Arrington Rd Barn

     On the back roads between Shipman and Arrington (where a nice rock festival takes place) there is a group of farm buildings that stand abandoned with grasses growing among them.    This barn is one of those buildings.   It stands atop a hill with a slope of a grassy plane which makes it a dominate scene.   Its really quite becoming and the unique style of the building creates a really nice balanced image.   So I painted it after photographing it from the side of the highway.   


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What Has Worked;

Good Clear Air Today

I am back to work with regards to my oil painting. My elbow is doing much better although I can still feel a strain on it after exercising or painting for an hour. No matter, it feels well enough to put up with for now. I am beginning another Japanese Buddhist painting, one with a lot of movement of people. I'm hoping to take my time and give it the attention it deserves because after all, it will remain in this world long after I leave it. What good weather for photographing the outdoors. Although we need the rain, I can't complain about being uncomfortable in the outdoors today. With the clear sunlight, it's just perfect to photograph items and get some good pure colors to register well. This type of weather is why I like living here. Nothing like seeing the mountains as clearly as you can today, it seems like you can make out each and every leave on trees miles away on a mountainside in the clear air that we have today. I will be heading out now for a walk...
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Paint'n Belmont

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I've been work'n on the outdoor painting scenes this summer, yesterday I finished a nice small one of the local spot called "The Belmont Market" and it went well. It took about eight hours of actual painting time. But it's looking good and it only get's better the more I see it. I started out this summer with drawings then I put my brush to the canvas starting with "Spudnuts". The place is known for it's potato flour donuts which I too am an avid fan on any given morning when their flavors come wafting out of this spot. How couldn't I end up starting this summer's work of Belmont without it being first. The previous and first owner of Gibson's Groceries is now very ill. His son happened to see my painting of his local store inside Parks and Rec Dept in the City Hall Annex. His son happened to give me a call and this coming Monday I will be headed out once again to paint it. I'm looking forward to it. I've pai...
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"1984" All Over The World

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Today is our last school day for this year of 07-08 and I'm looking forward to seeing all the students off for the summer and then going to a teacher unwinding party at the High School. One thing that seems to have been done lately is to put cameras into the High School as a way of cutting down the trouble they have in curbing the problem of violence and just "bad behavior".. It's been in place for a couple of years I it's done that, but in thinking about it, would you want yourself to be on camera at all points when you were out in public spaces? Would you feel ok about it? What if those cameras were being manned by a group of people who wanted to keep citizens from gathering in groups of three or more and exchanging ideas? I know, it's not that way right now, but what if society changed so that it was, their cameras and computers which watched those cameras for suspecious signs could be in place by the time they took power, then what would you d...
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Time to Work, then Campout

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Life gets busy and the busy get lively, I've been painting a whole lot since I've returned from a northern city of my past. (It's Philadelphia in case you didn't know, I went to Art School their) I've been able to do six 20 cm paintings on masonite and then one small 10" by 20" painting since my return. Most of them have to do with old model cars and/or traveling on the highway. I found that people who knew me thirty-five years ago also enjoyed the way I painted cars and such, so I decided to get right back to it when I got back home. I have enjoyed returning to that subject to paint. I always like autos and trucks and now I can make up my own versions of them when I create a painting and it's fun. They will be up on my site in a week or so. It will take a while due to the fact that I am headed out to a NA campout, the very first campout type of event that ever happened here in Virginia, and it's taking place at Natural Chimney'...
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Recovery Weekend

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Sponsorship Gathering I was at a sponsorship retreat related to my Recovery "family" of brothers from this area. It was terrific. I was able to listen and concentrate on how various speakers could relate to my life and I found a lot to identify with and I learned truth from others who live with this disease of addiction but who don't use drugs. We all stayed in the same dorm rooms and ate all meals together, we lived and shared our time with each other in a very real way. I learned more about the people I see in my daily life during my week at meetings than every before. It was good for me to enjoy those who are new to our brand of Recovery from addiction. I heard various ways to the same ends of being in touch with a spiritual force that can guide us to not use and improve our relations with ourselves, our families and the whole of society we live with on a day to day basis. We laughed at humorous anecdotes from our brothers and we cried at the memory...
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