Daisy In Purple

 

This daisy with the purple background was the fourth of this flower series, done during Covid this Summer.  It may be a favorite for me.

The purple background and purple highlites in the flower make the flower pop.  Using purple for the background was a risk, but I think that it worked out well.

Magnolia 2020

 This is another one of the Flowers series that I did during Covid.  It is a Magnolia, which is a flower that I like.  We have a tree outside our lanai in Florida.

As in the other flowers, I used a dark background to emphasize the flower's colors.  This was a dark blue, Prussian Blue if I remember it clearly.  The blue compliments the yellow/orange in the center of the flower, I think.

The Daisy 2020

 Now, this one came out really nice, in my opinion!  It is from the flower series that I did during Covid.  I used the same technique as the Cosmo, but tried to use layering to add interest.  The center was fun to do as it has a lot of detail.  The key, for me, was trying to add detail, without being "perfect".  The leaves show this as they are not completely regularly spaced.

I may like this one better than any that I did this year. 

Cosmo 2020

This is the first in a series of flowers that I decided to do during the pandemic.  I have a book called 100 Flowers and there are some great images there.  So, I decided to take one as inspiration and do it.

I'm very happy the way this came out.  The color is different but I like the rich red.  I also tried to detail the inner stem in a way that it looked very real.

I like the way that this came out.  Even more real than my regular work.

Two Swans A-Swimming

This swans image really got to me.  There is a lot of imagery involved.  The original came from a photo of the two swans, making a heart with their long necks.  In this one, I decided to make it more abstract, using wet paint techniques, like dripping. And, the reflections in the water added more interest.

Kinda turned out neat, I think.

Red Flower Abstract

Every once in a while, I get an urge to do something more abstract than my usual "literal" pieces.  I saw a similar image to this online and decided to use it as inspiration.  So, it has detailed red flowers on top of an abstract background.  I used some color masses as well as a dripping technique that I learned from Arturo in the previous "Swans" piece.

The red and green colors add to the look of this one.  Maybe I'll try a complete abstract sometime!

Green Room

Now, this gets back to my traditional work!  It is an image that I found in an interior design magazine.  Since I am fond of doorways and have done quite a few, I was taken by this one.  I feel like an open doorway leads to a story of what's behind the door and in the next room.

There is quite a bit of detail in this image,  The reflections in the mirror, the metal glass and the small bowl.  But, the detail that I like best is the chandelier at top right.  It has several globes that are stacked as part of it.  Trying to get the globes and their reflections right was a challenge.  I like it.

I think that I may look for some more room images with multiple elements with the right colors.  Since the design world is getting less "Tuscan-ized" and more modern, this might fit that genre.

The Skull

Well, this is different, for me!!!  The story is that this year I met a young man who is a physical therapist/trainer in Naples, FL.  Jay is quite good at his "craft" and has helped me to get my golf game back in shape by strengthening my back and legs.  Thanks, Jay!

Anyhow, in one of our conversations, he told me of his love for skull images.  He likes them so much that he has several tattooed along one of his arms.  Not my taste, but I decided to do a painting of a similar image to surprise him..  But, to soften it a bit and add a little bit of a story, I added the rose (which I like painting anyhow) to the image.

I like the way it came out.  Kinda stark but makes a statement.

Phi Sigma Kappa

This is a second of two fraternity anniversary paintings that I did to commemorate the anniversary of several fraternities on the Purdue University campus.  The first was done for my fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, which will celebrate 100 years at Purdue next year. 

This one was done for my friend, Clark, who was a Phi Sigma Kappa at Purdue.  He and I met at sports "game watches" here in FL.  When he saw the PKA piece, he mentioned that the Phi Sigs were having their 90th year anniversary this year and asked me if I could do one for them.

And, here it is.  Celebrate, Clark!!!!

Red Boat

This is the third of a series of paintings that I did during the Corona virus quarantine of 2020.  I had a lot of time on my hands and decided to try to do a series based on the painting of the Edith-E piece shown here previously.

When I finished Edith-E, I started to look for photos of other abandoned boats that were left on shore.  It seems to me that each of them had a specific story.  And, having Edith's name helped me find her story.  Not the case with this old lobster boat.

I guess that I'll have to guess!

Donna's New House

Talking about "surprise art", this is another example.  It is the house of friends in Florida, who had just done a major remodel.  Donna had mentioned to my wife that she might want a painting of their "new" home from the golf course side. But, we never spoke about it.

Since the corona virus left me with a lot of time on my hands, I decided to surprise her and do the painting as a surprise.  The neat thing is that, when I gave it to her and her husband, IT WAS HER BIRTHDAY!!  Fun!!

Kiskadee

In the previous post, I mentioned John, a golfing friend of mine.  He has been interested in my painting, and when I showed him the lobster boat, he also told me that he had a Hereshoff sail boat at his home in Marion, Mass.  This got us talking about sail boats as we had one also, at one time, and I had raced in another Hereshoff in Rhode Island when we were there.

I asked John if he had any photos of his boat, not telling him why I wanted it.  So, he sent it to me, with his daughter at the helm.  Since it was another "story", I deiced to paint it and surprise him with the painting.  This is it and he was very surprised. The boat is named the Kiskadee, after a bird in Bermuda.

Doing "surprise art" is so much fun!!

Lobster Boat

Painting the Edith-E, in the previous post, made me think about other old boats that might be interesting to paint.  So, I started looking for images and found this one, of an old lobster boat was also wasting away.  I then decided to do a series of these types of boats.

When I showed this to a golfing friend, John, he told me that he had worked on a similar boat when he was a young kid.  They would work all day, and get paid in cash as well as lobsters.  Another boat, another story!!

The Edith-E

This is the "Edith-E", a Monterey Cruiser, that is sitting in a field outside of Marin County, California, wasting away. We saw it as we were driving north of the San Francisco Bay to see a friend of my wife. Driving along, I noticed this boat at a marina and had to take a photograph of it.

Later on, I found that it is one of the most photographed things in that area.  The reason, and the reason that I painted it, is that there must be a story about her.  Now, she is falling apart.  Sad !!

Pi Kappa Alpha - Purdue

My fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha will be celebrating their 100th year on the campus of Purdue University in the next year.  Since I had done several Purdue-oriented pieces in the last several years - you can see them in this blog - they asked me to do something commemorating the various houses that the Pikes had during that 100 year time period.
This is the result of that effort.  It includes 4 houses that were used, 2 of which I lived in.  I also added several other Pike or Purdue specific items, the pin and clock tower.
We hope to use this to raise money for scholarships.

Candles and Sticks

I saw a similar image in a magazine recently.  But, I decided to do something similar but different and add some additional detail.  There is a lot going on, here! The combination of the shadows from the right, with the reflections in the marble table, and then the candle sticks, themselves, both in color and shape.

But, my favorite part of this piece, by far, is the smoke.  I had never attempted to do smoke before and my friend, Arturo, gave me the technique and hints on how to do it effectively.  He had it right, I think!!

The combination of all of these things makes for an interesting story in the viewer's mind.  Who was there?  Why is one candle extinguished? And, does the lit and unlit candle represent someone who is gone?  You decide!

Pink Roses

When I saw this image, I fell in love with the subtle colors as well as the shapes.  It is almost abstract due to the close-up view of the flowers.  It had been a while since I took on some flowers as I used to paint them all of the time.  So, this one was a nice memory of previous pieces.

The light pink makes a nice contrast to the greys in the above flower, I think.

Peggy's Cove - Again

I have painted many images from Peggy's Cove in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  We had visited there a number of years ago on a cruise with friends.  It is such a cool place and there is a vista from every place around the cove.  This one, done at sun rise adds some special colors to the overall look.

For some reason, I am taken by boats, water, and reflections.  This has all of them.

Violins By Francis

Our friend, Francis from Denver, is a violinist.  He bought his violin, a green one, when he was studying in London for his PhD.  Last summer, when he returned to London for a visit, he went to the music shop where he had purchased his violin.  In the front window were several other colored violins.  So, he took a picture of these instruments and shared it with me.

I loved the colors in this image, but also the curves and shapes.  I hoped that I captured them to Francis's satisfaction.