Blue Ridge Getaway

Back from the North Carolina mountains after a few days with friends. Rest was the first priority but painting outdoors and scouting locations for later paintings was what I was looking forward to. That, plus getting to drive curvy roads, my other passion. In between we all sat on a deck looking at Grandfather Mountain in the distance and experiencing the variety of bug life.

Western North Carolina and North Georgia have always been a particular inspiration for me, a Florida flatlander. Painting there is a challenge and a visual relief to the Florida landscape. In many places in the mountains, you can see 50 miles or more. Atmosphere can be a bigger part of the paintng. The difference is inspiring and energizing. Just what we need sometimes.

What's new: Derelict Barn, Robbinsville NC, oil on canvas 8"x10"

Painted Out

The Winter Park Paint Out benefit for the Polasek Museum is looking like a great success. A big crowd showed up last night to see the art, have a glass of wine and sample the gourmet tapas at stations spread around the gardens. Some patrons shared the evening at the tables near the lake and some just strolled through the grounds taking in the beauty of the sculptures and blooming flower beds. Approximately 50 paintings had been sold through the week with some collectors buying the work off the painters' easels or waiting at the museum to see what was coming in.

There are two weeks left for the art to hang in the museum for sale. So if you are interested, make sure to check out the museum website artists page or stop by the Polasek Museum.

What's new: An Inviting Place, oil on canvas, 12x12

Winding Down the Paint Out

This afternoon I turned in two more paintings to the Winter Park Paint Out at the Polasek Museum. The sunny days ended today and clouds and a shower broke our string of luck.

I retreated to the studio and cleaned up and framed the work I had.

Last night was dinner with the museum board and patrons. Most of the artists had stories about the week - where they painted and what they saw. I went to Kraft Azalea Gardens yesterday to paint the lake, the old cypress trees and moss. The egrets are still nesting and the racket of the chicks drowned out the usual city noise. I learned a lot from painting each day in the elements. I recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their skills.

Tomorrow is the last morning for painting. Our work has to be turned in by noon and the gala is in the evening. Then it's going to be a day off for me.

What's new: Park Avenue South, 9x12, oil on canvas

Chasing the Light

A cool and beautiful morning. A repeat of yesterday, just 10 degrees cooler. The grounds at the Polasek were filled with artists consumed in trying to beat the changing light. I went back to a painting I started yesterday. It is the Pan sculpture.

This week is a test of skill and endurance . Figures, water, trees, buildings and streets. Set up, paint, move to another spot, repeat.

Chase the light. I'm tired tonight.

Night at the Museum

Tuesday is officially day two of the Winter Park Paint Out. I started out at the Polasek about 8am and got a couple of paintings underway on the grounds. The weather was "picture perfect" (sorry) so I couldnt come up with a reason to leave until after lunch time. Then I had to get back to the studio and give time to a large painting I started last week. I went back to the Polasek and got in an hour or so of painting as the sun went down, we all ate pizza and I then kayaked with Matthew Cornell through the canal to Lakes Virginia and Mizell. The moon was coming up and we listened to the peacocks along Genius Drive calling from the woods. A few of the die hards stayed late on the museum grounds and worked with lights to get a nocturn painting. Not a bad day at work. Tomorrow night is a painting session on the lake at Houston's Restaurant on 17-92 in Winter Park. And it should be a great show next Saturday.

First New Piece for the Paint Out

Monday morning was gloomy and damp after a huge storm that lasted most of the night. Sunday night the artists got together with the Paint Out committee and the museum patrons for a socializer and it was capped by a number drawing for display spaces on the museum walls. It's time to get busy since the event starts in earnest today.

I headed back to Park Ave hoping for a little sun and just as I left the museum grounds, the sky lifted and blue appeared. I spent the next couple of hours on the second of two Park Avenue paintings. At around the same time of day I had previously worked on the other painting, I moved across the street and continued on that one.

Today things were a little more lively on the avenue and the light a little brighter for painting. I got the first piece finished. It now hangs drying on my reserved wall at the Polasek.

I might pick a little simpler composition next time.

What's new: Park at New England, oil on canvas 20" x 16"

The Ghost of Sam Peckinpah

I awoke this morning and got out of bed way too early for the amount of sleep I got. I made it to the Polasek Museum without coffee though I knew that was begging trouble. While I and a few of the museum staff and volunteers waited for the coffee to brew on the breezeway, someone asked me where I was going to paint. I thought the old Colony Theater might make a good subject. The Colony sits on Park Avenue in the center of town. At one time it was where Winter Park went to the movies.

Debbie Komanski said, "I worked in that theater when I was 15. I ushered and I also sat in the little booth at the front and sold tickets. When it was hot, it was hotter in the booth. When the weather turned cold, it was cold in there too. And I listened to the soundtrack to Straw Dogs so many times it still gives me the creeps. When there weren't ticket sales going on, my manager would make sure I was doing my homework instead of wasting time."

That conversation made it even more inviting to paint the street and the old Colony marquis. No one sits in that booth anymore. These days the Colony cleverly disquises itself as a Pottery Barn, and I doubt the staff does any homework when things are quiet.

But still, I love that kind of background when I paint something. A story, an experience... it makes the paint come alive somehow. A good painting is built on experience or a recollection or emotion. It gives it purpose and usually just makes it a better painting.