"Purple Bell"

5 x 5"

oil on panel
sold

I thought I'd take the day off of painting but that would mean cleaning the house. 

I did, however, take a break from painting people.  In fact, anything that required sketching out first. It's nice to just start painting freely.

My recent acquisition at the local farmer's market - a lovely, vividly-purple bell pepper.

"The Day's News"

5 x 5"

oil on panel
sold

There is a place I like to go to fuel up before I hit the Art Institute of Chicago, just a few blocks from the front steps.  And it's always a great people-watching spot.

"A Rainy Night in Chicago"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

This was a tough one.

I started out wanting to keep it very impressionistic and loose, then I started painting in each window like a nutball - took a break for dinner - came back to it and forced myself to paint the remainder with a wide brush.  I'm kinda amazed I finished it, and just the way I pictured it in my head in the beginning.  Yay.

This view is from a high floor in the Fairmont Hotel on North Columbus Drive - on a very rainy night in the city.  You can make out the Sheraton Towers on the right with its glowing tower.

"Red Heads"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

I spent my high school years in a suburb of Chicago and I'd occasionally cut school and spend the day in the city where I'd prowl the Art Institute of Chicago all morning, meet my dad for lunch, go back to the museum, then ride the train back to the suburbs with my day around 6.  My idea of a perfect day.

This Renoir painting, 'Two Sisters (On the Terrace) is a crowd pleasure, one of his most-recognizable oils.   And yes, this really happened. 

"Bare Market"

11 x 11"

oil on panel
sold

I spent all weekend and today on a couple of paintings that had a deadline date - including this new piece that may be included in the Hilton Head Auction in November, unless it sells before.  I wouldn't argue that.

Inside the Museum of Modern Art in New York City - women admire Picasso's masterpiece 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'.   In case you didn't know, his title is a reference to a street in Barcelona famous for its brothel.

Please click here for a larger view.

 4 x 6"

oil on panel

sold 

This is a smaller painting I am donating to a charity auction taking place in Connecticut in October.

Now I move on to more Chicago scenes and a start on an upcoming solo show in Atlanta sometime in November.

"Benched At Wrigley"

7 x 5"

oil on panel
sold

I'm starting a fundraising effort for a return trip, in the fall, to my favorite city Chicago.  

This taken from the side of the famous Wrigley Building, on Michigan Avenue - a couple of weary tourists resting on the bench in the shade.

More Chicago scenes to follow.  I thank you for your bids.

"Because I'm Happy"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

That song just played in my head while I was painting this happy hound.

From the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

"The Boys of Summer"

10 x 10"

oil on panel
sold

Six boys enjoying the simple pleasures of life at the beach.  From Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Please click here for a larger view.

about the auction last weekend...... I sold all nine of my paintings    ( yah! ) and I thank all who participated and bid.  It was great.

"Savior"

7 x 10"

oil on panel
sold 

As Liz Lemon used to say "I want to go to there".

This new painting - a lifeguard watching over her flock on Hilton Head Island's beach.

Please click here to for a larger view.

and....... a reminder the Small Works Auction takes place tomorrow at 1 pm at the Sylvan Gallery in Charleston.  Here are my nine paintings in the auction, you'll find the contact information on each devoted page and click here to place your absentee bid.

 'Sous Chef'

sold

'Every Dog Has His Day'

sold 

'Fifty Shades of Green'

sold 

'Trail Blazer' 

sold 

 'Alumni'

sold  

 'The Ladies'

sold 

'Amen Corner'

sold 

'Bicycle For Two'

sold 

'A Rock Star'

sold 

A BIG thank-you to all who have placed their bids - I'm very excited to see how it goes tomorrow.

"Every Dog Has His Day"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold 

This is another painting included in this weekend's Small Works Auction - an adorable Basset Hound on the beach at Hilton Head.

For a larger view, please click here.

"Bicycle For Two"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold 

If you keep watch of my beach paintings, most are from Hilton Head Island.  I love it there, I've held workshops there, I belong to a gallery (Morris & Whiteside) there, it's only a 4-1/2 hour drive from home and MOST of all, it's dog-friendly.   We take Zac & Joey with us every chance we get, rent a house near the ocean and LOVE watching them tear ass up and down the beach.   A lot of people take their dogs - and what could be better than that.

This new painting is included in the Small Works Auction taking place this coming Saturday afternoon at the Sylvan Gallery in Charleston. 

For a larger view, please click here.  

"200 Faces, No. 143"

 4 x 4"

oil on panel
sold

After finishing 'The Party's in There', I needed to play with a new face - part of my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"The Party's in There"

9 x 12"

oil on panel
sold

A new painting - From the Art Institute of Chicago, a young woman seemingly looking through a window at the party going on inside.  The painting is one my favorites in the museum by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec titled 'At The Moulin Rouge'.

Please click here for a larger view.

"The Ladies"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold 

The Small Works Auction in Charleston is coming up on the 19th - this painting is one of nine of mine in the auction - a woman studying John Singer Sargent's 'The Wyndham Sisters' in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Please click here for a larger view.

"200 Faces, No. 142"

4 x 4"

oil on panel
sold

A warm-up that turned into a portrait I really love.  And a new addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"Papaya Innerds"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I'm abstaining from all sweets that are wonderful and I'm trying to embrace fruit.  After all, the colors are beautiful and rich in fruits, a little more so than that of an Oreo.

"Prosciuttaloupe"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

What I think is a perfect summer lunch of cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto with cold, red grapes.  

"Strawberry Reds"

7 x 5"

oil on panel
sold

I can be a real stubborn knucklehead when it comes to figuring out what to paint.  I took a few days off then spent two days stewing over what to start on.  Over thinking.

Turns out, most of the time, it's right there in front of me.

~ Happy Summer

"A Rock Star"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold 

This morning I read the NYT article about 'The Goldfinch' painting's return home to the newly-renovated Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in the Hague, after a popular tour in the U.S.   Carel Fabritius's little gem of a painting was a rock star at the Frick last year.  

It's celebrity status was largely due to the connection with Donna Tartt's best-seller 'The Goldfinch' about a 13-year-old boy, who's life is turned upside down when he and his mother visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the exhibition of Dutch paintings, including her favorite 'The Goldfinch' - when a terrorist bomb kills his mother and many other museum patrons.

'The Goldfinch' back home at the Mauritshuis

My painting will be included in the July 19th Small Works Auction in Charleston.

Please click here for a larger view. 

"Amen Corner"

I had mentioned the upcoming Small Works Auction - held on July 19th at the Sylvan Gallery in Charleston.  I'm excited about it.  I love auctions.

I will have nine paintings in the auction, all framed, with a $99 reserve - so it's entirely possible to get a great deal on not just my work, but everything in the auction. 

I'll show you each of mine, one at a time - starting with a scene in Charleston titled 'Amen Corner' -
a mid-afternoon lull at the corner restaurant Amen Street Fish & Raw Bar.

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold 

Click here for a larger view.

"Waiting In The Wings"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I'm very fond of this painting.  It's a nice way to end a work day.

A young man patiently waits for his family to tour the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC.

"It's a Stretch"

8 x 10"

oil on panel
sold

A new painting that will arrive at the Anne Irwin Fine Art Gallery in Atlanta during the first week in July - a patron viewing Edgar Dega's 'Dancers at the Bar' in The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Final Chapter"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold 

I often live vicariously through my paintings.

A woman enjoying the simple pleasure of reading a good book on the beach - from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Please click here for a larger view.

"200 Faces, No. 141"

4 x 4"

oil on panel
sold

So my binge watching of Mad Men while painting is over - I've moved on to Orange is the New Black.  That may explain the strong, unexpected colors on this new addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

Or it's the after-effects of watching the latest Game of Thrones.  Holy crap.

"200 Faces, No. 140"

4 x 4"

oil on panel
sold

You may have noticed I stepped away from painting for a couple of weeks.  The sunshine called out to me to get out and join the real world for a while.  Flowers are planted, exercising feels good and my auction paintings are framed for the event in July.

Back to work.

It was a warm-up day with this new addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.