Saturday, November 25, 2017

Spaceliner In Progress: Day 9

Spaceliner  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel


























Inching along. As of day 9.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Spaceliner in Progress: Day 6

Spaceliner  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel


























My plan is to post one of these every three or four days, depending on my schedule.


Sunday, November 19, 2017

Spaceliner In Progress: Day 3

Spaceliner  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel

























I've got a new painting started of a groovy Sears Spaceliner bicycle. It's a deceptively simple composition, but it's going to take a while to complete, so I've decided to post some in progress images. I'm not sure whether this should be a diptych or offered as two individual paintings. The fore and aft images are on their panels and the first layer of the background is in for both to assure consistency of color. Diptych or not, I guess I'll wait until they are complete to choose, or let the gallery make that decision. Karen swears it has to be the entire bike.


Wednesday, November 01, 2017

B-25

B-25  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel

























I finished up this new B-25 a couple of nights ago and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It was pure pleasure to paint. I've got a new composition ready to go that I'm excited about as well. Can't wait to get started. It's of a really cool bicycle that was on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. 


Sunday, October 29, 2017

Karen's Solo Show at Shain Gallery

Sybil and Karen as the evening began.

























We went up to Charlotte on Friday to take part in the opening night reception of Karen's solo show at Shain Gallery. This was Karen's first show at Shain Gallery with its new owner Sybil Godwin. Sybil had been the director of the gallery for years and took ownership in August. She and her staff did a great job hanging and promoting the show. Numerous red dots before the doors even opened. 

The weather was perfect that evening and the crowd began to build quickly. Among the guests were many familiar faces and dedicated collectors of Karen's work. By the time the doors closed there were a total of 12 sales! A very successful show by my reckoning. 

Not one to rest on her laurels Karen will be part of a group show here in Atlanta at Mason Fine Art on Thursday November 2nd. If you're in town stop by.

Here are some images of Friday's show.

"Rescue" in the front window of the gallery

















Eli the Director and Lou running the bar























the main room prior to opening


















the first two arrivals
the crowd begins to grow













Karen taking a break at the bar with Lou
















the night begins to wind down
Sybil works out the details of a sale




















Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Corporate Commission: Snickers

Snickers  |  30 x 30  |  oil on canvas

























I completed my corporate commission of a Snickers bar last night. It'll be leaving here to take a place next to its brethren on a wall in the boardroom of a large  printing company here in Atlanta. Now it's on to whatever is going to be next. I'm still looking at a number of compositions I'd like to do. It may have something to do with aviation.


Thursday, August 24, 2017

ViewMaster No.2

ViewMaster No. 2  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on Panel

























I finished up ViewMaster No. 2 last night. Now it's on to a new corporate commission for a company here in Atlanta. I did five paintings for them a number of years ago that were hung in the boardroom. Now they are ready to add a couple of additional products. I may post a few "in progress" shots.


Saturday, August 05, 2017

Pool Bowl: Commission

Pool Bowl: Commission  |  16 x 16  |  Oil on panel

























I just finished a commission for a "pool bowl" painting, and am now about halfway through another ViewMaster. Larger than the first I did years ago. I should have it completed in the next week or so.


Monday, June 19, 2017

Triumph No. 2 Complete

Triumph No. 2   |   30 x 30   |   Oil on panel

























I don't know exactly how long I've worked on this painting, but I know I started it sometime in late March. I've never spent anywhere near this amount of time on a single painting before, but I got caught up in this one and couldn't let it go. I don't know if it was indulgence or obsessiveness that motivated me to take my time, but now after nearly three months I'm calling it done. I have to admit it felt a little weird taking it off the easel to make ready for my next painting. 


Saturday, May 06, 2017

International Artist Magazine

International Artist Magazine  June/July 2017

























A few weeks ago I received an email from Vincent Miller, publisher of International Artist Magazine and its managing editor Rochelle Belsito, inviting me to show my work in the upcoming June/July issue of their publication. Once the initial rush of their offer diminished I continued to read and learned that I had my choice of of two feature options. I could choose either the four page "Master Painters of the World" or the eight page "Come Inside My Studio". Not being a very wordy guy and preferring to show multiple paintings rather than concentrate on the production of a single piece I chose the first option. I don't think this issue is on the news stands as yet, but they sent me a few copies, so if you'd like to see my four pages (five if you include the contents page which also has one of my paintings, really proud of that) you can see hi res scans of the article on my website. Here's a link to those pages.



Sunday, April 30, 2017

Karen's Video Interview on Tamarah's Closet

Tamarah Ellen - Host of Tamarah's Closet & Karen


















Tamarah Ellen of Tamarah's Closet interviewed Karen yesterday on her live YouTube channel. The inverview runs about an hour and 15 minutes. If you'd like to learn a little about Karen's history, her inspirations and her paintings you can view the video here.



Friday, April 21, 2017

Triumph No.2 In Progress: Completed Underpainting

Triumph No. 2 In Progress: Completed Underpainting_30 x 30_Oil on panel

























It seems as though I'm making a career out of this latest painting, but it's a bike I've wanted to paint for sometime now and I just want to get it right. The underpainting is finally complete and it's on to the next pass. I hope when this piece is finished I'll feel that the time had been well spent.


Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Karen's Solo Show at Principle Gallery Charleston

Moonrise over Queen Street


























Last week Karen and I headed to Charleston to deliver 23 paintings to Principle Gallery for her solo show Friday April 7th. It was a really nice drive. As usual we had veganee snacks onboard and and for this trip the Exorcist playing on the iPod. 

We arrived around noon, were warmly greeted by Frank, Thomas and Liz, the staff at Principle, and immediately formed a fireman's chain to unload our car. Once the precious cargo was safely in the gallery we all spent some time catching up then Karen and I checked out the current work in the gallery.  


The Bell Tower on Queen Street


















We knew that at this moment Atlanta was getting hammered by a terrific storm and it was quickly heading our way, so we dumped our bags and headed out to see the town while the weather was still good. Charleston is such a great walking city, with lots of art galleries. Our first gallery stop is nearly always Robert Lange Studios.  Robert and his staff were preparing their gallery for the Friday opening of Brett Scheifflee's solo show. Brett is a great guy and his work was stunning. The images below don't do his work justice. You have to see it in person to truly appreciate its subtle beauty.


Brett with two of his pieces from the show






















After we had walked around for a while it was time to eat, and for us that always means CO on King Street. CO is this wonderful Asian restaurant that offers this addictive Curry Laksa. They have another location in Charlotte, so when we go there for Karen's show in the fall, we'll be having Laksa again. 

The remainder of the day was spent wandering. That night the storm hit hard. Fortunately it didn't do any damage and by late morning the sun was back and the forecast for the remainder of the week looked perfect. 


Sand Tiger Shark at the South Carolina Aquarium













After breakfast at Eli's Table (a nice little restaurant right next door to the gallery) the following morning we headed out to the South Carolina Aquarium. Karen's begun to use fish in some of her compositions so it was a must see on this trip. It's a good aquarium and Karen got a couple of hundred photos to work from before we left. 

Once we finished up at the aquarium we drove back into town and did the gallery hopping thing, then relaxed on the swing at the Charleston Waterfront Pier. We ended the day with an early dinner at the Brown Dog Deli on Broadstreet. It's a great place to eat with really good vegetarian options and a wonderful hippie vibe to the surroundings. 


Gnome Cafe














The next day began with breakfast at Gnome Cafe. Karen and I are always on the lookout for vegan/vegetarian restaurants and this was a real find. Very green, very forward thinking, very tasty and very nice people. In fact halfway through our day we returned for lunch. Side note: I hate Brussel sprouts, but the chef asked me to try a sample of that days Brussell sprouts side item. I held my nose and tried it . . . then ordered it as a side with my sandwich. Delicious. 

Fueled for the day we headed out to Sullivan's Island to get in some beach time. We parked next to Fort Moultrie and walked down a sandy path to the shore. The winds that day were practically gale force so walking was a struggle. It wasn't long before our mouths were so full of sand we decided to bale on the beach. On our way back to the path leading to our car we came upon a sea bird laying in the sand near the water. It was alert but didn't move as we approached. We were even able to touch it and realized that it was injured. We weren't sure what to do so I got on the phone and started looking for a "bird rescue" center. About eight calls later I finally found who I was looking for. I described the birds condition and they said they would send someone to come and pick it up. By this time the water was beginning to lap up against the bird so Karen got a beach towel from the car and wrapped it up, and we took it back to our car to wait for the rescue person.


Injured Loon on Sullivan's Island



























About fifteen minutes later help arrived. The woman said it was a Loon and that they'd seen a number of these birds injured. We thought it may have been hurt during the terrific storm the night before. The woman was very nice, crated the bird and took our contact info to let us know how things turned out. We gave her a donation and she drove away, both of us hoping the bird would be okay. Sadly, we got a call on the phone in the car on the way back to Atlanta from the center and they told us that the bird had died. 


Canon at Fort Moultrie



















Since we were already at Fort Moultrie, and I love me a fort, we did the tour. This was where Edgar Allan Poe was stationed when he was nineteen years old. Cool. The weather was perfect, although like I said very windy. Great for photos though, "severe clear". We walked around and read the plaques. I noticed one strange thing, the flag over the fort was at half staff. I couldn't figure out why so I asked at the visitor center and they said that John Glenn was being buried at Arlington Cemetery that day.


Homage Show at the Vendue Hotel with Karin Jurick's painting, "Moms"












Fred Jamar artist in residence at the Vendue Hotel























That evening Karen and I went to the opening of the "Homage" show at the Vendue Hotel. We had been to the hotel the day before and met the artist in residence Fred Jamar. An interesting fellow with a good gig. The theme of this show was that artists from various galleries would paint their own versions of classic masterpieces. Our great friend Karin Jurick used Whistlers Mother as her reference and came up with her homage titled "Moms". All of the paintings were very creative, the crowd was large and everyone seemed to be having a good time. A really fun was to spend an evening in Charleston.


Angel Oak on John's Island





















Our final day began with a trip to John's Island to see the Angel Oak. Some friends had told us that "you have to go and see this tree", so we did, and it was definitely worth the trip. The tree is claimed to be somewhere between 400 and 500 years old, with an expected lifespan of over 900 years. It's truly spectacular. 


Frank DeLoach


























While we were there we met an artist painting the tree. His name was Frank De Loach. A very amiable man with an extensive history too broad in scope to list here other than to mention he worked at the Field Museum in Chicago and was involved with the preparation of the Tyrannosaurus Rex "Sue". For an armchair paleontologist like me I thought that was very cool. We talked for a long time and before we left we invited him to Karen's show that night and he said he'd try and make it. 

After we left the oak we drove over to Folly Beach. We walked around in the sand for a little while, but like the day before the wind was really strong making it difficult to get around. We eventually wound up on the fishing pier and just admired the view from there. 

Our free time was limited that day because Karen's opening was that evening, and we wanted to get in one more bowl of Laksa before we returned to Atlanta, so we drove to our room, got cleaned up and walked back to CO.


Karen, Frank and a fan from Asheville


























A little after 5 we entered the gallery. Frank (the gallery director), Thomas and Liz had done a beautiful job of hanging  the show and there was already a sizable crowd as we walked in. One of her collectors got there early and was anxiously waiting to meet Karen. He was a surgeon, attending a conclave in Charleston, and was quickly running out of time before he had to leave. Fortunately we arrived early enough for he and Karen to have time to talk, and also buy a painting before heading out for his meeting.




Eric who usually tends the beverages was there again. It's always good to see him. He served drinks while Frank, Liz and Thomas expertly worked the room.


Thomas, Liz and Eric


























Frank DeLoach, the artist we had met at the Angel Oak that morning did come to the show. 


Karen and Frank DeLoach


























From then on it was more people, more good wishes, more compliments and more sales. When the opening had ended Karen had sold nine paintings. Frank, with his endless sense of optimism, assured Karen that her show would sell out before it's over. 


Karen in discussion

























After the show we went back to our apartment and collapsed. Having a solo show is kind of stressful, so we watched a couple of episodes of House Hunters on the iPad then fell asleep.




We had already said our good-byes at the close of the show the night before and left Charleston early the next morning. It was an easy ride back and our house still intact when we arrived home. Chalk up another really successful trip.