Another opening, another show
Once again it is time for a new show at the local gallery. I have produced two new paintings for that show and both are from France.
While visiting an oyster farm in La Rochelle during low tide, I noticed that the boats in the canals were resting in the mud until water came back to refloat them.

 The contrasting vertical and diagonal lines of the pilings and docks made for some interesting design elements among the oyster shells and mud. I titled this one Low Tide for obvious reasons.

 While recalling this trip, it occurred to me that perhaps it was time to revisit an earlier work -- on a grander scale. On an earlier trip to Paris, I had wandered outside around midnight on a drizzly evening. The streaking lights caught my attention and inspired me to paint the scene. This time, I painted the scene on a much larger canvas. I enjoyed it as much as the first time. This one became
Midnight in Paris II.

                                                                                           

Additionally, I completed the fifth in the series of small portraits for one of my clients. 

Some more news. I have been asked to exhibit my work in a new gallery opening in Jacksonville later this month. I have four pieces ready to go. More on that later..

Prolific?
The past few months have been very busy in production. Not only have I produced four new pieces for the gallery shows, but I completed four miniature portraits for a client as well as a retouch job on a painting she bought elsewhere. Two of the paintings are from Venice--a special city that has provided inspiration for several of my works. Another is from New Zealand--a vacation photo loaned to me by the regional manager of Omni Resorts who is based here. And the fourth is local. It is a scene in Mayport just a short distance south of us.

When's Lunch is based on a photo that one of my daughters shot through the glass door of a restaurant in Venice. Gulls are bold, inquisitive and sometimes demanding. As this one was staring back, it was pretty obvious that he wanted to be served. I tried to capture not only his personality, but also all the light reflections playing on the glass.






Speaking of reflections, the other Venice painting, Reflections on a Canal, I did because they intrigued me with the different light values and colors. Street scenes with old buildings are always interesting and, especially when the "street" offers so much variety and movement.

Mountain Vista is an attempt to capture the wild beauty of the New Zealand countryside. I was attracted to the rushing water and the sky reflections on the mountains. While this type of landscape is not my usual fare, When I saw the photograph taken by a friend on vacation, I wanted to give it a try.

Shrimper at Rest is a scene I have painted before--a number of years ago. I returned to it one day when thinking about old Florida and the way life used to be here before all the growth and influx of the modern world. This is old Mayport, a quiet fishing village that is also home to a large Naval base.

The four miniatures previously mentioned were a challenge from a client. She wanted small paintings of her kids and their significant others. These were each painted on 8X10 canvases. All I had to work from were some little snapshots. I never got the opportunity to meet the subjects. Everything considered, I think they turned out OK.

Still Painting...

It has been a few months, but I have three new paintings ready for the next show. These are all European inspirations based on observations from recent trips by us and other family members. The first one I titled The Learning Tree. While walking through a park in Porto, Portugal, I came across a young student lost in her books under a gnarled old tree. What a perfect place to study on a warm, sunny day.

 

Some days later, I was wandering the streets of St. Malo in northern France in search of an inspiration. This area is known for its delicious oysters which can be bought from vendors along the streets or in charming cafes along the waterfront. But, the scene that captured my attention was this lady parking her classic Peugeot. She was drawing attention from a number of passers by.  I called this one Pretty in Pink.


The third one is a portrait. I never tire of painting animals--especially dogs. You can always tell a well-trained animal by its posture and the look in its eyes. This one, from Italy, is obviously one of those. He is specially trained to hunt for truffles and that's why I called this one The Truffle Hunter.

1.  

Featured Artist

  When I was selected to be the featured artist for this past month at the gallery I assembled a show that I titled "Four-legged Focal Points -- and a couple of twos". This was a conglomeration of a number of my animal and bird paintings from the past few years. I was quite happy with the way it looked. The show received many compliments, some good publicity and a potential commission. While sales were not at the level I had hoped for, it was still a success for me.

Now it is time for the gallery to change the regular quarterly show. I will be exhibiting three new pieces that have been recently completed.










Two of these are from inspirations I had during this past Summer's trip to London. The third was from Portugal during a stop as we sailed north.


In St. James Park, across from the Churchill War Rooms, there is a delightful cottage surrounded by flowers. The patterns of the roof tiles and those of the fences especially caught my interest. What an idyllic spot. 

One morning as I walked away from Buckingham on my way toward the Wellington Arch, I was suddenly greeted with the magnificent sight of the Royal Horse Guard on their way to the palace. To me this was the epitome of the pomp and circumstance one associates with Great Britain. I had to try and capture it.

While stopping in Porto, Portugal, I glanced across a narrow street and saw this lady obviously lost in thought. She seemed so oblivious to the world around her that the scene spoke to me of those moments during the day when we are truly alone.

Time flies!
It's hard to believe that three months have gone by since I last posted the entries for the gallery show. Now it is time to submit new entries. Three of the last group are still at the gallery. The ducks sold quickly to a nice English lady from London and New York. Perhaps I will revisit them at a later date.

Again, two of the three new entries are from last November's sailing trip around Spain and Portugal.
The Jazz Singer is based on some entertainers that we enjoyed on the yacht. The lovely voice and the poise of the young singer along with the artistry of her pianist father made for some very pleasant evenings. The feeling I was aiming for was enjoyment of good entertainment without the need for  extraneous fancy special effects.

The second one from that trip Training Ride portrays a couple of bicyclists that I spotted on a coastal road in Spain.

I was taken by their matching outfits and the symmetry of their pedaling. I assumed that they must be part of a team or club and were training for an upcoming event.






 
The other entry came from this side of the Atlantic. While attending a wedding in Miami Beach a few months ago, we found ourselves with a few hours to kill on a rather warm afternoon. So, we decided to sit by the hotel's pool and relax. As I was leaning back on a lounge chair I turned toward the wading pool and spotted a group of decidedly not children cooling off in the water. The were having some rather animated conversations and the incongruity of the scene struck me as a likely humorous painting. I call this one Confab at the kiddie pool.

Here We Go Again

Time for another show at the gallery and I have been busily painting in preparation. Four new pieces will be added. Three of them are from last fall's trip through Spain. I found a lot of inspiration on that trip and hopefully will experience the same on this year's trip through France and on to London.
One of the highlights of the trip was the visits to vineyards and wine producers. Beyond the tastings, I was taken with the care and cleanliness of the expanses of vines. Spanish Vineyard is a large canvas I painted to show just that.

During a visit to one of the coastal cities, we happened upon the horse drawn carriages used to transport and entertain tourists. I was immediately drawn to the first horse in the row when I saw him resting his hoof on the curb. I knew that would become a painting that I would name Oh, My Aching Foot!

The third of the Spanish inspired paintings came from a visit to a farm. I enjoyed close encounters with sheep, goats, pigs, ducks and chickens. I especially liked the intermingling of the ducks and geese.  This scene reminded me of a children's game Duck, Duck, Goose.

The fourth piece came to me one day on a local golf course. As I encountered the brazen attitudes of a flock of Canada Geese, I thought this might make an amusing little painting. I call it Playing Through.

A Change of Pace
Although  I have been painting with oils for many years, I had never really given any thought to trying watercolors. I only knew that I had heard it was a difficult medium to use--especially without training. On a whim, sometime last year, I bought some watercolors and paper. I put them in my studio and pretty much forgot about them. Recently, I found some extra time with nothing planned. So I dug out the untouched supplies and decided to try to learn how to use them. I have now completed three pieces. While I am still not totally comfortable (or very knowledgeable) with them, I think the pieces are presentable enough to be seen. I will slip them into a bin at the gallery that contains original unframed pieces and see what kind of reaction I get from customers. The first I titled Old Barn. Based on some old barns that you might see in the country down south, I was going for the weathered, peaceful look of a barnyard with a few chickens scratching around.

The second one I attempted was based on a photo I shot while vacationing in Europe a few years ago.  Quiet Harbor spoke to me with its lack of activity and the orderliness of the repetitive shapes of all the boats tied up at the seawall.

The last of the three is from a photo I shot some years ago on a trip in the Caribbean. I painted it in oils then and called the painting Island Transport. The new watercolor version I titled Island Freighter.  If you have time, you can go back through my blogs and compare the two.