Julie and Kate

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18 x 24 Oil on Canvas

This piece was commissioned by Emily for her sister Julie.  It was a very special moment in time the very day she and Brad were married.  It was an honor to be asked to preserve the moment on canvas.  The ceremony was held on a beautiful beach with Mother Nature providing the perfect weather.  With such a fairy-tale wedding, they’re just going to have to live happily ever after!

Week 9 Hilton Head Gang Search

THIS JUST IN...the Hilton Head Gang along with their fearless leader, Karin Jurick, will be participating in a gallery show at the Sedona Arts Center...The show is titled “A Sense of Place” and begins January 25th.  If you are in the Sedona area stop by to see if you can catch a glimpse of any Hilton Head Gang members. 

It is week 9 in the search for the Hilton Head Gang...the notorious members of Karin Jurick’s workshop.   The trail is still hot...so we shall continue on.  We are determined to feature one member each week until they are all accounted for.

Chris “the Moniker” Werst  comes by her alias honestly.  She misses nothing.    At beaches, Galleries, tourist attractions...She retains everything.  She is very proficient at finding out and remembering names of people, places and things.  She uses this to her advantage.  She will call your name and then act like she knows you...by the time you realize she is a stranger it is too late...you are digitally immortalized and destined to become canvas bound.  Her whereabouts is totally unknown as she does not...at this writing...have a blog.  

Six at Sixty Portraits

To commemorate my completion of my 6th decade of life I decided to paint 6 self portraits...6 @ 60.  I will post a self portrait every few days...posting the sixth one on my 60th birthday.

6 @ 60 #1

The idea for these portraits is to celebrate my past my present and my future. 

Hilton Head Gang week 8

It has been 8 weeks of searching, searching, searching for notorious Hilton Head Gang members.  The Hilton Head Gang is a group of elusive artists who attended Karin Jurick's workshop on Hilton Head Island.  I will feature one member of the group each week until they are all accounted for...

Week 8 finds us looking for Nancy “The Guardian” Darling so named because of her help with rescue dogs.  She often travels with a large pack of dogs which hampers her ability to shoot but that does not prevent her from trying.  She uses the dogs to attract unsuspecting subjects then while they are being distracted...she shoots.  It is a devious but very effective plan.  I hear she and her pack will be heading up to Alaska to participate in the Iditarod...that may be a false lead...just be on the lookout...

You may find more clues to her whereabouts on her blog...

http://njdarling.blogspot.com/

Big Man and Little Man

"Big Man and Little Man"  

8 x 10 oil on Raymar Panel

My son left on a military deployment recently.  Before he left he took his son on a wagon ride and I was able to capture the moment.  Painting moments in time that we shared makes me happy.  It was a happy day.

How "Her Majesty" came to be!

Last week I posted “Her Majesty”.  This week I am posting some pictures showing how “Her Majesty” came to be.  

On my blank canvas I sketch out where I think everything will go...the body...the chair...I make sure the proportions look correct etc.  I am VERY excited about this stage of my painting.  It is like a newborn baby...there is so much hope and anticipation...I see such a great future for this piece. 

Then I block in all the colors.  Visually this gives me a sense of composition and further helps me ascertain that things are where I want them on the canvas.  This is like the toddler stage.  There is still a lot of hope...things are looking good...the piece is coming to life!  I am excited.

I begin with the details...this is the adolescence.. the awkward stage.  Things don’t always turn out the way I had planned.  I lost focus...got cocky...The piece gets off track and I get annoyed.  I see that even though things were in the right place to begin with...one arm is too long...the features in the face seem to have shifted down and I wonder how the paint could have shifted...It could not be ME!  It has to be the fault of the brush!  Yes, that is it...I will blame the brush.

Finally, I get the kinks worked out...the piece has reached its adulthood...everything is back where it belongs and it has grown into a fine young painting.  "Her Majesty" is cute again!   She has found a good home and will live happily ever after.

And now I begin another...

Hilton Head Gang Week 7

We have reached week 7 of the search for the notorious Hilton Head Gang members.  The Hilton Head Gang is a group of elusive artists who attended Karin Jurick's workshop on Hilton Head Island.  I will feature one member of the group each week until they are all accounted for...(I always hear the theme to Mission Impossible in my head when I start the Hilton Head Gang emails...)

Roxanne “The Streak” Duke is so named because she is stealthy.  She streaks by and shoots at will and disappears before detected by unsuspecting victims.  Roxanne flies under the radar...finding a photo of her was not east...we had to scour the internet, check past files and canvas neighborhoods just to find this one.  We don’t know when the photo was taken...her look may have changed.  scrutinize everyone you see...

For more information about Roxanne check out her blog at:

http://dailypaintingblog-roxanneduke.blogspot.com/