Up the Creek

18 x 14

oil on canvas

I was crossing over a little bridge on a woodsy road and had to stop the car and take the photo I used for this painting.  The foreground was in shadow from the thick woods while the background was glittering with morning sun. The reflected blue sky was just this pretty. I painted it pretty loosely, that is loosely for me.
This painting is available through The Castle Gallery

Rob

6 x 6

oil on panel

Our good friend Rob. An incredible musician and along with his wife Susie, is the other half of The Flying Suracis. He not only tears up the guitar and bass, he can grill killer brats, is effortlessly funny, and shares my deep, abiding love of Beatle music.

In the Shade Garden

12 x 14

oil on canvas

I so enjoyed this challenge of getting the dappled light and shade right in the skin tones on this painting.  The model took some time to catch up on her studies while she provided this classic pose.
For purchase, please contact The Castle Gallery

In the Golden Hour on Theme and Main

11 x 14

oil on canvas

Recently, we were taking a drive to check out the rivers in town which, thanks to the relentless rains this summer, have been very high for weeks. At this location along the St.Mary's river, the sun was just beginning to set and it was brilliantly flashing between the trees. We had to pull the car over to just appreciate the beauty of the moment.
For purchase, please contact The Castle Gallery

Barr Street Market

11 x 16

oil on board

sold

It's so exciting to be back into the season of garden fresh vegetables and farmer's markets. We went out to one last weekend and it was enough to inspire me to finish this painting that I began last year. This is a popular local market, full of the colors and fragrances of summer.

The Landing

11 x 14

oil on board

I'm trying to do more plein air painting and am lucky to have a group of painter friends who have organized weekly outings. Last week we met downtown on Columbia Street West, historically known as "The Landing" since it was the point of landing and departure for people and goods using stagecoaches or boats on the Erie and Wabash Canal. For as long as I can remember, it's since been the site of various bars, delis, hotels, shops, coffee houses and candy parlors as well as empty buildings. Currently it's pretty quiet and largely unoccupied except for a couple of restaurants, some professional buildings, and one very popular and stalwart bar which is subject of my painting. That's probably going to change again soon, for the better, since our city has been actively and successfully revitalizing the downtown area for awhile with expansions that will bring this old street back to life.

For purchase, please contact The Castle Gallery

Garden views

16 x 20

oil on canvas

"In the Garden"

14 x 18

oil on canvas

"Lilly Gardens"

A couple more works painted, or i should say "started", in Indianapolis while at the Randall Sexton workshop. We were pretty much set loose to paint where we wanted. And the model and Randall were very generous to let us take lots of photo references to use later. Randall would come around with advice or suggestions for those who asked, but these two paintings were still in the sketch/ blocking in phase while he was around and finished later at home.

Costumed Model

18 x 14

oil on canvas

I was able to attend a terrific plein air workshop with Randall Sexton last month. The weather didn't cooperate, although we did get some half days out in the beautiful gardens at the estate where the workshop was held. When the rains rolled in, we gathered in a garage where it was hot and damp, but we did get some nice experiences painting models, in spite of conditions. I appreciate how miserable the models had to be, sitting still under a lamp and away from the open garage doors. This portrait is of Rich, who dressed in a uniform which was interesting in contrast to his flowing hair and beard. Nice guy.