Show starts on First Thursday

My new tandem show is ready to go on First Thursday, December 1, 2011 at Design at 639, 639 Main Street in Fitchburg, MA. The show features 14 paintings by me and 14 by my friend Victor Dupuis. Amy Newberg is hosting the show and she's open WTF from 12-4 and Saturday from 10-4. The show is titled ELEMENTAL and features naturalist paintings that loosly represent fire, earth, water, wind and void. I hope you get a chance to visit. It's running until Jan 7th.

Hi, it's been a while since I posted. Have to keep things current you know. I'm excited to announce I've got a show coming up at DesignAt639 in Fitchburg, MA in December. I'll include details later, but if you check in here, please come and see our show. It's a themed art exhibition with ten to fifteen pieces each by me and a friend of mine, Victor Dupuis. The theme is Elements, the idea is Fire, Water, Earth, Sky in the landscape. I've got about ten studio pieces and about five plein air pieces going into the show. More later.

Rejected!

Well, Traders was rejected by Mystic's International Marine Art Selection Committee. I'm actually honored that they gave me a reason why I didn't make it in and they complimented the work. That's an improvement over last year- when I just got the straight form letter. So, it feels good that they felt compelled to tell me something about why. I guess, the main reason was that I mentioned a friend saw it and gave me some suggestions.

Fuel for next year.

All I know is, I'm gettin' rejected by a better class of critics! And that feels good. I'm going to see if I can find some coastal representation either in MA or ME. Wish me luck!

A third for good measure!

Hi, I had a banner show at the LAA show this year. After I won the two awards for Orr's Island, I found out that I won the popular vote for Sea, Sky, Schooner- which appears in an earlier post. Thank you to anyone who visits. Thanks for looking and thanks for sharing this great news with me. It was a great show and there were many wonderful works on display. Lori McDonald, who is a very well known acrylic artist in Gardner won several awards, my buddy Victor Dupuis won a second place in the Advanced oils category. And this really fantastic artist, and one of the nicest people I've met- her name is Mary Dunn- she won, but I can't remember which award. She's amazing, her work is so detailed and alive.

Double Award Winner

Well, I'm psyched! One of my three entries into this year's Leominster Art Association Show won two awards, a First Place Blue Ribbon award in Intermediate Oils, and the Gold Ribbon Award for best piece in the Intermediate class. All I can say is, I'm thrilled! The piece appears in an earlier post of mine, but I'll include it here as well. I've never been able to take a great photo of this painting, but here it is. Next year I'll have to enter the Advanced class.

Orr's Island Retreat- 8 x 10 Oil on Linen Panel

Traders- Baltimore Clippers and other schooners.

Here's the Traders painting finished. I've had some help on finishing touches. A friend of mine gave me some advice on redrawing my perspective and cleaning up some things. I like it. It's time to call it finished and move on.

Traders- A work in progress

Well, I've been working hard on a new maritime piece. It's based on the top sail schooner La Amistad and I've titled it Traders. It's a study of those hard working schooners that were used in trade around the globe. These same schooners, also known as Baltimore Clippers, were designed for speed and could handle small loads of high value goods, but not great quantities of low value goods. They were used in coastal trade around the world and also worked as privateers when the times allowed- ie, in war time. I believe some also became pirate ships- which makes sense, since they'd want speed and flexibility. Anyway, I hope to finish it in the next couple weeks, and it will be submitted for a juried show and if it gets in, great, if not, it should be available for sale by mid June. Thanks for looking.

Thinking about friends- Victor Dupuis

[Left: DUCK POND, by Victor Dupuis]

When I started painting again, I needed someone to help me build the confidence to get back on the artist's path. I had been introduced to my friend and plein air buddy Victor Dupuis, when I volunteered as Stage Director at a local playhouse- The Stratton. He was acting in the show Into The Woods, and had brought in three paintings, scenes from the show, to use as set pieces which were later raffled to help raise money for the theater. After seeing the work he did on those three paintings, I knew I wanted to approach him about becoming my teacher. Since then, we've worked as teacher and student, and side-by-side in the field. I would say, he definately got me excited about art again, and working in oils specifically. If you get a chance, check out his artwork here... Victor Dupuis Artist

Here's what a friend, Sally Cragin of the Boston Globe, writes about Victor...

Victor's long experience as an actor/designer complement his sensibilities as a painter. His work shows a love of Impressionist and Pre-Raphaelite painting. He's drawn to creating unusual sources of light in his work, like backlighting in a stage production.

Grandma Jane's Place is Home

This piece has come home, which pleases my wife. It was one that didn't sell at a local gallery, but the companion piece did. She was hoping it wouldn't anyway. It's all about the light that was coming around the house that afternoon. It was striking this one old tree in the side yard and lighting up the willow beyond. It is one of my earlier works, and so, it doesn't quite show the brush skills or markings that I've been slowly acquiring. It is available. 12 x 16 oil on canvas panel. Mounted in a gold-leaf-style Laurel frame. Price is $350. Please let me know if you're interested and I'll move it to my website for purchase through paypal.

Cape Elizabeth Wave

This one has a bit of shadow on the sides from the frame, and it's a bit fuzzy, but it came out pretty well with the Canon digital camera. I want to go back to using my older Nikon digital, which takes a better picture, although slightly slanted each time. This theme is turning into a series for me. But it's good, I'm learning something new each time. I've reached the point of completion on this one. It's for sale,
but going into the LAA (Leominster Art Association) show next month, so it wouldn't be available until after that. If you're interested in this picture, let me know via email or phone and I'll add it to my website to purchase with paypal. It is oil on linen on hardboard panel 9 x 12 mounted in a gold-crackle Simplon frame. Not professionally mounted, but ready for hanging. $350.00

Wave Study With Don Demers

Speaking of inspiration. I recently did a winter workshop with Don Demers- one of my favorite contemporary maritime and marine artists. I completed this wave study at home after the workshop. We did a couple of other scenes, and he helped me work through some issues with other paintings I brought along. I'd have to put him among the best teachers I've had in any field of study. If you're a painter and you get the chance, take a workshop with him, you won't be disappointed. This wave study, completed, is 9 x 12 in a crackled gold leaf Simplon style frame. It is $350.00 and if anyone is interested in purchasing it, I'll upload it to my website for purchase through paypal. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Sea, Sky, Schooner

This is a recently completed marine painting where I've tried to capture the beauty of an afternoon on the water. The sun is lighting up the sky with pinks and blues and yellows. The sea is rolling and the schooner is far from shore heading to traditional fishing grounds on the grand banks. I'm fascinated by marine art, and I hope to move my artwork in that direction as I go along. This painting is an 18 x 24 oil on linen panel. It is mounted in a gold leaf style frame. It is available for sale at $550.00 framed. If you're interested in purchasing it, let me know by email and I'll push it up to my website for purchase through paypal. It may be there soon anyway.

Orr's Island Retreat

Here's another recently finished painting, entitled Orr's Island Retreat. It was completed from a photographic reference I took when I was out scene hunting last summer. We were up in Cape Elizabeth and I decided to take a day trip out to Orr's, Bailey's, and down to Cundy's Harbor. I found this little house across the bay nestled in amoung some pines. It's just the kind of place I'd love to use as a studio. I've turned it into a sort of shed/boathouse here to simplify it for the picture, but even that would make a great retreat. Location, location, location, right? It is an 8 x 10 oil on linen panel. It is mounted in a brown/gold laurel frame. $250.00. Please let me know if you're interested, and I'll load up to my website for purchase through paypal. Thanks for looking.

First Post

Hi, I'm finally getting around to putting something up here. This blog is going to be about art, specifically, my art, but I hope to include inspiration from around the world as I go along. I'm going to start with some wet-canvas stuff today. Here are some new paintings, I hope you like them.

Here, first, is a summer seascape out of my imagination. I used a photo of the wave structure I took in Maine as my reference, but everything else is designed for a good picture, not necessarily from reference. This is an oil on gessoed hardboard panel. It is 8 x 10 and it is mounted in a crackled gold-leaf frame. If you'd like to purchase this painting, please email me and I'll load it up to my website for purchase through paypal. It is $250.00 with the frame.