Sunday, November 29, 2015



Hay Bales over Thanksgiving


Hay Bales, 6 x 8 oil on panel


Apple A Day Works

an apple a day promotes good health, and a quick work at the start of each day keeps me aware of the color, design and shape of my art.










Over Thanksgiving our daughter and I visited my eighty-four year old mother in Macre GA. We cooked and got caught up with yard work. She's very active and although there's plenty more to do, we worked hard. Early that morning, before the real labor began, I took the opportunity to get out my paint box and do another type of landscaping - painting. ;)

The hay bales image above shows early morning light across one of the fields close by. I wanted to do a small work that allowed me to focus on counting brush strokes, using a limited palette of ultramarine and pthalo blue, cad red, cad yellow, plus white and touches of ochre. It's warmer at my mother's and the leaves have begun their change, but not to the extreme we have here above Atlanta in Northwest GA. Her grassy areas have warmer greens still but much of that landscape has turned pale in color.

I began by blocking in large forms with warm tones, a mixture of ultramarine blue plus cad red with a larger brush. The number has long since worn off, but it's larger than a 10. After this I began to look at ways to brighten up those base colors with warmer and some cooler greens. The hay bales were in shadow. Purple hues against the pale grass allowed them to stand out more readily. Brights from the light of the early morning were done with a small knife, and a mixture of alizarin plus yellow and white.


Upcoming shows include the annual fundraising gala for Georgia Lawyer's for the Arts. This takes place on 10 December 2016 at the King Plow Arts Center in Atlanta. I have two works in this show, one 18 x 24 charcoal and an 8 x 10 oil, both are presented in antique frames I found at estate sales. Each are included below without frames. Information at http://glarts.org


Direction VII, Charcoal on Paper


Bridge Early Morning, 8 x 10 oil on panel

















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