Two new oil paintings and three new watercolors. 

For a number of months now, a new short golf course has been under construction behind the gallery. One day, during the early stages, I noticed that the barriers put in place to keep silt out of the lake were covered with birds. It seemed as though they were watching the activity. Amused by the scene I called this painting "Construction Supervisors".

The other oil painting is based on a photo from my son-in-law's trail camera. I was hoping to capture the feeling of quiet as the buck stared into the misty woods. The title was obvious by his size. I named it "9 Point Buck".

I also painted three water colors recently. One sold the first day it was on display. It was from a local festival several years ago. At that time, I had painted the scene showing the crowd on the street. This time I raised my viewpoint to concentrate on the tower above the trees. I simply named this one "Fernandina Beach Courthouse Tower".

The next one was also based on an earlier oil painting. It shows some of the shrimp boats that were docked locally about twenty years ago. This one is titled "Shrimpers Docked".

The latest one, completed in the last week, is based on a photo from my daughter's latest trip to Croatia. She captured a scene of a sailboat resting in blue water near a cliff. It had such a serene look that I wanted to paint it as "Sailor's Paradise".

Three new pieces now in the gallery

Having been very busy putting together a show for 10 artists at our local homeowners' community building, I neglected to post the latest of mine at the gallery. Now that I have a little more breathing room here goes. 

First is a painting that I have been thinking about for some time. I had an old watercolor painting in my studio that had seen better days. I thought I could redo it in oil for better and more permanent results.  I call this one Beach Hideaway.

The second one comes from a frequently seen scene from our kitchen window. We have a heavily treed lot and so we often get wildlife visitors. One morning I glanced out while sipping my coffee and saw this guy sitting on the back porch railing. Naturally, I named the painting Back Porch Visitor. 

The third piece is of our dog Toby. I felt I had to capture one of his few angelic moments--when he is sleeping with a favorite toy. He has a special love for his pink pig. This one, obviously, is entitled Sleepy Time. 

Thanks to my daughters for supplying inspiration

With the limitations on travel and restrictions on everyday movement, I have become more dependent on the photos that the girls have sent me over the years for painting ideas. Two of the new paintings I have recently completed came from my travel agent daughter. One was from Italy and another from Croatia. Another is of my other daughter's son. I don't remember if she shot the photo. I am just thankful that I have the hundreds/thousands of files to peruse when looking for the next idea.

After finishing the " Young Lovers" that I posted in progress last time, I chose a landscape that featured a stone walled arch. I titled it "Welcome to Croatia". When we visited that country on a cruise a few years ago, I was very much taken by the beauty and charm. I have painted other scenes from that trip. This one is dynamic because of the composition. I think she told me it was from the Split area.

Next, I found a shot in my files that she had sent me 15 years ago. It was from the water looking up at all the colorful buildings in the area of Portofino, Italy. So, I named the painting "Portofino from the Water".

The third painting is of my grandson when he was much younger and learning to play golf. He really seemed to enjoy himself at the driving range. As I worked at trying to show the youthful enthusiasm for the game, the title came to me--"PGA's Future?".

 More work in this unusual year...

Three (almost four) new paintings since last posting. One day while searching for an inspiration, I thought back to a weekend that we spent with friends at their lake house in central Georgia last Fall. We took their boat out and as they were showing us all the sites I snapped a few photos. I pulled the pictures up and decided to attempt a portrait that I have entitled "Captain and First Mate". I presented it to them this week and they were overwhelmed.

Looking for further inspiration, I returned to photos from a trip to Venice several years ago. I had contemplated painting this scene a number of times but for some reason kept putting it off. Now that I finally painted it I'm quite pleased with the result. I simply named it "Grand Canal".

After completing that one I moved on to a more current observation. Our new dog, Toby, spends a lot of time looking out through the glass in the front door. Sometimes he is watching whatever passes and sometimes it is merely his way of telling us he wants to go out. The latter led to the title of this painting Out...Please!?!"

The latest work is almost done. So, here is a sneak peek. I had been approached to produce a wedding gift by a potential client, but had to turn it down due to an impossible deadline. It made me think about the theme and so this will probably be titled "Young Lovers'.

Till next time...

Staying in place...

 I believe that when you can't really go anywhere the creative mind does the traveling for you. It helps to have a wide variety of reference photos to help stir the imagination. Even though the gallery where I currently show my new work is closed temporarily, I have completed three new paintings for the show that would have opened last week.Two of them are from shots that my daughter shared from Italy. They made me want to go back for another visit, but until that is possible...pictures will have to suffice. First is one from the beach at Portofino. The striped boat covers grabbed my attention so

I call this one "Beckoning Stripes".







The second one caught my eye for two reasons. The local colors are wonderful old world colors that just say Italy to me and the arches hold it all together. This one is "Street in San Remo".

The third is a local scene here on Amelia Island. An early morning on the beach (still closed) revealed a lone hunter in the surf. While I could have named it something to do with social distancing, I simply named it "Dawn Beach Walker".

I'm nearly finished with a fourth one, but Ill save that for my next posting.

Two and a redo... 

Two paintings from Israeli scenes from last Fall's cruise to Israel and several Mediterranean islands plus a reworking of one from Italy. First is based on a photo I shot from a tour bus on the road between Jerusalem and Haifa. A nice warm, sunny day shouldn't be wasted--it was "Beachy"
                                                                                 The second one I spotted on a tour of the Golan Heights. We had stopped at a roadside rest area and there was this foursome having a tailgate picnic. Naturally, I call this one the "Tailgaters".

The third is a rework of a painting I did several years ago. It was from a scene I photographed in Italy in a market. The obvious title is "At the Market".

A dog, a donkey and a couple of beachbums

Three new paintings this time. The first was inspired by a photo of my daughter and son-in-law's dog Charlie. He is always eager to participate in any activity. When they had a new bar put in their basement, they decided to take a photo of Charlie sitting at the bar. It reminded me of an old joke and that became my inspiration for "A Dog Walks into a Bar....." 
The next one is the second painting I have done of a very outgoing donkey that I met in Canada. He and his companion goat were in a walled-in courtyard of a church in Quebec City. When I walked up he rushed over to see me. His expression said that he would like to be buddies. So, I called this one Be My Friend.

The third painting is a reworking of one I did a number of years ago. It depicts me and my grandson walking to the beach.
(He is now 21 years old). Back then he was full of anticipation for his first trip to the ocean. I simply call this one Walking to the Beach.