Surf Culture...

This is a painting of my buddy, Kenny, doing some old school surfing in New Jersey. I love surfing and had fun trying to paint this with some of the color that I like to put into all of my work, while also trying to stay in touch with the feel of an old color photo from twenty years ago.

This post is getting set up to publish while I am out of town, and I’m hoping that when you are reading this post I will be out in the water myself. I hope you are all having a great time over the holidays.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!...

Stop looking at your computer and go spend time with your family. Have a great time over the holiday.

(this was written 3 days ago and set to publish today, so no comments about me being hypocritical!)

Linking away...

The painting above is a view looking across Hosmer Pond to Ragged Mountain. Oil on linen 8×10″

Today I want to share some links to other sites I like to keep up with. First of all, my buddy Doug Felton has a funny blog that I get a huge kick out of. Slightly irreverent humor, but it cracks me up. He is also the guy who put together my website.

My friend Jess Stammen writes for another fun blog, this one about the state of Maine. This link goes to a story about her learning to surf recently in Southern Maine.

Lastly, I was on a blog for a painter I like to read, Tim McFarlane, and followed a link from his site to a great aggregator for painting articles. Painter’s Table is something I am just starting to explore, but it looks like it has a lot of potential.

Studio Table...

Since I have been working in the studio so much this winter I decided I need a better tabletop palette. Normally I end up using one of my plein air easels or palettes, even when working on larger paintings. I finally got frustrated with the small paint mixing space and looked into what I would want out of a studio table. After checking out some other artist’s set-ups, I decided I needed to build something customized to my needs. The main purpose is for palette space, so the top surface is about 20×40″, and once I had that setup I put together some shelf space to store tubes of paint, brushes and rags. I’ve been using it for about a week and I’m loving it. The main benefit is being able to mix much larger piles of paint and getting to spread out my mixing areas. It’s been hugely helpful on larger paintings.

I am letting my paint tubes and brushes have a little space, but I’m trying to be very careful not to let random studio junk accumulate.

Winter Shapes...

The snow has all gone away again. We had a warm day and lots of rain that melted away our snow. The landscape here is definitely nicer with a blanket of snow on the ground. The painting above is an 8×10″ oil on panel from last week.

Today was spent running errands all morning and then painting in the studio all afternoon. I feel like I am starting to get somewhere on a big painting I’ve been working on. It’s a 3×6′ landscape that I started months ago, and I now think it’s coming together a bit. I may post some pics soon. It’s been fun going into this same painting every day and experimenting with different shapes and color relationships.