Little Miss Oil on Canvas 6x6 available

   Another in the children at the beach series. Here our little Miss is playing in the sand at the interface of the water and the land. Her purple sun hat with the yellow flower draws our attention. Her pail and green cart with her sun bleached torso form a triangle of activity that keeps our attention. Our little Miss is totally absorbed in her play time, while maintaining her lady-like pose-arms outstretched in a dainty posture.

I'm Swimming! Oil on Canvas 6 x6 available

   Another in the series of children at the beach this painting attempts to capture the moment when a young child is suspended in the water (or just above) for the first time. Here a young father is holding his young daughter so she just barely touches the water, as she grows comfortable with the sensation and the water. Here the bright sunlight bleaches the color in areas adding to the intensity of the scene. The refreshing cool blues in the water contrast to the implied heat of the bright light.

"Grammy" Oil on Canvas 6 x 6 available

  In this painting, another in the series of children at the beach, a scene well known to grandmas of every age is captured.  A young grandson and his grandma are walking along the beach. He stops calls out to his grandma.  Her head is turned towards him, his head is imploring up to his grandma. Does he want the juice that he just gave to her to hold? Does he want her to pick him up? Regardless of his desire one can be assured that grammy will do his beckoning. The red of grandma's top is contrasted with the green of her grandson. The top of his head, with bright sunlight bleaching the top, draws our attention as it is turned up to his grandma. Notice his left hand and hand slightly angled from his torso, prepared to ask his question.

The Thrill of Sand OIl on Canvas 6 x6 $75

  Youngsters enjoy playing in the sand-for little ones it is the discovery of the sensation of dropping the sand onto oneself. So despite the presence of the blue pain (contrasted with the orange shovel) which is a focal point in the painting, our little friend insists on pouring the sand onto himself, while our pail sits empty and ignored. The water in the background is blended into the sand and helps in defining the scene but is not a critical component to our painting.

Making a Splash 6x6 oil on canvas $75

  This is another in the series children and the beach. Here I attempt to capture the glee of a young girl as she splashes in the water. Is she splashing just to make an impression, or perhaps a brother or friend is outside the canvas and she is attempting to splash them. Regardless, her body language is one of unabashed glee. The oil is over a loosely painted under painting of magenta acrylic. I have found myself gravitating to its use more frequently as it lends a nice glow to the painting.

Crossing Carefully 6x6 oil on canvas $60

     Unfortunately had a very difficult time photographing this painting. The blue is lighter than the painting itself and the colors appear more washed out than the original-despite multiple attempts to redo. Suspect that it has to do with my lighting setup-which actually does a good job for most. Regardless this is the first of a series of paintings of kids and water.  All done in a 6x6 format-deep canvas-frameless. All with similar themes. Watch for them over the next week as they get posted. Comments or emails are always welcome.

Tranquil Dawn oil on canvas 16x20 $450

   You will notice that the composition and colors have changed from the earlier sizes. The sunrise is reflected to a greater extent in the clouds. A line of weeds and shrubs marking the end of a field moves from the viewers right to left leading the eye to the road and row of trees which bring one's attention to the focal point of the painting-the farmhouse with the single light in the upstairs bedroom and the sunrise. Also drawing the eyes are the brighter colors in the sky.

Tranquil Dawn-Winter-(preliminary) oil on canvas 16 x20

  This is a preliminary painting of the previous compositions. You will notice that there are differences. with the increase in size of the canvas the farmhouse and barn take on a predominance that did not exist on the smaller canvas. The basic premise is the same-early sunrise, colors reflected on the snow with interruptions of the patterns by field rows and treelines.

Serenity of Dawn-2 oil on canvas 11x14 $275

   I have mentioned before that I will often take a composition or painting that I like and then explore making some changes in it, altering the size, the colors-sometimes alot and sometimes just experimenting with sky colors and hues a little. I might change the season as in the previous posting. All these are an attempt to experiment with color, configuration and composition. Do any of these changes make the painting more compelling, more interesting-pulling the viewer into the work? Compare this to the July 26th posting-different size, medium, and composition has changed, but the theme continues. My next posting over the next several days is a larger size of this theme-to 16x20 with some change in composition.

Autumn: In Brittany 11 x14 oil on canvas $375

  This composition is based on an early painting I did and posted last year. I have shifted the composition a little and changed the season to make it more autumn/late summer. The golds and rusts suggest the season-shadows are not long so it is still early in the season and early afternoon. The painting was done with both brush and palette knife.