Landscape of Virginia

To begin I took a figure towards the left here and just drew what came naturally after that; for some reason unknown to me I put all my figures on an elevated train station stairway heading up. Why I don't really know I just know it seemed fitting. These are pen and inks', the pens are plentiful in the stores here so I use them quite often to break from traditional painting. One use to have to labor over those repediographs (forgive the spelling, they are out of circulation now) pens when one was done with the days work. The stem had to be cleaned out and reassembled, and they always seem to get clogged up with dry ink before one could ever get anything useful out of them again. What a pain! But today's while they are disposable they still can make for more than just one drawing per pen. Plus they are a lot more affordable that those old nineteen seventy technology was for me and my wallet.

When I am tired of doing the same old art expression, I will change my expressions to another medium. Pen and ink are the usual culprits that get my wrath. Here in this pen and ink I played around with the ideas of ships, pirates and abstract shapes of absolutely no relevance. Shapes for shapes sake. I do like making ships though, when in school I often penned a good number of ship to ship battles. Of course I was listening to the teachers the whole time, I mean really I was...there was just this battle that had to happen on my notebook I was taking notes on that's all.

I worked a little more on the painting of the "Lucky 7" working on the shadows above the front doors and windows to give the shadows a little more definition. I used dark reds and some Hansa Yellows w Flake White. I believe it changed the whole visual affect of it.

The waiter is hidden in many upscale restaurants. Not so if your working in the kitchen of one, their is where one gets to witness the inner beings of those who do our restaurant's catering towards the customers. Its up close and its personal to we who worked in establishments of eating. Personal habits were often worthy of comment to the wait staff in most of those restaurants I worked at, like Martha's Cafe, Zipper's and before that Basin Street, Miller's on the downtown mall plus a few others. It all came down to just how human we were to those who asked "will there be anything else?" or "Would you like something to drink?" Even with the predictability of the questions much more was communicated to the waiter. So much so, there was almost a deathwish that could arise in an unspoken way for those who answered, those who were sitting down at the table. The wait staff usually had a lot to say in the back kitchen area about who they we...

This painting took some time but in doing it many memories came flooding back into my mind. I believe everyone in C'ville has done business in this store. Its slated for demolition soon. Along with the building right next door to it, it has been a touchstone for locals. I think all of we locals have been inside of its doors to buy cigarettes or beer. Its in a central location, right next to the police station and City Hall where many run over for our daily needs. It has about anything in the way of candy, cigs, beers or sodas inside its' vaults or coolers. They are doing the usual with it, the thing that was sung out by Joanie Michell in that they are "paving paradise and putting up a parkinglot". Here it happens again, this time its for parking for our courts and policemen. Its days are numbered and so I remember it with this canvas. One funny little note is that its widely known that if you want to get a cab all you have to do is go to the "Luck...

This restaurant has such a mysterious pull to it, I'm thinking "it needs another go at it" and so I pulled out my brushes once again. First I began a second and larger painting of it. Then while in the process I decided to add in some detail of the telephone wires that pass by but I failed to note in my first painting of the 'Guad'. That didn't take long to do. Once done I got back to work on my larger but not too too large second rendition of the Mexican restaurant 'Guadalajara' in the downtown area of Charlottesville. It took some time to finish it. Working on the canvas in two and a half hour stints I finally got it done in one week's work. In working on it I had to put it down and say it was done but then see something that needed a little more ....I had to do this a good number of times before I put it down for a final drying period. I liked the final result. I felt that I accomplished what the physical and spiritual feeling...

Fool'n around I worked up this mess of people doing wrong to others, what I am thinking I don't know but it was fun. I create some nonsense sometimes at the cost of my reputation as a friendly guy I think. This one has a happy smil'n man putting on a woman's hair, now I don't think for a moment that one aught to take part in such and action but still one has to have fun with some wild ideas this being one of those. I tease with the hope that no one would actually perform this action on anyone else, it would be flat out wrong. But in drawing, it is possible to put down some images that in the real world would bring down ire from above, but this is art not reality. And its not to be taken as something one would advocate as something to do to another human being, certainly not!! I simply draw, and this seem to fit my feelings for the moment while at the drawing board. I really don't see the harm. Its all in fun. So please take it as such.