Galesville, Maryland Dingy

Today I found a little hamlet called Galesville on the West River just a few minutes from where I am staying in Edgewater. I am going to go back here again and again to paint if I have any say in the matter. I sat at the end of a dock and painted this dingy. It kept swing in the breeze but I did a pretty careful study before I started painting so it didn't matter too much if it bobbed around. after I finished painting I met a man who was tying raw chicken to strings and dropping the chicken in the water and then tying the other end to the dock. I had to ask him what he was doing and he told me that he was "chicken necking." You use raw chicken necks as bait. when you see the string tightened you gently pull it up and with a net, you catch crabs! Now I have to buy some chicken nicks and borrow a fishing net and catch myself some crabs for dinner one night!

This is the Infamous Art Landry!

Yes! I finally did a portrait of my very good friend, Art Landry. For years some of my friends would hear my stories of my adventures with Art but they would never meet him so they began to think I was making him up. So here is proof that he exists, Jane! (Can a painting be proof?)

Christa Painting Me

This is a watercolor sketch of Christa painting a portrait of me on the beach. While she was painting the Pilgrim tower in the background,

I took a break from modeling and painted this sketch of her. I wanted to buy the painting that she made but it came out too good so she didn't want to sell it. :)

Hurricane Ready

This morning I went out and painted a boat tilted on its side to ready itself for Hurricane Earl. This way, if there is a lot of rain, the water will run off the boat and into the ocean. This is the theory anyway. I will try to got back after the storm and see if this boat made it through.

Teen Girl A

Once again it is my daughter who is the model. She is handy and has great bone structure and she is such a sport about having her portrait done. My son helped with the composition idea. We wanted something that looked timeless so we used a scarf to hide her modern haircut. We gave her a frame to hold to give it some solidity and grounding. James liked the idea that it made her look like she was looking at us through a window. You can click on the image then click on it again to see it blown up many times greater than life. I love the way the fingers are just mere suggestions! You can see all the brush work on the face. Ally really likes the likeness and that is all I need, to know that I did a good a job!

Self Portrait on a Hot and Humid Day

It is very hot in the house today and I started to paint. I gave myself one hour to paint my general image and finished just under the hour. I always feel uncomfortable to show myself in portraits. They seem to always come out rough and I tend to look angry or harsh...I guess that is my concentration face...poor sitters if that is what they see when I paint them!

It was a good exercise to paint so quickly but I want a more finished self portrait. One day, I would like to put 5 hours into it like I did on the previous post of my son...I will let this one stand as is. Ok, I lied. I could not let it stand. I took it down.

James in Newport

SOLD

Today's painting is of my son, James. We took a couple of days off together and we went to Newport. I think that this is the first time, other than visiting him up in Boston, that we vacationed together without his sister. We saw a mystery play, went window shopping, he got fudge and we had a very nice time. He is twenty now and no longer my little boy. I am very proud of him. (Does it show in the painting?)