The Lakeside Pavilion at Lakeside, Ohio

This is an 11" x 14" oil painting of the west side of the Pavilion at Lakeside, Ohio where we are spending a week. It was painted en plein air -- outside with the bugs and wind in one sitting. I painted this while I stood in the park shaded by tall trees and cooled by the lake breeze. The pavilion is framed by Lake Erie and the evening sun gave a rich glow to the poplars.

The Hotel Lakeside

Another painting from the Chautauqua community at Lakeside, Ohio. This one is 16" x 12", and I painted it while I stood on the pavilion after a strong storm had passed through. The weather took a turn for the better and cleared up eventually. When you paint plein air it seems to be easier to paint on a consistently gray day than it is to paint when the sky is changing constantly (partly cloudy). All the paintings shown here will be available on my website or in my eBay store beginning next week. No painting will list for more than $300 and all of them are nicely framed and ready to hang! I am taking lots of pictures here and hope to complete many more before the week is over.

Painting on vacation

We are on vacation this week and I have been painting outside because the weather has been perfect. Last weekend I joined over 40 other artists for a paintout at Lakeside, Ohio. This was a three day plein air painting excursion, although I could only attend two days. It was lots of fun and the quaint cottages and old-fashioned shops are wonderful inspirations for painting. So this week I have only landscapes to post for a change. They tend to sell more quickly than my still life paintings so maybe that's a good thing. Below is North on Second Street, 16" x 20", framed in a whitewash solid wooden frame.

Copper Kettle II

A pineapple, a copper kettle and a pepper. It was a rainy day and I felt like painting something.

The Old Thresher

A painting I did at Sue's house. She has a nice place in the country and an old thresher sitting in the middle of her yard as a decoration so I decided to paint it. Sue was in a few of my painting classes and she loves to paint rocks so I thought I would add the rock wall. There is a cat in there too because the thing wouldn't leave me alone while I was painting.

Karen's Pond

This is a painting of my friend Karen's pond and pasture. I am not totally satisfied with it but I think I'll let it go because I am not sure what could help it. Sometimes it is better to give up.

Charro

Another name for a Mexican cowboy is "Charro". I painted this guy like he was at a rodeo, getting ready to take his turn. The simple limited palette really complimented this painting and I kept the background loose and impressionistic. It sold very quickly.

Paiute Basket Weaver

I painted this portrait of a Native American Paiute woman weaving a basket from an old black and white photograph. I re-interpreted the image and made it my own by reversing the figure, changing her features a little, and adding a Southwestern background with mountains just visible int he distance. Paintings with people "doing" something seem to sell pretty quickly and this one sold the day after I put it in my eBay store.

Two Patriotic Bear Paintings

It is getting harder and harder for me to paint something just one time. I find myself wanting to improve it or rearrange the elements and explore it in a different way, like my whole series of gloves, baseballs and ball caps. I changed the palette when I painted the second one of these and traded the hat for a book, moved the flag and positioned the bear differently and it is amazing (at least to me) how the piece takes on an entirely different flavor. I am pretty sure if I paint another in this series it will have a completely different message than either of these.

A Busy Summer In Progress

Can it really be July already? Weddings, parties and graduations all packed into a period of 30 days give or take. Still-- I managed to find time for art. I am happy to report that my painting of Buffy arrived in New South Wales in one piece. Patricia and I were worried about it. I have never lost one yet and I was so pleased when it showed up in a post office in Detroit minus its mailing information. But luckily I had paperwork inside and it was returned to me and re-mailed. Patricia has taken a very cool picture of the painting with its inspiration. You can see that here on her blog. And here is the post: Buffy and his painting
I will be painting live at Indigo, 309 Clinton St., in Defiance, Ohio next week with Jesse Rivera, Casey Spitnale, Josh Zipful, Holly Treetop and Dee Morales. Jesse has planned and organized the event which he calls Past Our City Limits. It will include live music, food and fun. I am showing 9 paintings, including my favorite: Rush Hour.
This is Aida, a woman who posed for our portrait painting group this morning. I finished the painting from a photograph at home but 90% of the work was done while she posed from life. The finishing involved cleaning up edges and defining details that were not readily apparent while I was painting.