Landscape of Virginia

I've been working in downtown Scottsville which is a city that was founding in the mid 1700's as a port on the James River. It has it's hayday back in the mid 1800's as a place where people could gather goods. This particular painting is done of a promimate building in this town, it stands tall on it's Main Street next to the James River Inn and across from the Exxon (which doesn't date back much at all) the artwork isn't finished but I thought I would show it anyway since I've worked on it for the past two days. I can say that I've been true to it since I haven't painted on it unless I was looking directly at the building in Scottsville. No touching up at home for me. It's a keeper though, and I plan to head back this coming Friday (in a couple of days) to see where it will take me then as far as developement towards completion.

The very active intersection of Rt 6 w Rt 20 was the subject of my interest today. I set up around noon and worked with a few breaks from the sun for four hours. I felt as if I had gott'n off to a bad start but as I worked on this canvas I saw where it developed rather nicely into an unorthodox painting composi tion but I felt it worked. It worked well and so I left it alone and kept developing it into the canvas you see. I began with the buildings setting too far down past the midpoint of the latitude. I simply kept going but I almost just rubbed it all out to begin again. As I was taught and are many art students, to not begin unless one is totally confident of a good start to there canvas. One cannot build well unless one has a good foundation upon with to set his or her building, and this canvas was questionable at best when I got started. What I did was simply try something questionable and see what I could do with it. I actually felt some sense of being upset ...

There are places both on the map and sort of forgotten about and off the map of frequent travelers. The town of Esmont is one such place, it's just off a main east/west highway in Central Virginia. It had it's hayday from what I've learned mostly during the time of the roaring Twenty's and such...I think most of these place benefited mostly from the mining going on in the nearby town of Schulyer. Now the mining is limited and the town of Esmont has but a few families living in it's homes. The most noteworthy building I found to be the old bank building which was nice deep red from the brick used in it's construction. It's the only brick building in the town that I could find, but it's a nice three story building with some nice features to it with the name "Esmont Bank" still built into it's brickwork above the main doorway. With the sun out and mild temps I headed over to the quite town. I set up and painted for about th...

The alternative to riding the bus is not waiting n driving or riding a bike to one's destination. For years I couldn't even afford the price of a bicycle so I mostly either walked or rode the bus. Because in those days the bus only came once an hour I often would stand for a few minutes at the bus stop until I lost my patience and I'd start walking across town knowing that not matter where I was going it most likely wouldn't take more than twenty minutes to get their. The city wasn't all the extensive back then and the buses where not so quick at getting around to picking us up. And so when the time came that I was able to put away enough pennies to purchase a bike I bought a mountain bike for this town is full of hills. It was only then that I could go anywhere I wanted (or so it seemed) on a mere whim, I bike with the help of a smart fella who kept me abreast of my bicycle's condition. Bikes need to be tended to because they wear down as most everythin...

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.

The grocery store can be a trip: whenever I go thesedays it's late at night. People dwell in it for a long time I am certain that some just never leave, they are simply perpetual shoppers. I on the other hand like to have it all set in paper or a list which I can read, find, cross off and then check out. Quicker, simpler the better it is for me. Last night I went in and low and behold the place was mine, not many people powerdriving their carts into mine, it was an open field...and it was fun. I loaded up and then headed out to the self-checkout. Then out to my car and a quick look at my receipt to see where I saved a penny or two, which always makes me smile a little. Pennywise and pound foolish I just might be...but I'm getting by with my life expenses all paid up. These shoppers in this drawing are of the type I see on an average day. Certainly I am lying because I make them up in my head, but I know that I have seen people like these guys but to a degre...

"The world goes by and if you don't grab it by the horns so will your chances go by" as someone once said ( I just can't remember who exactly said such a thing but I liked it when I heard it thus remembered it) such it is with art. One must take the drive to create and go take it into one's day to day life. So I do. I occasionally bring along my sketchbook with me into the city, here I sat down for twenty minutes and sketched a couple of scenes across the street and simply "crocies" (forgive me if I misspell it) that took no time at all but when I got them home I was very thankful for having made them. They are notes on my daily life. They are short looks into my surroundings. I can take a moment to remember that when I draw. It stops me from my taking my life for granted because I stop and take a good look at what is making up my surroundings. In my notebook I draw showing the people, places and things that are all over the place but that I...