Landscape of Virginia

A practice make perfect routine can be an object of interest for me. Here I reverted to my understanding of the compositional qualities of the 'South Street' canvas I just finished working on. Here the building composition is identical but then I added some interesting objects to the sky. Here they sometimes fly some man'd balloons and simply added them into the sky for a visual interest point in the upper part of the drawing. I think it works.

Just for keeping into my artistic vein, I continue to draw when nothing else seems to be exciting me. Visually its good practice to do so...one doesn't want to get stale. If one doesn't keep up with oneself in the sense that drawing and creating a visual image is of no bother, than one can get out of practice. When that happens its a bit of an effort to get back into it. Its both frustrating and troublesome to do work without the results one is expecting to get from the effort put in. In order not to let this happen it is suggested that one keep up some kind of artistic work each and every day so that the wheels are always oiled. Keeping a drawing book and supplies around is my way of staying limber and ready to go.

Another look at a local concert hall is no problem: I can have another version of the same scene with no problem to being warn out, or copying what was done before. Every painting is a new and rewarding chance to begin anew. Here is one of Charlottesville's icons: the Pink Warehouse, and now with another concert hall just beside it. The 'South Street' restaurant/bar and now also an established concert hall this painting is full of Charlottesvilles' memorable spots in just one small canvas. This canvas is only ruffly one foot by two feet in size, one of my smaller ones. I worked the shadows and characters into the composition as ones unique to this city. People come and go from South Street but some give it its' charm such as the street sweeper brushing off the debre. I have done and redone these buildings but I'd like to think I only improve upon them with each new canvas that I paint.

The proverbial home of Earl Hammner called to me to be painted. He was the author of the Americana book "The Waltons" and also the script writer for the TV show that followed. The TV show was widely seen during the 1980's. In this town of Schuyler where I now live E. Hammner is an icon and a museum has been established out of what was the elementary school in Schuyler. The museum is devoted to that TV show and its actors, memorabilia, plus a WWII museum added on to it. Folks who own the house now give tours to the Hammer home 9am to 5pm daily with only Sundays off. Schuyler is just off Rt 6 on Rt 800 (or Schuyler Rd) which is just east of Rt 29 and 30 miles south of Charlottesville (the home of The University of Virginia). I felt like I had been ignoring painting this home long enough and when I stopped into Ike's General Store to buy the local paper (the Daily Progress) some asked me if I ever painted it. Then it hit me: "I ought to do so, and ...

Life and death in the country can all happen on one plot of land. This painting of two barns has another added part to the composition that I left out due to it sitting alone by itself off to the right of the smaller barn. Four graves lye not far from that outbuilding. To me that spoke of family ties to the land where the barns now lye abandoned and falling apart in ongoing decay. I chose to leave it out. I felt the barns were a testament enough to those who worked that piece of land. This place is on a back country road that is bucolic and full of flowers. I feel good whenever I pass by it on my way home using that particular old roadway. Its a place that called out to me to be remembered in paint, and so this work came about.

I do admire drawings that one can easily see are done for the fun of it and nothing more than that. This is one of those kind of ad-hoc committee of my mind getting together and just throwing out something completely nonsensical. I hope you enjoy it. And yes I do admire R. Crumb's artwork and I wish I had met him. He lived in North Philly in the 1970's and I lived in West Philly during the same time period. His work is the funniest, most observant of city life then I've ever seen.

A concert hall is always of interest in the memories who have seen starpower performances take place in its interior. Because of that fact I have painted this canvas using the sight of 'South Street' bar/music venue as a subject for its surface. This building and the pink warehouse beside it are both etched into the memories of music lovers of the city of Charlottesville. The pink warehouse was the sight for practice sessions of the Dave Mathews Band in its early days when it played in local stages. The 'South Street' bar has drawn many bands of late and is a fixture in the local music scene. Both buildings are on a street nearby the railroad tracks and were used to hold commercial products from trains delivered to this city. I found working all the color in the bricks to be the challenge. The windows also were daunting but could be worked into a suitable appearance once I put myself into the task mode of using changing color for each pane of glass within...