Cool Cool Ingrid

We have skipped spring and moved directly from winter to summer out here. It's already hot and humid and I can hardly believe just a few months ago I was chiselling ice off the driveway. This nice big tree provides a cool oasis of shade. Too bad for me that it's in the neighbor's yard.

Pines, Waldport, Oregon

I've made plans to return to Oregon for the summer, or at least part of it. I have artwork to do out there, some other business to attend to, hikes to hike, IPAs to sample, coffee to drink, etc...

Since I'm in an Oregon state of mind, here's a pen drawing I made last summer in Waldport, on the Oregon coast. There were 3 trees at the edge of a cliff and the wind pushed them into this very aerodynamic shape. I hope to travel in Oregon and do some painting. I miss it!

Good Morning Mr. Tangerine

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.

And a splendid morning it is: the sun is out, a clear blue sky beckons. What to do today? Hit the beach? Or just stay home and putter in the garage? This fine little tangerine is no doubt musing on these, and perhaps other loftier questions, but one thing seems abundantly clear: he seems to be in no great hurry to leave his comfortable spot.

Watching the Paint Dry

I have been working on new small paintings...I have 3 ready to go...but they're still wet, and I don't want to use the camera until I learn how to get a decent likeness. So you'll have to wait another day or so. Please stand by...there is nothing wrong with your set.

To tide you over, here's some modern art. Anybody know what it is?

NEW Improved Rock!

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.

Kay, of course, is right. The colors in the rock image below are way off. I had to photograph the painting because it was wet, but I'm barely able to use the most basic features on my new digital camera, so it came out looking like it had fallen asleep in a tanning booth. I need to spend a couple days reading the instruction tome that came with the camera.

This image (above) is a scan and the colors are good. I try to be a couple days ahead on my daily paintings, which gives them a chance to dry, at least enough to scan them. But I've been distracted with other work, and also a couple recent trips to New Jersey and North Carolina. This week I want to catch up.

Rock

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.

A rock.

Have A Frighteningly Fantastic Day

We've been having gloomy and wet weather lately. Also, I'm fighting some kind of cold/flu bug. On a grey and dismal day like this I find that a Friendly Meal does wonders to get my day pointed in the right direction. Enjoy!

Viney Plant

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.

This little guy is going into a hanging basket and will brighten up Kay's backyard area. It's a "mini petunia".

A Greed Pepper

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.
$80

How was I to know I got a trick pepper, a chameleon with a penchant for practical jokes? I started painting too late in the afternoon. The sun went down. Fine, I thought, I'll easily finish it in the morning. This morning I looked, rubbed my eyes, saw that the mostly green pepper I started with yesterday was now quite clearly a mostly red pepper. I, however, am having the last laugh; this pepper has been incorporated into a pasta sauce.

Tangerine In A Box

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.
$80

This one refused to leave the shelter of its corrugated home. In a situation like this I find it best to accomodate the quirky demands of my subject, rather than risk anxiety, rancor or even an explosive blowout and a ruined session. After seeing the completed portrait the little fruit not only felt emboldened enough to leave the box, but (to my amazement) immediately enrolled in a small business management program at Nassau Community College.

Apple, Banana, Doily

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.
Sold

Fruit from Long Island painted at my parents home in North Carolina on a paper doily from an undisclosed location.

Garlic

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.
$80

One of my favorite foods.

Begonia Leaves

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.

Sold

This morning I walked to the bank, bought a tea ball, went to the Post Office, and picked up some half and half. Then I worked. Swordfish for dinner. Watched The Simpsons, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Did the dinner dishes and ate jelly beans. Here's a painting of our yellow begonia. It reminds me of Oregon because of the dark greens.

Yellow, Round, Tart:

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.
$80

this one could be a lemon.

Trees, Fence, Houses

Here's some more trees, just starting to leaf out. Fortunately, there are many parks here, so it is possible to find trees with fairly natural shapes.

Bloomin' Tree

7 x 5 inches, oil on board.
$80

Help. I can't keep up with these dang blooming trees, shrubs, flowers, potatoes, etc. It got warm quickly here, and everything's popping. This tree (I don't know what kind it is) looked like this for only one day. Now it is one big round leafy green thing. The house behind it, by the way, is interesting in that the homeowner thought it a good idea to extend the roofing shingles down over the sides, to the ceiling level of the ground floor. Must have found a great sale on shingles. I've seen this done on other houses around here. The house does have windows but I left them out. No time, the leaves were coming!

New Leaves

7 x 5 inches, oil on board.
$80

Click here for purchase information on eBay

Although I'm always glad to see the return of leaves, at the same time I miss being able to look at the trunks and branches of the trees as they become hidden in green. This painting was done midway in the process; you can still see most of the branches.

Portrait of a Young Man As A Potato

5 x 7 inches, oil on board.
$80

This dashingly handsome tuber has a mature, restrained demeanor, as well as a goodly sprinkling of skin blemishes. But what lies within? Firm white flesh, pulsing with new ideas, or a dark and soft rot from which only more rot emerges?

What does its future hold? Political office? Or stew? There's no way to tell.

Jiggly Cars

Home again after driving down to and back from North Carolina to visit with my sister and parents. A very nice visit. Just too short, as usual.

This drawing illustrates how I feel at the moment, after driving on the New Jersey and Long Island freeways. Driving these roads feels like a take-your-life-in-your-hand activity. I will now take a nice slow walk to the P.O. and collect my bills.