshare" has several options. a brutal test option is convert your painting to black and white or to sepia. The photo above is further progress with sepia applied. Another option is "cartoon" shown above. If "coloring book" on top works, then the painting may work, if you get the color right. Meanwhile.. working with large mass's on the canvas. the software helped me realize that the shingles on the roof were the weakest part of this painting. As the software did, I did. It was my choice. thanks hal.

The cool thing is no matter how bad the painting is (really), I can blame it on that crappy monitor! Can you get behind that?

Meanwhile............

Back to the beachroad.Here is a new scene along US158 "The Bypass". Yes, there are 2 roads through my island. North Carolina Highway 12 (the beachroad) and U.S. 158 (the bypass). This house is on the west side of the beachroad. (One row back)(from the ocean) (BTH=between the highways) This house has such visual grip. If you have driven through Kill Devil Hills, then you have seen it. What a bonanza of "Stuff" this house has. Over grown landscaping, privacy fences, trashcans, a hotel across the street, a sailboat in the sideyard and weeds 3 feet tall, most of the time.

As to avoid confusion and not eliminate this post, I have posted the final product in its own post above. Thanks for looking.

"Stick around. Have some yellow"(SOLD)

These crabs are a lot of fun to paint. Did I mention the title. I have 2 more canvas's stretched this size but I don't have any good titles yet. Meanwhile I am donating 5% from the sales of my paintings to the Dare County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I have made 1 donation and I have a canceled check to prove it. So I want to know ....................who doesn't like animals? I like my soft shell fried in butter, and hold the breading. Just throw it in a hot pan and bring it! "You've been served!!"

I will see that some fat puppy gets one more meal before market. Just kidding about the market thing. Acrylic on canvas 20"X20 (SOLD)

Romeo is Bleeding (SOLD)

 I like my crab with lemon butter and a side dish of pasta with pesto sauce......... and a little grated parmesan cheese.

 Acrylic on canvas 20"X20"

This painting is sold

"Chicks on Chicks" (on painting urban chicks)(SOLD)

THESE CHICKS ARE HOT! I finally got a chance to spend quality time with these chicks. Wow! What a weekend. Tyler and Ashley flying somewhere over Nebraska about now. I hope you like my paintings and drawings. I have taken lots of long flights and it still amazes me to have lunch in Virginia and sleep in Californina that night. So.....anyway..... you want the chicks or not? Acrylic on canvas 20"X20"(SOLD)

"Trois paire de chaussures" (on Van gogh approximately)

"And my aim in my life is to make pictures and drawings, as many and as well as I can; then, at the end of my life, I hope to pass away, looking back with love and tender regret, and thinking, 'Oh, the pictures I might have made!'"
Vincent van Gogh

"One our Hen" (on painting youtube)

This was a painting demonstration we staged this morning. Tyler is visiting. He set up a camera to record me painting this. When we stopped, I had been painting for about an hour. Acrylic on canvas. 20"x20"
this painting is no longer available.

"Langouste Cajune" (or) "Cajun Crawfish" (SOLD)

I tried to think about electric colors while I painted. I do like limiting my palette. I used about every red that I own. Please refer to this painting as a langouste, instead of just some poor ignorant craw fish. This was certainly fun to paint. Acrylic on canvas 20"X20" this painting is sold.

"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)