"Alongside Highway 30"

8 x 10"

oil on panel
sold

Occasionally, I finish a painting and don't quite like - so I rest it nearby my easel and obsess about it in between working on other pieces.   Then I continue to tinker with it from time to time.  This is one of those tinkered paintings.

The first time I 'completed' it, I was irritated with how tight it was - it looks too much like a photo and not really an oil painting.  I like more brushwork, I like moving oil paint around.  I must have tinkered over five different times during August and in the end, something you probably can't detect in the image above, is the texture - which I'm happy with.  A little palette knife action, dry-brushing on top of dry paint is what turned it into more of an oil painting and that's the ticket.

This scene was from middle America, alongside Hwy 30, the Lincoln Highway, in Brule, Nebraska.

Show in Asheville

I feel like on a daily basis, I utter the words 'it's always something'.  When something breaks and gets fixed, something else breaks.  That has been the case in my life since the summer began.  Last week, the day before I headed to Asheville for my opening at 16 Patton, my studio's Mac died.  I hurried it to the hospital, a life-saving place called Onyx, where I hoped they could revive my beloved computer (again), then drove up to Asheville the next morning, trying to forget my troubles. 

Asheville is a great little city, for those who haven't been.  I met up with my good friends, Neil and Karen Hollingsworth (who's paintings are also in the gallery) - I so appreciated that they took the time to join me.  We stayed at a brand-new hotel, the Aloft, smack dab in the downtown and right around the corner from 16 Patton - I highly recommend it for visitors.

I want to thank all those folks who took the time to come by Friday evening, I met a couple who came all the way from New Jersey and another couple from Raleigh and many more who really make me proud of what I do.  Thank you all, I greatly appreciated you coming by.

Also a note about the Edward Hopper House Small Works Show that I submitted my work to - they rejected my paintings but I'm proud to mention several artists I know, Nancy Colella, Kathleen Coy and Stephen Magsig, were accepted and I'm thrilled for them.

I'm happy to report my Mac is back where it belongs, a big grateful hug to Matt at Onyx for bringing it back to life - I'm paralyzed without it.  I'm onto preparing for my workshop in Hilton Head, just a month away and I've got a dual show in early December at the Morris & Whiteside Gallery which I have to start working on right away.  It's always something.   Sometimes in a good way.

"Bay Watch"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

A splendid day for a bird looking towards the Oakland Bay Bridge in San Francisco.

"Met Fatigue"

16 x 4"

oil on panel
sold

A special offering from my own collection, visitors resting in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

"Hip"

12 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

A special offering from my collection, a woman standing firm in front of Mark Rothko's 'No. 7', which hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

"Outer Sunset"

5 x 5"

oil on panel
sold

When I was in San Francisco this past spring, to teach a workshop, our home base was a rental in the Outer Sunset district - about 15 blocks from the Pacific Ocean.  I loved staying in that neighborhood.  This view was a drive down Judah Street, heading straight to the sea at dusk.  It is that squinty light that caused my photo to turn out somewhat monochromatic - which I loved, so I gave it a shot with paint, which I love.

I also wanted to remind folks that the opening reception for my show Here Comes The Sun is next Friday night, from 5-8 at the 16 Patton Gallery in Asheville.  I'll be there and would greatly appreciate you stopping by to say hello and look at my new work.  A fellow artist, Mark Henry, will have his new paintings showing the same night.

"Little Buddha"

5 x 5"

oil on panel
sold

Meet 'Little Buddha' - a pug we met on our visit to San Francisco.