Back in Town

I recently returned from a business trip to the west coast, and am hoping to get back in the studio on Thursday and Friday. These business trips are really what allow me to spend so many days in the studio, but the travel and the hours are taking their toll. It nearly takes me a week to recover from them and get my head back in the game.

Hopefully I'll have some great things to show here at week's end, but in the meantime here is a painting I did of my favorite mountain, entitled "Day's End".

Hey there.

You actually made it! Thank you so much, isn't it shameful that I had to sink to that level to get you here? Since you are here, this is a preview of a painting I've been working on for a couple of months now. It's a complete leap outside my comfort zone to paint even a single figure in a painting, let alone 7! I'm pretty happy with it, and yes I do have to give credit once again to my hero, Edward Hopper. This was a delightful scene witnessed in Baltimore's Little Italy, which is fantastic if you ever get a chance to go. If you do, you absolutely must get a cannoli at Vacarro's, it will forever change you.

Finally!

This is the painting that I was beginning when I first started this blog. My intention was to photograph it and blog about it as I was working diligently away at it. Well, I lost interest in it (surprise!) and nearly painted over/threw it out the window a number of times. The thing that kept me going was how much time I had invested in it. Needless to say, I am happy that I persevered, if for nothing else than the tree in the foreground that I'm very happy with.

If you're interested, you can dig back through my previous posts to see some of the in-progress photos and the original concept sketch.

Finished!

I finished one of the larger pieces I've been laboring over today, a spot just north of the Maryland/Delaware border on the Atlantic Ocean. This one ended up going in a very Impressionistic direction for a couple of reasons. First, the path really lent itself to being painted that way, due to the all of the footprints in the sand. Also, my surface became a major challenge as I was finishing, it must have gotten water on it somehow. I was actually ready to wipe it down at one point, but had spent too much time on it to throw in the towel. Glad I didn't give up!

Happy Friday

I'm thrilled that I've been able to get in the studio the last three days. There are some great things happening that I'm not quite ready to show here yet. Instead, here's a funny drawing I did of our dog Chloe for our move out here. Have a great day, I hope it's as beautiful where you are is it is here!

Made a Sale

Back in the studio today, lots to catch up on. Looks like I made a sale. The above painting will be shipped out here from the Ryan Gallery. Thanks Carrie for setting me up with this buyer. I haven't been great about marketing my work as balancing the painting and commercial art worlds leaves very little time for marketing. That and I really don't enjoy that side of it. Does that make me a hobbyist? Discuss amongst yourselves.