big meadow

A student from my painting class had requested a demo on my landscape approach, so last week I showed the students how I handle a typical painting in the studio. I had a large pile of reference accumulated from the exercise, and on top was this image from a painting trip to the Shenandoah Valley with my friend Steph from several years back. We have both painted this spot numerous times, and to the best of my recollection it was called simply "Big Meadow." There was something magical about waiting for the afternoon storm to roll in, standing on a bald surrounded by the highest mountain all around. I will never forget that week.

moth

When I walked out the back door yesterday I found this moth dead on the ground, perfectly posed with its wings open. I scooped it up and brought it inside to add to my "natural history" collection. It seemed like an appealing subject for a painting tonight.

harvest field study

I am planning a show in the fall and working out several issues through these small daily studies. This is a detail of a piece which will eventually be composed of five canvases. The final composition will be a very long, horizontal image of a favorite field.

mist rising

Still immersed in a river obsession, I found this image from an outing a couple of weeks ago and liked the rosy tones and soft mist rising from the water. There will probably be plenty of water imagery in my next body of work this fall.

stones river

One weekend in the "big city" was enough for me! We headed home on Sunday afternoon and stopped by the Stones River on the way back to Nashville to get in a little fishing. It was smaller water and much easier casting than the Caney, and I caught quite a few fish before the sun set. It was a great way to clear out the stress of Atlanta traffic.

atlanta

We went to Atlanta this weekend for the opening of the summer landscape show at Aliya Linstrum. Although it was an ordeal getting there, it was a wonderful opening and a great show. If you will be in Atlanta this summer, stop by and check it out.

first flower

This is the first flower I've managed to grow from seed in this shady city yard of mine. I have tried unsuccessfully for a few years to get sunflowers to grow in the only sunny patch of garden in the backyard, but for some reason this year, a lonely mexican sunflower found a way to elude the birds long enough to grow and bloom.

peruvian apple

I have become terribly lazy in this midsummer heat and am finally catching up on posts. Last week we watched the miracle of the blooming of the large peruvian apple cactus I recently bought. I knew we were in for a splendid bloom when it started rapidly growing large buds from several strategic points near the top. We waited, checking each day for an opning blossom, and then one night, it happened...huge, delicate white petals opened wide to reveal hundreds of pistils. They only bloomed for a night or two, leaving behind their growing fruit.