Chilles Orchard in July


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.
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What Has Worked;

The Barn on the Holland Farm

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    This building had been painted earlier, just not from this angle.   I took a top downward look in this composition in oil.    I liked the perspective of the fence running downhill and swooping around into the back of the barn.   I was thinking that I had made an error in judgement when I painted the one side of the barn in shadow, but after working moreso I saw that it seemed to work since the shade is marked with details of the wooden doors, and other details worked out in blues and dark browns.   As they say, getting some distance by letting it sit for a while without me looking at it allowed me to really see that what I had done was ok in fact it worked pretty well.       I feel that this canvas is successful, but its one that a person needs to take a good look at what one is seeing before deciding if it works as a work of art or not.   You don't want to just gloss over it with a quick ...
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Hut for a Blue Tractor and a Red Grass-Cutter

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     Many of these farm structures that I live around out here in Central Virginia near Lovingston are made from wood that has been recycled from earlier farm buildings.   I am almost certain that a lot if it may just go back to the early days of European settlers locating here in Schuyler.   One can just take a quick look and even without carbon-dating one can see that the wood is old and weathered by the elements.   It is very heavy older hardwood that these folks used in making their farm structures.   One can also see how the buildings were shaped for the needs of the farm at a time and then torn down but not discarded but reused again for another purpose..   The sizes of the buildings are small.   They may house one farm implement or two but they are not like those northern Atlantic barns that have lofts and large areas for animals, these buildings are built to suite a single purpose and generally aren'...
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Bus Stop: "When is it Coming?"

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The summer is coming upon my horizon in a quid pro quo manner one where I need to get to work soon just to work on something. It's been too too long since I painted and I feel it. I delve into my drawing notebook when I have a spare moment and truly it's rewarding and fun but there is nothing nearly similar to picking up the brush and palette. Soon I promise you soon it will come about, just not today. I have sat myself on a park bench and drawn though and this is one of my resulting drawings of a woman awaiting her city transit homeward for the day. I found her an interesting subject and she I think noticed me drawing and she seem to sit perfectly still for me so I could capture her in repose. She was enjoyable to work on. It wasn't that long ago when I was that one on the bench awaiting the bus. I remember it as a rather long wait too.
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Remains of an Early Virginian Church

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 The old world of European faith was rife with change when new varieties of religion left the old continent for the America's open horizons.   These remains of an older mud stone Church is still here in Central Virginia near where the Lock'n Music festival takes place, only but a mile or so to the east it still stands in its muddy sandstone way.   I didn't find out much more than it was a Church at one time where people placed their wants and needs on the Altar to the keep of a Higher Power.   I don't know what faith these remains belonged to but knowing the society around here it no doubt was a early Virginian Christian Church. 
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Draw On

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I am thrilled to take part in a life drawing class at the local art center. We have nice young men and women who are willing to drop all to give we artist subjects from which to develop our art. How wonderful it is, for but a few dollars we receive our inspiration for our paintings and we improve our eye/hand coordination which improves our ability to create what we want to create. It's a joy to participate every week in this class. True I am tired once I arrive after a full day of working at my day job but I still find no matter how tired I am it does the trick for improving my artistic abilities. Happy are we who are gifted with this drawing group. Draw on!
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