Shutterbuggin'

The painting shown here is titled "Friday Afternoon Hike, No. 2", and was inspired by a photograph I took this past summer in Oregon. I love to work from photographs that I have taken, and it really struck me as I was working on this piece what an asset the camera is to a painter.

My father, Jerry, is a professional photographer (have a look at his website: www.thefilmbox.net) , so I have had the good fortune to learn about composition and photography all of my life. It's exciting to be able to use one form of art to spawn new ideas in another form.

As I said before, the camera is a great asset to the painter, but only if the camera is with the painter to capture those awesome images. It is natural to take the camera along on trips or vacations, but how many of us keep the camera close at hand when we are crossing town to go to the grocery store or stop by the bank? The most mundane of daily errands can often take us by some spectacular scenes or bear witness to beautiful skies that we never expected. I can't begin to count the number of times I have been out in my truck just "taking care of business", only to come across a beautiful scene I had never noticed before or saw beautiful clouds rolling across the sky and creating dramatic, back-lit forms in front of the hot afternoon sun. I would reach for my camera but, lo and behold, it would be in my studio at home.

Cameras in the digital age continue to grow smaller and more convenient than ever before, so we really have no excuses! Keep the camera close at hand, whether on the road to the beach or the dry cleaners, as you never know when you'll see something beautiful. Inspiration may be just around the next curve!

Inagural Post

I hope it is fitting and appropriate to follow Inaguration Day with my Inagural Blog Post (although this post has nothing to do with politics!)

I'm new to blogging, but it looks like a fantastic medium for sharing information, ideas and inspiration so I figured I would give it a go! I'm so impressed with my friends Wilson Bickford and Buck Paulson who have very interesting blogs (and fantastic work!!) and I look forward to reading their posts and enjoying their new pieces which are posted frequently.

The painting "Greeneville Depot" (shown above) seems appropriate to share with you this month as we are in the throes of Winter here in East Tennessee. Although we generally escape heavy snows and below zero temperatures in the south, we are not immune to the occasional dusting and temperatures in the teens. It is in January that, each year, I thank God for our mild winters and that I was born to a family living below the Mason-Dixon line!

The painting was a Christmas gift for my Dad the year before last. I had so much fun painting this one and pushing myself to make it the best work I possibly could. I really wanted to impress my Dad, who is a great artist himself with pen & ink and his Nikon! My Dad is to a large degree responsible for my initial love of art both as an idea and a pursuit. It's so nice to paint with your audience in mind. You might be surprised how much harder you try to push yourself if you paint with the vision of someone important to you seeing the painting.

The painting began on a foam-green colored canvas primed with acrylics, which was followed with more acrylic work in ultramarine blue and white to establish almost all of the values in the finished painting. I followed that with thin glazes of oil color to "build-up" to the final details.

Please feel free to comment and contribute! I look forward hearing your ideas and feedback.