A few weeks ago we spent the day at the Eno River in Durham, NC.The river offers some nice swimming holes and some hiking trails that are off the beaten track.You can even see the remnants of an old pump station.I’m not certain the history of the river, but I believe the river was a main water source for much of Durham.I am pondering applying to be an artist at the 2010 “Festival for the Eno”Being that this is the only painting I have done as of yet of the Eno, I guess I will have a lot to do in the next year or so.
I recently finished a painting derived from a picture I took while visiting Fort Macon in Atlantic Beach, NC. I believe Fort Macon was constructed in the early 1700’s and served prominent roles in the American Revolution, Civil War, WWI and even WWII. My view of Fort Macon is one interpretation of a view seen by multitudes of men over a course of 300 years. What I saw was an interesting landscape of twisted and winding trees offset by a brilliant blue sky. At different points in time this same view might have had pirates storming the fortress or a brilliant blue sky replaced by exploding mortar fire.
Earlier this summer my kids and I were strolling down the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD when we came across the Ocean Gallery. A very unique art gallery to say the least! The most interesting art of the gallery was the building itself. Jammed with posters and slogans (my favorite being Johnny Unitas shopped here) the Ocean Gallery is an icon of pop America. My initial thoughts of this being very gaudy and tacky have transcended into something very representative of the American culture. Definitely worth checking out. (At least once in your life)
During part of my summer vacation this year I visited Assateague Island in Southern Maryland. This is a really cool area of the country . . . All kinds of wildlife; including wild horses that come right up to the car window. Normally for my painting subjects I try to stay away from beach and coastal subjects. However, this area offered some diversity of dense forestry and marshes mixed with broad horizon lines. I am quite fond of the picture shown, after I finish some other projects this will probably be the first of my Assateague Island series.
My paintings are centered on conceptualization evolving over time. For that reason it is important for me to devote equal or more time to each painting I do. Although my skills as an artist increase with each work, my creativity is also expanding. Therefore I must concentrate on painting longer so to accommodate for new ideas.
My style of painting involves creating a complicated background of hundreds of grids of varying colors. When done the background will loosely look the intended composition, From there I concentrate on adding detail to segments of the painting. This method allows me the most expression because different parts are all done at different times. For example a typical landscape composition might have twenty different trees. Painting all the trees during the same session will tend to create too many similarities and thus a boring composition. Patience and time allows my paintings to reflect my varying emotions and moods and in a strange way create a sense of balance and harmony in what are sometimes very detailed and confusing compositions.
