Landscape of Virginia

It often the case that people who live near and even far from the DC area summer in the woods. The woods are often in the mountains of the Blue Ridge. I've summered in Front Royal and Goochland County among others during my lifetime. This painting is a commission. Someone, a old classmate from High School of Bishop Ireton asked me to paint his own 'hogan' cabin in the woods. Which I was glad to do. But it sure took me back to all those summers I spent with my own Dad and the Cub Scouts in the woods sleeping in a 'hogan' like this one. In our gifted life this was called 'ruffing it', or 'camping out' for the weekend or longer. Its kind of funny but all those times including times of late I've 'camped out' with enjoyment because it was no problem to do so since we were indoors for the most part. This painting reminded me that how often I've had the gift of sleeping indoors protected from the elements. What a mem...

A friend asked me to repaint his place of fixing cars. He moved his garage. I had painted his earlier manifestation and so now he wanted a redux on his new spot. I said "sure'. This is his new spot with added baydoors and newly hired mechanics. He moving up.

Many times I cross these tracks to see what the postmaster has done to her little PO out near the tracks. The tracks go all the way down to Orlando Florida where the train stops and goes through switching cars. I always wonder what this PO looked like in its heyday with the 3,000 or so residents who worked the soapstone quarry. For now it doesn't see much usefulness other than its quaint beauty and oddity. This is the oil I did of it with a visitor from Germany of all places who stopped in for a look. He was taken with it, and had a look around and through the windows. He was a hiker and he asked what lay beyond. I let him know about Schuyler and the Waltons. He had no idea what I was talking about but decided to take the six mile hike to the home of 'John-boy' just the same. The oil is small in size. Perhaps 14 inches by 22 inches, but it holds up.

This painting is an oil and 30/30/30 medium on gessoed cotton duck canvas. I build it and prepared the surface w gesso. Gesso was developed in the 1950's as a mixture of titanium paint and rabbit skin glue to seal the surface so the oils done destroy the material of cotton over time. Earlier painters had to do mush more work to prepare a canvas for painting with more work of applying glue and a primer paint. Today its all in one. I tend to put three layers of gesso on to really seal the surface from any leaks over time. The painting here is one of a country dwelling that is now abandoned. It just off of Rt.29 which is a main north/south highway just above the town of Lovingston Va. Many homes are abandoned here in Central Virginia. I have had no problem finding them alongside the roads that twist through the back roads here in Central Virginia. I like painting them due to the fact that they are the history of those souls who once lived here and have moved ...

This truck was on the side of a barn near Rio road and JW Parkway just outside of the Charlottesville city line in the shadow of an old farm building. Charlottesville had a ruff countryside really close to the cityline and the County of Albemarle. This truck was simply abandoned on farmland owned by a family that had a farm where the extended city just grew up around it. The truck must have just broke down and been abandoned and as country people seem to do just leave their trash (big pieces at least) right in place. The eyesore of it is simple to be ignored as country people seem to do, mostly due to the cost of putting such large items into the landfill being so high. I'm sure this GMC saw much use but now 'its toast'. It sits still and rusting slowly. Just great as a subject for a still life. I used my camera though so I could work on it in the comfort of my home's frontroom.

This particular barn is an outback building to a house that is just over the City line of Charlottesville. Its nearby Pen Park only on the other side of Rio Rd. The group of older farm buildings are just sitting their in the decaying state while the land around it is being developed. My quest is to capture them in oils before they simply fall down or are plowed down by bulldoser in order to make way for more construction. As the norm has become many of Charlottesville's antiquity is coming down to make way for the newcomers moving here. Ever since Charlottesville has been named as one of the best locations in which to retire building has taken off. I would like it to remain just the way its been for the forty years I've been here but I realize that isn't what occurs in American culture or in a money growing atmosphere. The good thing is that most of the homes I've seen are environmentally smart designs, focusing on not making so much waste or leaking heat ...

"Crumbling Barn" was taken from the photos I took along Rio Rd just off of the J Warner Parkway. This Charlottesville location seems like its in the deep country but in reality its just over the city line of Charlottesville/Albemarle County. I enjoyed the quality of these broken buildings and I am sure to be doing more as time allows.