Central Park West and the Natural History Museum

On a blustery day in November, I painted this view of the Natural History Museum in Manhattan, The late afternoon light made the blue shadows really sing with color and I tried to get the feeling of motion/wind in the brushstrokes.

Portrait of Tommy

I've painted many a portrait and thought I'd post this one of Tommy- a much-loved model at the Art Student's League of New York.
Gosh, the more I look at this the more it reminds me of Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington where ol' George's dentures are not fitting so well and distends the bottom lip out a bit, much as it is doing here.

Bailey Island Lobster Pound

Just north of Portland Maine, there are a number of islands that jut out into Casco Bay, and among these is one called Bailey Island. It was here that I painted this view of Peter Rodger's Lobster Pound. Peter Rodgers was a man that was larger than life- as authentic a Maine lobsterman as there ever was- a character out of Kipling or Stevenson.

Star fruit and Mandarins

I was in Shop Rite the other day and they had a sale on these interesting shaped star fruits or carambola.In addition to their interesting shape, they have an amazing translucence and a waxy surface. A buck a piece along with some green plums and I happily added some new objects to my still life collection. Taking inspiration from Carol Marine, I set up a still life with the star fruit and some mandarin oranges and a blue glass plate to balance all the colors and make it pop.

Along a Naples Canal

I was scoping out suitable places to paint one morning and found this little scene nearby.
The bougainvillea was crawling all over a column from a retaining wall that reminded me a lot of French rococo artists- Fragonard in particular. He popularized a type of garden landscape painting that collectors prized. This view was also an excuse for me to paint my beloved palm trees.

Bougainvillea

When the Bougainvillea is in bloom it is a sight to behold.This is a scene that I painted on a path near Pelican bay that meanders through a small park. With the late afternoon sun hitting the foliage, I knew this is where I had to stop and paint.This painting comes with a custom 12" x 9" frame as appears in the photo. It's a frame that I acquired a few years back that has an interesting Gothic shape. I cut some panels to insert into the frame and glued Claessens linen canvas to them and primed with oil. I had one of these stashed in my plein air pack for a moment just like this.

Spring Showers

This view was painted in a field next to the Mayo farm in Stowe Vermont. In the distance is Mount Mansfield and in the near pasture are a group of Belted Galway oxen.