Landscape of Virginia

This has been my winter (or Christmas) breaks obsession it's an oil painting that I worked tirelessly upon for the last two weeks. It's titled : Dithyrambic Daytime" which is a large word that just means the wild and wonderful day. It is not to be analyzed so much as to be simple pondered in wonder as to "what it's all about". I enjoyed the way the images came up from nowhere to my canvas as I painted. I started with only a ruff draft in pen and ink. Drawings are the origin for most of my "good art" work that I have done. This one is no different, it's a matter of some planning and the letting the rest come from the creative act of the actual painting. Seeing what may work from what needs to be changed is all part of the creative work that goes on inside the artist while painting. I'm sure most artist are of this way in their act of creation. Afterall who limits themselves anymore, if the idea strikes oneself, think about it, ...

  Here under the mighty limbs of the tree that watches the moon all night I pass by noticing the brightness of the light it shows us so I snapped this photo. Kind of a poetic photo depicting nothing but saying a lot more than words can convey. Enjoy the day, it's where we all live afterall.

This was a work done last week the day after it snowed. The sun had come out and it's warmth shown on me as I painted until sunset. I did as much as possible during that time before the chill of night arrived. My feet were wet and my warm car beckoned me towards coming inside of it's warmth but it took some time before I could pull myself away from working on this one. It was done by request from a friend from town who was interested in seeing me paint one of her house, so I had a go of it. I think it went better out on location than my touching it up from a photo projected on my HDTV screen here at home. Ain't it usually the case of real life beating out our own contrived "reality via TV" sort of situation. I think I'll keep heading out into that wilderness called out little town section of "Belmont".

Daylight begins with a phone call notifying me of the canceled school day for me. I quickly bounce back into bed. Awaking later in the day, it's time to make time for my meditation and then hit the drawing board for an unexpected chance to explore inner self. I take out my pens, paper and balsa board for my set up. Then unfold the paper pad, choose a pen, and I'm off. I begin with but a line, then another to see where I can take it and what images may entertain my thinking. Robert Motherwell and the other pioneers of Modern Abstract Expressionism called this delving into one's automatic consciousness drawing process. It's enjoyable. It's not scary, rather it's enlightening and worthwhile for one's inner soul, spirit or whatever term one may use for one's inner self. Doing such a thing is not nearly as impossible as it is if one says at the onset, "I can draw"...one can only say that if one never attempt to do so. Art is of the s...

The night is cold, as many are aware of it's power to end life. The people remain in tonight. It puts me in the mood to reflect upon a bike rider I saw today. She was battling up a hill full steam and I know it was hard for her because I've ridden up that same hill years ago in the cold cold daylight with little to keep me company but my own thoughts and the chill of the air upon my exposed cheeks. I felt good for her, because I knew she was feeling very free and good bringing herself up that hill however slowly she was smiling because of her efforts of the climb. I know we need to improve our cities for such people who no matter what the conditions will brave the streets to ride instead of sit passively behind the wheel as I was this morning while watching her in my car. Here's to Her...may more join her, maybe me someday.

  It was with great joy that I spent my Thanksgiving with an old college friend and his now wife, and children by marriage...what a joy it was to be with them all. We ate well which goes without saying, but we also enjoyed some conversation that enlivened my memories of my past living in Philadelphia with him and others. We rehashed old times and it was fun. The two of us were able to bring up people and places which otherwise had escaped my memory when alone. The stay up in the West Va. mountains was especially good since they often recieve the weather we get a week or so later. Temperture wise, we are right in synic this way even today. But these folks pictured here are truly champions in my life and it was an honor to spend this Holiday with them all. The new bread actually put me to shame on the ping-pong table so there is room for more to come at another time.

  There is nothing like a group of loving caring people for a good Thanksgiving dinner...which is what I enjoyed tonight. It's the meaning of friends and family that one can comprehend in times like these pictured here.

  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...

  It's been a crisp and clear Autumn here in Central Virginia this year, which has been great as far as seeing all the color changes that have been happening amoung the trees. Such as it is coming to a close and most of the leaves have fallen now, the ones that are still on the trees are some of the richest in hues and intensity. I was able to photograph a few off to the side of a nearby bridge in this city. These are but a few of the examples of what joy it has been to see them.

My newest painting is dealing with a "hot spot' from yesteryear in this city. It's a date spot where the drive-in style of eating happened in the evening hours. I suppose before, during and even moreso in the afterhours of high school football nights was when this restaurant really took on a life all it's own. It's still around decades later on and I set up my easel across the street in an empty lot (with asking permission from the woman who owns it) and painted a start of this spot. It's called "Jak and Jil" and everyone with either from here or who lived here at that time can tell you about their favorite dish with a tone of voice that betrays that this spot was about more than just the food. And so this is my painting: it's down at Skylight Gallery just off the downtown mall on 2nd Street where the free trolley passes over the mall heading north. I hope you will see it in person if or when you find yourself in the area.

I am having folks view my painting only at Skylight Gallery. I feel that posting my work online (my paintings at least) takes traffic away from the struggling galleries that I am supportive of so I am simply asking my fans to head on down to 2nd St NW right by Fellini's and see them. I have three nice painting up on their walls. I hope you will feel welcome to head on down tomorrow to First Friday's where i will be in Skylight Gallery during the early evening (5 to 7 pm) I've love to have you see my best and newest stuff.

Getting my art on today, I finished my latest painting of a local hangout from back in the day, or so the locals tell me. I've been here over thirty years but I'm still 'from the north' but that's ok I still feel welcome and a part of this place. The painting was started on location painted from a hillside with the permission of one of the neighbors, it is of "the Jak and Jil" restaurant and it's big. Working on it a number of times with my watercolors it has turned out rather well in oils. I enjoyed painting moreso with a 'painterly effect' of brushwork, I left finishing the surface so paint strokes did show off this one. A painter friend said I should let people see how I have painted a painting so with this one I am attempting to make that so. I rather enjoy the effect and when one is in the presence of the actual canvas one can really see 'how he did it'. I have yet to photograph it but I will get to it before too muc...

The day was an eventful one where the work got done a little at a time but looking back on it well it all amounted to the contribution of our students to the overall good of the community. I can definitely say that they do make a difference here in this little town. The nice thing is that they are appreciated for their good efforts it just that pizza parties as a way of saying "thanks" doesn't make good newsworthiness for local TV. And I understand that and you that's ok, I actually don't want to be show in the tube. I just want to do my work and I think my students are ok not being in the limelight just as I am. I have been painting it's just that it hasn't been that consistent lately, it's grabbing a morning where the light is good or an afternoon when the sun is out and all the errands and jobs around the apartment are done with that I get the time to paint. But one is in the cooker and it's a better one than the one before it, so I ...

  The Groom is Being Fed Cake but see that guy in the corner, if you didn't know that the groom actually works in the kitchen of this restaurant you would think this scene to be pretty strange. Why is he laughing so hard over their in the doorway. Well Jon is the pastery and dessert cook for the Ivy Inn where this wedding of his took place today. I just happen to be in the right place to capture this very funny and strange reaction from his fellow kitchen chiefs. It was a very wonderful wedding and truly a gift to be their and be witness to all the joy shared this weekend.

Today I was able to get over to Weyers Cave and attend a wedding of a good friend and fellow teacher. He really had a perfect day upon which to get married and hold an outdoor reception. I was able to bring my camera and get some nice snapshot of the event. They were both every happy people and I only wish them the best in their days to come united in marriage. I enjoyed the drive over and back, the view from the mountains was amazing today with the visibility being of utmost grandeur. Truly a good day for us all that live in this corner of the world.

  Nothing like a wedding to get the blood going in the morning. It was a festive and joyfull wedding of my friend Tim B. It was a great day weather wise for the outdoor reception and I enjoyed it. Others seem to have a joyful time as well. It took place in the Shenandoah Valley up near Weyers Cave and on a hilltop parking lot one could see almost the entire town of Weyers Cave. Truly a Blessed occasion and I'm glad I took the trip. May the happy couple have many wonderful days together in their time to come.

Just getting underway today we all seemed to be very very sleepy, I mean everyone was yawning. It really was quite comical. The dark clouds interspersed with sunshine seem to put us all into the state of eternal slumber love. The chill in the air was very autumn like and it helped people want to crawl back under the covers this morning and not be at work, but the day went on with our lives not wanting to be where we were, at work doing our jobs and "keeping on task". We got through today...now it's time for a nap.

  This is a work that was done on location here in this little college town. It's of a garage that was taken over by a good fellow...he's making a go of it on his own in this little building.

Today is the day I turn sixty, and believe me I don't feel it. When I realized where the time had gone I was stunned that I made it to this milestone of time alive on this earth. True, time alive doesn't equal the quality of that time being of good to excellent quality but man time alive does give one perspective on life that I hadn't been thinking of achieving but it is with me none the less. Having been here and being free, clear-headed and in a healthy state is something I learned that I owe to my spirituality and it's state. I truly think one doesn't last long if one doesn't have one's drive towards improvement headed in an everyday priority of living. I think because I always have thought I could just do a little better, that everyday I am taking on what people in my life bring up to me, and I try to be thankful for it. I don't always show gratitude for it but I do after I have had some time to think about it....most often I do.... Today ...

This is an oil titled: "A Power Greater Than Ourselves" and it's a medium sized painting but it has a meaning much larger than the image itself. It also took a lot longer to finish than many of my other paintings, and it has deeper interest in my concentration in it's making than many of my other summer's paintings. It was a joy to see come into existance.

The Summer is coming to a close for me, with schools reopening I will be going back to work starting this Friday morning. Our beloved students will return the following Wednesday. I can say that it's been a very active summer for me with me finishing many painting during this break and joyfully I loved making each one. The big change has been feeling good about the work I have done both once they were done and also while they were in the 'cooker' where I was active in the making of them. This summer I focused on making 'overall looks' to the scenes which I painted partial storefronts of last summer. Those were mere studies ( or preparations ) for what I had in mind and it was a long wait during the school year '09-'10 until I could get to them this past two months of late June, July and early August. I say two months because I both took some time to see distant places and I count June and August as only half month's work time on this summer...

  The Autumn is something that I seldom give much time to think about, but you know here in August it really isn't that far from it's coming. This painting is retouched up but was an autumn squash collection I used as a still life when I first moved into my current apartment. And so I felt it needed a little more so I retouched it again this year, four or so years later on.

The local spot that people often gather in this little town can be the shops near the edge of town at all hours of the day. It's the last stop where the stomach can be satisfied and the thirst quaffed with a cold one of any kind. It is often a meeting ground for many towns folks and where the days attitude is shared. That is why I decided our local spot on the edge of town needed to be remembered with my brush. The photo is of a painting I did complete yesterday of one of these spots on the way of most people's homeward trip from work. Many say art imitates life but sometimes it just reflects it. That's where I am at today. Tomorrow is an Opening where I will show some of this summers artwork from me.

  Even in 100 degree heat I am able to ride for a little while getting myself out to "The Store" which is in the background. "The Store" is a classic old Virginian Mom and Pop store with the design so often used of cement and cinderblock with cement holding the building all together. I use to go to stores up where I grew up in Northern Virginia but up their they are all gone. Today, I thought I would remember them with a few photos while some still are around.

Another hot morning , but one needs to brace oneself for what is to come but getting underway early so when the oven-door opens one is fully engaged in life. Painting outdoors is rather tough to do under these skies but if one is clever enough one finds ways to cope. This artist likes to get a start onsite and then finish up the canvas at home. It works when one has a good camera to capture an image from which to work when one is the comfort of the studio. I've done three or four canvases this way and it does help quite bit to be at home. Refreshments and various paints can be easily accessed so that nothing is left behind while working on outdoor scenes. Fortunately for me, I do have a good camera and a system for showing these images on an HDTV screen, from there it's easy to work on a canvas using such a system. The results are this painting of "Greenwood Station Rd." which I wasn't able to work onsite due to there was no shoulder to ...

I'm having a great time seeing my two friends from Wheeling Jesuit University where I was a student for just a couple of years back some forty years ago. It's great to reconnect and granted we do reminisce some, well maybe a lot, but we do enjoy being together once again. I don't know many people who wouldn't enjoy doing this, being at his new house in the countryside and eating in nice restaurants is anyone's dream life come true. Here in this photo we are standing at an overlook of the valley which is above Winchester and the northernmost part of the Shenandoah Valley, at least that is what is behind us. We're actually at about two thousand feet above sea level or maybe even higher. At this spot we might even be equal to standing at Afton Mtn. or Doyles Falls on the Skyline Drive. It was a good view eastward from here, and it was cooler than many of my past days down in Charlottesville, but the main thing is that here I am very please to be ...

This work is of the Belmont section of Charlottesville painted in the morning sun of June 2010. It is of a group of buildings that has gone under a complete overhaul and renovation during the past five years. Now housing a group of popular restaurants, these buildings are quite a nice site grouped together in the "downtown Belmont" section of Charlottesville, Virginia. The orientation for this painting was such that it was painted from an old Texaco station that now houses a tire company. And because of that the Texaco sign dominates the scene but not so uncomfortably that it seems out of sorts here in the middle of my canvas, I see it as setting the tone of this painting. It is making what was once old and forgotten back to something fresh and new. The title of this painting is : " Belmont Summertime"

Chilles Orchard is quite good for picking peaches when the place isn't picked clean. Yesterday I happened by only to find out that it was picked out. It was a fun place none the less, they have plenty of cider of both strawberries and peach in various size bottles. What a wonderful store and a natural resource for our little bit of the Piedmont of Virginia.

The People Combed the Peaches The folks came in droves to pick out some peaches from Chilles Orchard. Problem was the trees had been picked clean the day before and no picking was allowed on this day. It didn't stop these people from taking a look at what was available, which were peaches that were much smaller in size but were up for sale. I like the peach cider myself which one could buy in the 16 oz size or the gallon jug if one was so inclined for a keeper to take home.

Artwork in Crozet IGA Parking Lot Ya can't get much better than murals in one's grocery store parking lot. It seems like someone did something just for the idea of art for art sake. I love it! These murals show much of the surrounding areas of Crozet and who else could have shown it off but someone local, who has guts to do something this size in the first place. It turned out well and all people I've talked to love it as well. It's much bigger than I could show in this one photograph but for the people of this little Virginia town it means quite a bit.

The Day is a Gift. The sun is out, the air is warm, and my bike is ready to go. No it's not a Harley, it's a Trek 6500 and it's a ****bike but it's cool. I am thankful for the roads, pathways and Rails to Trails advocacy that has had me ride my Trek. I hope the veterans can at some point see and enjoy both the off road trails and miles of highways that this country has to offer those of us on two wheels. The Day is a Gift. I promise to make the most of each one. I will not waste it away. I will be active and get out of the house and see this day. I have made much of my summer break making art, eating out with friends, and socializing with 'fellow-travelers' in the evenings. But today is a day in which I will reflect on what let's me do all of this and where are my own responsibilities to leave behind something worthwhile for others. Enjoy the Fourth as I am sure I will.

It happened in the Belmont Triangle that I picked up my brush and began this painting; only it was a week later on when I decided it was done.

This is one done of a nightspot that is quite favored by our townfolk and students alike...it's called "The Local". It's a restaurant in our little section of town called Belmont and it is a spot that is trying to serve good quality food at affordable prices to "the local" people of Belmont and beyond. I titled this painting of that nightspot "The Monk Awaits Us" as you should be able to make out the Dominican Friar leaning against the railing near the front entrance.

What Me Worry? It's Summer Afterall!

Agora Art Gallery - Exhibition Opening Reception Photos 05/13/2010 This is a gallery in London where they have allowed me the room to exhibit my work on their website and I have a link to it on my own website. I find it to be a very open gallery to new artist and one need not be a "finished artist" or an overly experienced artist to show ones' work on their site. I think they have a good representation of art that comes from the artist heart in this show that I have linked up with here. Have a look, it takes a few minutes to view it but it's enjoyable if one has the time.

The days are long, the night is cool : an excellent time for photography and I got to it this past weekend. I like the new way of editing photos with software such as Picasa 3 that I only plug because I am using that in doing these photos. I went to the sepia-tone in some of these night photos. We who take photos (which seems to be most everyone thesedays) can take night photos if you can change your ISO to a higher number, the higher the number the higher the amount of light that will register in your camera's sensors. So night photos are now able to be done quite readily due to the amazing speeds that ISO can go to now with the advent of digital photography. It's just amazing to me and so I have been trying it out with good results. Then I tinker with the image changing it to a sepia-tone and sometimes giving it higher color plus adding a grain texture...truly something else.

I had an opportunity to walk around last night and by chance snapped this photo of people dinning at The Local. I enjoyed this scene due to the warm evening and the compliant diners who didn't seem to mind me taking photos of them from the street. I enjoyed playing around with it today at home with some basic photo software. Enjoy!

I have been slow to actually realize what one can do with "film speed" today until recently when it hit me: "the speed of take a photograph has greatly been increased". Because of this advance in the digital age, I can now take pictures at night with little trouble, all I've had to do is bring my tripod and set the ISO on my menu in a high setting and I'm off. Last night I decided to try it out, with some time and various compositions I really did well. Another plus is working with the images on the software once I got the pictures set up on my computer here at home. I can do today what I only dreamt about in previous times. The digital age has done wonders for me in image creation using a camera. It continues to blow me away on a daily basis. I will post one of my night images taken in a night spot that has developed here in my part of Charlottesville. It's called the Belmont Triangle by some, to others it's just another sort s...

The day is one of work, it's great for my mental state mainly because work takes my mind off my problems even better than a Scotch on the rocks and a bottle of beer to wash it all down. I use to do just that after work, but now I actually enjoy my work more than most (but not all) of my time off from my job. I never thought work could be like that. I never heard of such a thing, but here I am. Glad to be off from work but not wishing not to have to go back. I don't want to spend my life just working it away but it is nice to enjoy where I go to make my living. It's a school where I work but it's not just another school rather it's a school for and with young men and women with special needs. It's made my life much much better than before I arrived at it.

I am looking at doing a commission this weekend. I'm putting everything on hold until I finish this painting of a local house. It's the residence of the mother of a friend from my past whom I have lost touch with due to finding different roads to travel down. The weather should cooperate and I think I will be able to get two days of concentration in on a rather small canvas. The size of which was a request by her. I'm looking forward to it due to the lack of sales this year. Absolutely nothing has sold this year despite being in a one man opening and having my work hanging all year in a very public venue. I don't think it's because of the lack of quality of my art, at least that is my hope, but more-so because of the economical problems we are all dealing with which in turns stops people from buying art. The saying "art is the first to go" is certainly very true and I've witnessed that over the years. It's just part and parcel o...