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!!