"Scottsville's Main Street" and the Painting Done Plein Air.

The winter season isn't known as the best season to get outside and make some art but well I went out anyway last week. I traveled down to a small town on the James River known as Scottsville. Its the home of an old riverboat station where the traders of commerce would travel back and forth down the James to Richmond to do business. The river still runs and the town is still a working community although it is doing its best to attract new business by reinventing itself. I went down their to paint last summer and it was a nice experience especially since I finished five or six good canvases working on that towns streets. I went back with canvas on break from the cold weather, it was in the forties or low fifties while I was out in a parking spot with my canvas. I had to deal with a low breeze though and I did so by putting rigging on the upper corners of my canvas. I literally tied the canvas to the Julliard easel with wire. It worked too. I spent the day painting and the canvas held firm to where I had placed it. I talked to a couple of people while painting, one wanted to paint like I did as soon as possible, it wasn't easy to guide her to the understanding that it just doesn't happen like that, but I steered her to go to a community college or an art center and take some classes. Then maybe she could find her visual voice. A second person by the name of Jim dropped in on me as I was painting and began to ask some art process questions and I was having a hard time working on my image so I took on a attitude that he really had nothing to do with and I got kind of kirt with him. He seemed to know all the answers to his own questions so I just offered a listening ear but I had to dismiss him saying that I was kind of occupied with what I was doing and just didn't have the ability to do my work and talk about it while I was in the middle of doing it. He was a nice guy and understood and moved on. Then the wind picked up and I felt the guilt that comes with being a meany. So as my friend Jim said, "your going to do what you can here, then take it home and finish it up their?" And that's exactly what happened. I guess I put in three and a half hours onsite and then worked on it during a snowstorm at home in Schuyler. I see some progress in my work and for that I am glad

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What Has Worked;

Wyant's Store in Whitehall,Va.

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  It is noted that Whitehall Virginia is a throwback to an earlier time, a time when people knew who you were whenever one was to shop in the store such as this....its something found in the rural areas of this state and not so much in the cities of Virginia. This is one of my paintings of such a place, where the guys inside it are all gathered talking about what's news in the area over some snack food of one kind or another. They were all very kind to me once I stopped in to see the inside of this store once I was done painting for the day. I enjoyed working on this one...it is the second of the same subject, the store was interesting to work on so I took a second look as it were and painted it again. It's wasn't so much that I didn't like the first painting of this country store it was more that I enjoyed working on it so I thought I would prolong the joyfullness by doing it a second time. I'm sure you have no idea what I am talking about..well just have a
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Walking Along W. Main St.

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I found the scene along West Main is soon to change into an newer style cityscape of brick and glass with less ornamentation to its buildings. With this in mind I photographed some West Main Street buildings in the hopes of finding interesting scenes to paint. The signage is all a part of West Main and in that thought I painted this one with its graphic street crossing signage featured prominently in the picture plane. I highlighted the bricks in intense reds and developed the windows in a bizarre abstract display for each one of them. Each featuring one color being themed inside its frame as if each window display had its own abstract painting going on inside its area. Its all for the fun of it, I play with what is being viable to the view when I can. Nothing ventured nothing gained. It was nice how this one came together piece by piece with each painting session. Intense color came about as I developed its' scene on the sidewalk windows. I was going to bring in
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Firecycle in Kamahura: 1954 or So

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Its been a long time coming but I finished another in my Japanese style paintings this past weekend. It's of a fire cycle, they didn't have enough money to build a fire truck although they did have a few in the station instead they made a cycle which could fight fires. I thought it was kind of unique and looked very different that anything I'd seen before so I painted it. Using one of my Dad's black and white photos I did a rendering of it. I enjoyed working with the strong red colors even though the photo is in Black and White I could remember some of the colors involved in this vehicle so I went ahead and played with it. It took a good deal of work, but I continued on with it until it was completed. I just couldn't let go of it very long while I was painting it. I guess I did another marathon painting session last weekend. I know I felt it after I was done.
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Painting in the Public Domain

I've been busy painting outdoors. Yesterday, I packed up my easel and paints put on my backpack with the easel on it and walked to the downtown mall. I arrived about nine thirty am and got to work after setting it all up. Many people stopped to comment and offer supportive comments about the start of the painting. I was working on the Miller's bar and buildings headed westward from their on, I included a couple of people in it too boot, the thing was I was filmed by some group that came back later and had me sign a release form and I was photographed by tourist and others who just happened upon me while I was working on my painting. My work progressed to a good stopping point and I plan to finish what I've done at home. Some people to whom I talked I never saw because I was paying attention to what I was painting not to whom I was talking to at the time. I was looking at the buildings and what I was doing on the canvas so I have very little idea as to what or who the
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The Holland Farm Chicken House in Arrington Va.

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    This piece of land has more to be explored from what I have been able to discern from the local neighbors.   I've only photographed what I can see from Arrington Road nearby where the Locken Music Festival is held in the summer.   There are three buildings I have been able to study so far with more that are out of sight.   I am interested due to the age of some of these abandoned farm buildings.   I was told that this one is a 'chicken house' for the Holland farm.   Its not in operation anymore but it must have held a good number of the foul in its heyday.   This is an oil.  I use a 30/30/30 medium with sunthickened linseed oil going by the name Stand oil.   Its small, only 14 inches by 26 inches in size with a popular wood lattice frame slapped on it.  
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