dark soil

This is a detail study from the piece I painted today, a long 20x60 image from my last Ohio trip. I had fun working on it, since it was on one of my favorite linen canvases and I just received a new shipment of brushes. It's always a good painting day when new brushes are involved.

lily

Last night in my painting class one of my students brought some beautiful lilies for the still life. She offered to let me take one home to try my hand at an O'Keefe-style close up for my daily piece. While it is a far cry from Georgia, it was a good, somewhat intense exercise.

hidden creek

We stopped by this secret creek on our way back to Nashville. Derek discovered it while I was fishing on Saturday morning and took me to see it. We splashed around for awhile and picked blackberries on the way back to the truck. All in all, it was a great little getaway this weekend, leaving me recharged and ready to get back to work.

water mist

While I was casting on the river this weekend, Derek armed himself with the camera and got some wonderful shots of the mist rolling in on the water. The fog comes on suddenly, lingering thick and mysterious until the morning sun burns it away several hours after it rises.

river morning

Saturday morning I dragged Derek out of the tent around 5:00 a.m. to hit the river at sunrise. He dropped me off at a place I had a hunch might be harboring some trout. Sure enough, with the helpful advice of a fellow fly fisherman who showed up an hour later, I landed my first rainbow trout ever. Truly a great day.

caney sunset

Friday night we ventured east to Center Hill Lake and nabbed one of the last campsites on the lake. I rushed down to the river before sunset to make a few casts before dark. After fishing until dark (and catching nothing) I had a chance to try my hand at cooking over the fire in my new dutch ovens. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and relaxed around the glowing embers.

georgia storm

The week has managed to get away from me. I drove to Atlanta to deliver paintings for a show on Thursday, a long but beautiful drive. On the way back, I watched a summer storm roll through the mountains and plateau.