"Bayliss"

6x6 oil on gallery wrap canvas

so this is a commission for my friend Karen..i am very happy i was able to get it done in time for Christmas for her!!...

"Amazing Grace"

6x6 oil on panel

meet "amazing grace"..she, too, has passed over the rainbow bridge....maybe she and skipper are frolicking!!.. for my friend sherry...

"Skipper"

6x6 oil on canvas panel

so this is Skipper.. now crossed over the rainbow bridge...for my friend Christy...

Randy Higbee opening...again!!!!

 so this is the post card for my remaining painting..my "horsehide"..baseball painting  sold!!!!..they had a first opening on the 2nd and sold many many!! and went through 93 bottles of wine!!.. i SO wish i could've been there!!...if only for the wine!!!!  so they're having a second opening this next saturday..there are some wonderful paintings still available...visit dailybrushwork.com and have a look!!

KOI 4

36x36 oil on gallery wrap canvas

so this is the fourth koi painting for my friend david..it will probably hang at Harrison Lake Country Club for a while through the holidays..i have also been busy with a few commissions..posting them a bit later.. i know i haven't been posting a lot but things have been a bit chaotic in our lives for the past few months.. and then before that there was summer...and golf...but i will definitely have more time to paint in  the coming months..and of course i can post some of the stuff i've done and not told you about!...(alex..i'm still here)...happy thanksgiving to all my peeps!!!

"Ekphrasis" II "Earth and Ether"..(SOLD)..and the poem.....

24x36

oil on gallery wrapped canvas

so this is last year's painting..and once again Antonia Matthew honored me with the following poem:

Out There: Earth and Ether

Air,

snowstorm-white, smog-yellow

surges by.

Air Howls, snagged

by shadowed mountain range

whose rocks are silent, enigmatic.

Air becomes river.

Mountain becomes

packed-earth bank.

River becomes torrent

battling earth.

River becomes sea.

Earth, becomes rocky shore.

Sea becomes great wave

lifted by wind, rising, cresting,

to assault shore,

crack rock open,

expose secrets.

Rock, silent, hunkers down.

The watcher's hands punch sky,

feet grip rock, as sea foams

around her, filling her ears

with clamor.  Possessed, her eyes

burn.  She is poised to leap.

Force of wind and water

push her back,

keep her

watching

(and yes..i love this one too!!)

"Home from Church"...(SOLD) first ekphrasis...and the poem...

14x11

oil on board

so this is the first "Ekphrasis" happening...poets and artists joining forces.. my friend jim asked if i would post the poems..so i'll start with this first one from 2015.. the poet is Tonia Matthew...

At first

loneliness:

the single figure,

the sky spilling into the street,

the blue shadow on the roof

a single bell toll,

the street moving from sunlight

into the dense shade

of overhanging trees.

But then

through a break in the fence

along the path, 

sunlight slides,

soaks into a clump

of orange flowers, 

sets them on fire.  

The small woman

dressed in black,

white kerchief over her head

pauses    there,

leans on her cane.

She has come from the church

where she lit a candle,

sat in the cool dimness

alone.

Now, she is on her way home

to that small, silent room

But, see   she has stopped,

warmed by the glow of orange flowers.

Waiting, perhaps, for them to speak.

(and yes, i do love this!!!!)

finally back at it...somewhat...

KOI III

36x36 oil on gallery wrap canvas

so this is another commission for my friend david.  i absolutely love painting koi.. they have so much personality..i could do a koi painting every day!!.. and here it is september and all of a sudden it's fall!!...golf is winding down..i did manage to snag low gross in our club championship ...laura decided NOT to go fishing in canada so she was over all club champ..and well deserved!!..had a pretty good day at timbergate today..84 with two doubles..too bad i couldn't do that a few weeks ago!... but you know what that's called?!???....GOLF!!!  some days the bear gets YOU!!  i have some other commissions to get going on..but the weather is too nice to spend in the studio.. those days are coming..in a way i can't wait!!

"Brooklyn"...(also for Alex!)

8x6 oil on panel

so i know it's been a really long time between posts..and this one is just so Alex knows i haven't passed away!!😊.. we have a new puppy..i may have mentioned it earlier..."Waveland Ivy Sheffield Elizabeth...wavey" for short.. and boy has she changed things around here!!.. she's turning 5 months in a week and is one rowdy and rambunctious little girl!!..we have chew toys all over the house and yet she seems to enjoy chewing up paper and kleenex more than anything..(think: "the dog ate my homework!")..we ride in the hot rod every day to the airport..with the top down.. and it's all i can do to hold her down and keep her from leaping out...now this image is NOT wavey.. this is a painting for my friend Doug of his Brooklyn.. now gone to puppy heaven..since it's summer..i don't have that much time to paint..too much golf...and puppy...but i did do several paintings for my new gallery/shop in valpo..all birds nests and feathers.. i'll post some of them..i'm a bit behind in wedding gifts but the fall will come and wavey will grow up and i can get back at it!!!...thanks for not giving up on me!!

some water lilies...

6x12

oil on stretched canvas (available)

so i've been taking this class from dennis perrin.. the perrin method..loved it!!.. he is all about values.. and has us doing a very simple but easy to follow value map of the subject...the first image is my map..the second is the ? finished painting..maybe still working... this is an image of the giverny lily pads...

some derby hats...

so each of these paintings is 24x30..these are currently hanging at harrison lake country club and were part of the decorations for their annual derby party..unbelievable food, by the way..as usual.. and a fun night of dancing and meeting some new peeps!..the third one..is a new rendition of one i donated to the frederica academy on st. simon's island for their derby party..i am currently ensconced in the kitchen...tending to our newest family member..waveland ivy sheffield elizabeth...wavey..a nine week old (tomorrow) and tiny golden retriever!!...sometimes we look at each other after bringing her home yesterday and say "what were we thinking?"..but she will be great.. for us and for ruby...i'll get some pics posted tomorrow...

been a while..."Red Kickers"

12x12 oil on gallery wrap

ok.. so here's just part of what i've been doing...this painting.. along with one of my wine bottle/wineglass paintings has been donated to "Wine, Women and Shoes"..a gala being held may 12 to benefit Gleaners..a cause i've given to for years..second.. i've been taking an online class with dennis perrin.. who specializes in values..(lights and darks)..and has a unique way of working that i am trying to incorporate into my work..i'll post some of that a bit later.. also.. a few weeks ago i was approached by a fellow named adam ziemba who wanted to do an interview with me for his blog..it was all about "expert advice on how to purchase art"..and although i certainly don't for one second think i'm an expert.. on anything!!!....i was happy to share some thoughts with him.. so the article went "live" today and i wanted to share the link....www.nobleportrait.com ...AND we brought home our new golden retriever puppy "waveland ivy sheffield elizabeth gregory girl"...(wavey) today...life will never be the same!!!!  but in a good way!!

Paris in the Rain

12x12 original oil

i delivered my horses to The Venue on tuesday.. this paris painting is also there..love it!!..i am working on derby hats paintings.. i'll post soon..and perhaps another horse..

"You lookin' at Me?"

oil on gallery wrap

30x40

so this painting is going to The Venue in Bloomington, Indiana..it is featured in the Herald Times magazine..published online starting today...www.homeandlifestylesmagazine.com ...the Venue is a wonderful gallery featuring all sorts of art..two and three dimensional.. pottery..jewelry...and owned by the super coleman family!!

georgia fish... in progress...

24x24 original oil on gallery wrap canvas

so i thought i'd show this in progress.. i haven't posted in a while.. i've certainly been painting but somehow there's never enough time for posting...i've been working on this for a couple days.. sneaking up on it..i actually added some silver foil to look a little like gills..this will be heading to Simon's on st. simons island in georgia...we are not driving so i'll be sending this down..along with others i will post in the next days..speaking of days.. this was a good one.. i always consider a day when i can golf, paint, exercise and have a wonderful meal.. a GOOD day!!!.. plus some other stuff...

new work..

40x30

oil on gallery wrap canvas

so..i am trying to think spring!!.. we had a taste of it last week..and now what????!!!...so here's a great big rose..probably going to be going to harrison lake or tre b downtown.. i'm working on a big sunflower..sort of in the van gogh style..hope to finish that up tomorrow..

new poppy painting

40x30

oil on gallery wrap canvas

so the past two days i decided to think spring...this is a poppy painting  which will probably go either to harrison lake country club or tre bichieri...don't know yet...i'm heading to the venue tomorrow to deliver my field of poppies..and i have yet to post the doggies i've been doing.. stay tuned...

been a while...

18x36

oil on gallery wrap

so it's been a while...i have been painting...then not painting.. and now painting again.. first of all.. this is the surprise birthday present my friend laura commissioned for her husband stan...it's his favorite place in canada to fish...called miminsiska falls.....i combined two photos and she tells me he was really surprised and really seems to love it!!.. so...there's that...and then we had a nice, if short, getaway to bonita springs, florida...played four days of golf..some good..some bad..davey scored great though!!...we got home on tuesday the 31st...that day our golden nellie seemed so strange..she had a bad night so i slept on the floor with her...soothing her when she needed me...and then the next morning..she just wasn't going to get up.  we think she waited for us to get home before she crossed the rainbow bridge..we have been devastated..we see her around every corner..cry at odd times.. she was 15 and 1/2 and saw all of us through good times and bad and helped to raise all five of our grands..so it was hard to do anything for a while..i can't believe how many wonderful notes i got on facebook..such a wonderful outpouring of compassion from other dog-lovers to us..many of the folks for whom i had done small remembrances when they'd lost their beloved pets...and then it happened that i had the urge to get back to the studio.. to do more of these remembrances..i wish i had somebody to do one for me..selfishly..but i am so grateful to be able to share what i've been given..so i will post these in the coming days..yesterday was our 46th ann'y and to celebrate, i did a museum painting, (more later about that), we hit some golf balls..went on a bike ride and out to dinner.. a wonderful dinner at tre b!!..as we were finishing, our waitress offered us a dessert on the house..(so gracious)...and said  "your dinner has been taken care of by #1 and #2 and their wives!"...(translation: jen and boogs and their hubbies!)..so special!!

"Greyboy"

11x14

so this is a commission for my friend bill.. it's a birthday present for his wife... kind of last minute.. and i'm so happy to be able to get it done in time!!.. his name is "greyboy" and i hear he's quite a hunter and a lover!!

randy higbee

so the randy higbee gallery is having a great sale on the remaining pieces from their 6x6 show!..my Koi piece is pictured here...

a wedding gift

8x16 oil on linen panel

so i haven't been able to paint in a while.. actually i did finish up a commission or two..i'll post later.. but this is a wedding gift for george and katherine...we attended the wedding in new hampshire a while back and the newlyweds finally decided on this .. we had never visited that part of the country before and it was absolutely gorgeous!!.. we did a bit of sight seeing..vermont, dartmouth, a glass blowing factory, just browsing around...this is a view of the church and surrounding area.. the church was at the top of a hill and i took a few close up pix but this is a stunning view!.. hope i did it justice!!